Design can increase B2B web leads by 500%

Form versus function

When is the last time you drank Lucozade? The traditional orange stuff? For me, it was some time in the mid 1980s, foisted on me by my mother as a restorative aid after a bout of influenza. I am not sure what made me get better more quickly, the brand promise of “recovering lost energy” or the fear of having to consume more of it if I didn’t buck up!

Sales have fallen in recent years, likely the key driver for its original owners (Beecham, then GSK) to sell it off. (BBC, 2013).

Perhaps this downward trend is why, at the turn of the new year, JC Decaux replaced the iconic Lucozade advertisement, as much a feature of West London as the M4 elevated section from which it could be seen, with new digital signage promoting other brands.   The result caused outcry amongst West London residents with 94% in an Evening Standard survey voting to bring the sign back.  I suspect from JC Decaux’s view, the sign was occupying prime advertising real estate – 65,000 vehicles per day pass that sign on the London bound side of the carriageway (Highways Agency). Despite the lasting appeal of the ad’s form on our emotions, it was apparently not serving its intended function as a revenue generating device.  If it wasn't persuading us to buy,  there was no business rationale for keeping it.

Emotional versus rational

The Oxford Dictionary defines persuasion as ‘to induce, lure, attract, entice’. This implies that a rational process is not necessarily needed for decision-making to take place, as the words used all relate more to feelings than considered thought.

According to IPSO (2015) 90% of decisions are made subconsciously. In B2C marketing, the big names recognise that brand images, rather than logos, are more effective at persuading buyers to take action. Smokers, for example, are more motivated by images of camels in the desert or cowboys or Formula 1, than by cigarette company logos. Imagery, and how it makes people feel and associate with (being a cowboy or a racing driver) is what persuades buyers towards a purchase.

B2B versus B2C

What about design and imagery in a B2B context, where the average deal value is higher, the purchases less frequent and the risks much greater? Surely, logic and reason is a bigger factor here? Is branding less important because purchase criteria are more objectively evaluated or more important because B2B suppliers can charge a premium for quality and reassurance? In fact, great B2B companies recognise that their brand value, and therefore their ability to command higher prices, is one key tangible benefit of investing in branding.

The business case for brand in B2B

Equity value

According to Harvard Business Review, top B2B companies can attribute 20% of their stock price or perceived value to brand equity; whilst the bottom performers only realise 0.5%. Evidence of this can be seen in KKR’s multi billion bid of B2B pump manufacturer Gardner Denver in 2013; a company with 43% of the value as intangible assets and good will. This is higher than Proctor and Gamble, who claim 40% by comparison. (Forbes, 2013).

Standing out from the crowd

In addition to brand equity, it is important that B2B suppliers of technology and services can differentiate themselves as 86% of customers do not perceive a real difference in (B2B) supplier’s offerings (CEB Marketing Leadership Council 2013). Today’s B2B environment is more complex, crowded, and competitive than it was in 2013. B2B buyers now expect user experience with real-time interaction, accurate price and stock information transparency and a clear guide to making a purchase or next step. This means that in a market of new entrants like born in the cloud start ups, and the availability of alternatives – on premise, hybrid, managed service – standing out from the crowd to facilitate business growth becomes more important than ever.

A Case Study

A B2B manufacturer had an extensive product list but their buyers might not know what product they wanted, from the description.  Rather, they know what outcomes they are looking for from their work. This was causing the B2B client a problem now, as their nearest competitor had just re-launched a website and they were worried about losing competitive advantage.

The B2B client was serving up their catalogue from their perspective, rather than that of their customers, for whom getting the right specification of business tooling was mission critical.  On undertaking primary research with the end user customers, it was found that the client’s buyers segmented themselves into their field of specialism and they searched for products that related to their area of expertise. Further, the B2B client wanted to make it easier for their end user to buy products online, to ensure higher conversion, upsell and cross-sell.

Results

This resulted in a newly designed website with primary segmentation by profession and  secondary segmentation by field. From here, a customer-oriented e-commerce website was created to a goal that no prospect was ever more than two clicks away from the right tool for the job.  This is why we are now starting to see conversion rates as high as 15% for the latest B2B sites, compared to as little as 2% for those designed more than three years ago.  

Lessons Learned

The client knew they needed to serve their catalogue up differently but didn’t have the structure or experience to diagnose the problem. The design process was iterative because there are many ways of segmenting your offering – demographically, geographically, behaviourally, psychographically and so on. It’s not that one is right, it is that one is more appropriate for a given context.

Looking to improve website conversion rates?

If you would like to find out more about how to improve the number of quality leads through your website, get in touch.

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This post is adapted from my paper, The Business Case for Great Design, which you can find along with many other B2B marketing guides on www.leadamarket.com