Imagine walking into a room of emerging startups and SaaS businesses, all emulating the same tone, positioning, and overall feel. If you walk, talk, and dress like them, chances are you won’t stand out. But if you add a character that’s uniquely yours, decision-makers will more likely give you a second look and listen to what you have to say. That’s the power of having an impactful B2B brand voice.
Decision-making in the B2B world comes down to two things: trust and credibility. No surprise right there, considering these decisions often translate into investments. Sadly, many B2B businesses take branding exercises for granted, not realising how it can be one of their value propositions that help reflect the values, mission, and identity of their company. When you have a distinct and compelling approach towards communicating with your audience, you gain the trust and credibility that your SaaS business needs.
Now that we’ve established the importance of a strong B2B brand voice and its role in building trust and credibility, let’s dive into actionable steps and valuable insights that will help you create a brand voice that genuinely connects with your audience.
Build a brand, not just a business
The heart of brand building is understanding that you don’t just exist to sell a business or service—you exist because you want to have a brand that connects with your customers on a deeper level. This gives your business more room to scale and grow as opportunities arise.
Digital Squad recommends kickstarting your brand-building activities with a marketing best practice: understanding your target audience. Begin by identifying your ideal B2B customer personas and from there, conduct market research to gain more insights. Once you have gathered enough data, create the perfect set of buyer personas for effective communication.
Next, we encourage you to sit down with key stakeholders in your company along with representatives from different team silos to define your brand’s identity. Discuss and establish your core brand values, craft a unique value proposition, and develop your brand personality. Having multiple heads and roles during this process can get chaotic, but in the end, it will help you create a more holistic perspective of your brand.
Now it’s time to list down and set clear brand guidelines. This means outlining your voice and tone and defining content style and language preferences. Ask yourselves: are you a fun brand or would you rather be business-like? Are you speaking to a global audience or should you communicate in different language styles to accommodate varied markets? Whatever it comes down to, ensure consistency across all communication channels to reflect all the hard work you put into building your brand.
Take it from monday.com, a B2B SaaS company with evidently strong brand-building strategies in place. In under a minute, they can build trust and credibility, connect with their audience, and establish strong brand recognition and recall.
You can check out their full brand guidelines here.
Let your brand walk the talk
A comprehensive brand guideline is simply the beginning of having an effective B2B brand voice. Now it’s time to get the ball rolling. A strong brand gives you unlimited potential to craft compelling content for your audience, so start creating! With your brand guidelines as a bible, tailor content that resonates with your B2B audience and incorporate storytelling techniques.
As a B2B SaaS company, it’s important to showcase what you bring to the table; so don’t sell short of sharing your industry insights and expertise. Leverage content marketing to showcase your knowledge and establish your business as a thought leader in the B2B space. Remember that building authority and credibility is paramount in this playing field.
Finally, commit to consistency in messaging across all channels. Maintain your strong and distinct brand voice in social media, align email marketing communication with your brand personality, and ensure that your website and blog content reflect your brand’s identity.
Keep your brand in check
Don’t settle for putting your best foot brand forward, make sure to put in the hard work so the impact lasts. Communicate honestly and openly with your customers, address their concerns and feedback, and demonstrate a commitment to ethical business practices. Remember that it costs you 5x more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one, so work on building that brand trust through transparency.
As your B2B company grows and scales in magnitude, it’s critical to be agile and adapt accordingly. Measure and adjust your brand voice by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and conducting regular brand voice audits. Does it still resonate with your audience? Is it consistent with your brand values? Make necessary adjustments based on data and don’t hesitate to improve and refine your B2B brand voice as needed.
Your B2B brand voice matters
To summarise, here are the steps to creating an effective B2B brand voice:
- Understand your target audience
- Define your brand’s identity
- Set clear brand guidelines
- Create compelling content
- Establish thought leadership
- Ensure consistent messaging across channels
- Build trust through transparency
- Measure and adjust your brand voice
If you still find yourself struggling to nail your brand positioning and value propositions, work with digital marketing experts like Digital Squad to help you establish a clear framework for creating an effective B2B brand voice.