B2B companies are missing the opportunity to include website as part of their marketing campaign and branding purpose. Conventionally B2B are active in offline marketing, ie. meeting prospects, joining an event, exhibition. These activities are costly. It’s 2018, customer behaviour has changed from offline to online.
Statistics shows that 80% of business decison makers (CEOs, managers and high level decision makers) would rather looking for company information through articles or websites compared to an advertisement. (source: B2B PR Sense Blog)
Although 95% of B2B business marketers do have their own corporate social media accounts, but only half of them using it in their daily routine. Social media seems to be less committed when it comes to providing detailed information about a company. Sometimes, prospects might want to read lengthy and detailed case studies just to know what problem you solved and the solution offered.
Despite many DIY web design tools, B2B companies should refrain from building websites themselves and leave it to the pros. It’s like building a house, do you do it yourself or leave it the pro? Website and digital marketing is the same. Hiring professional can help you to grow even bigger and reach more prospects.
But if you’re not convinced that B2B companies need a website, here are the 7 biggest reasons why your B2B company need a website.
- Your B2B Business Will Gain Credibility
- As Your B2B Business Online Facade
- Medium To Showcase Your Work
- Improves Your B2B Business Customer Service
- As Your B2B Business Digital Assets
- Quick Update, Saves Time & Money
- Your B2B Business Single Source of Truth
92% of consumers are searching online before making a decision to purchase. So, if you can pave their way for what they’re looking for just by reading your website/blog, there’s a gold to dig!
1. Your B2B Business Will Gain Credibility
Credibility is about being qualified as a trusted one. Speaking of credibility, newly startup company and small business are lacking in this aspect. Some don’t even know how to established themselves, what more build credibility for their brand.
Today, prospects search everything online. Prospects search for solution to a problem, comparison of price and information in a faster and more efficient way. They’re expecting to get what they want in just a blink of an eye like “ Poof! I got it!”
Potential customers or clients always have unanswered questions. If you don’t have a website, prospects will start to look for your competitors.
But remember, stay professional to get in control of your credibility. Here are some ways on how to make your website to look like a professional trusted website.
- Have a professional B2B business logo.
- Make sure to use only high quality images.
- Useful content. Helpful contents likely to engage them more.
- Always be human. Prospects prefer interacting with human compared to an organization. Be sure to keep your human sense of humour in your content to make it lively and closer to your potential customers. Win their heart!
2. As Your B2B Business Online Facade
In architecture, a facade is the principal front of a building, the front part of the building that facing the street or open space. Anything stays at the front is significant as part of the screening process. Human tend to screen out at something they look at the first place before they come out with a thought.
The perceptions.
Having a website is like giving your prospects a basic mental image of your business. It is essential as it provide your prospects with the overview of what is your business is all about. If you want your prospects to see you as a professional B2B business, then you’ll need to have a professional design website as well. This is to let your prospects to get to know you first before making the decisions to contact you for further appointment.
For instance, before staying at a hotel for a vacation, what will be the first thing you do? I think most of us will be surveying the accommodations of the hotel. You’ll begin to look around before decided to stay or otherwise. If it is enticing enough, then let’s book a room!
Well, same goes to website. It is easier for your prospects to roughly find out about your B2B business. Your website is your – online facade.
You can visit our post on Top 7 Website Design Trend for 2017.
TIPS: First impression Matters!Be sure to dress up your website professionally (depends on the concept of your company) and be presentable enough.
3. Medium to Showcase Your Work
Often we heard prospects using their portfolio to showcase their artworks. For most of B2B companies especially designers and builders, you will need to show the quality of your work and demonstrate your skills. The portfolio could be either printed on papers or digitally. This is quite essential to gain trust from customers and clients and free them from doubt.
Besides, this isn’t just a matter of showing but also 
to sell it. In fact, you’re actually selling your ideas. As for retailer (B2C), you might consider to showcase your product lines which include e-commerce system for them to purchase online.
Thus, if you have a website you can include your portfolios as many modern websites practices now. It can be in the form of image gallery, videos and testimonials of your artworks and products. The things that you’ll going to show are the things that makes you unique in your own way.
Note: You might not want to display all your work, be selective and chose the ones that only gives good impact to the customer.
4.Improves Your B2B Business Customer Service
Customer service is the act of taking care of your customers by assisting them professionally throughout the service. It could be either pre-sale service or after sale service. Good customer service means being able to give the customer the best service experience and help them in making the best choice, from start to finish.
Thinking of improving your B2B business customer service? Customer service is important to make sure our customer gets the best service from us. This is significant if you want your customer or clients to keep coming back to purchase your products or services. Website do provide a valid touch point. Good customer service also gives customers first impression on your business as well as a long lasting impression.
Implementing customer service in a website, one of the way is that you can include a FAQ page on your website as “ The Book” that answers all their questions and query. Consistently post articles and up-to-date news feed to notify your customers in every occasion. This will keep them well informed.
For instance, in Laman 7 we’re helping our customers to grow their business by developing websites. We do web design, web development and digital marketing. So, to improve our customer service we provide advice and tips to manage their website through the articles that we blog.
Hence, whenever they have questions to ask regarding your service and products, all they need to do is to visit your website.
Let your website be the “Book” that gives – everything!
5. As your B2B Business Digital Assets
It’s a known fact that employees are a company’s greatest assets. I have no doubt on this. It’s true. Assets is anything useful and valuable owned by an individual, company or government. Your website can be one of your assets too. Having your website as business digital assets is like owning a property regarded as its high value towards the growth of your company.
Website is meant to be your long term marketing platform. It remains there as long as you didn’t demolish it. In the matter of fact, it can be your company legacies. We are living in an era where capital market is a trend and long term investment is a success mantra. As long as it gives you future benefits and can be converted into cash, you can consider it your assets.
While developing a website might need you to spend some bag of money, just remember investing on assets is never a squander.
The wealthy buy assets, the poor buy liabilities, and the middle class buy liabilities believing they were assets.
6.Quick Update, Saves Time & Money
Some B2B business are still relying on the conventional method of telling prospects on their latest updates like brochures, pamphlets, billboard, newspapers and many other printed literature. It could be the latest promotion or newly invented array of products that are coming into the house. It has been a debate to choose between conventional or web marketing. Well, everything has its pros and cons. While the conventional way let our prospects to kept the material but when it comes to cost and time, web marketing is just the thing.
Having a website will let you update your latest products or service lines in a quick way instead of printing it on brochures, pamphlets, banners and other printed literature. Printing jobs may take at least 2-3 days before you can distribute them to your customers/clients. Think about the distribution too. This is time consuming don’t you think?
With website, once your products or services are ready to be launched you’ll just have to post it up on your website and are ready to be grabbed! Besides, if you mistakenly print it with errors such as misspelling the words, wouldn’t it be cost consuming too?
As far as I concern, more and more prospects are going online. As long as there is internet connection even in remote location, your website is accessible. In such way, you can have a wider target prospects.
Website could be your time saviour!
7.Your B2B Business Single Source of Truth
Most companies use a policy that has been made to make sure all the decisions is standardized in any situations. In large companies, it involves several top teams to agree with a word. The absence of policies thereby slowing the pace of decision making and can cause things to go haywire.
So, by having a website it can be your B2B business single source of truth. Your prospects can refer to your website for any information regarding your products or service. Instead of asking your staff, they might mistakenly give the wrong information. Different people have different understanding. Human makes mistakes sometimes and your website can be the savior.
By hook or by crook, your website can be your “cookbook” for your prospect and also the rest of the staff to consult in managing repeatable process. You can consider placing the specifications of your products or detail of your service on your website. Just my two cents.
So, If you’re considering on building a website to grow your business, you can check this out at Website Design Price 2017 Malaysia.
I think that’s all from me by now. That’s just my cup of idea. You probably just have more stuff wandering inside your mind. Feel free to drop some comments if you have any enquiry regarding website design and development. We at Laman 7 would love to hear it from you.
Till then. All the best!