Improve Your B2B Branding with Product Outcome Messaging

B2B branding is overdue for vast improvements, according to a recent Forrester report. It's easy for a brand to get lost in translation when you have to compete with so many others who sell similar products. You also have the problem of trying to brand yourself online where outdated social media channels can create confusing branding messages. It happens: you open a social media account and forget to update it as you make improvements to your brand.

 With the recent Forrester report showing that 74 percent of B2B buyers already have information about you based on their own online research, it's essential to keep your brand cohesive. While it may seem like spinning metaphorical plates, you can and should always be looking for ways to improve your overall branding message.

You can do this by wrapping your brand around the products you sell and focusing on how your products solve problems for buyers. This branding concept is called product outcome messaging.

UNDERSTAND WHAT BUYERS WANT FROM A PRODUCT OUTCOME

Before you create a product outcome message, you need to find out what your buyers expect your products to do. Find out by having conversations with potential buyers on social media or on message boards.

If you’re strapped for time, you don't necessarily even have to join in on conversations to scope out this information. Merely watching conversations on places like Twitter or on industry boards can help you determine what buyers are looking for in similar products you sell. Even if you already have a product outcome message in place, it helps to hear what others in your industry are talking about. You can then use this data to hone your own branding message for better consistency.

CREATE A BRAND PROMISE

One of the most powerful branding messages you can create is the promise to solve an important issue for your buyers. When you set up a branding message with promises, it creates sparks of interest in those who need products to solve common business problems.

Remember, the potential customer’s decision to buy from you is not always about how a product looks, or even its price. If your product can solve a problem better than any other product on the market, you have the nucleus of your brand. As such, make that promise the consistent focus across all of your social media channels.

The promise to solve problems is important, but be sure that you back it up with video testimonials or video demonstrations on your social media outlets as well.

SHOWCASE EVIDENCE OF A PRODUCT OUTCOME

After creating a product outcome message as your brand, develop it further by creating videos that clearly demonstrate how your product solves the problems you've mentioned.

Some B2B companies create demonstration videos, though explanation videos are just as effective. With the latter, you can talk about how features on your products get developed in order to better solve problems. The inside story of how your engineers develop your products can resonate with a buyer watching for the first time.

Product outcome messaging is one of the best ways to develop and solidify your brand. Just remember that your ultimate aim is to show the customer that your products solve their problems. Show them by creating a promise in your brand, and demonstrating how that promise is followed through.