B2B Marketers, Its Time Build Your Brand: Linkedin

According to a research conducted by LinkedIn's The B2B Institute, marketers should be just as concerned with creating their brands as they are with pursuing leads.

Lead generation and account-based marketing are well-known tactics used by B2B marketers. According to a report issued by LinkedIn's The B2B Institute and the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute at the University of South Australia, they should spend more time creating brand recognition.

The study, which examined the purchasing habits of over 1,200 buyers of business banking in the United Kingdom and business insurance in the United States, found that lack of brand awareness is four to eight times more problematic than brand rejection, particularly for smaller B2B firms.

According to the survey, brand rejection averages 11% for UK business banks and 7% for US business insurance businesses, which is similar to the 9% seen in comparable B2C sectors.

However, according to Jann Martin Schwarz, senior director and global head of The B2B Institute, a huge majority (90%) of individuals will not reject a brand they are unfamiliar with.

However, B2B firms in general have fallen short of developing strong brand identities that other company executives can recall when making a purchase.Most B2B marketers prioritise lead generation techniques such as thick white papers and focused account-based outreach, while ignoring creativity and brand building.

“Every [B2B] firm has an awareness problem, and they are frequently ignorant of the degree of their awareness problem,” he explained. “Brands should aim to objectively evaluate how well-known they are and what their total addressable market is for a certain category.”

While brand rejection should be a concern, there is room for redemption in the B2B world. According to the report, the majority of a brand's previous defectors will consider buying that brand again in the future, with two out of every three purchasers of U.K. business banks and four out of every five customers of U.S. business insurance companies stating they would rethink the brand.