Factors of Success: Brand Identity and Awareness

January 18, 2023 / MPI

At MPI, We Believe That Nine Key Factors Contribute To The Success Of Any Outbound Calling Program.

Brand identity and awareness is the eighth factor that we believe contributes to a successful outbound calling program. We’ve already covered:

This factor asks: Is your brand well defined and have a presence in the marketplace?

Not every company gets to the level of world-wide brand familiarity as Nike and their “Just Do It” tagline. That’s a rare accomplishment, but the B2B world can learn lessons about how cohesive and consistent branding that makes an impact on your target market plays an important role in the sales process.

We see companies at various levels of brand identity and awareness, and they often fall into one of three categories. One: The client’s brand has no presence in the market. Two: The client has inconsistent marketing to drive brand awareness. Or three: The client has high brand visibility with consistent marketing to support it. We will dive into each of these and how branding affects the sales process.

The Brand Has No Presence in The Market

There are many approaches to take when a brand is not established in their market. Sales-wise, this is important to create, document, and start pushing out as soon as possible. Think about how brand familiarity applies to your everyday life. We all have well-known, go-to brands that we use for certain things – maybe something like Hefty trash bags because you never want to be caught with a potential mess from a lesser-quality trash bag. The Hefty brand has many competitors, but they don’t have the notoriety and trust that has been consistently built up around the reliability of their products. People aren’t aware of the other brands and their names.

The same buying thought process applies in B2B sales and brand identity. Buyers default to the brands they know and trust. We know in today’s market that people do not want to be sold to. They want to know if a product or service is going to solve a problem. Buyers want assurance that they are making the best choice on a vendor in a crowded market of choices and develop a trusted relationship. Having your brand recognized as a leader in your industry usually involves applying a mix of inbound and outbound sales and marketing strategies to gain that trusted buyer-seller relationship.

Branding is more than consistent memorable visuals. It’s also a clear, developed, cohesive, and consistent brand story and voice. One way that companies can establish a brand presence and form their brand voice is by figuring out the things that differentiate them from their competition. Using those key strengths repeatedly in messaging, sales materials, and marketing will help distinguish one company from another. There are many benefits to having your company’s “story” or brand well defined:

Clear stories are valued higher by customers than those companies without clarity in their brand
Clear stories move buyers’ emotions and bring pain points to the surface, which is key in moving sales
Educates buyers about the company, which is especially key in the awareness phase of the sales process
Consistent visual branding makes a company look professional and credible

“Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.”

Google Analytics

As part of creating the brand story, sales teams need to define the target market and develop buyer personas. Knowing who you’re selling to will also affect how you’re selling to them. Targeted messaging about your brand will help convert prospects into customers.

The Brand Has Inconsistent Marketing to Drive Brand Awareness

Like we mentioned, there are many approaches to gaining brand recognition. It can include website SEO, building social media presence, cold calling, mailers, paid ads, blogs, and so much more. Many brands hit a high in sales and think that they have firmly established themselves in their industry and “must be doing something right.” However, the “don’t fix what isn’t broken” doesn’t work in today’s world.

The truth is, while that company hit their sales goal, there were several other new companies starting to crowd that same piece of the market. They were looking at what that company did right, and where their gaps were that they can fill to help differentiate them. Next year or even next quarter can be a totally different story for that once “established” company.

Consistently keeping ahead of industry trends and evolving products and services as the market demands can help companies stay on top. They should then use frequent and consistent sales and marketing strategies to gain and maintain industry notoriety.

“Less than 10% of B2B brands say their brand is presented consistently.”

Zimmer Communications

The Brand Has High-Visibility in The Market With Consistent Marketing to Support It

When a company has an established brand presence, and are consistently marketing to their buyers and prospects, there’s no doubt that the sales will reflect it. The sales and marketing teams stay on top of their competitors, and consistently review all materials to get ahead of the curve on market trends and competitors to keep their brand top of mind in the buying process. This often involves a combination of inbound and outbound sales and marketing tactics to draw in new business and keep sales growth on the upward path.

If a company does not have an established market presence, it makes the sales process extremely difficult. How will buyers know a business exists if there is no information available? Developing a unique brand message, voice, and story will help eliminate confusion with competitors and establish a brand in their market. Then consistently and frequently marketing a brand’s story will keep a business in front of their buyers and prospects to help grow sales.

Is your brand established in their marketplace? Lead generation is one way to help make that happen. Using MPI’s services, we can help consistently reach out to your target market and increase brand awareness and drive revenue. Interested in learning more? Let’s chat.