B2B Marketers, you might be thinking about all the things we’re about to delve into in this blog but don’t worry we will say it for you. 

B2B Marketing has a bad reputation for being stuffy and boring. From template designs to multicultural stock images, you’re hardly doing your brand or your business justice. 

Over and over again, we’ve seen B2B brands fall into the trap of being bland, stale and just a little bit ‘meh’. It’s easy to do and many of your higher-ups might even give you a pat on the back but we’re telling you that there is a better way. 

B2C companies get an easy-ride right? They’re allowed to express themselves, be bold with their personality and be a bit more ‘normal’. The truth is, so can you!

Scroll down to read more about the 3 B2B design mistakes you need to avoid. 

P.S avoiding them might make your marketing more interesting too!

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‍1. Not having any personality

Like we said in the introduction, generally, B2B brands have a really bad reputation for being stuffy and boring. They’re either full of suits that are too corporate or they have less personality than a piece of paper. 

However, we know that’s not true!

B2B brands of all shapes and sizes have heaps of potential that are dying to be unlocked. We’re not talking about suddenly swearing in all of your marketing to see ‘edgy’, but rather bringing out what your core values and beliefs really are. 

Design is a great way to bring our your brand’s personality and resonate with your audience. It could be the way you use colour or even the type of pictures you decide to use. Not everything has to be so regimented. 

A great example of a B2B brand with personality is Geico. On the face of it, the brand is just an insurance company. The insurance game is serious stuff and mixes the financial and legal worlds. But Geico has consciously chosen to add humour to their marketing communications in the form of a very well-designed Gecko with an english accent to be the voice of the brand. 

Goodbye boring design, Geico and others have shown it can be done!

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2. Not designing for your audience

Let’s not forget that even within a B2B context, people still buy from people. 

What that means is that you still have to design for a human audience. There is no point in getting carried away with the corporate sheen B2B marketing trends to be in love with because it will not resonate with the people you are trying to convince. 

We’re all human. That means we have emotion. We will react to images and videos that provoke an emotion whether that is happiness, laughter, confusion or even anger! 

When you are designing any communications material for your brand, picture the human behind your ‘target market persona’ and take the time to understand them. What would make them laugh? What would inspire them to take action? How should a slogan be written or colour be chosen to invoke the right type of action? 

These questions are all fantastic starting places to help design for your audience and make sure that all of your marketing communications have cut-through.

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3. Not venturing outside of the box

For the love of Kanye West, please experiment with your designs.

In fact, ol’ Yeezy might be a great source of inspiration when it comes to thinking and working outside of the box. We mean…have you seen these? 👇

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Brands that are bold with their designs not only get results but also get a lot of love from us all. 

The likes of Kanye West have shown us that there are no rules in design. Do you want to put your headline at a 20-degree angle? Do it. 

If you want to turn your body text 90 degrees alongside an image, make it happen. 

Marketing and design (whether B2B or B2C) are there to disrupt, engage and inspire audiences to take action. Until you experience your designs, you will not know what actually works with your community. 

The one thing to always bear in mind is that you need your core message to have cut-through. Make it easy to read and understand so your audience leaves knowing what you want them to do. 

So, what have we learnt today? First and foremost

with your designs. 

Be bold and break the rules.

Finally, always think about the end user. Make your message easy to understand and super enticing!

If you’d like to talk more about design for your B2B brand, get in touch with our team today.