As almost everything happens on the Internet, the conversation between brands and users has gained global scale. A global community has been created that aims to interact with existing and potential customers and critics at all levels of communication. Therefore, despite the vast audience that can be reached, it is necessary to know who you are trying to reach and focus on this specific group to establish a foothold in the market. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is through design.
A reliable B2B SaaS design strategy for connecting with the audience will help align your brand at all touchpoints and create trusted relationships with the audience. Here are our top five ideas on how to accomplish this:
Determine the profile of your ideal customer and create user personas
Identifying Your Ideal Customer: The Foundation of Brand Development
Before you start creating your brand or any important design elements, you need to answer the first question: “Whom am I trying to attract?” While there are millions of potential customers, many of them will not be ideal for you, and stretching your brand and resources to cover them all will be ineffective and impractical.
It is crucial to understand in which niche area you can be an expert in the market. Having a clearly defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) will allow you to create a design strategy tailored specifically to those who, as you know, will interact with your brand and products; become the perfect brand for your ideal customer.
A deeper study of the demographic characteristics of your target audience will help you understand who you are designing for. Who are they? What is their approximate age? Where are they from? The more information you know about them, the easier it will be for you to determine the strategy to best develop your brand to meet their needs and desires.
Creating User Personas: Empathy in Action
A great way to do this is to put yourself in their shoes. Create user personas that encompass different personalities, ages, and positions. This will help you think through how these users will interact with your brand and product. What everyday problems do they face that your service can solve? What do they hope to achieve in their work?
What will make their work/life easier? What problems, complaints, and benefits do you need to talk about? Designing for your user is how you will attract and retain consumers that match your ICP.
Drawing Inspiration: Spotify’s User-centric Approach in Brand Design
To see an example of a brand that demonstrates it truly knows and understands its audience, let’s look at Spotify’s user-generated content campaigns. They employed a strong strategy based on copying to catch the attention of their vast global audience through humor and irony that is inherent in all of us. They use a bright, fresh color palette that expresses the vibe of different genres of music in combination with actual user data to signal to their audience that Spotify not only understands them but also pays attention to them.
After defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), it will be much easier to develop a design strategy. You will have a clear understanding of why you want to use a particular color palette, font, and photo/illustration style because you will know the preferences and needs of your audience.
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Define your Value Proposition
Your Value Proposition is the clear reason why customers should buy your product or service. It’s the promise you will uphold as a brand. Building a B2B design strategy based on these values will help visualize for customers what sets you apart from competitors.
Your brand should illustrate who you are as a company through your individuality. Do you value flexibility, trust, accessibility, and people-centeredness? If so, does your design convey all of these characteristics? Does your color palette align with your industry, as well as the ethics of your company? Do your photos or illustrations feel like they are in the style of your ideal customers? All of these aspects must be taken into account when developing a brand that lives up to your promises.
An excellent example of a brand that reflects its value propositions in its branding and design is Innocent Drinks. This British company produces smoothies, juices, and carbonated drinks made from freshly squeezed fruits. Their promise to deliver a nutritious and honest product is reflected in transparent and simple ingredients.
They are also big advocates of being a purpose-driven brand. This value proposition is realized through their promises to do better for people and the planet. They fulfill these promises by recycling waste, using 100% ingredients from sustainable sources, becoming a carbon-neutral company, and donating to charities.
It’s not enough to simply state what values you offer to customers; you must fulfill these promises.
Innocent Drinks, a UK-based beverage company, exhibits its value proposition through its branding and design. Emphasizing honesty and nutrition, it assures customers of sustainable sourcing, recycling, carbon neutrality, and charitable contributions, thereby living up to its promises.
Research Your Competitors
Research, research, research. Before developing a strategic design approach, it’s essential to know what others are doing in the same market. If a direct competitor is using a blue color scheme, it would be unwise to also use blue. You need to stand out. The only way to do that is to know who your competitors are and how they look/feel.
You can also borrow from your competitors. If you see something they’re doing really well that attracts the same customer base you’re targeting, take a similar approach but do it in your own way. The point is not to copy them but to understand how these principles can be implemented in your own design.
Identify what your ICP (ideal customer profile) isn’t getting from your competitors, how you differ from them, and why they should choose you over a competitor. Use what makes you a unique brand in your design – this is ultimately what will allow you to stand out.
Brand Identity
Your brand identity determines how your brand expresses itself. Your brand identity and voice give your company individuality and maximize the inherent human need for communication. We all strive to feel understood and seek out people and products we can relate to. Personifying your brand helps to understand who you really are and, consequently, how to illustrate these ideals through design.
Tone is another characteristic that makes your brand feel more human. It’s recognizable for your audience and makes your brand easily identifiable. In the overall impression of your brand, tone and design will complement each other. For example, if your brand uses language that is more witty, your style may have a more bold and playful color palette, as well as a heavier font that makes an impression and catches attention.
AirBnB is a great example of a company whose design system complements their brand voice. Their bright color palette and style of photography are all-encompassing and reflect the numerous global destinations that you can make your home for a short period of time. They make you see yourself in their brand through design and tone of voice.
Industry awareness
Certain colors and styles will be more appropriate depending on who you are designing for. Companies in the technology industry will look quite different from those in the construction industry.
For example, the e-commerce brand Shopify Plus uses a black and green color palette, which speaks to its sophistication and more elite status than its parent company Shopify. The green color symbolizes growth, renewal, and abundance.
If we compare this example to one from another industry, the B2B SaaS company Aware 360 uses a blue and orange color palette. They offer security solutions to their clients and use the trust and reliability that blue color provides, while the orange color allows them to feel approachable and connected to their customer base consisting of workers in construction.
The strategy behind choosing certain colors, typography, and photography style is an integral part of delivering on your brand promise and illustrating who you are as a company.
Become the perfect brand for your audience
Know your audience. You cannot attract and retain customers without knowing who they are and what their needs are. Once you have identified your ideal customer profile, build your design strategy around creating a humanized brand that will have an emotional connection with your audience. People are more likely to attach themselves to a feeling that seems familiar to them, rather than to something intangible like a solution or service.
Your design must be consistent with your core strategy, otherwise you risk appearing inconsistent and untrustworthy. In B2B SaaS marketing, it is crucial to be the complete opposite of these characteristics. Your design strategy can help illustrate who you are and who you will attract.
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