Creating Content That Connects with Your B2B Customers

Posted by Taylor Ciarallo on Mar 8, 2023 2:25:28 PM

Brand personality, value, and differentiations at the center

Today we are going to talk about the always great, always mysterious topic of content. Let’s add another layer of mystery and make that B2B content for high-tech companies…now we're talking! 

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Topics: Branding, Online Marketing, Brand Development, video, Client Relationships, Social, Outsource Marketing, SEO, Content Development, website design and development, creative marketing, graphic design, Power Point, Presentation, PowerPoint, slide deck, Collaboration, demand generation, Development, Messaging, b2b marketing, customer experience, content, Thought Leadership, Award winning marketing agency, Creative Agency

"Old-School” B2B Websites Are As Important As Ever

Posted by Scott Danish on Mar 5, 2020 5:19:00 PM

It seems like every day there’s a new social media channel the kids are gathering on. TikTok, Lasso … plenty of others I’m too old to know about. For B2B marketers, it’s a lot simpler, thankfully—we still rely on the proven “old-school” methods, according to the new report from HubSpot that looks at 2020 marketing trends.

According to the 3,400 marketers surveyed, websites are still the channel most frequently used for marketing. But websites have something in common with social media: It’s only as good as the content you put on there. For B2B businesses, that means you need to be constantly updating your blog, or adding new videos, thought leadership pieces, eBooks, white papers, infographics, or customer success stories. Not only will that new content make you more likely to be found by search engines, it will also give audiences a reason to visit your site.

Updating content takes time, though, as we know from our experience developing content for our clients at Cisco, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Twitter, Google and more! If you don’t have the internal expertise and resources, BayCreative can help. With BayCreative, you get an entire team of experienced writers, designers, editors, videographers, illustrators and marketers who are experts at content creation for websites. We love helping B2B companies achieve their marketing goals. If we can help you, just let us know.

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Topics: strategic marketing, marketing agency, Social, Content Development, website design and development, inbound marketing, full service marketing, marketing strategies, demand generation, Messaging, b2b marketing, Thought Leadership

5 Strategies for Moving Your B2B Mobile-Friendly Website in the Right Direction

Posted by Scott Danish on Mar 19, 2019 3:26:28 PM

In 2018, 52.2 percent of web traffic came from mobile devices. Another study found that on average, people consume 69 percent of their media on smartphones.

According to Google, 53 percent of mobile website visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load, yet, most mobile websites still take longer than this. Putting people off with a poor mobile experience means you are losing them at the moment of their peak interest. Sure, they might make a note or check you out on their laptop later, but in terms of the relationship with the viewer, it’s terrible timing.

These stats are motivating to say the least, and it’s clear a website not optimized for mobile is not giving your audience what they need. But what shall we do about creating a great mobile experience?

To start, consider that mobile users are by definition less patient and more distracted. They’re usually out and about, and they’re viewing your website on a device designed to distract. Phone calls, alerts, pings, Twitter, Facebook, are all right there ready to draw attention away from your visitor.

Having a great mobile experience is about a lot more than just having a responsive site build. Design and writing, tailored for mobile, can play a big part and can help you compete with all those other distractions.

Here Are 5 Key Strategies for Making a Great B2B Mobile-Friendly Website

  • Swap for mobile
    Consider substituting content for mobile. Along with the sizing adjustments built into a responsive design, are ways to swap content as well. You may have a diagram with a horizontal orientation at the laptop size, but swap it out with a vertically oriented version for mobile. You might shorten some content, or provide links to content that would otherwise be in a longer piece?

  • Be wary of the scroll
    People have no problem scrolling—it’s even fun. But too much of it can be a pain, and be wary of long paragraphs and long blocks of copy. Try to break up the content with subheads, small graphics, paragraph breaks, etc. Pace those features in a long story so they can help the reader navigate a long story.

  • Fat thumbs welcome
    Few things are more frustrating than tiny, tiny buttons that you’re lucky to click after the 3rd or 4th try. Make your buttons and other “clickables” big (even if that means a little more scrolling). And this goes double for pop-ups and splash screens. Frustration quickly turns to irritation, not unlike that person who stands a little too close while talking to you.

  • Write progressively
    Whether your views are “progressive” or not, write content that starts at a high level and gets into the details as you go. Especially in the mobile universe where your attention span is anybody’s guess. People appreciate knowing what they are getting into with a story. Briefly finding out the main points up front, and then being presented with the option to delve deeper, gives readers options. You might even get some bookmarked pages out of this.

  • Give them a clear path to follow
    Unlike print and other form factors for bigger screens, it’s difficult for readers on mobile to navigate story components like sidebars and other “featured” elements. Try to avoid long detours from the main story flow. That said, do include pull quotes and other shorter items in the flow. (Per the prior tip–those help readers to stay oriented).

Partner with BayCreative for an Exceptional B2B Mobile-Friendly Website

Creating a B2B website optimized for mobile devices requires both expert design and a well-thought-out approach to content. BayCreative employs experienced web designers and talented writers to help our clients develop sites that visitors can read and interact with no matter what device they’re using. If you’re considering updating your website, give us a call.

We are recognized as a top California Web Design Company on DesignRush.

More Resources
 
Want to check whether your website is mobile-friendly or not? Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can tell you .
 
All the best,
- Team BayCreative -
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Topics: strategic marketing, marketing agency, Content Development, website design and development, marketing strategies, Messaging, b2b marketing

9 Must-Haves for an Effective B2B Website

Posted by Scott Danish on Feb 12, 2019 11:30:00 AM

According to WordStream, the conversion rate of a typical website is about 2.35 percent. If you had a salesman performing that poorly, you’d probably encourage him to find another vocation.

But too often, companies leave their underperforming website on staff rather than invest the time and effort in building a better website. So the website sticks around, its behavior basically unchanged for years.

And that’s a mistake.

No matter the size of your business, a modern, optimized B2B website is essential for finding those prospects who are seeking your solutions, to help establish your presence in the marketplace, to extend your reach, and to help decision-makers select and buy your products and/or services.

If your website isn’t doing those things for you, it might be time for a redesign. B2B website best practices are evolving constantly, and your website needs to evolve with them.

In this post, we’re offering some best practices for when you do redesign your site.

 
What Your B2B Website Needs
  • These days, you have to have a responsive design to your B2B website, meaning it automatically adjusts the layout to the device it’s being viewed on. That way, your website will have a mobile-first feel to it. Also, write your on-page content for mobile devices—keep it concise and break it up with white space and bullet points.

  • Your B2B website needs to be search engine optimized so it appears high in the list of results when a prospect looks for your product/service on an online search engine. SEO has been a staple of websites from the beginning. But, like website design best practices, it’s constantly evolving; that means you have to constantly be re-approaching your site content and off-site SEO factors.

  • Related to that is the need for consistent, quality content on your B2B website. A good website is more than just a storefront with a list of products. By including regular blog posts and other content such as case studies and white papers, you turn your website into a library of content that showcases your knowledge.

  • When you think about content for your B2B website pages, don’t just fixate on text. Include compressed video, pictures, infographics, and more. Be sure to fill in the alt tag and description boxes for those content pieces, because that will help with SEO, as well.

  • Use consistent messaging throughout your B2B website.

  • Keep navigation easy. Set it up so that the end user can reach any page within three clicks, make the path to that final destination clear, and ensure the user has clear choices and can easily get to where they want to go within your site.

  • Don’t load your B2B website up with plug-ins and large photo and video files that bog down load times. The longer the page takes to load, the more likely the visitor will grow impatient and leave the page.

  • Put a clear call to action (CTA) on every page, preferably on the top half of the page. Don’t leave visitors wondering what to do next.

  • Continue to maintain, update, and analyze your B2B website to ensure it continues to work for you. 
Work with an Expert to Squeeze the Most Out of Your Newly Redesigned Website

Our biggest recommendation for creating an effective B2B website? Work with an established website design company that knows what it’s doing. The above list doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of best practices, but the right agency will know all the tricks for building a website that brings eyes to your site and increases conversion rates.

BayCreative is one such agency. We’re a full-service B2B marketing/branding/creative agency based in San Francisco but we have clients across the United States... many of whom we’ve worked with to create great websites.

For more tips, download our FREE eBook, “ 7 Steps for Successful Website Redesigns ." 
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Topics: strategic marketing, marketing agency, Brand Development, website design and development, marketing strategies, b2b marketing

BayCreative Named in "Top 10 Fastest Growing Digital Marketing Companies" (2018)

Posted by Scott Danish on Apr 26, 2018 8:00:00 PM

Great Clients + Great Team = Great Results
 

For the second year in a row, BayCreative has joined the ranks of The Silicon Review's "Top 10 Fastest Growing Digital Marketing Companies" as published in its April 2018 edition.

 


"[BayCreative] brings more than 20 years of B2B marketing, branding and creative experience to the table and as a full-service B2B marketing agency it delivers value to growing businesses by providing a 'Marketing Department-in-a-Box.'" - The Silicon Review (April 2018)

We're thrilled to be part of Silicon Review's list as well as being listed in Clutch Research's "2018 Top San Francisco Digital Agencies." We've come a long way from our start as a small design shop, but ultimately our ethos remains the same.

Our goal then, as now, is to serve as an extension of our clients team, build a strong relationship through collaboration, and generate tangible results. And, as a single source for all B2B marketing/branding/creative support, we are now more than ever better able to serve our clients' needs.

At the end of the day, our success is our clients success, and commendations like these simply reflect the success we have helped our client's achieve.

Discover what BayCreative clients say about their experience collaborating with our agency, and see portfolio examples of work.

Please keep us fresh-in-mind.

All the best!
- Team BayCreative -

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Topics: strategic marketing, Brand Development, Content Development, website design and development, creative marketing, demand generation, b2b marketing, digital marketing

2018 Top San Francisco Agencies: BayCreative Recognized for Two Leadership Awards by Clutch Research

Posted by Scott Danish on Apr 10, 2018 1:18:20 PM

BayCreative is more than a full service B2B marketing agency; for more than 20 years, we've driven results for our clients as an extension of their team. With our “marketing department in a box,” approach, BayCreative offers in-depth, collaborative support to develop and execute effective digital/web marketing, inbound marketing, lead generation, brand awareness-building, new product/service launch and sales/channel enablement strategies that fuels our client’s growth.

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Topics: strategic marketing, Brand Development, Content Development, website design and development, creative marketing, demand generation, b2b marketing, digital marketing

2017 Top San Francisco Agencies: BayCreative Recognized for 4 Leadership Awards by Clutch Research

Posted by Scott Danish on May 4, 2017 11:00:00 AM

BayCreative is more than a full service B2B marketing agency; for more than 18 years, we've driven results for our clients as an extension of their team. With our “marketing department in a box,” approach, BayCreative offers in-depth, collaborative support to develop and execute effective digital/web marketing, inbound marketing, lead generation, brand awareness-building, new product/service launch and sales/channel enablement strategies that fuels our client’s growth.

Serving long-term needs is a must for us, and it seems our clients agree. Based on conversations with several of our clients, Washington D.C.-based market research firm Clutch has recently recognized our efforts with four "Market Leaders" awards: 

        

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Topics: strategic marketing, Brand Development, Content Development, website design and development, creative marketing, demand generation, b2b marketing, digital marketing

Marketing Design with Some Breathing Room

Posted by Arne Hurty on Aug 31, 2015 3:45:51 PM

You can find a lot on conversions and ways to improve conversion rates. What less obvious places can marketers look to improve conversions? Here are a few words on the topic of “white space” in the design. Any designer and many marketers will have heard this term and understand that to mean open area in a design. This is a design oriented topic but relevant to maketers. And can have a big impact on the experience your prospects and customers have.

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Topics: website design and development, graphic design, b2b marketing

Scroll leaves fold behind

Posted by Arne Hurty on Jul 20, 2015 3:05:00 PM

Regardless of what we are developing a web experience for—awareness, engagement, conversion, sales—we inevitably get questions from people about the fold. Traditional wisdom had it that above is prime territory. For a good few years that thinking has shifted, supported by anecdotal evidence as well as a load of great studies (here is one article that references two studies that present slightly differing views). This shift is credited primarily to the arrival of finger scrolling, which has become second nature to people and universally accepted by every manufacturer and designer.

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Topics: website design and development

Website Design: Will Vertical Alignment Become Standard to Accommodate Mobile Screens?

Posted by BC Team on May 16, 2014 3:37:39 PM

Website design continues to evolve and change. While special effects are still popular, many sites are starting to go with more clean and basic designs. One of those that may catch on soon is the increased use of vertical content alignment. The reasons for that have everything to do with an increasing mobile presence, and the desire to make websites more streamlined so they don't look too overwhelming.

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Topics: website design and development

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