How Does UX Work for B2B Businesses?

There are very distinct differences in how to approach the design of the sales funnel between B2C and B2B companies. Branding, marketing, the nurturing of leads, and scaling deliverables are all necessarily modified when a company is seeking to engage a single consumer instead of a business. 

That said, when marketing B2B, high-quality leads and decision-makers are also consumers. Their experiences as end-users are dependent upon many factors that are identical to what is needed whether a business wants to appeal to other businesses or consumers. User experience, commonly shorthanded as UX, is a primary consideration when attempting to generate trust in a brand for B2B businesses in Boston and beyond.

Are you ready to boost your trust in your target market?

What is UX?

Simply put, user experience refers to the relationship between a product and the person using it. Optimizing that relationship requires that designers of UX make every effort to bridge the gap between the needs of the user and the goals of the business. 

On its face, many elements of the user interface (UI) are standard According to a study completed by the Oxford Journal Interacting with Computers, “the goal of a UX design in business is to ‘improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product.” The ideal UX strikes a perfect balance between supporting the process and overcomplicating it. A UX designer ties in branding, navigation, content, and product functions to ensure the end-user process is fluid and effective.

Important Goals When Designing for B2B UX

UX designers, by necessity, must collaborate with writers, designers, marketing strategists, and in-house developers. Designing a UX that will appeal to B2B decision-makers requires consideration of profitability, technological feasibility, and the needs of end-users. This engagement is best achieved by supporting users through an objective completion, but designing for this starts well before the end-user even reaches your B2B company website. An ideal user experience will start with visibility, simplicity, clear focus, and high-engagement interaction.

How Does UX Impact Online Visibility?

Your solution must have visibility with your target audience. This begins with search engine optimization (SEO) since it is vital to drive decision-makers to your website by improving your brand’s digital footprint. SEO-optimized copy, though, can often read like a technical manual if you don’t utilize a copywriter that can translate complex technical detail into a conversational voice that is simple enough for quick and easy consumption by your users. 

Further, this is not a “one and done” process. Your B2B company footprint with Google depends upon over 200 factors. The foundation of increasing visibility depends on publishing keyword-optimized content on an ongoing basis. Ideally, this will draw repeat visitors to your site. These visitors will engage with new and updated content that is not needlessly complicated. Delivering an intuitive user experience without friction will organically tend to drive up search ranking. By default, it will make your B2B solution visible to a wider audience.

How Does UX Impact Trust?

Clear brand messaging targeted towards your most highly desired customers is the number one factor influencing the tendency of a decision-maker to engage with your B2B company website. Conversely, a frustrating UX can damage trust. Sometimes to such a degree that the user will leave the site and not return. Therefore, not choosing to do business with a competitor that offers a more friction-free path towards task completion. 

Companies that offer bright and clear calls to action, along with micro-engagements along the path of the sales cycle, are more likely to convert B2B leads into clients.

A high-impact UX will also incorporate elements of social validation to build trust with potential clients. According to a study published by Brightlocal, over 72% of consumers in the B2C and B2B space are influenced by positive reviews from current and past clients. Sprinkling social quotes throughout the UX journey on your website positively impacts trust in the brand messaging. Additionally, shrinking the probability that a lead will leave your site for a competitor.

Focus on the Mobile UX

The role of mobile browsing and search continues to rise in the B2B space. High-level decision-makers and C-suite executives are frequently undertaking web research into new products and solutions while “on the go”. 

Many consumers report instances where mobile devices are used to browse the web or click-through links on emails even if a laptop or desktop is within reach. This behavior has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the classic workplace. A user experience that is not optimized for mobile can do a great deal of damage to trust in brand messaging. 

A B2B business should ideally appear to be operating at the forefront of changes in technology. Ignoring or not paying sufficient attention to the appearance and functionality of your website performance on mobile can discourage a lead regardless of which point they’ve reached in the sales cycle.

Redesign for a More Successful UX

For B2B companies selling products and services, the needs of the audience are far more complicated than those serviced by a B2C company. The buying cycle is often significantly longer. For this reason, tweaking the UX at every step of the sales funnel will generally accompany an uptick in the engagement of new leads and the conversion of those leads into clients. This starts with understanding the audience that your B2B site serves. 

At GoingClear, a UX site analysis can help you identify opportunities for improvement in the user experience. It will help provide you with a clear analysis of web traffic, key performance indicators, and underperforming content. Our experts partner with B2B companies in Boston to coordinate the overhaul of user experience, user interface, and development delivery. This ensures that your B2B website is bolstering your brand and messaging instead of being a hindrance to potential clients. If your B2B company is ready to make 2022 the best year yet, let’s talk. Reach out to a GoingClear specialist today to see how we can partner with your company to improve performance and increase conversion!