At this year's Nashville ADDY Awards (#RADDYs), Golden Spiral took home three awards for our client work with Allure Security, Ntrepid, and OnSomble. As the advertising industry's largest and most representative competition, the American Advertising Federation's ADDY Awards recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.
With three awards for business-to-business websites, Golden Spiral was the only entrant to place in the B2B category. Recently, I caught up with our VP of Creative, Bennett Farkas, to talk about his experience as a designer in the B2B space and the future of B2B branding.
Why should good design matter to B2B companies?
We know that 89% of B2B researchers use the internet during the B2B research process and that they are reportedly 57% through the purchase process before they ever speak to a salesperson. That means your website will need to do a lot of the heavy lifting for you to usher them through the funnel. But probably most important is the fact you've only got about 8 seconds of first impression to really capture the attention of those leads. Good design will do that. It strengthens brands, instills trust and confidence, and begs further exploration.
What does good design look like in B2B?
Good design in the B2B space involves helping clients showcase complex, complicated products and services in simple ways. Infographics, for instance, are great opportunities for that. We've designed some really compelling visuals for clients that help them explain what they do in a clear, easy-to-understand way. Helping communicate innovative solutions to the market is what we do best.
What is the biggest challenge for B2B design?
Empathy. Many people don't naturally associate B2B with emotion even though, like with B2C, there is an actual person (with actual human preferences) making the buying decision. You need the ability to put yourself in the buyer's shoes in order to be successful. In this case, that means a full understanding of the problems that your buyer is facing so that you can present your solution to them in terms they understand. To do that, you have to understand the buyer persona incredibly well so that you make sure to address their concerns in the design and messaging.
What was it about the projects that were awarded that made them winners?
The way we were able to combine design, art, and story while presenting a compelling case for business buyer. For instance, the visual story that we put together using animated SVGs on Allure's homepage is not something you see in the B2B space very often. In industries that haven't encountered this kind of design-based innovation before, it has an enormous impact. When you combine solid and innovative technology that seamlessly incorporates design, beautiful art and a compelling story, it makes it easy to stand out.
While the recognition from AAF is an honor, what really gets us excited is getting results for our clients. If you are a B2B company interested in innovative design, we'd love to talk — get in touch today!