If your business identity is the “personality” of your organization, your visual identity is the graphic dimension that communicates that personality to your audiences. And if there’s a mismatch between your visual identity and your brand or business, your customers and prospects may feel a subtle sense of discord – and possibly even confusion.

Why is a strong brand one of the most valuable assets that your organization can possess? Because purchasers are willing to pay a premium for a known quantity. Visual branding is everything for consumer products, or B2C – just consider Coke vs. Pepsi. There isn’t much of a difference between these products, but consumers tend to align fiercely with one or the other.

Are today’s B2B customers empowered? Or are they overwhelmed? For the purchasers of complex solutions, such as enterprise software applications, high-end industrial equipment, or medical technology, information overload can bog down even the most enthusiastic prospect, even at the beginning of their customer journey.

Why is it so hard to measure ROI for B2B marketing activities? Because it is hard – B2B marketing is complex, it involves multiple parts of your organization, and it takes place over a long period of time. In comparison, measuring return on investment for B2C marketing initiatives is easy. You run an ad, you observe the impact on sales. Or you monitor the path from first contact with your website to an online order. It’s a simple action/reaction model, with the measurement metric built right in.

You did everything right when you launched your customer reference program – you ensured that you had buy-in from sales, you held a high-profile launch event and you developed a clear, comprehensive process to manage all related project flow.

Does your brand have a story? Some brand stories are so well-known that they’ve become part of popular culture. We all know the story behind Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the same with Virgin and Richard Branson. We’ve seen their companies and products evolve, and it’s almost like we know them – we’ve made an emotional connection.

Isn’t your visual identity just your logo and a letterhead? Well, it is, but it’s also a whole lot more. Think about all of the opportunities you have to highlight your visual brand ID – websites, business cards, office décor, digital and printed brochures and newsletters, signage, trade show booths, banners, products, product packaging, t-shirts, pens, mugs and other swag … the list is practically endless.

For some B2B companies, developing a brand is an afterthought. The focus is on refining and marketing the product, and the brand ends up being created on the fly, by the engineering department or even company execs, just in time for a product launch or an important trade show.

Once you’ve decided to move ahead with a reference marketing program, the first thing to do is determine your objectives. Of course, you want to increase sales, but there are a lot of other benefits you can derive from reference marketing.