According to research company Forrester, the buying behavior of B2B customers has changed. For 74% of prospects, fully half of the research process is now conducted online, before a purchase is made. That means there’s a lot more riding on your website and content. Interaction with your sales reps comes a lot later in the process, meaning your content has to do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to presenting your products and company. To push the pressure even higher, B2B buyers expect the same kind of ‘experiences’ in interacting with you online that they get with consumer offerings.

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.

Five tips to inspire a visual story that’s strong; compelling; easily rolled out. You can enhance your company’s visual identity by telling a visual story. How?

Do customers subtly feel a disconnect when engaged with your company? Try a little experiment. Lay some brochures, packaging, letterhead or comparable items for three of your main products before you. Do they project a unified visual feel or appear like they’re from different companies?

Is brand design worth the cost? A successfully launched IT company thinks so. Two years ago, Living Stone was selected to develop a brand design and overall strategic rollout for a new technology company created by the merger of Belgian IT consultants Tobius and SAGA Consulting Group. Called Tobania, the merger was finalized in December 2014. Tobania is nowadays recognized as one of the nation’s largest networks of ICT specialists.