The myth that B2B does not need personal contact – after all, a balanced and deliberate decision is just a myth. People decide to cooperate. And unlike B2C, contact in B2B will be extended: dozens of calls, approvals and edits. No one wants to work for more than one month with an unpleasant person.
In the spring, we lost most of our usual advertising channels, and two channels came out on top in lead generation: expert publications and personal brands of employees. We share the experience.
Why A Personal Brand In The IT Industry
BRANDfog conducted a study to determine if a personal brand is essential in business. It turned out that 77% would be more willing to cooperate with a company whose management broadcasts the values and mission on their social networks.
In IT, the deal cycle is often long, so it’s essential to build strong relationships to sell. Chances increase if CEOs demonstrate expertise and a willingness to dialogue. Also, a personal brand helps:
- Become recognizable. “Unwind” your name so that you are remembered at the first time. For example, if you need to solve a problem and there is a specialist among the subscriptions, you would instead contact him and then start googling in the cold. You can often send a request to friends – and word of mouth will already connect. In addition, in B2B, the brand of a person is often no less important than the brand of a company – simply because the scope is narrow and there are a limited number of specialists.
- Engage your audience. If you regularly showcase on social networks and talk about lifehacks and achievements, potential customers will come to these services. You are what you say. If you want to upgrade a specific service, talk more about it, and you will see that its sales will increase.
- Increase profit. Clients have already come warmed up. They don’t just want to “order business software” but “order business software from your company.” This means that the conversion into transactions increases by 50-70%. Do not forget that the higher the demand, the higher the price for her services. Customers are willing to pay “for the brand” to get guaranteed quality. But remember that the audience is more trusted by the posts of a specific person and not from a company account. The founder’s story about their love for his work and his attention to every detail will cause a more significant emotional response than a text about quality control in the official public of an IT company.
- Raise authority. An enhanced personal brand like a badge “expert”. When discussing a project with customers, your words gain more weight and the likelihood that you will be chosen among competitors increases.
Compelling recruiting is another advantage of a personal brand in the IT environment. There has always been a shortage of experienced programmers in the market, and in 2022 it only got worse. Therefore, competition for valuable personnel has increased, and it will be easier for an HR manager to attract developers to a company with a well-known and firm leader.
