Check Your Brand Metrics: 10 Signs Your Brand Health Needs a Boost

When was the last time you reviewed your brand health? B2B businesses often push branding to the side, viewing it as a lower priority than other factors, like feature development and product-focused marketing. Branding campaigns also typically take longer to show results, so other marketing campaigns are favored in the short term.

However, neglecting branding poses significant risks to your bottom line in the long run. In a competitive market, differentiating on features and price is often a losing battle. With so many similar products available, a unique brand message may be the one thing that makes your business stand out. 

In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into brand metrics and explore why you must prioritize and actively boost your brand health. 

10 Signs Your Brand Health Needs a Boost

We’ll walk you through 10 signs that indicate your brand health may be failing and discuss what impact these key brand metrics have.

1. It looks similar to all your competitors. (Differentiation)

Have a look at your website, ad content, and overall message. Then look at those of your top competitors. Are there any major differences that set yours apart? This is just giving it a quick scan, not getting into the details of feature superiority and value. Many buyers also will not take the time to look at the details.

Lack of differentiation is a common problem for B2B brands, with most following a similar generic format. According to Gartner, 64% of buyers cannot tell the difference between digital experiences for similar B2B brands. And this affects their decision-making process, leading to fatigue and frustration. If everything looks the same, it’s difficult to know which one to choose.

Making your visual identity reflect your brand’s values and say something unique sets you apart from the competition. User experience design is another way to stand out, by making sure that the next steps in the buyer’s journey are clear, so they won’t go look elsewhere.

2. Your NPS is dropping. (NPS)

A net promoter score (NPS) is a vital measure of a business’s success because it affects referrals and retention. Recommendations from peers strongly influence B2B buyers, so if you’re not getting referrals, your growth will slow. Additionally, those who won’t recommend a brand are less likely to remain with it.

Here’s how to check your NPS. On a 1-10 scale, ask how likely customers are to recommend your brand and group them as follows.

Promoters	9-10
Passives	7-8
Detractors	0-6

Add up the scores from each group. Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. Passives don’t enter into the calculation, but there may be cause for concern that they could leave for a competitor. Ideally, your score should be above 50. If it’s less than that or if you’ve been tracking it and it’s dropped significantly, your brand may be suffering.

3. Customers/prospects cannot clearly describe what your business does. (Awareness)

Many B2B businesses use buzzwords like productivity, sustainability, and connectivity to describe their product or service. While these are positive, desirable qualities, they don’t clearly depict what’s on offer. If a potential buyer doesn’t immediately understand what the business does, they’ll move on to something else.

Sometimes even long-term customers may not be fully aware of the extent of your offerings or be able to describe it when making a recommendation. B2B products do tend to be complex, but if you can’t boil down what you make or do in a few sentences, building awareness will be a challenge.

4. Your brand name is not what people associate with your service. (Unprompted recall)

When someone hears “X product or service,” is your brand name one of the first things that comes to mind? According to a study by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, mental availability is a crucial factor influencing a purchase. Buyers purchase what they have a mental association with; they’re less likely to go with an unknown brand even if it offers the type of solution they were looking for.

As many as 80-90% of buyers have a list of vendors in mind before they start searching for a solution, and 90% of those buyers ultimately purchase from a vendor on that list. It pays to invest in brand association. Even if people aren’t in the market right now, they’ll remember your brand when they are.

5. Your brand is not talked about. (Share of voice)

Is your brand mentioned on social media or in industry news? Would your brand be recognized as a thought leader? Having a wide share of voice indicates a healthy brand. Brand names that are widely known and respected for their ideas attract more buyers. 

If no one mentions your brand, it’s time to remedy this with a thought leadership campaign to increase your brand authority. Creating quality thought leadership content requires time and strategic effort, but it’s worthwhile if you can boost your brand to be a leading voice in your industry.

6. Your company has experienced significant changes recently. (Relevance)

A well-established brand might have built up a solid reputation and customer base over the years, but if the company or industry has experienced significant changes, it may struggle to stay relevant. What buyers expected from a brand ten years ago will be different from what they expect now. Even if the product or service has remained mostly the same, the message and marketing methods will need a refresh to keep up with the competition.

Additionally, if there’s been a change in leadership or in the product offering, it’s best to reflect this new direction in your branding. Consider your new positioning goals and how to make that relevant to today’s buyers.

7. Your business’s reputation needs a boost. (Reputation)

Reviews and press coverage can make or break a business’s reputation. If your brand’s reputation has taken a hit, it’s important to address this as soon as possible. Learn from negative feedback and make it clear that these shortcomings are being addressed.

For example, a business that is seen as detrimental to the environment may want to promote its new sustainability initiatives. These efforts must be genuine and demonstrable. Making a positive change can help your brand emerge stronger.

8. Website search intent is low or declining. (Purchase intent)

While it’s important to increase general awareness around your brand, you also need to make sure a good portion of those visiting your website are coming for the right reasons and are likely to make a purchase. Evaluating your search traffic—website visitor characteristics and the terms they use to find you—can help you determine this. While not everyone who visits your site will be in the market right now, the majority should at least have some interest in your field.

If people aren’t finding your website for the right reasons, you may need to update your content to be more aligned with what high-intent buyers are searching for.

9. Your brand isn’t resonating with your target audience. (Resonance with values)

Who are your buyer personas? Defining these and ensuring your brand values resonate with them is key to maintaining brand health. Resonating with your target audience involves everything from your brand’s tone, look and feel to the values that your brand stands for. You can check this by surveying current customers and those in your target audience about what they know about your brand values and the connection they feel to those and to your brand as a whole.

B2B brands have tended to focus more on making a rational connection to the benefits, but while this works for the short term, an emotional connection with the brand matters in the long term. With so many choices available in the market, a sense of loyalty and affinity may be what attracts and retains customers.

10. Your brand’s message isn’t consistent across channels. (Consistency)

Are you sending mixed messages across channels? Perhaps you’ve clearly defined your brand’s message and values internally and created certain campaigns to represent that, but your website is out of date or the tone of your emails doesn’t match your current brand image.

Wherever prospects interact with your brand, the message should be the same to avoid confusion and enhance recognition. People are constantly bombarded with messages from different brands. If your message isn’t making a consistent impression, it may be overlooked. 

Looking to Remedy Your Brand Health?

If you’ve found that your brand health isn’t where it should be, there are several steps you can take to fix it. Creating thought leadership content can help build awareness and boost your brand’s reputation. Aligning your messaging across channels and clarifying it will also help. 

But perhaps you’ve decided you need a brand refresh or a complete rebrand. In that case, you will want to anchor your brand strategy in data and insights about the people (customers, partners, and employees) who interact with your brand. This is where it pays to work with a specialized B2B branding agency who can lead the discovery process, objectively analyze findings, and win consensus across the team for your new brand strategy. Check out our case study on how we created a bold new vision and identity for Federated Wireless.

For easy reference to check your brand health, download our interactive brand health checklist. And if you’re interested in what we can do for your brand, contact us!