Why Brand Matters More Than Ever in B2B Digital Customer Journeys

Transaction Advisory

Online brand awareness is often discussed in the context of B2C businesses, but its significance in the B2B sector is also evolving. In today’s complex purchase decision journeys, digital touchpoints are increasingly important, and brand familiarity and trust are shaping how B2B customers research and make decisions. Instead of searching for specific products or services, buyers are increasingly beginning their research with brands they have encountered across online and offline environments.

This shift highlights the need for B2B businesses to prioritise brand-building as a strategic investment. Notably, many traditional B2B activities, such as trade shows and sponsorships, are now driving digital enquiries and searches. Whether intentionally or not, this reinforces the importance for businesses to understand and measure the impact of brand initiatives. Moreover, to fully captalise on this demand, businesses must ‘close the loop’ by ensuring they are well-positioned to convert interest into sales. This includes monitoring competitors bidding on their brand name through paid search to maintain visibility and competitiveness. At Palladium, we help clients analyse key digital KPIs to evaluate digital demand – often at a granular level, such as UK counties or US MSAs and provide insights into competitive positioning as well as the efficacy of brand-building activities.

Reputation audits reveal how a brand is perceived in the market and highlight strategies to build trust and credibility. Reputation, as a core element of brand strength, directly impacts buyer trust and purchasing decisions. At Palladium, our sentiment analysis goes beyond surface-level insights by conducting specific topic analysis to uncover the key drivers of consumer decisions.  This approach not only tracks strengths and weaknesses but also provides actionable recommendations to improve brand perception and even drive advocacy.  

Understanding and leveraging the growing importance of brand in B2B markets can unlock opportunities for businesses to differentiate themselves. While interviews and surveys remain highly valuable for validating and adding depth to insights into brand strength, Palladium’s expertise in leveraging digital data offers near real-time perspectives alongside or in advance of primary research. This approach will help to identify winners and losers, as well as surface practical opportunities to add value through digital strategy, technology, and team development.  

Figure 1. An example of a heavily brand-driven B2B technology sector. Users predominately begin their digital research journey with a brand, reinforcing the importance of brand-building activity across both online and offline channels