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Looking for inspiration to revamp your B2B website? In this week’s video, we’ll discuss 3 of the best B2B marketing websites that will inspire you. We’ll go over what we love most about each and why you should take notice — and notes. Let’s dive in!
Learn/retain more by reading? We got you. Here is the video above in blog format. You’re welcome.
3 of the Best B2B Marketing Websites #1: Dropbox
I want to start off by talking about Dropbox.
When Dropbox released their new look early October of last year (2017), there was some criticism from the marketing and design community about its new colorful visual identity. And I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the purple reddish color with the light blue color on top. To me, it’s just not the best color combo. But what I do love is that they had such a huge focus on a new design (regardless of its feedback…), yet simultaneously, while all of this was going on some marketer in the Dropbox creative room was like, “Don’t forget about CRO!”
Another thing that I really enjoyed about Dropbox’s website is that they have a very clear offer and form that is directly above the fold with a clear design cue to scroll. They also delineate their two personas above the fold so that you can look at either their “teams” or “individual” plans. This is very smart because even as you scroll, you’re able to understand what Dropbox is doing for each.
Now, design-wise, I’m not entirely sure what the imagery is, but I do like the fact that they did a couple things:
- Took a risk
- Built it for their personas
- Didn’t ever forget about CRO and kept it right there front and center
For those of you who don’t know, “CRO” means “Conversion Rate Optimization“. In other words, driving net new leads was a priority for Dropbox from day one.
3 of the Best B2B Marketing Websites #2: Slack
Now for a second website, we’re going to talk about Slack: “Where work happens.” — At least that’s what they’re claiming.
On the left side of Slack’s site, you’ll notice that they’ve got these fun stylized character illustrations. This is a design element that’s trending right now. If you visit other websites, you’ll see that a lot of other companies are running with this idea in the B2B space in SaaS. I’m not sure who came up with it first, but for now, let’s give the credit to Slack.
What’s great about this is that they went fully branded. They have a call to action, “Get Started“, which you could easily split test. Then as you scroll — they do something a little different — they don’t feature their features. They don’t feature their plans. They keep it really simple.
Once again, you’re seeing a lot more concise menus above the fold. They have social proof: “Discover Why” — which is saying: “Hey, these companies trust us. Click here and discover why they do.” When you click “Discover Why” they take you through their simple 3 step process.
Then, f you want to know more, you can check out the links in their footer or simply click “Discover Why“. That’s it. Slack has one of the shortest homepages I’ve seen in recent memory and what’s great about that is that they:
- Are clear and concise with their copy
- Leverage social proof
- Have a call to action
You can really only look at five options:
- “Why Slack“
- “Pricing“
- “About Us“
- “Get Started“
- “Discover Why“
Slack controls their website experience incredibly well. That’s really unique, and I love it.
3 of the Best B2B Marketing Websites #3: Procore
For our final inspirational B2B marketing website we’re going to go way out there and look at something totally different, and that’s Procore.
What makes Procore so different is that they get deep and personal with their persona. They highlight who they’re targeting and turn on the spotlight upfront and center.
Once you visit their website, you’re going to see a blue-collar dude who they’re targeting. You’re going to see someone speaking up at what looks to be some type of conservative rally. You’re going to see a NASCAR driver. I mean, they’re really doubling down on this construction/blue-collar persona and I think it’s brilliant.
Most companies have this fantasy of who their audience is and the reality is — a lot of us are ashamed of that audience. Procore knows who their target audience is and is unashamed of who they are. They own it and they do a phenomenal job of communicating to them directly.
Then, if you scroll further they immediately go through their features and different use cases for their product — also highlighted with their different personas. Notice that they have the blue collar dude doing project management and the educated woman doing financials. I love this because, whether we like stereotypes or not, the reality is, as a marketer, you need to look at your:
- Personas
- Datasets
- Actual customers
— and then design your website accordingly, and Procore has done that really well.
They also keep it simple with their features. They go with their use cases and their kind of value proposition, “Here’s why you would use us,” and then, they once again leverage social proof. While it seems simple, these types of websites do phenomenally well. How they’re positioning their website is really, really strong, and it speaks exactly to their target persona.
3 of the Best B2B Marketing Websites: Takeaway
In wrapping it all up, here are some of the takeaways from looking at these amazing B2B marketing websites:
- For Dropbox, they own their design and they didn’t forget about CRO
- For Slack, they kept it simple, focused on the messaging, and the funnel they wanted to take you through
- And for Procore, they own their persona. They know who it’s for and they made sure you knew that you were right for them — I love that
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