Key Takeaways

• When your marketing doesn't match, it's usually because a few vendors worked from different files and nobody compared their work side by side.

• It happens a lot at B2B companies that have grown past the founder approving everything but don't have a marketing team yet.

• Most companies can keep their logo and colours. What they need is one person who owns the brand standards and checks every vendor's work against them.

• That person doesn't have to be a full-time hire. A fractional marketing partner can do it part time.

I hear this on discovery calls all the time.

Someone pulls up their website, then their sales deck, then a photo of their trade show booth, and says, "Our stuff looks like it came from three different companies."

They're usually a little embarrassed about it. I always tell them it's really common and it's very fixable.

Why do marketing materials end up looking like they came from three different companies?

Most of the time, a few different vendors made it, and each one worked from their own files.

• Your web developer built the site a few years ago.

• Someone in business development put the sales deck together the night before a pitch.

• The printer's designer made the trade show banner with your logo and not much else.

Everyone did their job, but nobody looked at all of it side by side.

Who ends up responsible for this at most companies?

Right now, probably whoever's closest to the project.

At a lot of the companies I talk to, that's the

• BD lead signing off on a one-pager

• the office manager approving a print proof, or

• the comms person reviewing website copy between everything else on their plate.

This is what people mean when they tell me they do marketing off the side of their desk.

I don't blame anyone for it. If the printer needs an answer by 3 pm and you have a client call at 3:15, you pick the version that looks fine and move on.

Does it actually matter if our marketing doesn't match?

It does, and it's easy to underestimate. When someone is about to sign a $30,000, $300,000, or $3 million-plus contract, they look at everything. Your website, your proposal, your LinkedIn page. If the deck looks great and the website looks like nobody's touched it since 2019, they notice, even if they never mention it. The cost isn't evident right away, but the lack of trust shows up as a lost deal with no real reason behind it.

Nobody's going to email you to say they picked the other firm because your proposal used a different blue than your website. You'll just hear "we've decided to go in a different direction," and you'll never know why.

How do we fix it without a full rebrand?

You can probably keep your logo and your colours. Here's where I'd start.

First, pull every piece of marketing you have into one place. Your website, decks, one-pagers, social graphics, signage, all of it. Put it on one screen and look at it together. Trust me, nobody needs a slide explaining the problem after that.

Next, pick the version that looks most like the company you want to be, and turn it into a short standards guide with your colours, fonts, logo files, and tone.

Then give one person the job of owning it. Your company needs somebody who's going to hold that standard, whether the vendor is building a website or printing a banner for a trade show. Somebody whose job includes saying "close, but that's the wrong green."

That person doesn't have to be a full-time hire. I do this for clients as a fractional partner, working part time alongside their team, so every buyer who looks you up sees one consistent company and walks into the first call already trusting you.

FAQ

Does fixing inconsistent branding require a rebrand?

Probably not. In most cases your logo, colours, and fonts are fine. Each vendor is just using them a little differently, and nobody's checking the work against the same standard.

Who should own brand consistency at a at a growing B2B company?

Someone who has marketing as part of their actual job and can send work back when it's off. That person doesn't have to be full time. I do it for clients as a fractional partner.

What's the difference between a marketing coordinator and an embedded marketing partner?

A coordinator usually makes the materials. An embedded partner like me sets the standard, briefs and manages the vendors who make the materials (but can also make the materials themselves), and reports to your leadership team, without being on your payroll full time.

Get in touch

If this sounds like your company, here's how I work with B2B companies on it. I'll help you get every asset, from your website to your next trade show banner, looking like the same company your clients already trust.