B2C marketing and B2B marketing are two sides of the same coin: they both tap into all the relevant aspects of the Marketing discipline, but experience shows that they are fundamentally different from each other.
Before we dive into how your marketing approach will vary based on whether or not you are marketing to a B2B or a B2C business, it is worth mentioning briefly how B2B and B2C businesses differ from each other:
- To put it simply, business-to-business (B2B) businesses sell products and/or services directly to other businesses. In particular, they sell to the key decision-makers within these businesses. Some examples could be:
- a firm selling software
- a staffing firm selling its staffing and recruiting services to another firm that needs seasonal personnel
- a firm offering cleaning services for offices
- Business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses, on the other hand, sell products and/or services directly to the end customer for their own personal use. Some examples include:
- companies selling personal hygiene products
- clothing companies
- companies offering transportation services
Although in both cases you are selling a product or a service to a person, the driving factor and the motivation behind this person’s choice is what matters the most. When you are doing business-to-business (B2B) marketing, the company you are targetting is usually looking to reduce costs, improve revenue, or streamline processes to increase its efficiency and efficacy. This is why often times B2B purchases are driven by ROI (Return-On-Investment) considerations, logic, business models, and numbers. Business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, on the other hand, is targeting the end consumer and is oftentimes playing with his/her emotions. These types of purchases tend to, therefore, be more impulsive and less rational.
Let’s have a look at the difference between B2C and B2B marketing strategies in more detail.
B2B Marketing
The B2B Audience Size Is Usually Smaller
The marketing strategy of a B2B company will usually target key decision-makers at selected companies who they believe can benefit from their product and/or service. As a result, the set of prospects will be relatively limited.
Furthermore, the potential risk with B2B marketing is slightly higher. For example, one needs to be very careful to not overburden a potential prospect with too much communication.
Too generic of a marketing message could also have a negative effect as the prospect may conclude that that product or service as simply not what they are looking for.
In both cases, the risk of losing this business opportunity can be significant.
B2C firms, in contrast, have a much larger target audience as they are marketing directly to the end consumer, probably sending hundreds of thousands of emails each day with the help of marketing automation programs. Therefore, the risk of losing one potential customer has fewer implications for the business.
ROI Is A Key Consideration
A B2B transaction often takes more consideration, involves more people, and requires more decision-makers. B2B clients often need to prove a return-on-investment (ROI) of their purchase. This is why when marketing to B2B businesses it is really important to be able to prove the value of your product or service and to demonstrate how it can deliver long-term benefits to the company, such as time savings, efficiency gains, cost reductions, etc.
B2B Customers Need A Lot More Information
Decision-makers in B2B companies will make a purchase only when they are sure that the product or service will deliver business value to them. They also need to be reassured much more that they are making the right decision. It is, therefore, important to be able to demonstrate to them that you are the right partner for them:
- you understand their industry and the industry trends
- you understand their business model
- you know what their main challenges are
- you have the right capabilities to help them tackle those
If you can demonstrate that you think critically about their business and that you can be truly a business partner of theirs, you will ensure they will feel less insecure about making a purchasing decision they will regret later on.
Much More Stakeholders Are Involved
When it comes to B2B purchases, many more stakeholders are involved. Rarely is one person the sole decision-maker within an organization. He or she will need to coordinate with the other finance department, the accounting department, his direct reporting line, etc. Therefore purchases tend to take a little longer to take place as a lot more people will be involved in the process. As a marketer, you need to be aware that you are not just marketing to one particular stakeholder but to everyone who will have influence in the decision-making process.
The Purchasing Process Is Longer
As mentioned above, when marketing to B2B companies, one needs to be aware that much more stakeholders are involved, which ultimately means more decision-makers and, therefore, longer buying cycles. Marketers should be aware of this, as this will have implications on their choice of a marketing strategy, but also on their ROI:
- The marketing strategy may need to involve more steps, more interactions, more follow-ups, different approaches (for e.g., a webinar to promote the product or service), etc.
- The Return-On-Investment may take longer to be really quantifiable due to the longer buying cycle
Relationship-Building Is Crucial
B2B contracts tend to be longer engagements and not just one-off sales. The relationship with the company needs to be regularly nurtured as the clients’ business and needs may evolve. Their budget constraints may also change. This is why staying close to the client and their needs is very important.
In addition, given the longer nature of the relationship and the significance of the purchase (a lot of factors have to be considered, such as training for the users, licenses needed, etc.), potential customers oftentimes are less spontaneous and may take longer to make a decision.
Markets need to be aware of this and, most importantly, need to remain patient.
B2C Marketing
The Messaging Is Key
When marketing directly to consumers, the messaging needs to be much more simple, straightforward, and easy to grasp. This is why it is very important to focus on the main benefits of your product or service: What is the pain point it is helping to resolve? Why is it better than the other products or services out there? How will the consumer benefit by choosing your product or service?
The key is to keep the message simple. Avoid business jargon and sophisticated phrases. The less formal you are, the better. Formality and business lingo may be important in building the B2B relationship as it demonstrates professionalism and expertise. However, for B2C customers it may have the opposite effect.
Your audience needn’t do lengthy research to find out what your benefits are. Contrary to B2B clients, B2C customers are not looking to calculate their Return-On-Investment. They are simply looking for a product that can solve their problem and can bring them a personal benefit.
Emotionally-Driven Purchasing Process
B2C customers do not take months to purchase a product or a service. Oftentimes they are very spontaneous. The emotional nature of the purchase is one of the key elements that mark the difference between B2C and B2B marketing. It is therefore important to use a marketing message that is entertaining, fun, and that has an element of originality. You are NOT using marketing to demonstrate, for example, your knowledge of the industry, as is the case of B2B marketing. In B2C marketing you are trying to inspire, entertain, amuse, and surprise your potential audience.
The Nature Of The B2C Relationship Is Different
When marketing to B2B companies you are aiming to develop a longer-lasting relationship with your customers or potential prospects. You are in for the longer term. You understand that they will take longer to make a purchasing decision and therefore you need to nurture them, invest in the relationship, provide information, keep them up-to-date with the latest changes, stay in close contact, etc. This will give them a sense of security that they are making the right decision by selecting a business partner that is credible, informed, knowledgeable of the industry, etc.
B2C customers, on the other hand, are less interested in building a relationship with you. Your goal is to convert them from unknown ‘visitors’ to repeat customers. However, even if they become loyal customers of yours it does not necessarily mean that they will be constantly following your latest updates, interacting with your calls-to-action, or reading your latest article or social media post. Your marketing strategy will, therefore, need to account for this.
Conclusion
The difference between B2C and B2B marketing can be both significant and subtle. At the end of the day, there are only so many marketing strategies and tactics out there. However, having a high-level knowledge of these differences and subtleties is important to make sure you are taking the right approach based on the audience you are targeting.
When marketing to the B2B audience, you may want to focus more on the content. You are there to educate and to demonstrate expertise. You are aiming to become a business partner and not just a temporary intermediary.
When doing B2C marketing, you may want to have a higher marketing budget for ads and social media marketing in order to reach a higher number of people. Quantity may be more important than building a close relationship.
Being mindful of the above will allow you to craft a marketing message that is relevant, tactical, and most importantly impactful.