Understanding the difference between B2B and B2C marketing is essential in the business world. These terms mark a significant divide in the methods that businesses use to find success, and failing to acknowledge those differences is a big mistake.
We’re going to look at these two types of marketing today, exploring their differences, their similarities, and what each one of them means. Hopefully, the ideas below can give you a good idea of what you need to do to tune your marketing approach to your business.
Let’s get started.
What’s The Difference Between B2B and B2C?
B2B refers to “business to business” marketing, while B2C refers to “business to customer” marketing.
The primary difference between them, as the name suggests, is the target of the marketing efforts. One business is marketing to other businesses, while the other is marketing to customers. That distinction is easy to understand, but the difficulty lies in understanding why those things are different in their approach to marketing.
Let’s take a look at each one of these methods individually and get a feel for what they take.
What is B2B Marketing?
B2B companies tend to offer things like services, pieces of software, or large-scale offerings of products that businesses can use. Generally speaking, businesses that are looking to make a purchase don’t do so lightly.
A company or business that needs to take on new software, for example, isn’t going to make an impulse decision. The same goes for large amounts of different product offerings.
Another example could be a business that’s ordering something as simple as paper towels. There are a lot of considerations that go into that decision, and different factors could have large implications on price.
The choice to buy something is a lot different when you expand it to a large scale. Further, the person making the purchase might not be the business owner, and might not even have any direct interaction with the thing they’re buying.
That means that the individual or team making the purchase is going to take their time. They’re going to explore all factors, weigh pros and cons, and be objective with their decision.
In some cases, their job depends on making the right choice. So, what does that mean for marketers?
Long-Interactions
For one, the sales process can be laborious. B2B marketers have to have a strategy for the long game and understand the process in stages. The sales funnel is a lot more pronounced in these dealings.
Customers might express interest, but you have to follow through and engage them to get them into the position to make a purchase. Further, B2B marketers must have the ability to describe and present their products in a way that’s engaging to customers.
Customers will want to know almost everything about the product, the package that you’re offering with it, and any support that your company might offer. Relationships are important in B2B marketing as well, considering that you’re in close contact with the individuals making the purchase.
What is B2C Marketing?
B2C marketing is more rapid-fire. The volume of sales is more important in B2C marketing because there’s less personal effort required in each sale.
In many cases, marketing to a customer is a short process relative to marketing in B2B situations. Part of your job might be to make things as easy as possible for the customer to follow through the sales funnel without having questions.
The advertisements, descriptions, and images of the products you’re selling are very important in B2C marketing. That’s because the interactions that your customer has with the brand exist almost entirely online.
They might not reach out to representatives from your company at all. Many instances include the customer seeing an ad, clicking on the ad, following a link, and making a purchase.
It’s not always that simple, but that’s the ideal process in most B2C instances. In other cases, your B2C experience might look a lot like B2B marketing. It depends on the cost and significance of the thing that you’re selling.
For example, selling a house is very similar to a B2B process. You market a large and important product to customers and need to establish personal connections for things to work. The same goes for things like cars, contracting businesses, diamond rings, and other expensive purchases.
Overlap Between The Two
Both of these marketing forms have a lot in common. For one, the sales funnel exists in both. Different aspects of the funnel might be more or less important, but it’s still there.
The individual has to become aware of your business, express interest, cultivate desire, and follow through with the purchase. Any description of the sales funnel that you see will include those factors.
Further, both of these methods can be benefited by things like PPC marketing and other digital marketing efforts. Getting visibility online is almost always the best method to enter the awareness phase.
Social media platforms and search engines are great places to position advertisements. Further, search engine optimization is an effective way to increase visibility on search engines. SEO results tend to stick around for a long time, too, and it doesn’t cost money to succeed.
It might cost some time and money to get your content into a fighting position, but the actual placement is free. Working with a marketing company like SalesHive is one of the best ways to see results.
It’s possible to work through some of these marketing issues on your own, but there are people who manage these things for a living. The results you get from a professional firm will be much more impressive than the ones you get yourself.
Want to Learn More About Marketing?
Hopefully, the information above gave you a better idea of the difference between B2B and B2C marketing. There’s a lot more to learn about, though. We’re here to help you with more insight.
Explore our site for additional information on B2B marketing, ways to help different types of businesses online, and much more.
