Marketing is a world split into many different pieces. However, one of the easiest ways to segment or identify certain strategies is to split them into two groups: B2B and B2C. While both aim to drive growth and engagement, they obviously tend to different audiences with different goals, aspirations, decision-making processes, and purchasing behaviors. Today, we’ll walk through some of the major differences between B2B marketing and B2C marketing.
Business-to-Business would suggest the focal point of B2B marketing is to build and nurture relationships between different businesses and their decision makers. You first want to connect with the business and professional buyers who might be interested in your products or services. One of the biggest selling points with B2B marketing is how your product or service can improve the target buyer's operations or bottom line – because who doesn’t like more money? These buyers are typically more interested in the expertise and ROI that your product or service can offer, rather than emotional appeals.
Within B2B marketing we see longer, more extended sales cycles. The reasoning can be multifold, however, it’s mostly because decisions aren’t made by one person but by multiple stakeholders who each take their time to evaluate their options before committing to a purchase. If you’re the leader of any B2B marketing team, you have to emphasize not only immediate value, but also the long-term value and benefits of your offer. To help out, add some case studies, white papers, and product demonstrations to add to the ammo.
We’re done with the big fish now. On the B2C marketing side of the coin, we have a focus on individual buyers. While they won’t get fired from their job if they buy your product or service, they might get the downs 2 weeks down the road which is why creating emotional connection is key. Take a focus on highlighting the experience and enjoyment of your product or service and push it to the typically wider net of an audience.
In terms of sales cycles, B2B has a shorter cycle. Your buyers are quick to make a decision because of the impulse and emotional push for your offer being an “immediate need.” You won’t need any case studies, white papers, etc. however, you’ll need to refine your persuasive writing, vibrant imagery, and personalized offers to capture the attention of the buyer and drive sales.
B2B Marketing focuses on building and nurturing relationships (with both the business and decision makers), targeting businesses, and focusing on the benefits you can provide such as ROI. There are longer sales cycles due to the multiple decision makers as well and you’ll usually need some sort of backup to push the sale such as case studies, white papers, or a referral.
B2C Marketing appeals to an individual and doesn’t necessarily need anything besides emotional benefits and experiences to push the sale. Because of this, there are shorter sales cycles which helps to target a broader audience.
Understanding the differences between B2B and B2C marketing allows you to fix up your strategies to effectively build out messaging and approach which aligns with your audience, whether it’s a business or an individual.