Antonio A
Internet Marketing Strategist. Founder at Tangelo. Internet Marketing and Technology Services
B2B vs. B2C Internet Marketing. Difference or Excuse?
What is your take on B2B vs. B2C Internet Marketing?
Take into consideration social media and the behaviors of people online. Is there really a difference between the way you would market B2B vs. B2c clients or is the B2B tag an excuse to run behind the curve?
Answers (12)
I would distinguish between two aspects of marketing -- vehicles and content.
As far as vehicles are concerned, you may have a point that a B2B customer interacts with the web/Internet much like a consumer. So, exploiting social networks, blogs, keyword searches, etc. represent marketing vehicles that may work both ways.
As far as messaging, content, and visuals, I believe there's a big, fundamental difference in B2B from B2C marketing.
Depending on the industry, B2B requires various levels of relationship building that B2C does not so there would need to be significant attention paid to how each vehicle will be used in light of what the relationship needs to be through the sales cycle as well as once you have established a customer.
That's my short take.
Carole M
College Professor - Business
Best Answers in: Customer Relationship Management (1), Lead Generation (1), Enterprise Software (1)
B2C marketing is about short sales cycles and using demographics to hit large numbers of potential customers who may be interested in buying your good or service.
B2B marketing is about long sales cycles and using technology strategically to get a prospect from one stage of the sales cycle to the next.
B2C marketing tends to be a lot more sophisticated about branding, and about analytics than B2B marketing.
That stuff is important to B2Bs but in a different way. B2B tends to deal with a smaller pool of prospects, with different buying roles, so it's more high-touch.
Why do you ask? One really good resource is www.eloqua.com which has a sophisticated tool for analyzing web activity, specific to the issues of B2B marketing.
Peter P
Independent Marketing and Advertising Professional
Best Answers in: Advertising (9), Internet Marketing (2), Compensation and Benefits (1), Business Development (1), Writing and Editing (1)
I've created a great deal of advertising and promotional material for both markets, at one time heading up a "specialist business to business agency" and I can tell you that the big news is this:
Business people eat, drink, got to the toilet, make love, watch t.v., hate, cheat, lie, become heroes, commit crimes, and are mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers just like everyone else.
Those who don't know about people or business think you have to approach businesspeople with a pitch full of jargon. And they inevitably create very poor work which has very little effect.
A unique and interestingly put proposition works everywhere.For everyone. Except of course, for those who don't have a unique and interesting proposition to put to anyone. They just start trying to make excuses for the lack of creativity and accompanying lack of results.
Hi Antonio,
Interesting question. My company specializes in B2B marketing and being in the Bay Area we have access to technology resourses that I think push the curve....so to speak.
One major difference between the two: B2C marketing more or less targets a single individual where as B2B marketing could involve multiple people in the purshasing process. The more people involve, the more complex the sales cycle.
Maurice
maurice@revcatalyst.com
Carine J
Founder and Brand Specialist of White Tangerine, a brand-centric communications and design studio
Consumers today are smart and picky. Marketing to a specific niche requires you to understand what makes them tick - trending, focus groups and positioning are essential to your success.
I don't think that B2B marketing is necessarily "behind the curve" - but it is typically more straight-forward.
This is actually one of the reasons why our studio specializes in B2C branding & marketing for fashion, retail, service & hospitality. We love consumers :)
Links:
I would say in general there is not that much of a difference at the end of the day the same things that stimulate customers in the B2C market work in the B2B market, however I would add I believe brand building is far more vital to establishing trust and good relationships with the consumer in the B2C market.
Abdul R suggests this expert on this topic:
can't help but think of Derrick when i read this question
there is a huge difference between internet behavior of people looking for B2B and B2C services or products. In B2B services or products, the end user is the professional or expert of that particular domain(business or industry), he/she look for every aspect of prospective deal, they know what exactly they are looking for by all means, they require to take a decision for the business, company or organisation... thus they need consultation with other officials of business... this turn into long sale cycle in B2B. While B2C clients are individual mostly take their decision on their own and take decision relatively in short time.
Einat A
Owner at Marketing First
Best Answers in: Business Development (3), Internet Marketing (1), Web Development (1)
As Maurice pointed out, B2B deals often involve a several people, and they all
need to justify their decision.
A buying decision always has an emotional component and a rational one,
but for businesses the emotional part should be less obvious, and the
decision has to look rational and objectively justifiable.
That's why technical papers and success stories are so important in b2b.
I've worked with both types of companies, and b2b sites tend to require
much more content than sites targeting consumers.
Rick D
3D Web User Interface Designer / 3D artist / Graphic Designer
Best Answers in: Web Development (7), E-Commerce (2), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Graphic Design (1), Distribution (1), Blogging (1)
Yes there are fundamental differences between marketing to other business people as opposed to consumers. The way I see it, you should try to "cast a larger net", so to speak when marketing to consumers. An example of this is that if you were to use a social networking site like Facebook to market to consumers it would be a good idea to have a number of "seeder" profiles on the site and to try to gain a large number of friends on the site who could then be asked to join a Facebook group that you have created. By using this group, announcements could then be sent out to the group members that could aim to get them to your site or to do some other action relating to your business. While a similar approach may work for business to business marketing, I think that the overall level of interaction needs to be greater such as you need to be willing to talk on the phone with a potential client and to give them extra attention at an earlier time. With B2C marketing, there is little reason to invest much in a potential customer at an early date since the pay-off is likely to be lower than a B2B customer.
Mirek P
e-Strategist, e-Consultant; owner @ OPEN4net [LION: mpolyniakATgmail.com] pharma focus!
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (3), Compensation and Benefits (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Events Marketing (1)
B2B and B2C are really different online, the same as offline.
Different channels, different media, different ad forms
Tom B
Marketing Manager at Net Atlantic, Inc.
Best Answers in: Advertising (1), Direct Marketing (1), Writing and Editing (1)
You ask "...is the B2B tag an excuse to run behind the curve?"
It certainly is used as an excuse all the time by company leaders and marketers, who may understand the resources required but do not yet know how to create a social media strategy.
The expectations are different with business users and consumers, but I agree with a lot of the answers that their behavior is the same. You need to appeal to their needs and their level of trust. How to build trust? The same way you do in the real world; Superior and consistent products and services, delivered by knowledgeable people who care about their product and the customer, and can recite the core values of their company at the drop of a hat.
Then the happy customer can mention the company online, just as they would in the real world. Create rewarding initiatives that invite them to do so, which is not nearly as hard to do online as it is in the real world.
The downside is that it won't work if your product or service is sub-par, or if your service delivery personnel are not well-versed about the company. The benefit will be that you get feedback. Leaders who do not see the value of an internal marketing and service tracking strategy will lose out on advocacy-building in the real world and online.
