What's the Difference Between B2B and B2C Marketing?
Have you ever wondered, what is b2b and b2c? Well, B2B is short for ‘business to business’ while B2C is ‘business to consumer’, and are the main two categories that any business will fall under. Read on to uncover the core differences of these consumer types and how to market to both.
The main differences of B2B and B2C
B2B marketing is usually about selling to other businesses. It focuses on the needs of a business and the people within it. Whereas B2C marketing is about selling to consumers. It focuses on customer needs and wants, which are often different from those of a business.
B2B Marketing
If any of the following examples of products resonate with you, you probably have a business that will require B2B marketing rather than B2C. Having a business that sells computers, software or software subscriptions, security solutions, varying tools, office equipment, office stationery or anything else in this kind of area. With this in mind, where do you begin?
How to market B2B?
Marketing B2B is a bit different than marketing to consumers. It is more about the needs of the business and less about the needs of the customer. The core difference between B2B and B2C marketing is that in B2C, you are promoting products to consumers, while in B2B, you are selling solutions to other businesses.
Tips to improve your B2B marketing approach
B2B marketers have to be mindful of the following:
- Understand the different types of buyers and their needs.
- Build a buyer persona for your B2B product.
- Identify who is in charge of making decisions in your target company and what their decision-making process looks like.
- Create a marketing strategy that will appeal to these decision-makers or influencers.
- Find out how they prefer to consume content, whether it be through email, webinars, social media, etc. 6) Learn how to communicate with them in their language (industry jargon).
- Develop an effective sales pitch that will close the deal for you.
B2C Marketing
If you are a business that relies on individual people purchasing products from you, then you will probably go down the B2C marketing route. You’ve just read all of the above about B2B marketing so what’s the difference with B2C marketing? A lot of the above still applies in the sense that you will need to do your research, have a good website, need to identify your niche and keep tabs on your analytics, but you have a bit more freedom creatively in terms of what social media platforms you use and how you can present yourself online.
How is B2C different from B2B?
It is also easier to change your approach by keeping up with pop culture trends and staying relevant. You also don’t run the risk of over-saturation in the same way businesses do because they’re only so many ways you can jazz up office equipment to corporate bodies. Think of the bread aisle in your local supermarket and how many brands of bread there are to choose from. They’re all essentially the same loaves but they all still sell! Like Hovis, you just need to find and connect with your people. How? Well, let’s discuss.
Understand your Customer
It’s really important as a B2C business to understand the psychology behind customer decision making. We’re not suggesting that you put your business dreams on pause to go and grab a degree in psychology, but what we’re saying is to read some articles and possibly some books on consumer psychology to really try and wrap your head around the process. You could even look at or purchase from some of your favourite brands or your competitors to understand how they approach this process and make notes about what you like and what you would improve on.
Then, ideally you should have an idea of your ideal consumer/target audience and take a bit of time getting to know them and how they behave. Finally, get experimenting! There is no one size fits all when it comes to marketing a business and, with the emergence of new platform features like reels/guides on Instagram and relatively new social platforms such as TikTok, the possibilities are endless. The only limit is your creativity.
Finally, analyse analyse analyse then test, test, test. It’s a cycle that will continue to go round and round until the end of time.
B2B and B2C Marketing For Exhibitions
In terms of events, there are exhibitions and trade shows for both B2B markets and B2C markets. The B2B events are for businesses wanting to sell their products and or services to another business and the majority of events, especially in the UK tend to be B2B. B2C exhibitions and trade shows are for businesses selling directly to the public or direct customer. In these events you can most often buy products directly from the show, whereas at a B2B event most of the sales are in the follow up post event. B2B exhibitions and trade shows are essentially for lead generation, whereas B2C exhibitions and trade shows are more focused on on the spot sales.
If we covered all B2B and B2C marketing practices, we’d be here all day but, hopefully, we’ve been able to give you a little bit of clarity on the difference between B2B and B2C marketing, which category your business falls into and how to begin your marketing journey into either of these sectors. Remember, not everyone has it figured out in the beginning so just take it slow and, most of all, enjoy the process!