The Difference Between B2B and B2C Marketing
B2B Marketing is a marathon
Although both business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing targets people, there is a fundamental difference between B2B and B2C marketing. At the core, businesses that market to other businesses are relationship driven, whereas businesses that market to consumers are product driven. Think of B2C as a sprint and B2B as a marathon.
The initial marketing strategies are typically the same for both, however, what motivates the purchase is inherently different. When companies make buying decisions, they have different needs and complex requirements than consumers. For instance, B2B markets are smaller but the sales cycles are longer (can take years depending on the product), making the relationship itself a critical piece of the sale. It is not uncommon in a B2B sale that the people (or brand) standing behind the product or service end up being the deciding factor.
No one ever got fired for buying IBM
Business marketing tends to be less emotional and more logical or rational than consumer marketing because the purchasing process and the information required for making purchasing decisions is much different. That being said, business purchases are often made with their fair share of emotion since people still have to deal with people and, at times, incredibly engaging brands (like IBM). And since B2B is relationship driven, it becomes a more personal, one-to-one process, making the emotional connection with the people and the brand just as prevalent in some situations.
B2B vs. B2C
- Company to company sales
- Relationship driven
- Personal negotiation process
- Small markets
- Long sales cycles
- Educational activities
- Rational buying decisions
- Business value
- Company to consumer sales
- Product Driven
- Mass media and retail process
- Large markets
- Short sales cycles
- Merchandizing activities
- Emotional buying decisions
- Status and desire value
Insight, Strategy, Creative, Metrics
Even though the outcome between B2B and B2C is different, the fundamental principles of marketing for both is virtually the same.
- Marketers still have to unearth the right insights in order to successfully match the strengths of the products and services with the needs of the market.
- The subsequent marketing strategies must position the products and services to align with the market’s buying behavior.
- The execution of the creative, content, messaging and communication must successfully resonate with the market and demonstrate the business value to the point of making the sale.
- Automating the marketing process and building in measurable metrics must also be implemented so that management can determine what’s working and what isn’t.
Have any thoughts or insights to share about B2B vs. B2C marketing? Let us know below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).
Good article.
I agree the fundamentals are the same in B2B and B2c. In my experience the differences in execution tend to show up as a result of product / service complexity, higher cost, higher risk, number of people involved in the purchase decision, how specific the target niche and whether the offering is a commodity, an intangible and how far along the adoption curve we are.
One could argue these extreme situations exist in some consumer categories as well. This muddies the water further as to the differences between B2B and B2C. Perhaps the issue we marketers face is whether we are dealing with a simple low cost, tangible, mass market offering or a complex, high cost, intangible niche market sale?
What do you think?
Hi John
Thank you for the response and good points made, as they create some other questions to consider. From our standpoint we agree that with B2B marketing, there tends to be elements at stake for the decision maker(s), things other than dollars and cents. Those “elements” create a need to ensure that the marketing/communication addresses the buyer(s) total (read: multiple) needs vs a smaller portion of needs within the B2C presentation. I agree that as stakes go up the tone of the conversation must be more legitimate and professional in both segments.
What we like to point out when we deal with B2B marketers is that they can take a lessons from the frontrunners in the B2B marketing space (Intel, Cisco to name a tiny few) and attempt to communicate more human vs corporate in order to make stronger connections with the humans who are making the choices regardless of the complexity of the sale. We are confident that the idea will catch on as sharing continues to migrate from the B2C space into everyone’s communication.