B2B vs B2C: The Digital Marketing Perspective

B2B vs B2C: The Digital Marketing Perspective

One of the most basic and fundamental rules of marketing is undoubtedly “know your audience.” Without this vital piece of information, we won’t be able to find the market, appeal to them, and close the sale. However, in this newer age of digital marketing, many companies are neglecting to design their marketing strategy with the differentiation between B2B and B2C marketplaces.

One could say that B2B is like LinkedIn and B2C is like Facebook. LinkedIn connections are like-minded business people who analyse your posts for intrinsic worth and you have a moderate to familiar working-relationship built based on previous interactions.

On the other side is B2C marketing, which is more in-line with Facebook postings appealing to the masses. It’s flashy, emotional, less formal and has a shorter life cycle. Rather than educate, its purpose is to catch the viewer’s’ attention and create a reaction. Although this analogy does give us an idea about the way in which B2B and B2C companies leverage digital marketing, there is a lot more detail to the picture. Let’s explore what sets these two apart in the Digital marketing battleground.

Campaign Lifecycle

A key differentiator between B2B and B2C is usually the length of the buyer’s journey. While B2C decisions are often made quite quickly, B2B decisions can take up to 5 years. Digital marketing strategies like lead nurturing are important to support these long lead times. Using marketing automation tools helps us track, monitor and organize leads so sales and marketing teams can focus their efforts based on the lead’s position in their journey.

Target Audience

B2B audiences have an obviously distinct purpose in mind: to make money. The task is to convince them that the tools or products that you have to offer can help them do just that by saving them time, reaching more people, etc. In a B2C setting, your audience can have immeasurable mass appeal depending on your product or service. Just as the market has vast potential and variables, the price point can also range the gamut of possibilities. Most of these purchases are based on emotion and low to moderate product comparisons.

Sales Strategies

Blogs and social media posting are a given for both B2B and B2C marketers; it’s the platform, depth of topic, and tone that are different. B2C companies can be found on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube because these are fun, bite-sized messages where potential customers are hanging out. B2B companies are usually also on LinkedIn, AngelList, and Google+ where people are in a business mindset and are prepared for more sophisticated content like white papers and thought leadership pieces.

Challenges

Regardless of who your audience is, marketing is never easy. The expectation is to be a mindreader to predict which pitch your client will approve of and even more critical, what the customer will buy into, to be unique, creative, and aware of what is trending both socially and in your specific area of commerce.

Beyond these hurdles, B2B marketers have to create stellar content that takes time consuming research and impeccable presentation skills to reach a small pool of clients who may or may not hire them. Conversely, B2C companies have the overwhelming task of standing out in the crowd, reselling their product over and over to create customer loyalty, and appealing to an array of distinct personalities within one audience.

Though the map to get to the final destination is clearly different, the desired result of making a profit is the same and so are the fundamental principles. In B2B and B2C marketing, there are a few things that remain same, the need to communicate powerfully and effectively with the customers because whether it’s B2C or B2B, ultimately it’s B2P, i.e. business to people.