These are questions we often ask ourselves whether we are in one type of business or another. And truth be told, although we always sell to people, it is very different to do so directly to a consumer or to a business.
Let's start from the beginning, defining the main characteristics of both models and their sales processes.
What characterizes a B2C business?
A B2C or Business to Consumer business is one whose products or services are designed to be used directly by consumers. Consumers in this case are understood as individuals who have a need to be satisfied by this product or service.
Common examples might be the sale of clothing, mobile phones or restaurants. In the case of services, examples might be hairdressers or appliance repairs. In the digital world, portals such as Amazon facilitate B2C commerce, although there may also be more direct models between producer and consumer, as in the case of Dell.
These examples make it clear that distribution chains can have different lengths for this type of business. In addition, distributors may have a greater or lesser role in the purchasing decision. However, the important thing in any case is to remember that the person who makes the decision is the individual who will use our product or will benefit from our service .
What characterizes a B2B business?
Business to Business businesses, on the other hand, are focused on meeting the needs of another business with their products and services. Examples of this type of business are companies that produce specific software or marketing agencies.
Essentially there are four B2B business cases:
Companies that sell raw materials, parts, pieces or equipment necessary for the operation of other industries. Our previous example of software falls into this category.
Companies that offer specific services to other companies, such as consultancies, management companies or law firms.
Companies that sell their products to other companies so that they can sell them for them.
In this type of transaction, more than one person is usually involved : the person in charge of finding the supplier, the person who will be the end user of the product or service, the person who makes the decision to buy it, the person who will maintain it, the person who pays, etc. That is why this type of sale usually has a slower and more complex process .
5 Key Aspects That Differentiate B2B Marketing and B2C Marketing
Who is the client?
In any inbound marketing strategy, the first step is always to define the customer. More than the customer, the buyer persona, that is, to create a detailed profile of the motivations, frustrations and objectives of that person who is looking for our product or service.
In its most basic definition, the customer is the one who pays.
This concept seems clear for a B2C business, where the user or consumer of the product is generally the one who pays . Although this does not always have to be the case. Let us imagine, for example, that we sell toys for children; in this case our clients could be mothers, although the users are their children. Another example could be the purchase of a car or a family home, cases in which the decision is probably consensual.
The complexity of defining the customer in B2C businesses is that the same product is often sold to different buyer personas . For example, imagine that you sell flowers, then you have to think about all the types of people who want to buy them: someone who gives a gift to their partner, to a newborn, someone who buys them for themselves, etc. It is essential that you define all the different people interested in buying from you, as well as the appropriate content and channels to reach each of them.
On the other hand, B2B businesses usually gambling data vietnam have more clearly defined market segments , since B2B products or services are usually designed to meet very specific needs.
The difficulty in this case is in the group of people involved in making the decision , since although it may be just one person who comes into contact with you, there are surely more behind them. In this case, the important thing is to define the people who are most commonly involved in the decision-making process and their roles, in order to be able to create useful content for each of them as the process progresses.
Decision making process
As we mentioned before, a sales process for a B2B business is more complex . Therefore, it extends over a longer period of time and involves more people. In this case, it is important to establish a close relationship with the client and to know their own timeframes. It is necessary to give the client time to learn about our product or service and compare it with others, but without disappearing from their top of mind .
From an inbound perspective, we can do this by creating useful content that answers questions that people in our sector commonly ask.
But we must not only answer the questions our interlocutor asks, but also those asked of him. If, for example, we sell training software, in addition to the questions of the person who contacts us, we must answer technical questions from their technical support department, etc.
On the other hand, in a B2C business the decision is usually more impulsive and linked to emotions . The complexity of the purchasing process will be determined by the expectations and the risk that the consumer has to assume to access the product. For example, buying a laptop is not the same as buying a chocolate bar. On the one hand, the investment in the chocolate bar is lower and, in addition, the time in which we expect to obtain a benefit from that investment is much shorter.
However, this does not mean that the B2C customer journey is linear and simple.
A B2C brand customer also does research and takes their time, especially when it comes to products or services that involve a higher risk. That’s why it’s important to create content for each stage of the buying process. From the moment the customer recognizes that they have a need to satisfy, to the point where they’re standing in a store with their mobile phone in their hand trying to decide between two brands.
Contents
When you are marketing to a B2B company, the important thing is to focus on hard data, that is, on the logical reasons why a company would buy the product or service .
It is important to have a thorough understanding of each client's organizational structure and how they operate. This will help determine the number of people involved in the decision-making process and what is important to each of them.
In B2B, it is key that our message communicates what the product or service does to improve current conditions in our client company . We should always develop content that presents in-depth data to demonstrate how this product or service will save the client time, money, and other resources. As well as providing security: if something fails, what will happen?
When it comes to marketing for B2C businesses, the most important thing to convey in our content is the benefits that the customer obtains from our product or service .
As the purchasing process is shorter and more emotionally-linked, customers are likely to encounter our brand several times before buying what we sell.
According to a post by Sprout Social , over 75% of people have purchased products they saw on social media. However, a person has to see that product 2-4 times before buying it. Considering that the main reason for unfollowing a brand on social media is the amount of promotional messages, what to do?
Therefore, in the case of B2C, the messages should be more about the customer and the benefits they will get after using your product or service. More than hard data, it is important to highlight that we understand the customer's problems and frustrations, and show them the final result after the purchase.
It is important to note that social media is only one of the channels through which our B2C customers can find us. In this case, it is important to pay attention to “ micro-moments ” and be present on as many channels as our customers are present. Accompanying the customer in these micro-moments will help brands with long distribution chains regain some of the control they lose by including intermediaries.
