Getting your message with your digital marketing strategies across to your audience is perhaps the most important part of any business. Below are some proven digital marketing strategies for B2B v/s B2C.
First, let us understand B2B & B2C. The digital marketing message will vary according to who is your targeted audience.
Your marketing message should portray your products, the brand, and everything the brand stands for. Good marketing messages are geared towards evoking emotion in the mind of the consumer.
There are 2 kinds of consumers, the first is B2B or business to business and B2C or business to consumer.
Business to Business (B2B)
Any service or product which is meant for the consumption of businesses is B2B or business to business. They understand and define the problem in their organization, look for solutions and vendors, and make a buying decision. Some examples of B2B companies are Hubspot, WeWork, and Printful.
Business to Consumer(B2C)
B2C or business to consumer is a company where the services or products are meant directly for the end-user. Some examples of B2C companies are Poppin, Target, and Spotify.
B2B and B2C marketing strategies differ in many ways like content, marketing channels, and the most important factor being the targeted audience. Before any marketing strategy is planned or a budget is set, it is very important to have a clear understanding of who your targeted audience is and what drives them to make a purchase.
B2B and B2C customers are different in many aspects. It is important to understand these differences to decide the marketing strategy.
Another consideration when deciding the marketing message is at which stage of the marketing funnel is your targeted audience. The marketing funnel or purchase funnel is basically the various stages that a consumer goes through before purchasing. If you would like to know more about the marketing funnel click here.
Let’s compare the different ways to get the marketing message across for B2B and B2C.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a very effective way to quickly get your marketing message to a large number of potential customers. However, there are a few things to consider before you send out the email like the subject line, content style, and segmenting your audience.
Opt-in forms are the best way to populate your email list. Add an opt-in form on your website landing page, blog page, and about us page.
For B2B
The question to answer before sending an email to businesses is how these services or products are going to solve the problems in their organization or increase their ROI(Return on Investment).
Research your target audience and segment them into different groups according to the size of the organization, industry, pain points, etc. Send separate emails to each group, which are personalized to that group. Personalization of your marketing email goes a long way in getting your message to businesses.
Your email should highlight why using your services or products will solve the problem that has been recognized by the customer. Don’t make the mistake of defining the problem of other businesses. Offer a solution for the problem without making it sound like they are being educated about their own business.
For B2C
B2C consumers are looking for good deals and fun content. Make sure to appeal to your customers’ emotions, not logic.
Emails sent out directly to individuals have a short time in which to capture their attention before they move on. Your content should take advantage of the FOMO effect making customers feel like they are missing out. The call-to-action should be big and bold inspiring immediate action.
Include pictures of your products or services which attract the customer and appeal to their desires. Cross-merchandising i.e when two related products are displayed next to each other is also a way to promote your other products.
Social Media Marketing
Another effective way to market products and services is to use social media channels like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, etc.
A social media presence increases the company’s social value and can play a big role in the minds of your audience.
For B2B
A lot of B2B companies struggle with social media marketing because it is harder to connect with businesses. However, social media marketing for B2B is more about building brand awareness and increasing brand recall.
While social media marketing may not lead to many sales it is necessary to develop. It is the first place potential businesses look for reviews and a general overview of the products or services being offered.
Create engaging educational content rather than an outright sale builds trust with your followers – any of these followers could lead to a sale in the future.
For B2C
Social Media Marketing can be the biggest contributor to the growing sales of your company. Creating quality content for your targeted audience on the platforms they are using is the key to successful social media marketing for B2C companies.
Another important factor to consider while marketing directly to individuals is responding to your customers. Responding to positive and negative reviews is equally important. Acknowledging and responding builds trust and nurtures your relationship with your customers. There are many social response tools available to respond accurately and efficiently.
The recent trend shows that customers are more likely to respond to videos than to read blog posts. Creating interesting and useful videos which demonstrate the use of the products should be a major part of the social media marketing strategy.
Website SEO
A website gives an in-depth view of the products and services being offered to the visitors to the site. An ideal website needs 4 things:
- Design
- Convert visitors into leads
- Speed and stability
- Mobile optimization
For B2B
Since a B2B sale has many decision-makers an easy-to-navigate and straightforward website is essential. Almost all potential customers visit the company’s website before making a decision.
A visually pleasing and professional-looking website is crucial to online success for a B2B company.
1) Design – a simple website with few colors, simple navigation, and a search bar makes the best first impression.
2) Convert – asking the question ‘How can we help you?’ or a similar question with well-designed entry points to get the customers to the right information can immediately increase goodwill for a B2B website.
3) Speed & Stability – the amount of time your website takes to load affects the no. of conversions and also the website’s google ranking.
4) Mobile Optimization – a responsive website that looks great on all devices is equally essential for a B2B website. According to studies, 80% of B2B buyers use mobile at work.
For B2C
B2C websites are selling directly to the customer so the website is designed to make sure the customer buys something. Cross-over merchandising helps to increase sales and ensure that the customer will come back.
1) Design – a B2C website should be easy to navigate but at the same time it should display the items according to the relevant category and criteria. The website is like a brick-and-mortar store so instead of store associates, there should be a search where a customer can find what they are looking to buy.
2) Convert – an important part of the B2C website is the shopping cart experience. Unexpected charges or the payment portal was not working are common problems due to which sales are lost.
3) Speed & Stability – website speed and stability are extremely important because most B2C customers have a short attention span and don’t want to wait. Also, many e-commerce websites update their stock availability live so that customers don’t miss out on good deals.
4) Mobile Optimization – much like B2B websites B2C websites should be optimized for viewing on all devices.
Conclusion
While many aspects of digital marketing to B2B and B2C are similar the approach is different.
B2B companies should ensure their content is educational and is solving a problem that has been recognized by the customer. Since the customer is an organization their content has to appeal to a lot of different people in the organization’s hierarchy.
On the other hand, B2C companies are selling to individuals and they need to ensure their content captures and holds their attention long enough for them to click on the checkout button.
Digital marketing to B2B and B2C customers is all about keeping your marketing message relevant to the target audience and ensuring that it has kept the audience at its center.
Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/b2b-marketing?toc-variant-a=