Guest post by Robin Mckenzie
Before I explain the key differences between B2B Marketing and B2C Marketing, let me first explain what these two terms mean.
B2B Marketing is business to business marketing while B2C Marketing is business to consumer marketing.
In both cases, a product or a service is being sold, but the difference is in the way you market it.
The purchase motivation differs as well.
Both the consumer and the business have different needs when it comes to purchasing a product. Bear in mind that a business will purchase based on logic, a customer purchases on emotion.
The main differences between B2B Marketing and B2C Marketing are:
1. B2C vs. B2B Markets – Size:
More often than not, B2B markets are small markets. The sales prospects of such B2B markets could be as much as 1000 prospects. On the other hand, B2C markets are much larger markets with sales prospects in the range of hundreds to thousands, and even to millions. The marketing implication of this is that the B2B sales will be less and the focus will be on quality prospects instead of quantity. B2C produces mass prospects but quality is compromised in this case.
2. Marketing strategies:
B2C marketing strategies are consumer oriented. Emphasis is more on the features and benefits of the services or products that are being marketing. Whereas, in B2B the marketing strategies focus on detailed logic and profit. Another difference in the marketing strategies of both B2B and B2C is that B2C strategies are based on the emotional decisions of the consumers.
The consumers’ expectations of a product are taken into consideration when the marketing strategy is being thought of. Logic and knowledge form the base of B2B marketing strategies. No personal emotion is involved between the buyer and seller in B2B marketing.
3. Brand Value:
The way brand identity/value is built in these two markets is another key difference between the two. In B2C markets, brand identity is built on the basis of advertising. Brand identity is built on personal relations, reputation and selling (consultative) when it comes to B2B markets.
Having said that, the Internet is now helping both B2B and B2C markets build up brand value. Social media plays an important role in building brand value for both these markets today.
4. Usefulness of product:
In B2C marketing, the product is mainly bought by household consumers. Therefore, the main focus of marketing in B2C is how the product will benefit the customer and how it will be of use to them. For B2B marketing, the focus is on how the product will be beneficial to a business in terms of saving time, money and resources of the said business.
5. Customer Value:
The lifetime and value of a customer for B2B is high due to the increase in sales cost and the chance of repeating sales to the very same customer. However, the life time and value of a customer in B2C is comparatively lower because repeat sales are lesser and the cost of the individual sale is lower as well.
It is important to understand and take note of the above mentioned differences. They will help you to formulate better and more effective marketing strategies in either B2B or B2C markets.
About the author:
This guest post has been brought to you by Robin Mckenzie of Centurylink, a site that offers savings and current information on consumers’ broadband internet and cable.
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for enlightening me, I find this pretty interesting data and will definitely be of use in helping me grow my blog
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There is a big difference between business to business marketing and business to consumer marketing. We have to take up two different types of approaches while dealing with another business as well as our consumers. We need to possess techniques based on separate objectives to target each of these groups.
Thanks for enlightening me, I find this pretty interesting data and will definitely be of use in helping me grow my blog
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December 12, 2012 at 6:32 am
Great information, Tom, thanks you for sharing. I had no idea there was such a difference in the size range. This is very useful information. Thanks for that.
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Thanks for sharing this post and it was quite interesting reading it.I was not aware of many things that have been discussed in this section.I am looking forward to many more posts.
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December 12, 2012 at 7:43 am
Very informative article. I can see the big difference between B2B and B2C markets. My and anyone else’s choice of marketing strategy are really decided by the market we choose. Thanks Robin, this really helps.
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Nice post and it was quite interesting reading it.Thanks for detailing B2B and B2C marketing so closely.I truly believe that B2C marketing has huge potential to flourish and it has to be focused more on the customer satisfaction and expectations whereas B2B is the other way round taking into consideration the profit margin.
Thanks for sharing the differences between both the marketing strategies.B2C markets are any day large and they are better than the B2B ones.Also we have to focus more on the expectations and satisfactions while developing products for the consumers rather than the profit and margin attained.
Thanks for outlining some of the key differences between B2B and B2C marketing.It depends upon businesses as to which technique they are dealing with.But the B2C market can target a huge chunk of people because the scope is limitless.Thanks for sharing this post and i enjoyed reading it.
I have found this post very useful to me and it is useful for everyone especially to those who have the option of selecting the market.I think the person who has the freedom to select one of these markets will definitely choose the B2C market because of so many advantages offered by it.
I was not aware of the advantages that B2C marketing offers over the B2B marketing techniques and this is better than the business to business marketing technique.It helps you to reach a huge global audience but this is not the same with the B2B marketing techniques which focuses more on the profit aspect.
The best way to discern whether to select B2B or B2C marketing is to understand the supply chain.Also it is very important for us to check the position where our business fits in the supply chain.The biggest advantage of B2B selling is that you are dealing with a target market that is in constant need of products and services to keep their business moving.
Though B2B and B2C marketing both are types of marketing, they are different from each other in their own way. B2B marketing involves a business targeting another business to make sales of products as well as services. On the other hand, B2C marketing is the general form of marketing used to target the consumers.
Thanks for sharing such an informative article about the difference between B2B and B2C marketing.If i had the choice to select between either of these then i would surely choose the B2C marketing over the B2B because of the enormous benefits that we receive while dealing with the consumers.Also we get to target a huge audience in this way.
The sales cycle is very different for both B2B and B2B marketing strategies.Selling a product to a business requires approval from them to buy your product.After the approval is confirmed the product can be delivered.But this is not the case with B2B marketing where the sale depends on the emotions of the customer.
The advantage of B2B marketing is that you stay in touch with businesses that are in constant need of products and services.But the disadvantage is that the market is smaller than the B2c one.Also businesses may choose to sell products and services to both B2B as well as B2C customers but the packaging may be different.
We have to focus on the logic of the product while marketing for B2B and we have to pay attention on the features of the product.There is no personal emotion involved while purchasing a B2B product.Also for B2B we have to be more in depth while marketing because the business people view the product from the profit point of view.
B2B and B2C marketing are very different though people think that marketing is marketing whether you are marketing to businesses or to consumers.B2B depends largely upon relationship building marketing efforts while B2C depend mainly upon the customer satisfaction of the product or service that is offered.The best way to select one of those is to identify your position in the supply chain.
The greatest advantage of B2C marketing is that we are targeting a large audience.We can target a diverse audience or a specific niche depending on our specialization.The only disadvantage of B2C selling is that the customer base is large and segmented.Also we have to determine which customer base that we would like to target.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information and it was quite useful for me.I don’t think that B2B and B2C marketing should be compared with each other because both of them are quite different from each other.Hence it is better to select the one that best suits your business.
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The greatest advantage of B2B marketing is the customer value as this article rightly explains.The lifetime and value of customer is very high in B2B whereas this is not the same for the other.I think this drawback is suppressed due to the large target audience in B2C marketing.
There is a need of a strong brand for both B2B and B2C markets but for different reason.In B2B a strong brand mat encourage a consumer to buy and potentially even pay a higher price whereas in B2B a brand will only help you to be considered and not necessarily chosen.
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The best part about B2B marketing is the repetitive sale because businesses are in constant need of products and services.But at the same time this drawback is overcome in B2C marketing because the market is quite huge and diverse.Thanks for sharing this informative post.
After reading this post i have got some idea about both these marketing strategies.I was not aware that there is so much of difference between both of them.Thanks for sharing this informative article.
The one point that distinguishes B2C from B2B is that in this technique we have to face sophisticated and professionally skilled buyers and they also seek for return on investment.B2B buyers seek for a value from your product and also they have to justify every purchase.
B2B offers many time saving benefits such as increased sales, reduced backing cost and reduced elevated costs.It definitely provides a faster acceptance of the product.It helps to remove geographical fences.Thanks for detailing some amazing distinguishing points.
The best part about B2C marketing is that we get the same price for our products but this is not the same for B2C marketing where the price is lowered when customers agree to place large orders.Another important difference is that B2B transactions are complex whereas this is carried out very easily in B2C
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Thanks for sharing this informative post about B2B and B2C marketing.I was not aware that there is such a huge list of differences though at the end of the game we are selling something.Thanks again.
There is a major difference in the acceptance of the service or product in the B2B as well as B2C marketing techniques.I think the product is accepted very quickly in the B2C technique whereas this is very time consuming in the B2B technique which may involve quotations and many other processes.
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I must say that B2C marketing shrinks the competition gap. and it eliminates middlemen.Also it reduces customer service and sales support service.It also enables for a much better and efficient business relationship.Finally it allows for workflow automation.
The greatest advantage of B2C marketing is that we are targeting a huge and varied audience.We can also specialize in selling to a specific niche group.Hence we have the flexibility to select our target audience and this is something that is really beneficial.
There is a short lead time for B2C marketing while the concept of impulse buy is almost non existent in B2B marketing because there is a chain of commands that has to be followed before a purchase can be completed.This increases the lead time exponentially depending upon the levels that have to be traversed.
Nice and informative post.I was not aware that there are so many differences in these two marketing strategies though it is about selling a product or service.Thanks for enlightening me.
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The best part about B2C marketing is that the market is very huge and varied.We can easily decide on the audience that we wish to target and thereby design our products and services.Also the approval time is very short for this kind of marketing.
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B2B marketing provides for faster acceptance, ordering processes and saving tracking.It allows access to original suppliers.Also due to the wider market suppliers have the potential to increase revenue.Also by automating sales and client backing company can cut over the chief costs around 25-30% well.
B2B marketing helps to reduce the selling and marketing cost without the need for a mediator.By using B2B marketing suppliers can reengineer their supply chain and partnership.Also the most important advantage of all is that it shortens the selling cycle.
The greatest advantage of B2C is that it lowers the cost of doing business by reducing inventory, employees, purchasing costs and order processing costs associated with faxing, phone calls and data entry.In this way the business administration is much easier.
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B2B helps in lowering the cost for selling and marketing.It also shortens the selling cycle.Finally It is a cost reduction technique for the company so as to overcome mediator.Also there is error elimination throughout the ordering and production process.