B2B vs. B2C Marketing: The Core Similarities and Differences Everyone Needs to Know

B2B vs. B2C marketing: What do the two mean, and how does each marketing method differ? Understanding the differences is crucial in developing a marketing strategy for your business.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll take a look at how each marketing strategy works and their distinct goals and help you decide which one will work best to engage your core audience.

What is B2B marketing?

B2B marketing is short for business-to-business marketing. It’s the process by which businesses market their services to other businesses. An example of a B2B marketing goal would be to sell a program management software to a company that organizes citywide events.

B2B marketers need to be able to facilitate relationships between two businesses. The members of a business that make purchasing decisions are typically professionals in their field. They’re not likely to be enticed to buy with emotional appeals.

Businesses need to make calculated decisions about the other businesses they engage. For a B2B relationship to work, there should be mutual trust, and the decision to work together should make sense logically.

A B2B marketer’s job is to forge a bond between two companies. The marketer must then convince one business that purchasing the other’s product will be profitable to their operations.

To do this, B2B marketers advertise technical specifications and conduct market research studies to design logical arguments and sell their products or services. They also try to keep businesses in constant contact to allow a professional relationship to develop.

What is B2C marketing?

B2C marketing is short for business-to-customer marketing. It’s the process by which a business advertises directly to consumers. An example of a B2C marketing goal would be to sell a certain brand of napkins.

B2C marketing requires a strategy designed to reach the everyday consumer. Long ads denoting the technical capabilities and specifications of a product bore the general public. B2C campaigns are tailored to make an audience feel an emotional connection to the product.

A B2C ad will try to capture the attention of a certain type of customer. For example, a B2C ad for an energy drink might feature images or videos of extreme athletes doing complex stunts. The marketer knows that teens and young adults mostly consume the product. The goal is to get their customer base to associate their product or service with an active lifestyle.  

These businesses have very little personal interaction with customers. To gain return business, they need an identity that’s easy to remember and identify with. That’s why they put the majority of their energy into branding.

Even so, it’s difficult for a B2C marketer to build customer loyalty. Without a personal relationship to the business, consumers feel free to use other products from many different brands. For this reason, B2C marketers are constantly creating content to engage their audience.

B2B vs. B2C marketing: Similarities to consider

Although B2B and B2C marketing target different audiences, there are similarities between them and basic marketing methods that work for both. Because of their prevalence, B2B and B2C companies do a large portion of their advertising online. Marketing online offers businesses a cost-effective opportunity to reach broad or specific audiences. In fact, nearly 100% of Americans said they used the internet in 2020.

Both B2B and B2C businesses use Instagram and Facebook. On average, U.S. businesses spend almost three-fourths of their advertising budgets marketing on Facebook (5%) and Instagram (69%). The platforms offer companies the ability to customize ad campaigns to particular demographics.

While effective, television commercials can be extremely expensive to produce. Online video marketing not only costs less, but it also allows for more flexibility. Video is an extremely popular form of content marketing for businesses.

B2B companies can create films that demonstrate their products’ technical specifications and feature them on YouTube ads, banner ads, or even a company website. B2C companies can do the same with engaging content that communicates the emotion they want their brand to evoke.

Some other tools that B2B and B2C marketers use are blogs, Google Ads, and search engine optimization (SEO). In today’s market, all types of businesses must put constant effort into staying relevant online.

B2B vs. B2C marketing: Contrasts to consider

Because B2B and B2C marketing practices need to appeal to separate audiences, the methods used to implement them are different. To implement the right marketing plan for your business, you’ll need to understand the differences between the two strategies.

Finding the right marketing expert for your company can be an arduous task. You may think that you need to find someone in your area, but with current technology, workers can communicate with their clients from anywhere in the world. Remote talent platforms like Upwork can draw from a global talent pool to identify the top workers with the marketing skills that your company needs.‍

Customer relationships vs. branding

While the chief aim of B2B marketing is to form a professional relationship between two companies, the objective of B2C marketing is to develop a popular brand. B2B companies deal in long-term business and don’t have access to the same broad customer base that B2C businesses do.  

While a B2C company can sell to an almost infinite number of consumers, a B2B company may only have a few large corporations that use their service. Because B2B companies may not be able to do business with a massive amount of customers, they should do everything they can to keep positive relations with the ones they do have.

If a B2C company’s product or service gets a bad online review, it’s not a big deal. If the product is made with quality and well known, it will receive enough good reviews to keep the business’s general scores high.

A bad online review for a B2B company can be devastating. Not only can it result in the loss of a customer, but it can also be seen as a red flag that prevents other businesses from engaging with them. If a B2B company gets a bad review, it’s important for the marketer to immediately reach out to the customer to see what can be done to repair the relationship.

Finding a niche vs. broad customer outreach

To sell to other businesses, a B2B company’s product or service should meet a need for the other company. The product can improve business operations or solve a problem. To inspire the confidence of its customers, the B2B company must specialize in a certain service or cluster of services. The specific issue that a B2B company’s product or service addresses is called a niche.

While a B2C product may still appeal to a certain type of customer, its ad campaign should aim to reach as many people as possible. Customers typically don’t put in the same amount of effort or specialized research that businesses do before buying a product.

For example, if a nonprofit corporation needs easy-to-operate accounting software, they’ll likely type in a very targeted Google search like “accounting software for nonprofits,” but if a general customer is looking for new furniture, they might type in a broad Google search like “furniture” to see what’s available.

Both B2B and B2C marketers use SEO to make sure the product’s website ranks high in Google searches. A marketer can do this by ensuring the website uses keywords like “accounting software” and “nonprofits” effectively in its content.

Business speak vs. common language

B2B and B2C campaigns should take their audience into account when deciding what language to use in their advertising. Business professionals respond differently to certain types of language than the general public.

Businesses want to know that the product or service they’ll be investing in is recommended by experts in their industry. Ads aimed at selling from business to business should include technical language, business testimonials, case studies, and any other fact-based, hard evidence that a product will work for them.

There are a few exceptions, like enthusiasts who want the highest-quality gear that money can buy, but for the most part, general customers don’t need the same type of convincing to buy that businesses do. A customer buying a soda likely won’t research its ingredients to make sure it’s the highest-quality soda on the market.

In most cases, B2C consumers don’t want to hear product specifications, technical terms, or sit through boring case studies. Ads targeted toward this group should be easily digestible and clearly written.

Logical vs. emotional appeal

To be effective, a B2B marketing campaign should make a logical appeal to a business leader. The whole point of the campaign should be to show a business why it makes sense for them to purchase a product or service.

Several logical arguments can be used in a B2B campaign. The more specific the arguments, the more credibility they’ll have with business teams. For example, instead of saying “this software will save your company money,” you might say something like, “this software will cut your company’s administrative costs by 23% over the next quarter.”

B2C marketing campaigns are usually designed to make a consumer feel some emotion. The idea is that the consumer will link that positive emotion with their product subconsciously. That’s why car commercials show groups of good-looking friends driving for about five seconds and frolicking on the beach for a whole minute.

Visualizations and catch phrases can be great for advertising directly to consumers. A B2C marketer might use Instagram to reach a young audience. Pictures and videos of cool, young adults laughing and having a great time while a product is prominently featured can really help brand recognition. Hiring a production team can save a marketer valuable time.‍

SERP vs. CRO

It requires a good deal of personal interaction to sell from one business to another, so the goal of online B2B marketing isn’t to make direct sales. Rather, a website for a B2B company should focus on creating leads that can become sales later on.

To generate leads, a B2B marketer should understand the customer base for a product. Google is, by far, the most popular search engine in the world. A marketer will use Google to search keywords related to their service to study the search engine results page (SERP) that pops up. From the top sites on the SERP, a marketer can learn what their target audience wants and use it to design the content of a lead generation website.

Customers of a B2C business don’t have to go through the lengthy purchasing decision process that B2B businesses do. Websites that sell directly to customers can guide a consumer from introduction to sale by using a sales funnel.

To increase the likelihood that a business can make a sale online, a consumer’s experience should be as easy and enjoyable as possible. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the practice of giving a business website the best odds of making a sale. Some CRO practices include creating crisp landing pages, an easy-to-navigate interface, and engaging copy. ‍

Reach any audience with the top marketing talent

The job of a marketing expert can be very complex, depending on who they’re marketing to. Selling from one business to another requires a completely different strategy than selling directly to a customer.

B2B companies need marketing material that is intellectual and pragmatic. Infographics, case studies, and tech manuals can all help to guide a business toward a sale. A B2B company needs to foster long-term relationships with other businesses to survive.

B2C companies prefer marketing materials that elicit an emotional response from a consumer. They know if they can get someone to subconsciously connect a good feeling about their brand, the likelihood of making a sale skyrockets. B2C companies have a wider audience than B2B companies but have a more difficult time building loyal customers.

When hiring a marketer, make sure they have the right skills for your type of business. In the interview, ask what experience they have with your type of marketing, how they plan to generate leads or sales for your company, and what tools they plan to use. The right marketing expert can be a key reason for the success of your business.

However, don’t leave engaging the right marketing professional up to chance. Upwork brings the top independent professionals to your business from all over the world.