B2B and B2C Marketing – Not As Different As You Think

There's a lot of business marketing content that emphasises the differences between marketing strategies geared towards businesses as opposed to consumers. You can find a plethora of articles with titles like “digital marketing B2B vs B2C”, “B2B versus B2C marketing differences” or “social media marketing B2B vs B2C”.

While there are certainly some valid differences, there’s also plenty of overlap between the two areas. This brings up an important question: Do we have a demarcation in our heads between "people" and "businesses" that's no longer true? Are those differences dissolving?

Research suggests that yes, they are.

A growing body of literature is talking about how B2B marketing and B2C marketing are becoming more alike due to technological innovation and changing customer expectations. While it’s important to acknowledge key differences between B2B and B2C, we want to explore how both forms of marketing are similar. By understanding these similarities we can improve our ability to successfully market to businesses, both on a personal and professional level.

What is B2B and B2C?

B2B stands for business-to-business. These are companies who primarily do business with other companies or organisations. But business relationships are human too.

Before diving too far into the topic, it’s important that we first have a clear understanding of what is meant by B2B and B2C.

What Is B2B?

B2B stands for business-to-business. These are companies who primarily do business with other companies or organisations. Traditional marketing wisdom maintains that B2B marketers should approach business purchasers on a rational level, using logic and education to connect.

What is B2C?

B2C stands for business-to-consumer. It refers to brands that focus on selling to individual consumers instead of other companies. According to the standard marketing narrative, consumers are less rational about purchase decisions. Therefore, B2B marketers should appeal to people on a more emotional level.

Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing

It seems simple enough. Business-to-business is based on rational arguments while business-to-consumer is rooted in emotional ones. Following this set of assumptions, here are some of the most commonly cited differences between the two marketing approaches:

• The decision makers — B2B marketing efforts target a team of decision makers. B2C targets individual consumers.

• The decision-making process — B2B businesses want to be educated versus B2C customers, who want to be entertained.

• The time it takes to convert — In B2B sales the buying cycle is generally much longer than the consumer buying process.

• Relationship-quality — B2B lead generation is based on building long term relationships. B2C marketing focuses on short-term connections.

However, removing the blinkers of “B2B marketing= rational” and “B2C marketing = emotional” allows us to see just how far astray we’ve been led by these generalisations.

The Changing Nature of B2B Marketing

Research is showing that business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing is converging. Or, more accurately, we are becoming increasingly aware of the human element in business purchasing. 

Based on three decades of B2B research, the Harvard Business Review identified 40 fundamental “elements of value” that B2B customers use when making a decision. These elements are divided into five categories: table stakes, functional, ease of doing business, individual, and inspirational.

As you can see, it’s not all about numbers. Indeed, HBR found that beyond meeting price, specifications or regulatory needs “...considerations such as whether a product can enhance the buyer’s reputation or reduce anxiety play a large role.”

This is further supported by research from Deloitte Digital. Over three years, they found that organisations that create a “human experience” (e.g. aligning to the values of their customers, workforce and partners) were twice as likely to outperform competitors in terms revenue growth. They also experienced 17 times faster store growth. 

As highlighted in LinkedIn’s excellent article The B2B marketing growth formula – from Mark Ritson, Les Binet and Peter Field:

“Appealing to the rational side of B2B buyers can work for immediate activity driving sales and leads. It makes sense for short-term activation. However, it’s hard to build a brand that will give you long-term competitive advantage if you can’t generate creative ideas that resonate with audiences on an emotional level.”

This is hardly a new phenomenon. B2B and B2C branding methods have been quietly converging for quite some time. However, the business marketing field isn't fully receptive to that fact. 

Similarities Between B2B and B2C

We believe that there is a kind of cultural demand upon business buyers to demonstrate they're only making rational, business-led decisions. However, research shows that there have to be rational benefits as well as emotional pull.

Personal Engagement

When building an evaluation spreadsheet most business people would recognise that they’ll include an extra “x factor” column for noting their gut feelings about potential vendors. And that focus on experience gives us the greatest scope for affinity in B2B marketing.

Imagine that your company is a new player in your field. In addition to providing comparable products or services, you need to add emotional appeal to convince customers to take a chance by switching away from their current supplier.

Like consumers, businesses are also influenced by status symbols. For example, in the corporate branding world, it says something about your company if you can hire McKinsey. And that's emotional branding. Pure and simple. Being the kind of organisation that can work with McKinsey, can afford to buy McKinsey compared to other consultancies. It says you’re in a certain league. And that's no different from an individual consumer buying Dior.

Where and how B2B buyers engage with potential suppliers has changed. A lot of their research and discovery will be on tablets and phones - the same devices they use for their B2C purchases. Being in ‘work mode’ does not feel so different, so expectations of quality and emotional reward from brands are becoming more similar.

Brand Awareness

Another thing that is true for both B2C and B2B companies is that brand awareness and market penetration matter.

On a personal level, if you see something is used a lot by other people then you're more likely to consider it for yourself. The same thing applies to B2B. You're more likely to consider Zero for your accounting needs if you know that it's widely adopted by businesses like you. It gives you a favourable impression towards them.

While not often spoken about, another factor is career advantage. To advance in most organisations, an employee needs to demonstrate that they are a good decision maker. It’s something that will be weighing on people’s minds as they consider what suppliers to hire.

Here, the credibility aspect is key, that your brand is known in the industry as being tried and trusted. As a business purchaser, if you choose something everyone else has already tried it's not so risky. But if you choose something no one else uses and it goes wrong…

Brand Fit

How a company does business is a consideration factor that people tune into when deciding which brands they’re going to allow into their daily lives. This is also true of companies.

Regardless of whether you’re targeting businesses or consumers, your brand must be a good fit in terms of having similar attitudes, purpose and ethics. 

The growing importance of brand fit is one of the reasons that content marketing is such an effective strategy in both business and consumer marketing.

The need for like-mindedness also extends beyond values. It can be a matter of policy as well — for instance, data ethics, investments in oil or tobacco, where your partners' trade, etc. 

Just as you wouldn’t hire an employee who wasn't a good fit with your company’s culture, you don’t want to work with a vendor or supplier that doesn’t align with your needs and ethos.

Decision-Making Audience

Another area where business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing often overlaps is in account-based thinking.

In organisations, our potential customers are teams of people, where each member brings their perspective and experience from a particular role to the decision making process. You know that they’re coming to the meeting with the frame of mind of a director of human resources or an IT specialist, as well as having other opinions specific to the project.

A similar dynamic can exist when marketing for B2C. For instance, households often agree a threshold amount above which purchasing decisions have to be jointly agreed. So, sometimes you have to sell the car to everybody in the household, not just one member. You have to think through the different needs of the people who might be driving it — if they have children, have a long commute, etc. Just like with an organisation, you need to understand the specific roles and the way the household is going to come to a decision.

Brand Benefits

In B2B marketing you need to clearly communicate the benefits of your product or service to the business you're selling to. When possible, you should also show how you will benefit their end consumer as well. As we discuss in Putting the Human Experience Into B2B Marketing if you can benefit your client’s end customer in some way, that gives you a great opportunity for growth. It’s B2B2C marketing.

When marketing to consumers, you also need to provide reasons for they should pick your brand over a competitor. Yes, it might be that your brand simply has better-looking products, but that’s still considered a benefit by the consumer. While you will present your argument differently — going with a higher entertainment value versus a more educational approach — the end goal is the same. You’re communicating the benefits to the people you’re selling to.

Business Buyers Have Feelings Too

The truth of the matter, which business marketers have been avoiding, is that we’re also servicing an emotional need in business purchasing. As marketers we need to address the business rationality of what we are selling, but we sometimes forget to share in the excitement and enthusiasm for what our client is trying to achieve.

B2B marketing is just as much about customer experience.

As business suppliers, we miss a trick when we don't appreciate the amount of emotion that goes into making a big change in an organisation. It's marketing orthodoxy that business decisions have to be rational, but it's still a big deal when you decide to do something like a rebrand, change your relationship with your distribution network or launch a new product. Our clients will be experiencing excitement, apprehension and enthusiasm.

As business marketers, it doesn't hurt to show an appreciation of that fact. If you fail to show emotional intelligence at any stage in the sales process you could appear heartless and damage the relationship.

Time to Focus on Human-to-Human Marketing

As the Harvard Business Review so eloquently put it, “The mix of objective and subjective priorities, and the often conflicting perspectives within a single corporate customer, can be tricky to untangle.”

To be a successful business marketer, you should look beyond B2B or B2C labels. Business buyers aren’t robots that only operate by numbers. They are human beings. Yes, their logical business needs must be met before they’ll commit to a transaction, but only by engaging on a more emotional level will you nurture a long-term relationship with them.

Building a B2B brand strategy that addresses both the rational and emotional needs of your clients can be a challenge — but 1827 Marketing is here to help. Our talent network, marketing expertise and automation platform help you create and run human-to-human digital marketing campaigns that deliver results.