While business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing is often more straightforward, new digital marketers often struggle with B2B digital marketing. Even though marketing is continually evolving, there are four key lessons in B2B marketing that stand the test of time. From focusing on minute details to coordinating relationships, these tips will help you stay ahead of the curve and drive results for your organization.
B2B and B2C differ most in terms of counting leads and their direct financial impact. In B2C marketing, you are often selling a product, so quantity and consistency matter much more than the quality of each individual lead. You focus on casting a wide net and capturing leads that match the number of products or services you are able to produce at a given time (capacity). Meanwhile, for B2B digital marketing, all it takes is one lead to generate a significant amount of revenue for a business. A single quality lead, such as a construction company getting a large contract from the government, can result in a huge influx of revenue for a business. Not only is this revenue significant, but it can be consistent and long-term. Digital marketers should especially emphasize quality over quantity in every marketing decision they make. This might often mean larger budgets and smaller and more specific audiences.
In B2C marketing, since your audience is wide and contrasting, your marketing efforts will often focus on a number of varied efforts. This could include consistent, daily social media posts, weekly blogs, or PPC traffic campaigns. However, in B2B marketing, your audience likely has a lot more brand equity to preserve. Each post matters when you are attracting a client. Since more dollars are on the line, there is more time spent before signing a deal. Therefore, focus on small details in any copy, graphics, and messaging you use. B2B digital marketing requires strategic thinking. It is important to focus on the details of preserving brand equity and keeping your brand fresh and modern rather than experimentation. Putting extra attention to these small details will help you stay honest with the brand and reel in leads that are the best fit for the company you are marketing.
In B2B marketing, remember you are selling to a business that survives on profit margins. Instead of looking to appeal to emotions to capture your audience, it is best if you orient your strategy toward facts and logic. If you want your B2B audience to agree to a deal with the offer you are making for your services, you need to have solid data and logical arguments in place that clearly showcase your value proposition. Throughout your marketing strategy (SEO, web, social media, and SEO) the business' value should be apparent. It’s important to focus on context. Compare your offer with economic conditions, and industry standards, and otherwise prove that the business you are marketing is the best and only option. Making a clear rational argument will go a long way to properly marketing B2B.
One of the key differences between B2B and B2C marketing is that it's not a one-off transaction. If you are selling B2C e-commerce, your ultimate goal is to sell a product and keep customers returning. However, that sale itself does not contractually oblige repeated sales (even if you use a subscription model). In B2B businesses, a sale is often a contract. You provide certain services over a period of time. In any situation where you are selling a binding contract, it is important that you have a good value proposition and you communicate it well in order to establish relationships. It’s important that you have the client consistently engaged throughout the lead process. For B2B digital marketing, this means SEO readability is strong, brand messaging is clear, and you emphasize relationships as a core value (on the website, in ads, etc.). Getting across as a strong relationship-building is key when digital marketing B2B services. In B2B digital marketing all it can take is one quality lead to make a major difference for a company. Keeping this in mind, businesses should spend extra time focusing on quality assurance: relationships, metrics, and brand equity. To help you remember these key details, we’ve listed these key lessons below:
