Professional Documents
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? ............................................ 2 Businesses that Sell to Consumers: (Business-to-Consumer) ..... 3 Businesses that Sell to Businesses (Business-to-Business) ......... 4 The B2B Buyer vs. the B2C Buyer: .............................................. 4 Importance of Brand .................................................................. 5 B2C versus B2B: The Most Important Social Media Platform ..... 6 Five B2C versus B2B social media trends: ................................... 7 The impact of the Internet ......................................................... 8 Conclusion: ............................................................................... 10 Reference ................................................................................. 11
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http://masterful-marketing.com/marketing-b2b-vs-b2c/ http://community.tradekey.com/article-34/Difference_Between_B2B_and_B2C_Explained_Thoroughly.html
The primary differences between B2C and B2B marketing are derived from the emotional perspectives of the buyers. Often, the consumer is focused on quality, comfort, and price, while the business buyer is concerned with increasing profits for his/her company.
The ultimate goal of B2C marketing is to convert shoppers into buyers as aggressively and consistently as possible. B2C companies employ more merchandising activities like coupons, displays, store fronts (both real and Internet) and offers to entice the target market to buy. B2C marketing campaigns are concerned with the transaction, are shorter in duration and need to capture the customers interest immediately. These campaigns often offer special deals, discounts, or vouchers that can be used both online and in the store. For example, the goal of an email campaign for a B2C company is to get consumers to buy the product immediately. The email will take the consumer to a landing page on the web site that is designed to sell the product and make purchasing very easy by integrating the shopping cart and checkout page into the flow of the transaction. Any more than a couple of clicks and the customer is likely to abandon the shopping cart. One interesting aspect of B2C marketing, however, is that many companies have realized the importance of loyalty. Amazon, Best Buy, and Staples combine merchandising and education to keep customers coming back. Add great customer service, and you get a winning combination3.
http://www.thesocialcmo.com/blog/2010/10/b2c-vs-b2b-marketing-do-the-differences-really-matter/
http://masterful-marketing.com/marketing-b2b-vs-b2c/
Your typical reader has a high interest in and understanding of your product (or at least of the problem it solves). Therefore, writing marketing copy is more complex and requires research to ensure you deliver the necessary information to the buyer. The B2C buyer is usually looking for the best price and will research the competition prior to shopping. Another factor that does come into play, however, is whether the buyer trusts the retail outlet, either the store front or on the Internet. Although you can find the products on the Internet at many different price points, many consumers will still buy from a trusted source. In that respect, B2C marketing needs to convince the person to buy and build trust and loyalty with their customers. Both buyers are interested in quality customer service. B2B customer service comes into play prior to ever making that first sale and begins with a customers very first contact with your company, whether you call them or they call you. B2C customer service helps build customer loyalty where customers will be willing to pay a slightly higher price to know that they can return the product easily and can trust the source they are dealing with. In other words, customer service is critical and although may not be considered marketing, bad customer service can render all of your marketing efforts useless.
Importance of Brand
A strong brand is important to both the B2B and the B2C markets, but for different reasons. With B2C, a strong brand can encourage the consumer to buy, remain loyal and potentially pay a higher price. In B2B markets, brand will only help you be considered, not necessarily chosen. Business buyers are using more rational thought when selecting a product or service for their company. They are motivated by saving money, increasing productivity or raising profitability. Consumers are motivated by desire, style and prestige. For consumers, brand plays into the equation since we are more apt to buy status brands, such as BMW, Lexus, Rolex or Nike even though we most likely will pay more for the brand. In businesses today, however, the adage no one ever got fired for buying IBM no longer rings true. This is not to say that a professionally developed brand is not important for a B2B business. A quality brand is needed in
any business in order to make a good first impression, but putting excessive marketing dollars into building brand awareness is not what counts in your B2B marketing plan. But is the gap between B2C and B2B marketing narrowing or widening? While much has been written about how todays consumer is becoming more businesslike in his/her purchasing habits (the new frugality trend, for instance), the fact is the consumer still responds powerfully to marketing messages that deliver promises of happiness, comfort, escape, and selfreward, noted Hennig. Recent upticks in dining out and luxury goods sales are great examples of how emotional messaging to consumers is still highly effective. Through tracking such differences and similarities, as well as the ongoing impact of social media evolution on both B2C and B2B marketing, potential specific approaches and methods can be identified for reciprocal crossover improvements as well as the identification and advancement of best practices.
http://heidicohen.com/b2c-versus-b2b-the-most-important-social-media-platform-research/
appreciate that customers, regardless of whether theyre purchasing for themselves, their family or their business, still use the same approach to seeking information. Therefore, while the product differs, the social media platforms dont. This translates to opportunities for marketers willing to explore new social media entities.
Dwyer, F. Robert, Tanner, John F. (2006) Business Marketing: Connecting Strategy, Relationships, and Learning, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill/Irwin 7 Anderson, James C., and Narus, James A. (2004) Business Market Management: Understanding, Creating, and Delivering Value, 2nd Edition, 2004, Pearson Education, Inc
While this exchange did not stand the test of time, others have, including Agentrics, which was formed in 2005 with the merger of Worldwide Retail Exchange and GlobalNetXchange, or GNX. Agentrics serves more 50 retailers around the world and more than 300 customers, and its members have combined sales of about $1 trillion. Hutt and Speh (2001)8 note that such virtual marketplaces enable companies and their suppliers to conduct business in real time as well as simplify purchase processes and cut costs.
Hutt, Michael D., Speh, Thomas W. (2004) Business Marketing Management: A Strategic View of Industrial and Organizational Markets, 8th Edition, Thomson/South-Western
Conclusion:
The difference between B2B and B2C marketing comes down to the buyers emotional perspective about the purchase. Consumers make buying decisions based on status, security, comfort and quality. Business buyers make buying decisions based on increasing profitability, reducing costs and enhancing productivity. If you are a B2B business offering products and services to other businesses, put your marketing dollars into marketing programs and materials that offer your target what they need to make a rational buying decision. Help them determine the value of the product and service you offer through quality materials, testimonials, and other activities that build credibility. If you are a B2C business, understand what motivates your buyer and the emotional aspect of the buying decision. Create compelling materials that build awareness for your brand, enhance their comfort in buying from you, and project quality service and best price. As you create your marketing plan for the coming year, remember what is important to your target audience and create your marketing programs to speak to them. While there are different tactics to take with B2B and B2C customers, youre still marketing to human beings, and human beings are emotional creatures. The importance of targeting the emotional core of why a prospect should purchase from you is absolutely critical. Just like consumers, businesses will spend lots of money on products and services to fulfill ego- and satisfactiondriven desires even if its not critical to the bottom line. The trick when selling to B2B customers is knowing what their emotional needs are; discover that and you can make the sale. Social media is a catalyst for encouraging b2b sales to be based on personality as much as the cold facts of the product/service. B2B consumers now have the advantage of using social media platforms to see the reputation, personalities and expertise of the provider. Now that we have social media, simply a great product/service isnt going to cut it For example, you are printer company in competition with another half a dozen in your area, what is it that makes you different? It is the people behind the product; the personalities, knowledge and expertise. Social media allows this to come across like never before, drifting away from the hard sell towards the
lurking from afar, allowing you to gain insight into who exactly it is you might want to do business with.
Reference
http://community.tradekey.com http://masterful-marketing.com http://www.thesocialcmo.com http://heidicohen.com Dwyer, F. Robert, Tanner, John F. (2006) Business Marketing Anderson, James C., and Narus, James A. (2004) Business Market Management. Hutt, Michael D., Speh, Thomas W. (2004) Business Marketing Management.