B2B versus B2C?

by Steve Fodor

Having worked in both worlds, I get asked this question a lot: What’s different about business-to-business marketing communications versus business-to-consumer?

Well, “nothing and everything” is usually my reply.

By “everything is different,” I mean that B2B usually means shaping your selling proposition into a business case. What kind of cost savings? What kind of productivity is achieved? B2B also requires a more in-depth understanding of selling scenarios. Selling through channel members or distributors and the need for push strategies, pull strategies…or usually a combination of both. And creating B2B marketing communications, I’ve found, requires a greater understanding of a product’s technical aspects.

Business-to-consumer marketing communications are generally more life-style appeal. Personal gratification is often at the root of a B2C selling proposition. How will this product make you feel? Will this make you the “hero” to your friends and family?

What’s the same about B2B and B2C marketing communications? To be effective and memorable, both recognize that you’re speaking first to people. Industrial buyers do not stop being people with emotions between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. They still must be drawn in by an emotional appeal, and then presented a rational case for considering your product or service. The same is true when talking to private consumers.

Whether you’re marketing to housewives, product engineers, home improvement DIY folks, or chief financial officers, you need to understand how your product impacts their lives – be they private lives or professional lives. If you don’t understand how to connect with the emotional drivers, your brand will be “replaceable” when price is equal.

Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasgows/