How you develop and implement your marketing is fundamentally different for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) customers. They are fundamentally different in how they reach their buying decision. This affects Internet marketing and business blog marketing strategies.

A B2C customer looks at a product and thinks: Do I want this? The B2B customer looks at something and thinks: How does this make sense for the business?

B2C: marketing

1. Driven by fashion and trends
2. Personal and impulsive buying
3. Single step buying process
4. Shorter sales cycle
5. Emotional buying decision based on status, desire, or price

The B2C buyer makes a more impulsive decision based on their current need. This includes product, value, cost, and status. Buying is based on a want with a very short decision making time. Most consumers will buy regularly from stores and locations that they like. In that respect, B2C marketing needs to build trust and loyalty with their customers.

B2B marketing

1. Driven by technological progress
2. Group decision making.
3. Multi-step buying process
4. Longer sales cycle
5. Rational buying decision based on business value

Perhaps the biggest difference with the B2B buyer is the sales cycle. Usually many people are involved with the decision to purchase something. The business buyer is typically much more knowledgeable about the product than a consumer. Business buyers will often spend much time doing analysis before making a decision.

A company marketing to businesses needs to focus on relationship building and communication using marketing activities that generate leads that can be nurtured during the sales cycle.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 at 6:56 am and is filed under Blog Marketing, Internet Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.