What Is The Difference Between B2C And B2B Marketing?

I was on the phone with a client the other day who was expressing her desire to keep her website copy really bland and corporate. “We’re a B2B, after all,” she said.

My feathers ruffled.

B2B marketing isn’t actually that much different than B2C marketing, I explained. The two biggest differences are:

1. B2B customers do more in-depth research before they buy – so the more content you can make available to them, the better.


2. B2B customers are often not making decisions or purchasing as individuals, but rather as committees.

Experts say business customers buy based on logic, while consumers buy based on emotions – but I don’t think that’s as black-and-white as some make it out to be.

In the end, you are marketing to people. People with emotions, preferences, previous experiences and budgets.

The tone and voice of your marketing materials might be different when you are marketing to a business verses marketing to a consumer – but the human element should still be present. A cold, corporate voice doesn’t resonate with the people you are selling to.

That said, you don’t have to be heavy-handed with the personality and “authenticity,” either. You can have a business tone of voice in your marketing copy and still make that human connection.

How?

By strategically sharing your company’s story and by using emotions to connect with your audience.

Strategic Storytelling

The About page is the obvious place to share the story of your founder’s epiphany, or the story of your team learning from failure and coming back to resounding success. But you can also sprinkle those elements throughout the site in places where you want to make a human connection.

For example, on a service offering you could explain “This is a service we wish had been available to us when we first started our business. Here’s how we failed, and here’s how this service can help YOU succeed.”

Or think about the Hewlett Packard “garage story.” Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett started HP and built the first product for their newly-founded company in a garage in Palo Alto, CA, with a budget of only $538. You will still find references to their garage-beginnings in the marketing material of many of HP’s most innovative new products. Great things can come from humble starts, and HP isn’t afraid to use that story throughout their marketing. Even in their B2B offerings.

Emotional Connection

What’s in it for your audience?

Ask yourself that question as you write your marketing material – everything from your product brochures to your website.

What is the benefit of buying your offering? It’s wonderful that your software has an easy-to-use interface – but how does that help your customers? It saves them time. They don’t have to read a 3-inch thick manual in order to operate the software. Or maybe they can save money by hiring less-experienced employees to operate it.

How does your offering make your customer’s job easier?

If you are selling cloud computing solutions, don’t just say that your customers can work from anywhere and from any device with an Internet connection. Explain that the CEO can grab documents from the home office by using his laptop in his hotel room, so he can travel without a briefcase full of papers and thumb-drives. Explain that the office manager can work from home when her kids are sick, so the office stays afloat when this critical employee would otherwise have to take time off.

What’s in it for your customers and their businesses?

B2B Marketing Material Can Connect With People, Too

Don’t let the fact that your company is a B2B stop you from forming a connection point with your audience by incorporating the human element into your marketing materials. From storytelling to emotional connection, your customers are still people.

What Is The Difference Between B2C And B2B Marketing?