The contrast between B2B marketing and B2C marketing can be profound. These distinctions range from the length of the sales cycle to key buying motivators. Today we’ll set the differences to the side and discuss what B2B marketers can learn from their B2C partners. Let’s get started!
Put the customer before the product.
New to the expression “customer-centricity?” It means putting the customer at the focal point of each business decision, including product development and marketing. Customer-centric associations evaluate their customers’ needs and interests and shape their products and campaigns to best fulfill them. B2B organizations generally favor a product-centric methodology – creating their products and then marketing them to their audience. Statistics show that a customer-centric methodology is the better choice. Only 23% of B2B marketers say they have a customer-centric approach. However, customer-centric organizations are 60% more successful than organizations that don’t focus on the customer. If you don’t have a customer-centric business model at your B2B company, here are a few steps you can take to change that.
Add more buyer personas:
You’re probably already utilizing buyer personas to inform and improve your marketing efforts. However, only having a couple of personas won’t cut it because they most likely won’t provide the total perspective of your target audience. When you create more personas with the spotlight on more personal data points like pain points and content preferences, the more personalized your customer experience will be.
Implement a customer advocacy program:
Encourage your customers to recommend your organization by implementing a rewards and perks program. Utilize social media and review sites to communicate with customer supporters to help create a community as opposed to a conventional buyer-seller relationship.
Allow customers to drive product development:
Customers should have input concerning product changes and offerings. Talk with your customers about their most loved features, their complaints, and what new features they would like to see.
Embrace the force of influencers.
Online personalities and specialists impact today’s buyer’s decisions, even in the B2B world. Influencer marketing is a strategy wherein brands enlist the assistance of influencers to advance their products or accomplish other business objectives. It’s a normal practice among B2C marketers, yet just 15% of B2B brands have an established influencer marketing program. In case you’re still not convinced on the force of influencers, look at these statistics:
- Influencer marketing content conveys 11 times higher ROI than conventional forms of advanced marketing.
- On average, businesses generate $6.50 for each $1 invested in influencer marketing.
In the B2C world, influencer marketing is genuinely straightforward and generates more immediate outcomes. For instance, a lifestyle vlogger promoting a hair product at the beginning of their new video. For B2B buyers, the process is more involved because it’s based on logic rather than emotion. An effective influencer marketing strategy requires a great deal of examination and readiness, but the outcome is worth the effort.
Understand the effectiveness of brand storytelling.
B2C brands regularly depend on storytelling to draw in and influence their audience. Most B2B organizations avoid brand storytelling for two reasons, it’s somewhat harder to pull off and a lot of marketers don’t see the value of emotion in the B2B world. However, statistics show half of B2B buyers say they’re more likely to buy if they associate emotionally with a brand. Need some examples? Here are a few instances of B2B brands that have utilized storytelling to charm their audiences:
Salesforce:
The notable sales technology organization has a vigorous Success Stories page, with numerous feature pieces about customers who have utilized their products to transform their business.
General Electric:
GE manages profoundly logical tasks that can be hard for the normal individual to wrap their head around. They utilize their Instagram account as an effective tool for visual storytelling, displaying their work with captivating photographs and videos.
Google:
Many you are somewhat acquainted with Google AdWords. In a new video, Google profiles a business that developed from a little local café to shipping their products state-wide with the assistance of AdWords. This short, ardent video shows that their product is more than another marketing tool and can transform businesses, all by recounting a quick story.
Utilize social media to communicate with your audience.
Social media is at the top of the list of present-day marketing tools you need to utilize. Scroll through your organization’s Twitter feed. What do you see? Like most B2B brands, you probably see a feed of pre-scheduled content, product advertisements, and links back to your website. If you look at the feeds of the top B2C brands, you’ll see direct interaction with followers. B2C brands don’t simply use social media as a strategy to share their content. They use it as an extension of themselves by answering questions, reacting to criticism, and participating in conversations. Reinforcing your social media interaction can have a major effect. Think about these statistics:
- 94% of B2B buyers explore products or services online before they make a buy.
- 55% of buyers utilize social media to look for information about an organization and its products.
When customers research your organization, social media frequently provides them with their first impression of your brand. Therefore, it’s critical to utilize your social media accounts to showcase happy, satisfied customers, show your commitment to customer needs and concerns, and present a clean, professional online presence.
B2C marketers seem like they work in a completely different world than B2B marketers. Be that as it may, they have a ton of valuable practices B2B marketers can tweak and implement as their own. At the end of the day, effective marketing is about the experience you provide your target audience so the objectives of B2B and B2C marketers aren’t as different as they seem.
