Ask The B2B Expert: How B2B Marketing Varies Wildly From B2C Marketing

Last updated on August 25th, 2015 at 04:20 pm

B2B News Network is excited to debut a new regular column called Ask The B2B Expert! In this column, you can send us questions (anonymously if you like) on an issue relating to your career or a B2B topic in the main industries we cover: marketing, tech, social media, Big Data, advertising, ad-tech, leadership and workplace etiquette.

If you have questions you’d like answered, please send us the query to dave@b2bnn.com and let us know if you’d like to be listed under your name or remain anonymous.

Our B2B experts come from a variety of backgrounds, such as content marketing, mar-tech, digital marketing, ad-tech and digital news.

This week, our first question relates to B2B vs. B2C marketing:

Hi B2Bnn! I work in B2B marketing for a mar-tech firm after spending a decade in B2C marketing. What’s the difference in approaches and strategies when comparing B2C and B2B marketing?

The answer:

The biggest difference is how decisions are made. Almost all B2B decisions are based on either enhancing or improving some function of the business.

The next is the audience. Most B2B audiences are niche. So you have to use a focused vs a mass approach to marketing and communications. Just about everyone is a candidate for cookies or jewellery, but not everyone is a candidate who needs a VPN router.So it’s very important to understand your niche of the audience: what they need, where they go, how they engage online, or you could literally spend your entire budget and miss your audience.

Needs and business pains being the most important things to focus on.

Got a question for our B2B experts? Email us anytime with your questions via dave@b2bnn.com