Marketers typically fall into two categories: business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). When we think of the work created by these two types of marketers, we generally picture two very different styles and approaches. We picture B2B as serious and technically driven, while B2C as creative, emotional, and generally more playful and fun.
But these two types of marketing don’t exist in a vacuum. Regardless of whether the target is businesses or consumers, marketing efforts benefit from qualities like creative thinking and easy-to-understand messaging, indicating that the generally serious nature of B2B can learn from the typically lighter style of B2C to shape compelling, results-driven campaigns—even if they seem worlds apart.
Five key elements of B2C marketing can be applied to B2B: storytelling, rewarding loyalty, gamifying offers, personalizing content, and implementing urgency-based promotions.
The Power of Emotional Storytelling
B2C companies implement storytelling in myriad ways, from making people laugh to pulling on their heartstrings, and B2B marketers can emulate this for their own purposes. In B2C, storytelling appeals to the real person with whom the marketing materials are communicating. Emotional storytelling can create a connection, engage customers, build trust, and set businesses apart from competitors. Each of these strategies can enhance B2B marketing because real people determine whether an offer meets their business needs. If marketers can create an emotional connection with the decision makers of a business, they’re helping an offer stand out.
Emotional storytelling can be implemented for B2B businesses by sharing a brand’s story, the reasons behind its mission and values, and the successes of its past customers and clients. When sharing these stories, focusing on people, emotions, and relatable elements is essential. Following a classic story structure—beginning, middle, and end—creates a narrative that audiences can easily connect with. This also allows audiences to see where a company adds value in a memorable way.
For B2C businesses, loyalty programs nurture customer relationships and promote repeat business with exclusive offers and rewards for their customers. They’re so effective that it seems virtually all businesses offer them in some capacity, from paid loyalty programs like Amazon Prime to the points that can be collected at most grocery stores.
These two loyalty programs create an incentive that keeps customers returning. In the case of paid loyalty, the incentive is that the customers have already invested in the platform and get a perk like a discount, such as Amazon Prime’s free shipping. In the case of point programs, customers will want to return to gain more points to use for discounts on future purchases. This type of incentive works for digital platforms like games, where in-game rewards will keep players engaged and returning in the future. Casinos.com has the best free SC Coins promotion that does just that. Players are allotted free coins to use immediately, and they can also earn more through gameplay, encouraging new players to sign up and become loyal patrons.
Paid and point-based programs aren’t the only types of loyalty rewards in B2C marketing. There are also tiered loyalty programs, which increase the value of rewards based on customer spending; referral programs, where customers get discounts for sharing a brand; and value-based programs, which donate certain amounts to charities.
The power of these programs can be leveraged by B2B marketers, shaping more brand loyalty and customer retention for B2B businesses. Loyalty offers for businesses might include exclusive content, referral bonuses, and tiered options, allowing businesses to feel they’re getting the most value possible for their money spent and that the B2B business they’ve chosen to work with appreciates its customers. All this forms positive feelings that will shape a long-term customer-business relationship.
Driving Engagement and Participation with Gamification
The concept of gamification involves using game-like elements, such as leaderboards, badges, and point collections, to keep people engaged in a product or service. You’ll find it in a broad range of B2C applications. Though it sounds like it wouldn’t have its place in business marketing, it is a beneficial way to engage businesses and their employees and keep them interested in a product or service.
Gamification can be applied to training processes for a B2B product, ensuring everyone who uses it can maximize all of the features and qualities it offers, setting businesses up for a better outcome when using the product. This creates positive associations with the product and its provider, building credibility, trust, and loyalty. It can also be used in daily functions of a product or service, ensuring businesses turn to it as an essential tool for operations they’ll continue using for years to come.
Using Urgency-Based Promotions to Drive Immediate Demand
Urgency-based promotions prompt quick action from customers by limiting time for hesitation before making a purchase and leveraging the fear of missing out (FOMO) ingrained in most people. These factors also motivate business decision-makers, making them worthwhile strategies for B2B marketers to implement. Common urgency-based promotions include limited-time offers, early-bird deals, and limited quantities of a product or offer.
Personalization by Speaking Directly to Business Needs
In B2C marketing, personalization is becoming even more valuable as AI technologies make it possible to create tailored marketing experiences at every stage of the buying process. However, personalization may seem challenging for B2B marketers who target multiple stakeholders rather than individuals. Instead, they’re targeting a broad group, from the members of a business their product or service supports to the final decision-makers of the business as a whole. But there are ways that personalization can even be applied to these B2B situations.
B2B marketers can tailor their marketing materials to specific stakeholders within an organization, maximizing the impact of their marketing efforts. In doing this, they can build a more meaningful connection and get the message to the right person at the best time. Personalization can also allow B2B marketers to address specific pain points and areas of friction for these specific stakeholders, mitigating them before they become a significant drawback, pushing a business away from the product or service entirely.
At the end of the day, real people make decisions based on your marketing efforts, whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, so engaging these people in memorable, meaningful ways will make your marketing efforts more impactful.
