B2B Marketing Strategies Implemented For B2C Ecommerce
How the more effective B2B ecommerce marketing strategies can be implemented for B2C Ecommerce and how it will be helpful to improve the services.
Well, there is no denying that B2B and B2C marketing campaigns are two different sides of the marketing world. But in today’s digital realm, B2B marketing is diverse, transparent, and also works best for B2C ecommerce.
It now works on a different level, and both the marketing strategies have started to merge. With this happening, read here how cosmetic industry marketers can implement the B2B marketing strategies for B2C ecommerce (read how to grow and excel B2B ecommerce).
B2B (Business to Business) Marketing
B2B marketing includes the strategies that allow one business to sell their products and services directly to other businesses. Not just to the business, but the managers or the decision makers of a specific business.
It includes marketing of everything from automobile parts to table management software, marketing services, offices furniture, and lot more.
B2C (Business to Consumer) Marketing
B2C marketing strategies work on selling the products to the customers for their personal usage. It also refers to all the tactics that are used to promote the goods and services among the consumers.
Difference Between B2B and B2C Marketing Strategies
B2B and B2C marketing strategies aim to garner the attention of two distinct set of audiences. Whether a business is trying to sell a product or driving leads and prospects, both the channels work on different approaches in regard to content, industry jargon, life cycles, buying cycle span, and lot more.
B2B marketing includes a number of businesses and is based on need and logic, while B2C marketing works just for consumers. B2C also invokes emotional responses, but B2B works solely on demonstrating the value.
There are times when they share the same technical practices like re-targeting abandoned carts, negative keywords, and more, but here are the crucial differences that separate the two.
- Industry Jargon: B2B marketers use professional and industry-specific words on their platforms. But when it comes to B2C, the language should be easy and must be related to the customers.
- Drivers: B2C customers are often motivated by the desires and internal forces including wants and needs, while the B2B businesses are driven by rational factors like price, deals, and business relationships.
- Length of Content: Lengthy content works for B2B marketing, but the B2C customers look for short content or something that can entice them.
- Buying Cycle: B2C has an immediate buying cycle. On the flip side, B2B has quite a long cycle as it is meant to complete long-term business goals. Moreover, in B2B, the marketers also have to deal with accounting and a series of superiors to get their purchases approved.
- Brand Relationship: A B2C customer is not always looking to build a relationship with the brand. While the B2B customers look to build a close relationship with other businesses and brands.
With these differences, we can say that both the marketing concepts work in two spectrums. However, in today’s online realm, the ecommerce landscape is based on many channels and B2C marketers have started to leverage B2B marketing strategies.
It works out as a crossover that leads to an increase in the scope of marketing opportunities, leads, clients, and revenues. According to the 2017 research published at Shopify, B2B marketing capabilities lead to 62% enhanced research, 51% specials and promotions, 56% reviews and 54% personalized recommendations.
Can We Combine B2C And B2B Strategies?
Yes.
Usually, B2C customers assume that their campaigns only need to focus on selling the products, and hence, they end up leaving the long-term engagement for the B2B marketing strategies. So, to build a relationship as well as revenue, here is how a B2C marketer can use B2B marketing strategies.
Conduct Research on Your Leads and Eligible Partners
To make the most of your marketing campaigns, it is important to have a better knowledge of your clients and prospects. The research will bring a lot of potential to the surface and allows you to deliver better customer experience. Moreover, you will also find the factors that will influence your success and services that might benefit your business.
When it comes to the partners, you can research well-known ventures and collaborate with them. They can utilize your products for their studies, confirm its value, and add the details that are found in their research.
Once your product is equipped with the best third-party reviews and details, it is more likely to get purchases from the ‘skeptical set of customers’.
Encourage Customers Feedback and Ratings
Collecting feedback from customers is an important part of the B2B marketing strategy. The ‘feedback approach’ helps you to understand your audience and improve your services. Moreover, there is a chance that your potential customer is more likely to trust a customer rating rather than a brands claim.
According to the Demand Gen’s 2017 B2B Buyer’s Survey–
- 84% of the buyers said that they look for product details from the existing customers.
- 57% of them ask for feedback in the first three months of their buying process.
This survey also revealed that reviews give out better information on your product as compared to case studies and testimonials. However, reviews validate your claims and take your products to a wider set of audience.
Qualify the Leads
In a B2C marketing strategy, it’s quite rare that businesses qualify the leads. They tend to negate this concept, work on all the leads, and end up with few or no conversions. The best approach is to divide the leads on the basis of their behavior, and then you’ll have an idea who is worth the extended effort.
Have a Problem Solving Approach
B2C follows this already, but these marketers tend to assume the buying decisions and address the objections to a specified limit. However, a B2B marketer gains proper insights from the problem as they have to go through a long chain before approval. So, with this approach, a B2C marketer can solve all the logical problems until the purchase becomes their next obvious step.
Concentrate On Building Relationships Rather Than Just ‘Partnerships’
It comes as no surprise that having partnerships with retailers leads to greater recognition of your products. Not just the recognition, but it also gets you funds that let you increase the value of your brand.
But, when you build a relationship (with both brands and customers), your sales go above and beyond expectations. As you start to deliver a positive experience on a B2B level, they tend to recommend products to their close acquaintances, and more, which is sure to lead an increase in revenue. So, with partnerships, you just get funds, but with the relationship, you get revenues that will help you grow your business.
Work With Price Automation
The balance lies in the automation of price personalization in the research phase, and then the automatic negotiation of price as the buyer reaches close to purchase. So, if you are a B2C marketer, focus on integrating this practice into your website rather than recreating the marketing wheel.
With these B2B strategies for B2C ecommerce, the opportunities are simply enormous. All you need is to take advantage of B2C practices along with the traditional B2B tactics.
For example, e.l.f. Cosmetics got a foundation from B2B strategies; leveraged supply chain transformation, optimized inventory management process, and spanned both B2C and B2B sales. In just a decade (since its inception), it had its main revenue from B2C sales and B2B sales from Target, Walmart, and other retailers.
How i95Dev’s Can Help Them
i95Dev’s team helps in positioning brands within the consumer culture. We follow an anthropological approach (a study that leads to unexpected insights) that allows us to immerse ourselves in your consumer’s world so we can make your brand a part of it. Moreover, we also create a product attraction based on shared attitudes, values and beliefs.
Our team helps businesses with social media marketing for your B2C/B2B business. We also work on your niche, target audience with diverse demographics on various social media marketing channels including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and help you make the most of your investment.
Conclusion
So, when it comes to implementing B2B Strategies for B2C ecommerce, you can start to build relationships with other businesses, encourage feedback, and conduct research for finding the best business partners, improving the services and market for your products.
You can also automate the prices, qualify the leads and work with the problem-solving approach for better results.