B2B vs B2C Marketing
B2B marketing targets the needs, interests, and challenges of individuals who are making purchases on behalf of, or for, their organization (rather than for themselves), thus making the organization the customer.
Here are a few examples of B2B companies:
- A coworking space that leases office spaces to remote teams and freelancers (like WeWork)
- An on-demand order fulfillment, warehousing, and screen printing service (like Printful)
- A marketing software company that sells social media management tools, lead generation software, and other marketing tools to businesses and organizations (like HubSpot!)
B2C marketing targets the needs, interests, and challenges of individual consumers who are making purchases on behalf of, or for, themselves, thus making the individual the customer. Here are a few examples of B2C companies:
- An e-commerce company that sells office supplies to remote or self-employed individuals (like Poppin)
- A store that sells t-shirts and other clothing and accessories (like Target)
- A music platform that sells streaming subscriptions (like Spotify)
Take a look at this chart comparing B2B and B2C customers.
| for b2b marketing | for b2c marketing | |
| Goal | Customers are focused on ROI, efficiency, and expertise. | Customers are seeking deals and entertainment (which means marketing needs to be more fun). |
| Purchase Motivation | Customers are driven by logic and financial incentive. | Customers are driven by emotion. |
| Drivers | Customers want to be educated (which is where B2B content marketing comes in). | Customers appreciate education but don’t always need it to make a purchase decision. |
| Purchase Process | Customers like (if not prefer) to work with account managers and salespeople. | Customers like to make purchases directly. |
| People Involved in Purchase | Customers often have to confer with decision makers and other members of their chain of command before making a purchase decision. | Customers rarely need to confer with others before making a purchase decision. |
| Purchase Purpose | Customers make purchases for long-term solutions, resulting in a longer sales cycle, longer contracts, and longer relationships with companies. | Customers aren’t necessarily looking for long-term solutions or long-term relationships. |
As much as they differ, though, B2B and B2C also intersect in many ways. While Poppin sells office supplies to remote or self-employed individuals, they also design corporate office spaces and branded supplies.
On the flip side, Printful not only offers order fulfillment and warehousing to businesses; they also fill e-commerce printing orders for individuals.
As distinct as the B2B and B2C marketing audiences can be, B2B marketers can always learn from B2C campaigns, too.
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