When markets become competitive, marketing is the tool par excellence to highlight your company and make a place among your competitors. If your company operates in the B2B segment it is important that you understand the differences between traditional marketing techniques and specific tactics effective for your niche.
by Julián Arcila*
One of the most common mistakes that are made in some B2B companies that are just starting out is not investing much in marketing or doing it the wrong way. This generates frustrations, as happened to the manager of a technology importing company whose main client was large end users (corporations) and distributors (other companies); the executive hired a marketing director who was an expert in graphic design, POP, mass advertising and more. In the end, there were no results: his executive did not understand the market and the entrepreneur felt that his brand lost relevance in the niche.
Although B2B marketing uses many of the techniques and channels of B2C marketing (B2B companies sell to other corporations. B2C companies sell to the common consumer), the way they approach their customers is different and the motivations for which they buy too.
Continuing with the story, Signalis Group acquired the aforementioned account and the suggested B2B marketing strategy was to collect some market information, try to identify potential customers, analyze what kind of media or information channels those customers consumed and subsequently implement a two-way communication program, with multiple channels, with said market (analysis).
The concept of two-way communication is fundamental to building trust, which in turn is crucial for B2B selling and marketing. For the sample a button: ask yourself how many times in your industry you bought a new solution to distribute based on a TV commercial. When was the last time you bought a new line of cameras based on a mass consumption trend you were seeing in the market? Surely he never did. It is almost certain that the times you have bought a new solution to distribute it you did so based on analysis, profit margin study, global market share of the manufacturer company and competitor analysis.
But in addition to helping you close deals, building relationships with your current and potential customers (B2B marketing) allows you to gain insight from them, understand market trends, understand their needs, and prepare to offer them what they will need in the future.
Main differences between B2C tactics
B2B marketing tactics were inspired by conventional promotional tactics used in mass sectors. However, there are notable differences between one market and another, between the profile of the people who make the purchase decisions, the available budgets, the expectations after the negotiation is over and the consequences of making a bad decision.
Perhaps no one has been fired from home for buying shoddy milk at the supermarket, but a sales manager could lose his job if his company loses market share because of an unpopular product line.
Talking about the differences between B2B marketing and B2C marketing would give for a single article. There are many resources on the Internet, but there was one that reinforces the theses presented in this note and whose reading would be quite interesting for those who want to better understand the different faces of each type of promotion. The article is called How B2B Marketing Differs from B2C Marketing Online, written by Michael Miller, who in turn is the author of The Ultimate Web Marketing Guide, a book that has enjoyed a good reputation.
One of the most interesting resources presented by this article is the comparison between B2B and mass marketing based on several variables: target market, market size, sales triggers, length of the sales cycle, purchase process, factors that create brand identity, factors that generate brand awareness, and what triggers the purchase decision.
B2C Marketing Vs. B2B Marketing
|
|
B2C Marketing |
B2B Marketing |
|
Target market |
Consumers |
- Publicidad -
Companies or businesses |
|
Market size |
Big |
SPequeño and focused |
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Triggers |
Product |
Relations |
|
Sales cycle length |
Short |
Long |
|
Purchase process |
Simple process |
Multiple steps |
|
What creates brand identity? |
Image repetition |
Personal relationships |
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What generates brand awareness? |
Merchandising and promotion |
Education and personal contacts |
|
What drives the purchase decision? |
Price, status, and desire (an emotional decision) |
Value to the business (a rational decision) |
For the B2B marketing executive, the really decisive thing is not to generate an immediate sale, but to generate leads that can become customers over time.
Mistakes when implementing a B2B marketing program
Perhaps the most common, and we have already mentioned it in this note, is trying to see B2B marketing from the light of B2C. While the former must be more proactive (because the market is harder to identify and the customer more reluctant to buy), the latter tends to be more reactive (the market is simply there and the customer wants to buy), using several methods simultaneously.
One of our first customers wanted us to promote one of their new product lines based on a marketing campaign for a new cookie brand that had entered the market in those days. While the cookies had several potential customers within the family nucleus (the mother, father and children, who ask to buy a certain product from them), the technology that our client distributed had to develop its own market, with exceptional work on the part of the sales force (in addition to other B2B marketing techniques).
A golden rule for B2B markets, such as electronic security or audiovisual technology, is that no one is going to despair of buying your product. There are no long lines like when launching computers or video games. Consequently, its function is to understand well the role of B2B marketing and understand that it alone will not generate sales if it does not have a pre and post sales customer service structure.
The other big mistake B2B marketing executives make is ignoring new trends. Content marketing and social networks are essential elements in the current acquisition of new customers.
Content marketing is the production of instructional and teaching materials for your potential customer. If you are in electronic security, try to educate and inform, through content (articles, reference manuals, videos, podcasts, infograms and others), your client. In B2B marketing, given the nature of the business, experts are always sought to give information about the best products. When a potential customer feels that with your content you are making your life easier, you will also put them in the first place when it comes to buying technology.
Social media is fundamental to B2B marketing. Today there is no more effective way to reach a market. Many companies don't see themselves selling their security cameras or sound consoles through Facebook. However, this social network is not just a space for meeting friends. It started like this, but today, even the purchasing managers of the companies are there. They may not enter Facebook to buy technologies to market, but if they see that a well-known brand is there and that provides interesting materials, there was no reason why they should not start following it with the famous Like, which is nothing more than the authorization to receive their messages on the wall of their personal profiles.
I still remember when several years ago I started recommending to our clients to explore the social media platform. Some told me they didn't see their client on Facebook, or that Twitter was just for artists. Today I see that history is proving us right.
* Julián Arcila is a founding partner of Signalis Group, a B2B marketing firm for the Hispanic/Latino electronic security, audio/video and hospitality sectors, among others. You can be contacted at [email protected].
