Experts Share Insights B2B vs B2C10

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

JayBaerAuthor, YoutilityFounder, Convince and Convert

“Yes, the purchase funnel and some of the tactics are different in B2B. But the strategic thrust of content (help, inform) and social (help, humanize) are the same regardless of what you’re selling.

Every B2B customer is also a B2C customer, and the marketing playbooks of the B2C companies are changing the expectations of B2B buyers.”

—11 Big Myths About Social Media and Content Marketing

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

@jaybaer

JayBaerAuthor, YoutilityFounder, Convince and Convert

“IF YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE A PASS ON THIS STUFF BECAUSE ‘WE’RE B2B,’ YOU’RE IN REAL TROUBLE.”(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

kIMCUrry

VP Strategy & PlanningBabcock & Jenkins

“At the beginning of the buyer journey, you have to get a buyer’s attention. You have to give them a reason to move out of the status quo, and you can’t do that without providing some sort of value early on. That’s a very difficult thing to learn how to do, and that’s a place where I feel like B2B marketers can actually learn a lot from B2C marketers.”

—B2C and B2B Marketing: Twin Sons of Different Mothers

“THE BASIC TENETS OF MARKETING THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED TO HAVE SUCCESS IN B2B AND B2C ARE REALLY PRETTY SIMILAR.”

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Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

kIMCUrry

VP Strategy & PlanningBabcock & Jenkins

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“Five years ago the requirement on B2B marketers to entertain was pretty low. That’s totally shifted now. B2B marketers need to think like consumer marketers, marketing to a person, not to a faceless entity.

Just like you yourself try to humanize your brand or company, you’re also trying to engage at more of an emotional level with the people you’re selling to.”

toDDWheatlanDVP, Thought Leadership and MarketingKelly Services

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“IN SEEKING TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE, YOU’RE UP AGAINST ALL THE OTHER CONTENT AND VOICES THEY’RE EXPOSED TO.”

toDDWheatlanDVP, Thought Leadership and MarketingKelly Services

@ToddWheatland

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

JonMIller

VP Marketing & Co-founderMarketo

“Too often, marketers get hung up on the idea that B2B content and B2C content require wholly different approaches, and they don’t. Whether you’re selling blue jeans, cheese, enterprise-grade software or wind turbines, the ultimate goal is for the reader to first feel an emotion, and then be motivated to act.”

—Content Marketing for B2B and B2C More Alike than Unalike

“PEOPLE DON’T ACT UNLESS YOUR CONTENT IS USEFUL, ENJOYABLE, INSPIRED AND EMPATHETIC.”

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Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

@jonmiller

JonMIller

VP Marketing & Co-founderMarketo

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“There are a whole lot of differences...where do you want to start? To begin with, you’ve got a different kind of person. Yes, these people exist as consumers, but generally when you’re going after an enterprise B2B buyer, they don’t look like the vast majority of consumers.”

—B2B Marketing Is Not the Same as B2C

erICWIttlakeSr. Director of MediaBabcock & Jenkins

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES IS THE PEOPLE YOU’RE MARKETING TO ARE EXPERTS. IN CONSUMER MARKETING, YOU RARELY MARKET TO EXPERTS.”

erICWIttlakeSr. Director of MediaBabcock & Jenkins

@wittlake

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

MaUreenBlanDforD

B2B Sales Enablement Strategist

“Yes, yes, yes, we’re all selling to people. And, yes, stuff from consumer habits leaks over. (Kate Middleton has knees; I have knees.) But how consumers buy and how execs buy is largely more different than the same.

While strategizing for business buyers may feel more challenging, it’s really much easier than working in the consumer space...if we just get out of our own way.”

– I Am Not Kate Middleton

“HOW WE BUY POTATO CHIPS VS. HOW WE BUY A DATA WAREHOUSE: POLAR OPPOSITE BUYING PROCESS.”

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Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

@MaureenB2B

MaUreenBlanDforD

B2B Sales Enablement Strategist

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“Without question, the lines between B2B and B2C as historically conceived, are definitely changing. We’re marketing to people, not businesses. And when you make that mental shift, you finally start to realize that the way I appeal to – and am relevant to a person – taps into things that go beyond their role as a business decision maker or influencer.”

aaronBeanStrategic Planner & Digital StrategistBabcock & Jenkins

aaronBeanStrategic Planner & Digital StrategistBabcock & Jenkins

@aaron_bean

“BUSINESSES NEED TO APPEAL TO BUYERS FROM AN EMOTIONAL AND A RATIONAL SIDE, WHICH IS THE SAME IN A CONSUMER ENVIRONMENT.”

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

aaronBeanStrategic Planner & Digital StrategistBabcock & Jenkins

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

aaronBeanStrategic Planner & Digital StrategistBabcock & Jenkins

aaronBeanStrategic Planner & Digital StrategistBabcock & Jenkins

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“At the end of the day, you’re trying to encourage a decision to be made in your favor, whether you’re marketing a pack of chewing gum, a martial arts school, a communications agency, or a multibillion dollar fighter jet.

A consumer is just as likely to see your product on a smartphone as a businessperson is. A consumer is just as likely to check out your Facebook Page or ask their friends as a businessperson is. Google returns the same results to businesspeople and consumers alike.”

—What is the main difference between B2B and B2C marketing?

ChrIstoPherPenn

VP Marketing TechnologySHIFT Communications

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Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

@cspenn

ChrIstoPherPenn

VP Marketing TechnologySHIFT Communications

“HERE’S THE MAIN DIFFERENCE: THE NUMBER OF STAKEHOLDERS AND DECISION-MAKERS. THAT’S REALLY ABOUT IT.”

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“Can you really tell me with a straight face that your decision making process to spend your company’s money is the same as when you spend your own? Maybe only in that you could be ‘fired’ from either case for making a really bad decision. It’s simply not the same, but how we as marketers (should) draw attention to our clients’ wares can be considered comparable.”

Emotion (Disruption) > Rationalization (Validation) > Elation (Assurance)

JUlIeWIsDoMVP Creative & ContentBabcock & Jenkins

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“BUSINESS BUYERS ARE CONSUMERS, YES. BUT THE MINDSET WHEN YOU’RE SPENDING ‘THEIR’ MONEY VS. YOUR OWN IS SIMPLY NOT THE SAME.”

@juliewisdom

JUlIeWIsDoMVP Creative & ContentBabcock & Jenkins

(tweet this)

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

“Humor can help to humanize a B2B brand. In a business context, making someone laugh is the most intimate connection you can make.

Consumer brands get away with being ridiculous all the time and that’s fine. But with the proliferation of social media, it doesn’t matter if the audience is B2B or consumer. They’re people.”

—BtoB Magazine

tIMWasher

Senior Marketing Manager Cisco

“73% OF PEOPLE WHO READ B2B BLOGS ARE PEOPLE.”

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Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

@TimWasher

tIMWasher

Senior Marketing Manager Cisco

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SO... WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is B2B MarketIng really all that DIfferent froM B2C?

@BabcockJenkins