By Guest Author Sean Geehan
One of the biggest differences between B2B and B2C worlds is marketing. Many successful marketing leaders have a difficult time making the required adjustments to be successful.
For instance, let’s look at branding and positioning. I’m a living case-in-point. I drink more Diet Coke than I do anything else. I have it stocked in my home fridge, in my work fridge, and I order it every day at lunch. The image of the Coke brand, for me as the customer, is defined entirely by the advertising, package design, and my experience with the taste. I have no personal relationship or connection with the organization itself, and yet I am entirely loyal to that brand. If the package is damaged I assume my local grocer dropped it while putting it out on the shelf. Yes, I’m a Coke advocate.
B2C companies invest millions to understand the various personas, segments, demographics, and geographical nuances to help them determine how to position and manage their brands to appeal to the faceless masses. In the retail category (e.g., Starbucks, Disney, Target), the brand is also impacted by elements such as the store (look, experience) and the people (knowledge, culture, and interactions).
B2B companies invest to understand their customers as well, but the path they take is very different. While the fundamentals of marketing are universal, there are three key factors that require different applications of these fundamentals. They are:
- Number of customers — B2C firms usually have 100 to 1,000 times as many customers for a similar amount of revenue. Williams Sonoma has 33 million customers with $3 Billion in revenue.
- Buying levels of the customer — In my Coke example above, I am the sole person in the buying process. In the B2B world there are three typical levels: user, influencer, decision maker and each level may have 1 to 1,000s of people involved and impacted in the buying of services.
- Domain knowledge — The B2B buyer has the expertise and experience in the offering being considered. Think about the Boeing Engineer evaluating a GE jet engine for a new airplane…a CIO evaluating a new Enterprise Resource Planning System software provider…or a CFO reviewing audit firms.
Understanding these key differences and then applying the correct marketing approaches will boost the overall ROI on marketing efforts and ultimately propel an organization towards sustainable, predictable, and profitable growth. The B2B Executive Playbook is the first book to address the critical differences between B2B and B2C operations and how those differences can cause companies to fail or flourish.
Sean Geehan: The B2B Executive Playbook: The Ultimate Weapon for Achieving Sustainable, Predictable and Profitable Growth