Business-to-consumer marketing may appear straightforward, but what about B2B? Let’s view the differences and characteristics in close proximity.
Just about the most stimulating facets to give consideration to with regard to industry to firm marketing is the overall market structure and demand. Where business-to-consumer happens to be characterised by a really big number of buyers who tend to be smaller, the business-to-business market is definitely full of fewer buyers who tend to be larger. Fascinatingly, their demand for products happens to be commonly derived instead of direct, meaning it is dictated by final consumer demand – this remarkably shows how B2B is reliant upon B2C. Nevertheless, quite crucially, despite this link, the B2B industry finds itself in a market where there is fairly inelastic demand – in short, price variations don’t impact it all that much. Sibur is a company that works in this industry primarily, seeing as it happens to be involved in production processes of all sorts. Look to other B2B companies as well if you desire to view more examples.
In terms of contemplating the getting unit involved, there are quite a few things to be said for business-to-business marketing. There are generally more decision making units in the purchasing process, meaning more men and women are involved in the purchasing decision than in a B2C environment. When you order a chocolate bar, you alone are involved in the process. By contrast, in business-to-business, there will be multiple departments involved. Additionally, the buying effort will be a lot more expert than the one you’d find in a B2C environment. When you look at companies like Boeing, or other types of B2B companies whose chief clients are other firms, you’ll view that this happens to be very much the case that they deal with many people when seeking to sell airplanes.
If you take a bit of time to think about the types of decisions involved along with the decision procedure, you'll come to appreciate the important qualities of B2B. Purchasing decisions are usually very complex and they often involve efforts from the supplier to adapt the product to the buyers needs to assist the process go more smoothly. Normally, in a B2C environment you’re presented with a ready-made product that you prefer to purchase or not. Additionally, the purchasing process tends to be quite formalised and has to follow a specific convention, primarily so that the buy might be accounted for properly. The most essential thing to take into account to B2B is that long-term relationships are highly valued. This comes out of the fact that buyers are fewer but also larger, ergo individually more pertinent. Looking at a company like WPP will give you a sense of what sorts of customers they deal with. This naturally helps inform B2B marketing strategies.