Sales and marketing strategies share the same foundations, yet things become noticeably different when we talk about B2B and B2C sales. The two sectors use the same methods, can have the same goals and even rely on the same tools, but it is the thinking behind them that makes all the difference.
The reasons are easy to guess: the first difference that probably came to mind is the target audience. Different audiences, driven by different buying motives, are already the first fork in the road separating B2B from B2C selling.
In this article we look at the main differences you should not underestimate.
The differences between B2B and B2C sales
B2C sales take place between a business (the seller) and an end customer (the buyer).
In B2B, the buying process involves two businesses. There is no end consumer, but another company interested in a service or product that can solve a specific problem in its own business.
The two differ mainly in:
- target audience
- buying motives
- number of people involved in the decision
- complexity of the decision-making process
- channels used and complexity of lead generation
- how much customers need to know
- customer lifetime value (CLV).
This infographic summarises the main differences.
Now let's look at these differences in detail.
Target audience and buying motives
The first element to consider when working on sales and marketing strategies is the target audience.
In business-to-consumer, as the term suggests, the sale is aimed at the end consumer. In most cases the customer is a single person making a personal purchase.
In B2B, the purchase decision is made at company level. This means the customer is not really one person: there are several decision makers, people who are consulted and involved in the purchase. They can be managers, executives or the CEO.
What pushes people to buy also works very differently in the two areas.
On one side there is B2C, where marketing tends to work on emotions, because most purchase decisions are made on the basis of feelings and wants. Here the job is to tap into needs and steer purchase decisions towards your own products or services.
On the other side, in B2B the buying motives are more varied because several people are involved at once. There are no impulse purchases either: decisions are far more rational and based on comparison and knowledge of the product or service.
Buying process
The B2C market often relies on impulse purchases, which therefore tend to follow a fairly short decision path.
The decision and buying process follows a very different structure in B2B.
The decision takes several factors into account, from the views of different departments to the budget and the ROI analysis. Having to involve more people, plus all the other considerations, makes the decision-making process much longer in B2B.
Bear in mind that this process often includes a long research phase. According to a RollWorks study, 77% of B2B buyers do their own research before they even contact a company's sales team.
Every purchase decision goes through several stages: research, comparison and evaluation of the alternatives. While buyers explore possible solutions, all of these stages can happen before the first contact with the company, for example a call or a product demo request.
This infographic shows some of the typical touchpoints in a B2B lead's decision journey.
The buying journey gets even more complex because decision makers need to agree with each other before reaching a shared decision. This Gartner chart shows the B2B decision journey and highlights its many touchpoints.
Customer knowledge
The more complex decision process in B2B means you have to pay more attention to how much customers know about a given subject.
As we have seen, when deciding, B2B buyers go through long periods of research and comparison of the available solutions.
This greater need for understanding has to be matched by a suitable content marketing strategy.
B2B puts a lot of weight on teaching customers how to use products. You need onboarding programmes and consulting for people using the product or service for the first time.
Take HubSpot: the platform offers marketing and sales solutions with features ranging from CRM to lead generation and email marketing. Smooth adoption requires a well-structured onboarding programme, which is why companies like HubSpot give customers courses (organised in an Academy) to learn and get the most out of the tools.
B2C, on the other hand, relies more on emotional or inspirational content and gives less weight to information.
Lead generation
Lead generation is how you acquire new potential customers, the leads. The goal is the same in B2B and B2C. The main differences lie in the channels used and in the overall strategy.
In B2B, effective lead generation channels include email and direct outreach on LinkedIn. Webinars and online and offline events can also help you get in touch with potential customers.
In B2C, depending on the sector, social channels such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok can work particularly well to spread inspirational and emotional content and attract new leads.
B2B lead generation has to focus in particular on lead segmentation and scoring. B2B niches are smaller, but that does not make accurate, in-depth lead segmentation any easier or any less necessary.
Lead generation can become a key engine for a steady flow of customers. At Visilay we built a lead generation funnel for Contesini energy consultancy, which added a new flow of customers alongside the existing sales channel. With a funnel built on Google Ads we were also able to get past the limits of the physical sales channel, whose results varied considerably at certain times of the year.
Customer relationships
Customer care, onboarding and pre-sales communication are essential in B2B. The aim is to build solid relationships with customers and therefore a very high retention rate.
In B2B, long-term relationships matter most, so solid foundations have to be laid before the purchase. To improve retention, you then need to meet and exceed customer expectations after the purchase as well.
This applies to all ongoing businesses (for example a recurring service or product), and it also helps secure future sales.
In B2C, the customer relationship is often secondary and ends with the sale. With a shorter buying process there are fewer chances to interact (especially one to one), so a lasting relationship is harder to build.
Build a solid strategy with Visilay
As we have seen, B2B often means dealing with more complex problems. Audience research has to account for several decision makers and their buying motives. The channels to focus on and B2B lead generation strategies aim to qualify leads more closely, precisely because the audience itself is more complex. Content marketing and customer onboarding also follow completely different paths in B2B compared with B2C.
All these differences mean you cannot use the same approach and expect worthwhile results. That is why at Visilay we specialise in working with B2B companies and in building tailored strategies that help them establish solid relationships with their customers.
