B2B (business to business) is a phrase widely used in the industry. When a company produces a product (good, solution or service) with the intention of selling it to other companies, this is called business-to-business (B2B). B2B (business-to-business) marketing refers to the practice of selling items and services to other companies rather than to individuals. Industrial marketing is often used interchangeably with B2B marketing.
However, B2B marketing encompasses not only the marketing of industrial products, but also the sale of products to commercial companies, making it the most inclusive phrase. B2B marketing customers include businesses, merchants, government organizations, and a variety of other organizational customers. Although similar to the B2C market in some ways, there are specific features of the B2B market that you should definitely consider. Corporate purchasing is a difficult process that may require several decision makers and, ultimately, authorization from the finance team or, in certain cases, from company directors if the purchase is important.
In addition, decision makers are always changing, posing a major challenge for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. Certain companies may opt for the cheaper price to keep expenses low and generate greater profits in the sale of products. Given the participation of several key people in the purchase of crucial items for a company, a B2B supplier must have a high degree of knowledge of the market and the product. They must demonstrate superior product knowledge and a guarantee of technical expertise to provide after-sales support during the transaction process.
Unlike a typical consumer, a company buys based on a reasonable assessment of the costs and benefits for the company. This is the main difference between B2B marketing strategies and consumer marketing. Unlike the characteristics of the B2C market, companies base their purchasing decisions on a series of criteria with the aim of increasing the company's profits or generating a return on investment (ROI). The work of B2B marketers becomes more difficult as purchasing decisions are made based on an extensive study of advantages and disadvantages.
In addition, purchasing decisions can also be made based on the supplier's reputation and history. In commercial markets, no B2B buyer will buy an untested product, even if the cost aspects favor the business. B2C products are purchased based on the company's brand awareness and development efforts. Consumers may not be interested in the deeper technical characteristics of the product.
So, you need a different marketing approach for B2B markets. Product complexity is one of the most important characteristics of the B2B market. Therefore, B2B marketers must have the required technical specifications and standardization procedures in order to access key customer decision makers. The information presented must be accurate and intended to instill a sense of value in the customer.
In addition, in a sale based on technical characteristics, considerable expenses can be avoided in developing the brand and creating value in customer perception. The small number of buyers represents both a difficulty and an opportunity for sellers. The B2B marketing procedure includes presentations, awareness campaigns, close collaboration with the customer to achieve the necessary improvements in the product, carrying out the sales process and providing after-sales support. Finally, the B2B vendor is evaluated based on product qualities, technical consultation, product efficiency, value generation and on-site support services.
However, a B2B purchasing team doesn't consider products for final consumption and, therefore, doesn't bother to see them through the eyes of the consumer. There is significantly less segmentation in the B2B market, since emotional decisions are not determining factors in buying. The problem for B2B companies is to identify the appropriate segment and interact with it to develop a long-term strategic partnership. At this point, restricted segmentation helps a little compared to consumer markets.
Industry segmentation is the most complicated, among other features of the B2B market. In terms of this feature, the most effective B2B marketing technique is to segment the target market by size and area, and provide all the necessary customer support. A notable feature of B2B e-commerce is that there is usually more than one decision maker involved in the buying process. In addition, four or five people could be responsible for making decisions at the same time.
Companies are looking for long-term relationships, as any experiment with a different brand will have an impact on the entire business. Therefore, brand loyalty in B2B is much higher than in consumer goods markets. While consumer goods usually cost little compared to B2B products, the sales process involves high costs. Not only is it necessary to meet with the buyer several times, but the buyer can request prototypes, samples and models.
Such a detailed evaluation serves to eliminate the risk of purchasing the wrong product or service. While almost any B2C product or service could also be a B2B product, consumers will use very few B2B products or services. More recently, a study on business-to-business (B2B) decision-making conducted by WSJ Intelligence and B2B International found that winning brands are more than twice as likely to be known by decision makers before making decisions. In addition to a smaller number of B2B customers in general, B2B markets are also unique, since, at one point in time, research by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and Professor John Dawes has shown that only 5% of buyers are in the market.
The long-term nature of many purchases between companies and companies also creates inertia when it comes to changing suppliers. The volume of B2B transactions is much greater than the volume of B2C transactions, since in a typical supply chain there will be many B2B transactions involving subcomponents or raw materials, and only one B2C transaction, specifically the sale of the finished product to the end customer. . .
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