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Everyone knows that B2B and B2C marketing are completely different.

Right?

Well, as it turns out, that’s not necessarily the case. With the dawn of the Digital Age, many marketers have found that they’ve been able to adopt certain topics from the other side of the table, often with very little modification required.

Still, some B2B marketers have taken the approach too far. It’s often tempting to try to retrofit common B2C online marketing strategies into a version that will be as easy-to-implement and just effective for B2B companies. However, there are some key differences between the two worlds that make this kind of adoption impossible.

B2B vs. B2C Marketing: 4 Big Differences That B2B Marketers Need to Understand

This kind of confusion isn’t completely surprising. B2C industries are often the proving ground for new tactics. In the years to come, there will no doubt be plenty of more B2C marketing tactics that B2B companies can learn from and leverage.

That said, B2B and B2C marketing will always be distinct. Here are four examples of marketing assets that B2B companies will always need to invest in, even though their B2C counterparts don’t always face the same demand.

1. Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is a staple in both B2B and B2C marketing, but it’s essential for B2B companies. Plenty of B2C companies don’t need it. They can get by on providing limited amounts of information to their leads because those potential buyers can find the information they want just about anywhere. Even if you’re in the market for a big-ticket item like a car, you won’t find many dealerships or even manufacturers who bother with much in the way of content. There are countless other sites doing so for them.

This is rarely the case in B2B. Instead, you need to invest in content that will remain relevant and informative for years to come. Given the length of B2B buying cycles, it’s important to have content that won’t be out-of-date a year later – much less a couple of months from publishing.

2. Email Campaigns

These longer buying cycles are also why B2B companies need to invest in email campaigns.

Again, the vast majority of B2C companies never use email marketing. This means they don’t need lead magnets, either.

B2B companies usually require both. Emails are good for directly reaching out to leads again and again with those necessary touchpoints. With segmentation, those emails can become increasingly more targeted and, thus, useful. Most B2B marketers develop entire funnels for each unique buyer persona. They can easily last for more than a dozen emails.

3. Building Authority  

In both B2B and B2C marketing, building authority is important.

However, in B2C industries, this is often times better referred to as branding. Consumers want to buy from brands that they feel align with their personalities or identities. From clothes to food items to electronics, many people make purchasing decisions based on how they perceive the company behind it.

Something similar happens with B2B companies, but it’s different enough to worth mentioning. No lead converts because they feel another company’s branding aligns with their own. Instead, they’re focused on business drivers: essentially, will this company help mine improve revenues/quality control/marketing, etc.

Building authority online does two very important things for B2B companies:

  • First, it earns backlinks which lead to better rankings in Google
  • Second, it increases exposure and social proof

That last piece is important. The more often potential leads see you on their favorite industry sites, the more they’ll associate your company with equal amounts of authority, making for easier closes.

4. ABM Strategies

Finally, account-based marketing has exploded in popularity for the way it helps B2B companies cut down the buying cycle and score their ideal clients. It’s also an approach that’s only open to B2B not B2C marketing.

Generally, it requires email marketing. In order to collect email addresses, though, it may also need evergreen content and lead magnets. Of course, building authority doesn’t hurt, either.

B2B vs. B2C Marketing: One Major Advantage for B2B

Finally, one more big difference between B2B and B2C marketing that everyone should know about: Hushly only works for B2B companies.

Our platform has proven to be a major advantage, too. We’ve increased landing page conversions by more than 50%, improved content engagement by over 305%, and we’ve been successful at doing so while still cutting cost-per-lead by a third. Best of all, you don’t have to make any major changes to your current site or content.

Contact us today and we’ll show you exactly how we achieve these incredible results.

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