Difference Between B2B and B2C

'Traditional marketing in the business-to-business environment requires very different strategies from those campaigns directed towards the consumer market.' (ExtraVision, n.d., p. 1) 'Consumer competition can be a lot fiercer, with customer loyalty a constant battle.? (ExtraVision, n.d., p.1)

Here I leave a table, explaining the variations and differences among different marketing techniques used by each of these two firms:

Overall, I believe the CIBC has had more success with it’s customer-engagement marketing effort as evidenced by the feedback from it’s followers. Whether the feedback is positive or negative their customers are participating more actively than those of the RBC. Additionally, the cumulative followers total for RBC are higher than that of the CIBC, but without the RBC customer participating the conversation appears to be one sided. Given this quantitative data I feel the CIBC has been more successful in promoting customer-engagement.

Unlike the B2B relationship, B2C e-tailers would not likely have concern regarding contracts as consumers purchase product directly from a business. Many business Web sites contain information for consumers to peruse such as privacy policy information, a disclaimer, or terms and conditions for using the site. Privacy also falls under legal issues for the B2C relationship and, "some countries are far more restrictive than others in terms of what type of information collection is acceptable and legal" (Schneider, 2004, p. 316). Consumers enter credit card and other personal information through electronic retail sites, so it is essential for the site to be secure. Other legal issues that might arise in the B2C relationship include misrepresentation of company products or services.

Conducting business online using the internet has continued to experience significant growth over the last two decades. According to the Internet World Stats (2014) the number of worldwide internet users has grown from an estimated 16 million users in 1995 to 2.9 billion users in 2014. This world of interconnectivity has provided a way for people all around the world to communicate with one another in a real time format. The internet has removed the distance between governments, industries, businesses and individuals. This interconnectivity is helping to establish the foundation for a globalized community.

There are many differences between the customer behavior of the B2B space and the B2C space. For one thing, the wants and the needs of these two customers are entirely different. Individual consumers only need to worry about their own needs, whereas B2B customers need to look at the needs of the company as a whole. It behooves B2B companies to seek out influencers and powerful executives, while B2C companies may focus on any one consumer seeking a product or service. In this corporate space, customers’ needs are based less off personal reflection and more on the company’s overall business strategy. Businesses customers are more likely to research product attitudes, including quality, productivity, and overall value.

What do you see as the major differences between business marketing and consumer marketing? Which of these differences do you believe are the most important? Support your position with reference to an example of a company chosen from one of the following industries:

Think of the expanding power of the internet. Consider the unique behavior of B2B buyers. Put them together for…

Marketing differs between business to business and business to consumer in a few different ways the main one is the emotional experience of the buyer. The marketing programs are the same, which includes: events, direct marketing, internet marketing, advertising, public relations, word of mouth and alliance. The difference is how each marketing program is executed, what is said in the program, and the outcome.

When looking at demand, a business must consider what is influencing this demand. The business buyer behavior model relating to the influence can be seen in Figure 2 in the Appendix. In a few ways, both B2B and B2C markets are similar in influence however the main difference is seen in the buying unit, the types of decisions made and the decision process (Kotler, 2012, p. 192). In the B2B environment, one can see that the marketing mix, which will be discussed later on, and also other stimuli under the name PESTLE affect the business market. The PESTLE stimuli can be referred to as the political, economical, social/cultural, technological, legal/competitive, and the environmental, where each of these aspects affect the market in one way or another.

First, People who go to the B2C website are seeking for products with particular functions, which means that customers may not ask for a specific brand. In other words, substitutes are available for B2C companies to consider. Second, the switching cost for B2C companies to change to other product suppliers is much lower than physical store because the websites just need to change the pictures and description but physical stores have to re-decorate the whole design.

The B2B industry also has an undesirable reputation of not embracing innovation. So, as marketers, it’s time to change that perspective.

Thus, Homburg describes, that marketing has more influence in terms of customer satisfaction, advertising, and the expansion to new markets, where sales has more power in terms of distribution, pricing, and customer service. There is a big difference in the balance of power between marketing and sales, depending on the type of industry: marketing tends to have more influence in consumer companies, rather than industrial ones (Homburg et al.,

Transactions or trading that is done between two or more companies and does not include the final customer of products is considered to be a business-to-business model. (What is business-to-business (B2B)?, 2016) These types of businesses have distinct differences from business-to-customer companies that raise multiple marketing hurdles to jump. Some of these differences include longer sales cycles, more complex products or services, few identifiable buyers, less buyer research, and different channels for marketing strategies to use. (What Makes Business-to-Business Marketing Different?, 2016). These problems have increased the demand for improved content marketing strategies for companies in the business-to-business environment. Content marketing is the use of a strategic marketing approach focused on presenting valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a specific and identified audience. (Pulizzi, 2012) The increased demand for more and better content marketing has forced marketers to evaluate and develop marketing strategies focused on this type of marketing. According to research done by the Content Marketing Institute, marketers who document their strategy are more effective than companies that do not. (Pulizzi, 2014)

Most people have shopped at Amazon or eBay and understand how convenient the buying process is at B2C eCommerce websites where the user experience or UX trumps every aspect of the business process. Although the B2B process differs in many ways, smart decision-makers in business-to-business marketing understand that the user experience is critical and not just for customers but for business collaborations, distributor efficiency, lead generation and important internal processes. The user experience