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Can B2C Marketing Apply in a B2B World?

By: Viral Nation | 4 mins read | Mar 16, 2023
Let’s face it, B2B and B2C businesses have different marketing strategies because of their target audience. It often leaves people wondering if B2C marketing tactics can apply in a B2B business as well. Although consumers and businesses have different concerns when it comes to purchasing goods or services, both target markets are still product users. So yes, B2C marketing strategies definitely can apply in a B2B world. Keep reading to find out more about best B2C strategies to incorporate into your next B2B marketing campaign.

Emotionally connecting with your customers 

Emotional value is a critical component of B2C marketing. Consumers will be more likely to buy a product, even make another purchase in the future, if they have a good experience with the brand. Because of that, B2C marketers will use methods that evoke excitement, comfort and other similar emotions in consumers. On the other hand, B2B marketers often abandon the emotional value in their strategy because business customers are perceived as logical. They are more focused on educating and informing these customers to generate sales. Meanwhile, two-thirds of B2B customers reported that their decision-making process is emotionally driven, just like B2C customers. Having said that, you need to evoke a different set of emotions from consumers if you plan on using this tactic to engage with B2B customers. Customers expect brands to be reliable and credible. They want to feel confident about trusting you because their businesses depend on how you can supply them with the necessary products and services. Focus on convincing your B2B customers that you are an expert in the field and will solve their pain points.

Hype marketing

Hype marketing is a type of marketing approach where brands use intense publicity to promote their products. This marketing strategy is not only challenging because of the number of channels that you need to target at once, but a brand needs to understand the vocal point of its product for hype marketing to work. For example, when a new Apple product is about to launch, they produce promotional materials across different channels for months leading up to the product release date. It takes time to build the hype.  Similar to B2C consumers, businesses want to be excited about a new product or advanced features being released. Not only do they want time to decide if this new release will solve all their pain points, but it builds up anticipation for the launch.

Viral marketing

Viral marketing is a marketing approach that relies on organic or word-of-mouth information spread about certain products or services. The pace of information distribution slowly increases as the campaign advances. Social media has helped viral marketing to be even more efficient. With cross-posting on different platforms and being able to like or share social media posts, viral marketing has become much easier than ever before. Once a promotional message goes viral, it is easy and cheap for brands to gain traction. Choosing the right channels to share the promotional materials is necessary for the marketing tactic to work, either in B2C or B2B context. You need to know which channel your target audience is more active on and promote your products there. There is a greater chance of your ad going viral if you hit your target audience. Assert professionalism, showcase your company’s values and what pain points you can solve with your products or services.

Social experiential marketing

This marketing tactic allows people to “experience” your products through live demonstrations and with social media, it’s become a lot simpler. Instead of going door-to-door to promote the product live — which can be quite pricey and tedious, you simply need to post the demos online. You can see brands doing this marketing tactic through live sessions on Instagram or TikTok, where they can garner thousands of viewers. Another popular way to implement social marketing is by sharing testimonials of past customers. The result of social experiential marketing in social media is also significant, with 69% of buyers saying they will likely purchase a product after seeing demos.  Business customers want to make smart purchase decisions. They will look for these demos to understand the products and find out whether past customers are satisfied with them. You can create profile videos to introduce your products. If you already have past business customers, ask them to provide testimonials for your brand.

Working with influencers in B2B marketing

Influencers are effective marketers because they tend to have strong connections with their followers, who will likely try out new products after an influencer recommends them. Working with social media influencers to attract target markets is more common in B2C marketing, but it can be done in B2B marketing too. In B2B marketing, the brand must aspire to be a thought leader. It means establishing itself as an authoritative source of information within its specific niche. This way, your brand can build credibility and a trusting relationship with your target audience, increasing the likelihood they will purchase your product or service. A focus on thoughtful leadership also affects which influencers the brand should work with. Working with social media stars with high follower counts is not enough for B2B. You need to find influential figures that stand out in the industry, like authors, entrepreneurs and researchers.  Because of the difference in target audience, it’s common to think there is a big gap between B2C and B2B marketing. However, with a strategic approach, you can apply similar B2C marketing tactics in a B2B world.
_About the author
Viral Nation

Viral Nation is a new media innovation group that powers the social ecosystem through integrated solutions that align strategy, talent, media, and technology. As pioneers in the influencer space, Viral Nation is comprised of a full-service creative agency, a creator and athlete-influencer representation agency, and a technology division creating modern marketing solutions for the social media age.