The ABCs of BtoB versus BtoC marketing

February 2007

As advertising continues to shift online, tracking leads and gauging performance – measurements that weren’t possible in the print world – are all the rage. But BtoB marketers, beware. While tracking sales resulting from online advertising may be easy in the business-to-consumer (BtoC) market, the business-to-business (BtoB) environment is a far more complex beast. The buying processes are as different as night and day – buying a $19.99 DVD online is very different from buying $100,000 CRM solution. In BtoB advertising, rarely is there a straight line between initial inquiry and sale, so strategies that are effective in BtoC don't necessarily transfer to BtoB. The bottom line is that BtoB marketing is a complicated process. So what’s a BtoB marketer to do? Let’s start by identifying the common points of confusion about marketing to the BtoB market and how it differs from BtoC. Then we’ll discuss some strategies that can be implemented to tackle the unique challenges of BtoB marketing.

It’s a numbers game
The most noticeable difference between BtoC and BtoB marketing is the sheer volume of the target market. BtoC advertisers have millions of potential buyers, but in BtoB, that number is reduced to a few thousand. It’s a numbers game. Those with a million chances to make a sale have much better odds than those with only a thousand. That’s not to say that reaching a larger audience is the answer. Rather, BtoB marketers must accept their fate of having few prospects, and focus not on the volume of traffic, but rather the quality of the traffic. In BtoB, all leads are not created equal.

Impulse buying
Consumers aren’t professional buyers. They shop in their spare time and products have a lower price point; therefore there is less risk in the purchasing decision. When consumers see something they like – and the price is right – they typically aren’t reluctant to buy on the spot. Case in point: Remiss spouses who forgot Valentines Day can quickly redeem themselves. They simply visit a florist online, pick the roses they want, select same-day delivery, and enter their credit card number. Disaster averted in under five minutes.

BtoB buyers, on the other hand, are far more discerning. After all, a bad purchasing decision could potentially cost them their job. The purchasing decision is a process, and price is not the most important factor. Rates aren’t commoditized, they’re negotiated, and buyers are oftentimes limited by budgetary constraints. Furthermore, because the BtoB sales cycle can take up to a year or more, it’s extremely difficult to tie leads directly to sales.

The buck doesn’t get passed
Consumers are solely in charge of deciding how to spend their discretionary income (aside from getting the OK from a thrifty husband or wife). BtoB buyers, on the other hand, must gain the approval from the “Cs” before moving forward. In other cases, purchasing decisions are made “by committee” – a sure-fire way to slow the buying decision. The initial researcher needs to have information readily available to “sell” everybody else in the decision making path.

Solutions for BtoB marketers
While there is no magic formula that will instantly bring more business to your door, there are some best practices that can tip the odds in your favor and build a solid marketing plan.

Do your homework
To sell effectively, know the competitive dynamics of your prospects' industry and have the insight on how those dynamics influence purchasing decisions.

Find the key players
To close more sales, identify all decision makers, influencers and end-users of your product or service and then speak each person's "language." The language in ad campaigns targeted at technical IT people should be very different from that aimed at the HR department.

And don’t forget about those researchers in that collaborative decision-making process. Give them the depth and breadth of information they are likely to need, and make it easy for them to close the sale on their end.

Define a lead
Because tying BtoB leads directly to sales is nearly impossible, it only makes sense that advertising performance not be driven by buys online, but rather by highly valued activities. Getting more traffic to your website, convincing them to divulge contact information, and motivating them to return on a regular basis increases brand identity and keeps your name in front of the prospects throughout that long sales cycle.

Track the traffic
Even though you may not be able to tie your website traffic directly to sales, tracking where your visitors are coming from and what website pages get the most views is an excellent way to plan future strategies. For success, tag not only your content pages, but also forms and landing pages.

Get in front of buyers at the right time
The most crucial time to get in front of buyers is while they’re researching. Today, 87% of BtoB buyers do their research online, according to a ClickZ survey, so a strong online presence is essential. But with so much information available online, where do buyers start their search? Often it’s with a trade publication they respect. When a buyer needs widgets, he or she relies on the trade pub to tell them which widget providers to check out. The information typically comes in the form of an online industry directory, or buyers guide. Listing in the appropriate directories – and ensuring your company’s contact information is up-to-date and top of mind when buyers are searching specifically for your product – is a no-brainer.

Treat the web experience like a sales call
Effective websites operate like a face-to-face consultative sales call. At the end of the encounter, the prospect should have moved through some of the same milestones that matter in a sales meeting. They disclose their business problems and feel like they’ve received something of value, and you get their “business card” at the end, in the form of contact information. Now, you have a sense that something better is happening than just someone landing and leaving.

Promote through PR
B2B markets are typically small communities where the grapevine dominates. Both competitors and customers know each other. Public relations – press releases, editorial out-reach to get coverage in the trade press, and an ongoing effort to place your executives at key industry events – is a low-cost method of influencing what the grapevine is saying about your company and another tactic for keeping your name in front of prospects during that sales process.

While the Internet has significantly expanded the tools available to marketers and changed advertising forever, the BtoB buying process remains essentially the same. It’s a drawn-out progression of steps with multiple decision makers involved. What has changed is the way BtoB buyers research. The BtoB marketer’s job is to deliver relevant information and ensure their company stays top of mind during the research and decision-making process.