Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The most important difference between B2B and B2C marketing
The most important difference between B2B and B2C marketing
B2b marketing b2c comparison
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Marketing is an integral part of any business operation, regardless of platform or environment (brick and mortar versus virtual); type of product sold or service rendered and target market. With the advent of Internet technology, new business models or sites such as business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C), have emerged which require the employment of different marketing strategies and tools to attract and retain customers. The following sections will provide a comparison of the marketing strategies employed and tools utilized by B2B and B2C e-business sites.
Business owners, members of the management team and key decision-makers are primarily the target for B2B marketing programs. According to Management Centre Europe's website, "B2B marketing is the process by which your company builds and maintains strong and profitable relationships with business customers - by creating value for current and potential customers and then by ensuring a fair price from them in return." B2B companies cater to other organizations by offering products and services that directly benefits the company. Companies benefit from these products/services by increasing the efficiency, organization and profitability (sales and savings) of the company. Such products and services include software, office supplies, maintenance and consulting services.
On the other hand, B2C sites allow companies and consumers (public) to interact and conduct business electronically or digitally. There are three main B2C models which include auctions, online stores and online services. Amazon.com, ebay.com and overstock.com are just some of the thousands (if not millions) of B2C sites in existence.
Despite having different target customer (busines...
... middle of paper ...
...nces. Retrieved on August 25, 2005 from http://www.pictoucountyconnects.com/?At+Work/Business+Articles/B2B+and+
B2C+Marketing%3A+7+Differences.
Business-to-consumer e-commerce. (2001). Center for Virtual Organization and Commerce: Louisianna State University website. Retrieved on August 25, 2005 from http://projects.bus.lsu.edu/independent_study/vdhing1/b2c/.
Constantinides, E. (2005). 4S web marketing mix. 12Manage.com website. Retrieved on August 26, 2005 from http://www.12manage.com/methods_constantinides_4s_web_
marketing_mix.html.
Essentials of value-based B2B marketing. (n.d.) Management Centre Europe's website. Retrieved on August 25, 2005 from http://www.mce.be/events/print.php?id
=2119&format=print.
Minett, S. (2001). B2B marketing: A radically different approach for business-to-business marketers. Indiana: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Cravens, D. W., & Piercy, N. F. (2009). Strategic marketing (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Company.
Once a decision is made to develop a business, whom the customer will be is the next decision to be made. Whom will the company target as a customer? Will it be a business? Or will it be a consumer? Business-to-business (B2B) marketing has differences from business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing practices. This paper will outline these differences between the two types of e-commerce business transactions.
Laudon, Kenneth C. Traver, Carol. E-commerce: Business. Technology. Society 3th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle NJ, 2007.
In two distinct e-commerce business types, Business-to-business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C), there are many differences in the way they operate. Specifically in marketing, differences include how the marketing is driven and the values of the strategies, the size of the target market and length of the sales cycle, and even the buying patterns of the target consumers. Each of these differences will be better defined and explained in the following paragraphs.
The ultimate goal of B2C marketing is to convert shoppers into buyers as aggressively and consistently as possible. B2C companies employ more merchandising activities like coupons, displays, store fronts (both real and Internet) and offers to entice the target market to buy. B2C marketing campaigns are concerned with the transaction, are shorter in duration and need to capture the customer’s interest immediately. These campaigns often offer special deals, discounts, or vouchers that can be used both online and in the store. For example, the goal of an email campaign for a B2C company is to get consumers to buy the product immediately. The email will take the consumer to a landing page on the web site that is designed to sell the product and make purchasing very easy by integrating the shopping cart and checkout page into the flow of the transaction. Any more than a couple of clicks and the customer is likely to abandon the shopping cart.
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., McDaniel, C. D., & Wardlow, D. L. (2009). Essentials of marketing (6th ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College Pub..
If you would like to read a series of articles jump to Web Marketing . For
Example: B2B marketers often present current products and their advantages in private presentations to key decision makers.The B2B organization may also invite possibilities and customers to public or private events to facilitate further conservations. As a result,confidence and trust are usually built between the buyer and seller over a several period of time.Main time and money are spent during the evaluation and selection process,resulting in strong brand loyalty between B2B customers.
E-marketing is a fast growing and rapid platform for any form of business. EBay has been highly successful over recent years and this is a perfect example of an online business. The internal and external environments are constantly changing and in order to keep up with these changes, businesses and organisations must make relevant changes, and generate new strategies to keep up with contemporary developments in e-marketing and to also maintain their position in their market in comparison to their competitors.
Professor Jerome McCarthy introduced in the early 1960s a marketing mix which consists of the 4 Ps: product, price, place and promotion (Kotler, 1999, p. 94). Traditionally, efficient product, price, place and promotion strategies would lead to a successful business but in today’s society, due to such technological advancements, the internet is changing the way we sell our products and services, and therefore organisations now need online strategies to attract and retain customers. The e-marketing mix considers how the 4 Ps can be presented online in order to give that firm a competitive advantage through digital marketing (Learn Marketing, 2014).
Armstrong G. & Kotler P. (2007) Marketing: An Introduction 8E Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson Prentice Hall Publishers
B2B serves as the venue for all manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers to convene all year long less of the hazards of travel and less of the expensive costs of traditional ways to make business. Through B2B portals, companies can exchange communications, information, and transactions as well as perform regular business processes like purchase orders, invoices, and payment.
Marketing is a vital component in the success of businesses. Smaller businesses rely on business advertising, expenses, knowing if the business is networking with the right people, or joining the best organisations which lead to success (EStartup business blog, 2010). Marketing concentrates on customers and what the customers want. Customers are the source of sales and profits. Many small businesses are faced with remarkable hardships due to not developing the right marketing plan (EStartup business blog, 2010). To help these businesses a more appropriate or better marketing plan needs to be designed. Small business internet marketing services can help businesses develop and thrive in a highly competitive market. For the highest quality internet marketing services, hiring an online marketing company to design a customized internet marketing campaign may be advantageous for some businesses (EStartup business blog and contributors, 2010). Identified will be the role that marketing plays in a successful business demonstrated by use of two examples, the importance of developing a marketing plan, and ethical and legal issues that surround marketing practices (EStartup business blog, 2010).
The are two basic categories of business conducted over the internet, Business-to-Customer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B), and they share one common key aspect - use of Internet technologies to manage all aspects of the business.
Consequently, e-business and especially online shopping is crucial for retail stores. They should provide necessary infrastructure for selling their products online. By taking advantage of e-business not only they can get competitive advantage of online shopping, but the...