B2B vs B2C Content Marketing: What’s the Difference?
Author: Team WH
Published On: 04-04-23
Last Updated on: 21-09-23
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Businesses must know what is the difference between B2B and B2C content marketing, as following the same content creation strategy will not generate the desired outcomes. Although the differences may seem challenging to distinguish at times, this blog will help clear the confusion regarding B2B vs B2C content marketing with examples. Let’s start with the basics.
What is B2B Content Marketing?
B2B or Business-to-Business Marketing is creating and efficiently distributing content to get attention from other businesses. The end goal of this strategy is to convert these targeted businesses into loyal clients.
It primarily refers to optimizing customer value proposition (CVP). It is a tremendously effective way to convey the value a B2B business can provide to its clientele, which is other businesses.
The content must address your target companies’ goals, needs and how you can help reach them. A critical point you must include is the professional challenges the target company and its employees face and how your product is the solution for them.
Here, your audience will already have expertise in their industry and understand the depth of solutions you can offer them. So, keeping your content concise, straightforward and professional is essential.
One famous example of B2B content marketing is HubSpot, an industry-leading CRM platform.
It advertises the product in simple but user-friendly language – not over-explaining but still using solution-focused and inviting tonality.
What is B2C Content Marketing?
On the other hand, business-to-consumer or B2C content marketing involves tactics to attract individual customers.
While B2B marketing strategies allow the distribution of knowledge and value for better traffic and brand awareness, B2C marketing targets shorter sales cycles.
It talks about the strategies and best practices businesses can use to directly promote services and products among their target consumers to drive more sales. They do this by using engaging content that taps into their subconscious.
Here, the strategy is to focus on your target customer’s emotional, psychological and everyday life-related pain points. These consumers want to seek a specific and immediate solution for their problems. B2C content marketing helps businesses meet those wants and, thus, boost interest in their products.
Blue Apron, a subscription-based meal box, does this by providing its customers not just the ingredients but also information about everything surrounding their meals. This “extra” step keeps the audience informed and fuels their passion to know more, thus becoming regular clients.
The end decision for B2C customers relies on rational and emotional aspects. This means B2C marketers must find a way to entice consumers to select their brand among many others. They can do this by putting the customer first, talking in the language they value, and tapping into their psychological and emotional values.
What is the Difference Between B2B and B2C Content Marketing?
B2B and B2C content marketing primarily differ since their target markets are separate. Naturally, this also affects their business objectives and priorities.
Let’s take a look at how the two strategies vary from each other.
Business Objectives of Decision-Making
If you run a B2B business and believe in the power of content, you are among the 40% of content marketers with a solid written strategy. The problem is that most B2B businesses are not using content marketing to their full potential yet.
On the other end of the spectrum, B2C businesses are more inclined towards developing a robust content strategy, with 65% of marketers prioritizing it.
However, the process of selling to B2C customers is less labor-intensive than selling to B2B customers. In B2B, there is a need for careful pitching since it can impact the whole conversion process.
So, in B2B content marketing, businesses must prioritize their goals, like building leadership and authority in their field. B2C, on the other hand, can skip this and directly focus on prioritizing cost-effectiveness, safety, and convenience.
Messaging Format
One has to address the difference in the messaging styles when discussing the difference between B2B and B2C content marketing.
B2C content marketing strategy tends to be more vibrant and fun since it evokes an emotional connection between the B2C brand and the audience.
While the B2B buying journey tends to be more tedious, especially during the pre-sales cycle, it is possible to make the process more engaging. After all, what is B2B marketing if it is not selling to actual human beings?
Hence, despite being more conservative in nature than B2C marketing, B2B businesses also need to learn about conveying the message in a better way.
Just take a cue from telecommunication giant Cisco.
The brand developed its own graphic novel, Cyber Threat Response (CTR) and SuperSmart, to promote the importance and loopholes in cyber security.
This unique marketing approach created the perfect hook for the company and boosted its sales.
Perspective
The perspective differs significantly when selling a product or service to individual clients against selling to business organizations.
While individual consumers look for brands and products that are relatable on a personal level, B2B organizations have a more rational approach when looking to buy.
Hence, the perspective is more emotional in the case of the B2C marketing approach and more practical in the case of the B2B marketing approach.
HubSpot and Coca-Cola are two excellent examples of whether you follow a B2B or B2C content marketing strategy.
As most of the customers of HubSpot are other businesses, their content marketing strictly adheres to the B2B standards.
The brand creates tons of white papers and case studies and conducts free webinars to provide more significant insights into the industry. All these have helped the brand build its authority immensely among its peers.
On the other hand, global beverage maker Coca-Cola is a B2C brand that caters directly to consumers worldwide.
Over the years, the brand has designed various multifaceted strategies to optimize its content marketing tactics.
If anyone wishes to learn what is B2C marketing, then they need to pay attention to this brand.
Instead of focusing on traditional advertising like the rest, Coca-Cola has mastered the art of storytelling.
It also regularly generates consumer-centric content in the form of brand stories and has successfully built a unified communal experience for all.
B2B vs B2C Content Marketing Examples
Let’s look at the following two examples to further understand how B2B vs B2C differences impact your content marketing tactics.
B2B Example of Prioritizing Intent
Professional service provider Deloitte specializes in tech, consulting, and other professional B2B services.
The company provides various educational hubs, like Deloitte University Press, and curates helpful content regularly, including webcasts and blog posts. In this way, the company has successfully established its authority in terms of knowledge resources.
B2B businesses can take inspiration from these strategies to learn how catering to a wide-scale audience can be helpful.
B2C Example of Personalization
On the other hand, Swedish B2C brand Spotify sets the standard, when it comes to exclusivity and personalization.
The music streaming service offers a peek into each user’s friends’ music tests through their annual #Wrapped campaign.
Spotify also includes end-of-the-year stats on genres, top artists, and podcasts on an individual level to create a buzz around the brand. It also establishes a sense of community by encouraging audiences to share their taste in music.
Conclusion
Whether you wish to develop a robust B2B or B2C content marketing strategy, the distinction is very subtle. And with time, these differences too will cease to exist.
Slowly B2B brands are realizing the impact of humanizing their content marketing tactics. And B2C content marketing is focusing on providing practical value to their clients.
However, one thing will always remain constant: their clientele.
While B2B content marketing caters to CEOs, CFOs, and CMOs, B2C remains rooted in their direct consumers.
With the above examples, even B2B marketers can learn to create more personable content and B2C marketers can consider creating more meaningful content.
Nonetheless, it is possible to generate better customer engagement and build superior brand awareness once you understand the subtleties of the two strategies.
FAQs
Q) What is the biggest difference between B2B and B2C content marketing?
Some of the biggest differences between B2B vs B2C marketing are:
- The target market of the B2B and B2C businesses
- Customer journey
- Business objectives
- Format of conveying the brand message
Q) Why do businesses need to learn the differences between B2B Vs. B2C marketing?
Understanding the difference between B2B and B2C content marketing can help businesses better use their resources. It is possible to gain better customer insights and improve your messaging, content quality, format, and frequency, once the distinction is clear. This will directly impact the ROI of your marketing tactics since you will understand your target market better.
Q) Which social media platforms are ideal for B2B vs B2C marketing?
Social media has a vital role in both B2B and B2C content marketing strategies. While B2B businesses can gain more leads by using the proper channels, B2C businesses can increase their customer engagement.
The best social media platforms for B2B content marketing are:
