Difference Between B2b And B2c

Marketing: Differences Between B2B and B2C

Linicha Hunter

University of Phoenix

EBUS 400 E-Business

Dr. Hee Lee

September 27, 2006

Marketing: Differences Between B2B and B2C

Marketing allows organizations to promote their products or services with the intent of maximizing their profit and gaining consumers' confidence. In today's society marketing the correct product/service can be difficult but implementing the marketing process and planning accurately can alleviate potential obstacles. This week's paper will discuss the meaning of marketing, define business to business (B2B), define business to consumer (B2C), and compare how marketing differs between B2B/B2C websites.

Marketing

According to Warholic, "marketing a B2B/B2C website requires a performance evaluation, understanding the business being marketed, identifying the customer base, incorporating pertinent content with the keywords properly included, updating the content regularly, establishing trust with customers, and understanding the marketing channels available" (Warholic, 2006, para 1). "Most people think that marketing is only about advertising and/or personal selling of goods and services. Advertising and selling, however, are just two of the many marketing activities" (Boone & Kurtz, 1998, para. 1). Marketing consist of four elements that assist with developing the market mix: product, which is the physical item or service that a company is selling, place is where and how a product is distributed and sold, promotion explains the advertising/selling part of marketing the product/service, and price defines how much the consumer will pay for the product/service.

Another view of marketing according to Brian Norris," marketing is the ongoing process of moving people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow, refer, upload, download, obey, reject, conform, and become complacent to someone else's products, services or values" (Norris, 2006, para. 4).

Business to Business Marketing

According to Pcwebopedia, business-to-business, "is the exchange of services, information and/or products from one business to another, as opposed to between a business and a consumer" (Pcweopedia, 2006). B2B marketers typically sell their products to firms that, in turn, create other products for sales further down the value chain. Marketing online has similar benefits from a B2B/B2C standpoint, such as lower cost of advertising or increasing customer's awareness of ones products. So is there really a difference between the two? Ultimately B2B and B2C websites have common goals, such as identifying/satisfying the end user with the expectation of increasing profit margin.

According to Debra Murphy, "although the marketing programs are the same for each type of business (events, direct marketing, internet marketing, advertising, public relations), how they are executed, what they say, and the outcome of the marketing activities differ" (Murphy, 2006, para. 3). Murphy suggests that the first step in developing a "marketing strategy for B2B is similar to the first step in a B2C strategy: identify who the customer is and why they need to hear your message, from there the marketing activities diverge" (Murphy, 2006, para. 4).

Business to Consumer Marketing

Business-to-consumer marketing is defined by Pcwebopedia as "the exchange of services, information and/or products from a business to a consumer, as opposed to between one business and another business" (Pcweopedia, 2006). One interesting aspect of B2C marketing is that many companies have realized the importance of consumer loyalty.

Differences in Marketing with B2B/B2C

As mentioned earlier business-to-business environment requires very different strategies from those directed towards the consumer market. Consumer competition can be a lot fiercer, with customer loyalty begin a constant battle. According to Murphy, the differences between B2B marketing and B2C marketing are: B2B marketing is more relationship driven whereas B2C is more product driven. The value of the relationship in B2B is maximized whereas B2C the value of transaction is maximized. In B2B the target market is smaller compare to B2C, which has a large target market. The purchasing aspect in B2B is a multi-step process whereas in B2C the purchasing process is a single step.

For example, if a consumer wanted to purchase a book for Amazon.com the only thing they would have to do is click on the shopping cart to add the item to the cart, once that was done the purchasing screen is displayed which allows the consumer to purchase the book. This is not true with a B2B website because the funding for the same book has to be authorized through many channels before the purchasing process can be completed.

According to Murphy, "B2C companies employ more merchandising activities like coupons, displays, store