Sometimes when we start to talk about B2B Marketing, we start to talk about things very different to the consumer marketing….and yes, the tools for market products and services to business are quite different from the consumer ones. Digital tools have made a revolution in both, maybe even more for B2B and started even before.

However, the principles are the same, tools are different.

We need for both a clear Value Proposal, with strong reasons to believe. For both we need a demonstration, to show consumer or customers how we deliver our promise. In B2B there is normally a more rational approach to take the decisions, therefore our value proposal must be even more rationally justified and the evaluation of the product performance is constantly done. When you sell Ready Mix Concrete, there are samples of the sold concrete and the evolution of the concrete is measured along several days to verify the hardness is the right one at every time, if it doesn´t meet the specification, then we can have a penalties….and problems in the construction.

Our best value proposition for Ready Mix Concrete, deliver when the product is required and meeting specifications every time, demonstrated with previous history and every time.

Audience or target is also another key principle. For B2B as B2C, the target is someone with a name, a job, an age and specific requirements. We need to get the right target to have the right value proposition. Normally for B2B, we have several names, jobs and requirements, we have an additional challenge because it´s a set of decision makers….and precisely because of that we need to have all of them crystal clear to remark with each one how we deliver on their specific requirement.

Funnel, no matter if digital or traditional, B2B and B2C, we have a number of people that gets aware of our proposal, but not all of them will buy. We will lose people as we advance in the purchase journey, some because they were only browsing, others because find in other product benefits covering better they need, other because the price is high. In B2B it´s the same, only that maybe we will lose possible customers because we don´t meet a specification, because or financing is expensive, because one of the decision makers has blocked us because he/she has better relation with another supplier. In both of the cases, we need to be clear about the purchase journey for our product or service with a specific customer or type of customer and invest time or resources on the right place.

As there is a funnel, in B2B and B2C, we must invest in communicate our proposal in the right place: Point of Sale, Digital, Expos, massive media…always depend of the target. Then we must advance in the purchase journey, getting the data and giving follow up, called customer relationship management, we will do sometimes mailing, other meetings, other live roadshows and other lunch meetings….but always with the role of the specific element of the target and his requirement.

Principles are the same, tools are different….or at least how we use the tools.