Reading Guide:
- What is B2C Marketing or Consumer Marketing?
- 5 Online Business Models for the B2C Approach
- B2C Approach Strategies
- Difference between B2B and B2C (Difference between Industrial and Consumer Marketing)
A manufacturing plant and a company, in general, any business, has many ways to offer its products. It can give its product to a wholesaler, the wholesaler gives the goods to a retailer, and finally, from the retailer to the end consumer, which is the B2B method.
Another way is for the factory and manufacturer to deliver the goods directly to the consumer, which we know as the B2C method.
In the complete B2B marketing article, we talked about this method. In this article, we intend to examine the B2C method.
B2C Marketing or Consumer Marketing?
If we want to talk about the first person who worked in this field, we should name Mr. Michael Aldrich, who in 1979 used television as the main medium for communicating with customers. Now, exactly what is this method?
The B2C (business-to-consumer) or consumer marketing method, simply and briefly, means that the producer delivers his product directly to the end consumer.
You might say to yourself, well, this is a very easy method, and the producer can more easily give his goods to the consumer, but you should note that with the volume of transactions that are carried out today and the competition that exists between companies and brands, proving your brand to the customer and gaining the trust of the target audience has become a difficult task.
We said that the work has become a little difficult due to the existence of competitors. It is good to also mention that with the help of the age of communication and technology, the distance between the producer and the consumer has become very short, so much so that many of us may have needed a commodity during the day, we went to the internet and with a few simple searches, we ordered the goods and received them at our home.
In the past, B2C sales were like advertising on television, buying cinema tickets, restaurants, and shopping malls, but today, with the help of the space that the internet has created for us, a new path has been created in the form of e-commerce for businesses that can sell their goods and products in it. One of the simplest and most readily available tools is websites and applications (note that the purpose of sales is not just the sale of goods and commodities. It can also be the sale of services such as online courses or the sale of software, etc.).
5 Online Business Models for the B2C Approach
Depending on your business, target audience, and financial situation, you can use one of the following methods:
- Direct stores that do their sales through online store websites and applications, such as the obbo website.
- Online intermediaries who do not own the products and services themselves and only bring buyers and sellers together, such as the Digikala website.
- Advertising-based method. This means that a website puts free content on its website to attract visitors, and on the other hand, part of the web traffic is used for advertising that sells goods and services, exactly like the websites we see in our daily searches.
- Social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc., which help marketers and advertisers introduce their products directly to consumers.
- Cost-based method, such as the Netflix website, where the consumer must pay a fee to access the website content.
Depending on the model you choose for your work in the B2C method, there are some common goals:
- Increase brand awareness
- Increase engagement
- Increase sales
- Customer retention
Before we talk about B2C sales strategies, you should pay attention to some points:
-If you have been successful in your business and have been able to provide products and services to your target audience, be sure to strive to retain customers. In any business, customers are the capital of that business.
-If you pay attention to your surroundings, you will see that people spend most of their time on their mobile phones and do most of their daily work with their phones. So pay attention to mobile applications.
-Don't ignore discounts and free offers. Free offers are much more attractive to users. When a user receives a free item instead of a small cost (discount) in their purchase, they have a better feeling.
-Use artificial intelligence capabilities in your work. One of the simplest examples we have seen is Digikala's suggestions, which if we have searched for a product, shows us the discounts and bestsellers of that product for a while. This method shows goods to customers much more purposefully.
B2C Approach Strategies:
- Understand the thinking of your consumer and audience. To put it simply, put yourself in the customer's place in all stages of your work and carefully examine their needs.
The most important element of the B2C marketing approach is knowing your customer. Until you understand the concerns and tastes of your customer, it doesn't matter what techniques you use.
William Harris • e-Commerce Consultant
- Produce valuable content. From any platform you use for your work, pay attention to the content. Both in terms of meaning and concept, and in terms of shape and appearance. This content can show the quality of your product. Note that the audience is not looking for a dry advertisement, and they follow you with the content you produce.
The biggest challenge for B2C marketers is reaching and engaging their customers in the digital age. Consumers are looking for content, not for advertising and interruption.
Michael Brenner | CEO, Marketing Insider Group
- Be sure to have a database of your customers and audience so that you can inform them of any campaign, discount, new product, etc. One of the solutions is the membership section of your website, where you receive the user's email or phone number.
So far, we have talked about the B2B and B2C methods on our website and examined them. In this section, we want to discuss the differences between these two methods:
Difference between B2B and B2C (Difference between Industrial and Consumer Marketing)
- In the B2B method, your target audience is companies and organizations, but in the B2C method, the target audience is the end consumer.
- In industrial marketing, you deal with a group of managers and accountants of companies, but in consumer marketing, you sell goods and services to individuals.
- In B2B marketing, you have to convince people that buying from your company is more profitable than other competitors, and people buy rationally, but in B2C, people buy based on feelings and what they want at that moment, and may not even need that product.
- B2B sales are time-consuming. You have to gain the trust of a company, but in B2C sales, there is no need for long-term communication.
- The volume of transactions in industrial sales is high, maybe billions of money can be exchanged in one purchase, but in consumer sales, maybe in a purchase like buying a car, billions of transactions can be made, but in other cases, the money exchanged is much less than B2C.
So far, we have reviewed the B2C method and mentioned the necessary points. Now, you might have a question: I sell to the end consumer and want to improve my business and have more sales, what should I do?
In the article, we mentioned that one of the methods of B2B sales is the use of B2B online stores and applications, the details of which can be found in articles on the design and construction of online stores and application design.
One of Rahkarpouya's activities is designing online stores and applications. For advice on ordering a website and cost estimation, you can contact us.
