Marketing has always played a crucial role in the world of business and this current landscape of marketing is drastically evolving. The addition of D2C marketing with the traditional ones is creating more advantages for businesses. So by understanding the key differences of these marketing strategies businesses can choose the appropriate format for themselves and because of their contrary characteristics, implementation of the strategies also depends on the nature of the business and the targeted audience. In this article, we will understand the basic characteristics of two major marketing strategies, B2B Marketing and D2C Marketing.
WHAT IS B2B MARKETING?
B2B or business-to-business marketing is a kind of marketing strategy that involves a transaction of products or services between two business entities. The main purpose of this marketing is to create brand awareness and generate demand for the brand’s goods or services by value demonstration process. It also focuses on building relationships and selling bulk goods. B2B transactions deal with an intermediary and this process creates a chain of commerce distribution, from the producer to the retailer to the consumer.
BENEFITS OF B2B MARKETING
- B2B marketing can help you increase your revenue by focusing on building long-term relationships with other brands and companies.
- Building a good bond with other business entities will help the business leverage those existing relationships to acquire new business without spending any additional cost for marketing. It works out as a cost-effective method for B2B marketing.
- Using various marketing channels B2B businesses receive leads easier and that helps brands to increase their exposure. These exposures from various channels lead to an increase in engagement in business.
- B2B business generally possesses more monetary value because of bulk sales and large transactions which automatically creates more profit margins.
WHAT IS D2C MARKETING?
The D2C or direct-to-customer marketing model is quite the opposite of B2B. It refers to brands selling products or services directly to an end consumer without any intermediaries or third parties like wholesalers, distributors, or retailers. This strategy falls under the B2C or business-to-customer umbrella. With the rise of eCommerce platforms and social media platforms, this strategy gained its popularity in recent days.
BENEFITS OF B2B MARKETING
- One of the main benefits of D2C marketing is that it allows brands to have complete control of every aspect of their brand to customer experience or customer experience in general. It creates a unique customer and brand experience cohesively, from designing to producing to selling.
- D2C marketing strategy helps brands reduce selling costs by eliminating third-party involvement and increases the brand’s net profit margin. It also gives them the scope to formulate and work on their own terms and conditions.
- D2C businesses can create a unique identity which results in a loyal customer base. This loyalty comes from the trust that consumers possess because they are aware that the brand is directly responsible for their goods or services and this remains the same over time.
- D2C marketing strategy helps brands to gather valuable customer data and insights. This data helps brands and companies to strategize their cross-sell, upsell and reselling of products. With customer preference data and their buying habits, brands can improvise in their production, generate customized marketing strategies for targeted audiences, and optimize marketing efforts.
CONCLUSION
Now the major understanding here is that the decision to implement any marketing strategy solely depends on the particular brand’s business module, their respective industry and targeted audience. Both B2B and D2C marketing models have their own benefits and uniqueness. B2B is suitable for those brands that are looking to sell their goods and services to other brands that work as an intermediate for the consumers. And if a brand is looking to serve their business directly to their consumers, D2C is the way to go.
