3 Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Buyer Needs That Impact Social Media Use
By: Teresa Basich
We talk a lot about the importance of relationship building in social media. To be true, that’s what these mediums allow us to excel at. But there are nuances of relationship building, especially when it comes to that of businesses and their customers, that impact how we all approach our social media program strategy development and execution, and many of those nuances are directly influenced by buyers’ varying needs.
There are some fundamental differences between the needs of B2B buyers and that of B2C buyers that impact how businesses should interact with their customers, and we’re breaking three of those differences down here for you today.
Simple vs. Complex
This is probably the most obvious difference between B2B and B2C needs. For the most part, B2C buyers have a fairly simple purchasing needs that don’t demand extended support from or relationships with a brand. Even in instances in which people stick to a particular brand to fulfill a specific need—say Levi jeans for all their jeans needs—the direct interactions between those folks and brands are quick and shallow.
In the world of B2B, needs are more complex, have an extended life cycle, and generally are those of not just the buyer but also the buyer’s customers. These facets of a B2B buyer’s needs make it imperative that vendors provide extensive, valuable information about their products and services at the very beginning of the buying cycle and remain open to contact from prospective buyers throughout the buying process to answer questions. Post purchase, B2Bs inevitably need to continue customer relationships to assist with product implementation, offer training, and provide customer support.
The complexity of a B2B buyer’s needs demand a higher level of touch with vendors, and thus a higher level of trust. That trust is built through regular contact, valuable information sharing, honesty, and a level of humanness that can only be shown through simple, unscripted interaction.
Emotional vs. Professional
B2C purchases are generally fueled by emotion and basic human needs such as sustenance, shelter, and comfort. Even those basic needs are powered by our emotions and general belief system, which means our buying habits are influenced by brands that resonate with who we are and give us feelings of security and satisfaction.
B2B purchases, on the other hand, are motivated by things like business goals, budgets, and, you guessed it, vendor relationships. To a large extent, there’s still emotion based in that last one, the vendor relationship, but the emotions are driven less by personal security and satisfaction than trust that a particular vendor and its products are best suited to help us reach our business goals.
To that end, B2C companies are tasked with creating a brand and supporting marketing and branding campaigns that reach folks on a personal, emotional level, while B2B companies must create a brand and supporting campaigns and outposts that reach people on a level of competence, expertise, and problem-solving abilities.
General vs. Niche
Tied right in to the emotional and simplistic aspects of B2C buyer needs is the generality of those needs. Personal, emotional needs are rarely obscure — they’re part of the human condition and all of us encounter them. That means the marketplace that appeals to those needs is large and generalized. Sure, there are sub-categories within those markets, but even the most generalized products tend to do the trick, and sometimes we’ll even take those over the more tailored versions because they satisfy more than one need.
On the other side of the spectrum, business goals are often so individualized and specific that the various products needed to help organizations reach those goals need to be just as tailored. That fact means that many B2B vendors exist in a small, incredibly niche marketplace.
While B2C companies have to work hard to stand out in their saturated markets, B2B companies don’t necessarily have that same pressure, and can focus on emphasizing their area of expertise and answering questions within the various social media outposts they own and the communities they’ve sought out and gotten involved in.
These are just a few of the differentiating factors that impact B2B social media outreach. What others can you think of and add here?
As we’ve said before, social media for the B2B world is absolutely doable; identifying how you, as a B2B organization, differ from B2Cs will help you hone in on exactly how you want to use social media to reach your customer and prospective customer base to achieve your goals.
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I was recently addressing this issue in a one of the marketing plans I am currently writing for a client. There just isn't a lot of research on it. This is one of the best synopsis's I have come across on this topic of B2C vs B2B. Thanks so much for your perspective. good timing for me : )
Thank you so much for the compliment, Natalie! The differences between B2B and B2C social media use are nuanced, really, but they're there and worth discussing. If you've got any questions, please feel free to reach out!
Too few articles focus on the differences of BtoB and BtoC. another key difference is the volume of customers is much lower thus making analysis of data harder particualrly when quite a few buyers are not on social networks. However, there are great ways to build digital into the buying processs as key marketing communications and when joined together can provide very effective ways to engage customers.
I think that's because there are a lot of similarities between B2B and B2C. But whenever we *can* identify differences that directly impact business processes, we should. If folks aren't on social networks yet, make them want to be. There are ways of leveraging the knowledge you have to entice folks into this space; it's all about providing real value. Thank you so much for the comment, Gary!
[...] Teresa Basich Wednesday, September 29, 2010 | Comments (2) Tags: B2B, B2B social media, B2B vs B2C social media Posted in: Customer [...]
I would definitely agree on the complexity of B2B. Promotional gimmicks that help drive B2C buzz wouldn't hold much weight in the B2B space. I know my current employer doesn't just try and fulfill one need for a client but typically has to help supplement multiple needs with their services. Our end users aren't even aware of who we are 99% of the time, which makes the marketing and community building end for me a little trickier. However, trickier doesn't mean bad. I like a challenge
And that complexity is very much individualized to each organization, isn't it? Our customers need different support than yours, and so on. There are so many ways to cater to those highly personalized needs, though, and use that personalization as a way to build trust and loyalty, too. Trickier just means more work, my friend. Glad to see you're up for the challenge.
Great post Teresa. To add –
1. Time, i.e. much longer sales cycle for B2B than B2C. Things change in during that time span, priorities get shifted by micro and macro economics.
2. Different buying centers or procurement decision makers with individual agenda.
3. Sense of ownership in B2C vs sense of 'job-security' in B2B. Makes it really hard to change anything in an organization.
Great post Teresa. To add –
1. Time, i.e. much longer sales cycle for B2B than B2C. Things change in during that time span, priorities get shifted by micro and macro economics.
2. Different buying centers or procurement decision makers with individual agenda.
3. Sense of ownership in B2C vs sense of 'job-security' in B2B. Makes it really hard to change anything in an organization.
Great additions! I think that last point you make is so, so valid, but, to a large extent, hard to accept and even harder to say out loud. We could write an entire post just on that! Thank you so much for the comment.
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Great article…I would also add that there's a layer of complexity in social connection with B2B that often gets overlooked. When you're B2C, you can often find the social accounts of the individual consumer and engage directly with them. However, when building connections with your B2B prospects or customers, there are often numerous disconnected professional and personal accounts and profiles…you could find yourself "following" an account that's actually being run by a flunkie from the digital agency in NY (no offense to any flunkies reading this) when you really wanted to engage with a specific person within the organization. Navigating the field of social accounts is definitely much more difficult with B2B.
Fantastic point, Rosemary. Even in the B2C space, I'm sure that's true, but the depth of communication and relationship building needed in B2B requires quality finds in the social space. It takes work to find those people you actually want and need to be chatting with, and it definitely adds complexity to the B2B social media mix.
Thanks for the addition!
b2b needs another kind of relation http://tinyurl.com/2cczmkb 3 Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Buyer Needs That Impact Social Media Use
3 Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Buyer Needs That Impact Social Media Use: http://bit.ly/b5gEcv
[...] companies may have better potential use from social media tools due to longer product lifecycles. A page on the Radian6 website details three key differences between a B2B versus B2C [...]
As a filmmaker, which is a different line of business, I am wondering how this model can fit and help me with mine. Would you mind checking out my social media presence and seeing if there's a service you could recommend.
Fantastic point, Rosemary. Even in the B2C space, I'm sure that's true, but the depth of communication and relationship building needed in B2B requires quality finds in the social space. It takes work to find those people you actually want and need to be chatting with, and it definitely adds complexity to the B2B social media mix.
Thanks for the addition!