B2B or B2C? Two abbreviations that influence your digital content strategy

Is the digital marketing strategy the same in any business scenario? No, and that's why it influences the content to be included in your brand or organisation's strategy.

When it comes to digital marketing, it's important to turn to experts, and for a correct definition, Hubspot is a source to keep in mind. So, what is the answer to the question: what is digital marketing? Here's the answer: "Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet. Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and other websites to connect with current and prospective customers."

Taking this into account, let's go back to the question we started with: is a digital marketing strategy the same in any business scenario? No, it's not. And this will influence the content to be included in your brand or organisation's strategy.

Let's take the two big groups and x-ray the differences and possible similarities between the two big digital marketing strategies: B2B and B2C.

When the company is B2B

Let's start with the B2B companies. B2B stands for business to business. Now, this basically is when: two companies do business as customer and supplier.

So, there are details to keep in mind when establishing your B2B digital marketing strategy. First of all, your attention should be focused on online lead generation, with the end goal being for someone to speak to a salesperson. For that reason, the role of your marketing strategy is to attract and convert the highest quality leads for your salespeople via your website and supporting digital channels", as Hubspot points out.

And if your company is B2C?

Let's change thought: if your company is B2C? B2C stands for business to consumer, it involves commercial transactions between businesses and consumers. Resorting once again to the Hubspot definition, when it comes to B2C "it's likely that the goal of your digital marketing efforts is to attract people to your website and have them become customers without ever needing to speak to a salesperson".

It is therefore important to keep some essential features of B2C digital marketing in mind:

• A short and simple buying process;
• A broad target audience;
• An emotional buying process, based on status, desire or price;
• Decision making by an individual;
• A generally lower sales value;
• A higher amount of consumers.

For this reason, the best digital marketing strategy will always be characterised by a fast-track buyer's journey which should lead, for example, to the use of stronger CTA's than in B2B digital marketing.

The relevance of the buyer's journey

That said and considering the three stages that form the buyer's journey - awareness, consideration and decision - what changes with your digital marketing strategy? Remember that there are different types of content and that's why you should choose the most appropriate, whether it is B2B or B2C.

How so? Here are the answers:

1. Awareness stage

Blog articles: According to Hubspot, these are great for “increasing your organic traffic when paired with a strong SEO and keyword strategy".

Videos: Videos with subtitles, we add. Short and shareable videos that will help your brand get found more easily by new audiences on platforms like Youtube.

2. Consideration stage

Ebooks: A great solution for lead generation, as they're generally more complete and comprehensive than a blog post. And, remember, this is a great time for exchanging contact information.

Webinars: Are a more effective format than a video for this stage, as they "offer more comprehensive content than a blog post or short video".

3. Decision stage

Case studies: Having detailed case studies on your website or blog can be "an effective form of content for those who are ready to make a purchasing decision". Why? It helps influence their decision.

Testimonials: Are a plan B in the absence of case studies, but a good solution when it comes to B2C (business to costumer) brands.

Does a digital marketing strategy work for all businesses?

Once again back to the starting question: yes, there is a digital marketing strategy that can apply to all cases of organisations, whether we're talking about startups, SMEs or large companies.

The point is that none of these companies feel lost among the numerous terms and concepts that abound the marketing popularised with the massification of the Internet.

"Digital marketing can work for any business in any industry", is the sentence that leaves no room for doubts. There are no exceptions, whatever your area of business, building out buyer personas opens the door to digital marketing, and you should - and this is very important - be aware that the same strategy does not apply to all companies and organisations. Each case can in fact be unique.

This text was not written by a native English speaker, but by a language lover. However, all our language services are always provided by native speakers.

ABOUT US

AP  PORTUGAL - Tech Language Solutions is a Portuguese translation company certified by the ISO 17100 International Quality Standard. The company offers a wide range of language services, which include translation (TEP), post-editing machine translation (PEMT), transcription, desktop publishing and subtitling, voice talent, software and website localisation technology, SEO and consulting. It invests enthusiastically in the development of partnerships and cooperation anywhere in the world where your organization may need a partner for the African, Brazilian and European Portuguese language.

You can also follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.