B2C or business-to-consumer marketing is all about reaching individuals. As opposed to B2B marketing in which decisions are made by groups of entrepreneurs or industry experts, B2C marketing deals with influencing the decision-making of the end consumers. For this reason, B2C marketing often relies on emotionally driven or personal problem-solving strategies. Although retail is the sector that first comes to mind for most when the topic of B2C marketing is breached, tech and other specialized sectors also have a lot to gain from this type of marketing as well.
As interconnected emerging technologies continue to become more advanced, cheaper to produce, and readily accessible, more and more B2B enterprises are targeting the consumer markets. Let’s take a closer look at how some B2C companies are successfully reaching these audiences.
Develop a deep and long-term relationship with your target market
Knowing your consumers inside out is the single most crucial task for any B2C marketer to accomplish. In terms of establishing the conditions for long-term growth, the best way to understand your target consumers and influence their buying habits is by developing a deep and mutually beneficial relationship with them. Laser 3D printer company Glowforge did this by partnering with the libraries and emerging tech programs at the University of Washington, the Cornish College of the Arts, Western Washington University, and many other schools and educational institutions.
Although primarily aimed at consumer markets, Glowforge has become the largest provider of laser equipment to public schools in the U.S. The fact that the laser printer itself is an easy-to-use tool with tons of educational opportunities certainly helps. Apart from that, Glowforge also has a dedicated educational sales department that works on establishing and developing relationships with educational organizations. All this helped their product to organically penetrate these key markets, selling directly to educators seeking innovative and tech-driven teaching methods. This is a strategy that can be useful for any specialized company that seeks to activate dormant markets and create long-term marketing opportunities.
Outsourcing essential marketing tasks
Specialist firms often feel bogged down by the task of having to communicate with mass consumer markets in order to sell products or services. The fact is that it’s rare for entrepreneurs to have both specialized tech and marketing skills, which is why many tech companies rely on outside help for branding and marketing tasks. The problem is that professional marketers in the digital era tend to be expensive to hire full-time. As the career purview of the online bachelor’s in marketing program at Maryville University reveals, students trained in market research analytics, social media strategy, and demand generation stand to rake in five to six-figure salary jobs. From research and analytics firms to advertising agencies, sales, and government organizations, these experts are highly in-demand.
This is why outsourcing B2C marketing is an essential tool and strategy for many tech companies. By hiring any of the aforementioned specialists via project-based contracts, companies can focus on what they’re actually good at while leaving the marketing to the pros. Furthermore, as the next generation of professional marketers have been trained to work remotely, coordinating with them in a freelance or contractual basis should be relatively easy.
Simplified and emotional messaging
Tech entrepreneurs often make the mistake of wanting to tell their consumers every bit of detail about their well-developed products. This is fine for B2B marketing in which the decisions of the target buying group are equally based on logic and long-term business strategy. However, B2C marketing is more emotional. Impulse buys are dictated by different feelings, instant gratification, and personal problem-solving. For these purposes, simplified and emotional messaging is often the best communication strategy to employ. This is how tech giants like Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the consumer electronics markets. Rather than seeking to explain the science behind their products’ innovative new cameras, apps, or other features, their communication is instead focused on explaining how these features can solve specific consumer problems.
In conclusion, keep your messaging simple and based on emotions, don’t be afraid to outsource for B2C marketing tasks, and aim towards developing a long-term relationship with your target consumers. These are just some of the key B2C marketing strategies that tech and other specialized enterprises need to know about.
A blog article by Avery Thomas
Written exclusively for ascentconf.com