Currently, business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing is heavy on theory and light on pragmatism.
The fundamentals of B2C marketing and the tactics that help ecommerce businesses achieve powerful results are not well-detailed.
Simple reason.
Many leaders of B2C companies aren’t marketers by training but become marketers by delegation—so they tout the B2C marketing suit in an empty vacuum.
For brands that want to enjoy their fair share of the US$4.9 trillion value of ecommerce transactions each year, there needs to be a defining line between sales and marketing activities — mainly as the business grows and salespeople become too busy to engage in marketing.
So, for good reasons, the remaining part of this piece highlights some of the best B2C marketing practices—endeavor to stay tuned!
B2C Marketing Importance
Surprisingly, a subset of the B2C world is genuinely in awe of the benefits of B2C marketing. But that’s okay; we’ve got you covered.
B2C marketing, also known as consumer marketing, is a set of strategies, practices, and tactics software companies, ecommerce stores, and other B2C brands use to put their products or services in front of the right audience.
Marketing your B2C business is important because consumers will never find your product attractive without the splashy, creative advertisements and massive marketing budgets.
Another thing.
B2C sales revolve around a short decision cycle; consumers don’t spend too much time weighing their buying decisions. So, B2C marketers can only sway customers with salesy marketing efforts.
Some key benefits of B2C marketing include;
- Attracting reoccurring sales
- Building sustainable business and customer relationship
- Establishing brand identity
- Positioning your product’s unique value proposition as the industry benchmark
- Growing subscriber list
- Placing your marketing message in front of the right people
- Helping you identify the proper marketing channels etc.
B2B vs. B2C Marketing
B2C buying decisions don’t depend on logic. Yes, it’s nice to offer services with great features and benefits—but unlike with B2B marketing, don’t base your B2C marketing activities on logic; instead, focus on its emotional appeal.
| B2B Marketing | B2C Marketing |
| B2B marketing is less about showing and more about telling. | B2C is more about showing and less about telling. |
| Higher risk | Lower risk |
| A limited number of customers and prospects | Millions or billions of consumers |
| Long buying cycles | Shorter buying cycles |
| Products and services are often customized for specific buyers | Off-the-shelf products and services |
| Analytical purchase process | Emotional factors play a role |
| Requires case studies, whitepapers, content marketing, SEO, etc. | Requires influencer marketing, email marketing, PPC, SMS, etc. |
B2C Marketing Channels
If you want your B2C marketing sales to funnel and lead generation strategies to yield good results, you must first distribute your content through the proper channels. So let’s sneak peek at some of the most widely recognized B2C marketing channels.
Email Marketing
Email marketing dominates the B2C space. It’s cheap, easy to set up, and helps marketers provide personalized messages to billions of consumers instantly.
However, to succeed with B2B email marketing, you must work with an ESP capable of helping you weigh analytics, automate manual tasks, segment audiences, distribute content, etc.
Sender’s in-built marketing tools make it a breeze to quickly and efficiently build emails and popups using simple yet powerful features. Multichannel automation, which combines email + SMS channels, is a great way to create compelling marketing messages.
Social Media
As you already know, B2C businesses market to millions, or sometimes billions of potential customers.
Therefore, personalizing your messages to meet the needs of a specific subset of your target audience is sometimes next to impossible. Still, with an excellent social media strategy in play, the suitable medium—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., opportunities become limitless.
PPC
Your website is only useful if visitors can find it. So search engines work with pay-per-click ads to link specific keyword queries to your website. It’s called PPC because you only have to pay when people click on your link. Google AdWords and LinkedIn advertising are typical PPC providers.
SEO
Search engine optimization is all about keyword placement and content creation. This B2C marketing channel positions your product or services as an industry benchmark—guaranteeing a truckload of unique visitors.
A well-optimized website ranks better in search engines—placing your marketing message in front of the individuals that need to see it. To excel in SEO, hire a professional.
B2C Marketing Tools
Statistics and analytics say a lot about B2B marketing success—so it’s not wise to fill your B2B marketing toolbox with ‘inbound’ advertising and promotional growth tools you can’t track. Instead, we recommend you work with SMS and emails for a trackable, direct, and intentional B2C marketing sequence.
SMS
Many consumers don’t like SMS marketing—it sometimes feels like an intrusion of privacy. So, don’t get worked up if most consumers ignore the phone number section in your pop-up form; better still, keep it optional.
Although SMS marketing can serve as a gold mine when placed in front of the intended audience.
Sender helps SaaS businesses, ecommerce stores, bloggers, and many other B2C and B2B brands create personalized SMS campaigns. Follow the steps below to run an SMS campaign with Sender;
- Verify your phone number,
- Register a sender ID,
- Add a list of SMS subscribers,
- Send your first SMS campaign.
Emails
Emails help you stand out and draw the attention of your target audience—when personalized, they impart a sense of exclusivity to the readers.
Among the many B2C marketing tools you might come across, email pricing, segmentation process, and relationship-building capabilities drive sales from potential and existing customers.
Sender’s email campaign sequence is tailored for ecommerce and e-shops but suitable for everybody. Launch your first email campaign with Sender by:
- Logging into your account,
- Click on ’email campaign’ and select ‘new campaign,’
- Input powerful headline and preview text,
- Use our drag-and-drop builder to customize a template,
- Select subscribers,
- Begin your campaign.
B2C Marketing Strategies
Strategy to some B2C leaders seems like too much navel-gazing and not enough getting things done. But hey, you still need a B2C marketing strategy, though you must learn to make swift strategic decisions.
To create a successful B2C marketing strategy, map out your:
- Target market
- Value proposition
- Messaging
Target market: identify your ideal customers. Highlight their pain points and desires; what keeps them up at night? What are their priorities, and what factors influence their purchasing decisions?
Value proposition: what’s unique about your product? Why should customers blink an eye if they find your product lying dormant with other big names on a shelf? What emotional trigger does your product arouse?
Messaging: if you know your target audience and have pinpointed your value proposition, your marketing team wouldn’t break a sweat drafting the perfect sales message. Nevertheless, pay rigorous attention to your messaging; it determines the overall output of your marketing efforts.
A sustainable B2C marketing strategy helps you avoid marketing activities that don’t deliver results, allowing you to focus on marketing tools and channels credible enough to move the needle. Plus, strategic B2C marketers enjoy personalized engagement with their target audience.
You can stir up your B2C marketing activities with influencer marketing, PPC, paid promotion, SEO, email marketing, social media, paid ads, etc.
B2C Marketing Automation
B2C marketing automation is your practical, one-stop resource for achieving B2C marketing success.
Automated email series do the heavy lifting at no extra cost. It can spare you the effort of manual scheduling, lay the groundwork for increased revenue, and make customers feel satisfied with your service.
If you wonder whether B2C marketing automation is as powerful as we’re making it out to be, sign up with Sender today and see yourself.
Sender’s marketing automation tool makes it a breeze to quickly and efficiently build sophisticated automated scenarios. Multichannel automation, which combines email + SMS channels, is a great way to create compelling customer journeys and effective campaigns.
Signup and undergo complete email marketing experience. The FREE-FOREVER plan allows you to send up to 15000 emails to 2500 subscribers monthly, including every top-tier feature.
B2C Email Marketing Examples
Flodesk’s B2C Promotional Sales Email
Brother Moto B2C Product Update Email
Smartpress Newsletter Email
Carry out B2C Marketing With the Right Equipment
There are tons of email marketing software out there, each with its own sets of pros and cons.
But if you are looking for a simple email marketing service for your email campaigns to send out visually stunning newsletters that are not only easy to design using a smooth-as-butter drag and drop email editor-cum-builder, but also something that will not cost an arm and a leg to keep using, you are in the right place!
Also read:
- What is Cross Channel Marketing? Definition & Examples
- What is Multichannel Marketing? Definition +6 Strategies
Content Contributor – Tobi Cyprain
