B2b Vs B2c Marketing

In order for a company to stay in business, there must be some way of marketing the product or service sold by the company. In order to market the product, the company must first decide whom it should market to. For example, a company producing silver-coated doohickeys would have to first determine who in the world could use a silver-coated doohickey before beginning to market it. Looking at a slightly broader customer base, the following will focus on the marketing differences between two companies: One markets to business customers, and the other markets directly to consumers.

Symmetry Direct is a company focused on selling health and nutrition supplements to consumers. Some of their products include vitamins, health drinks, weight loss pills, and skin care products (Symmetry). CallCenters.com on the other hand, is a company who sells equipment directly to telemarketing companies. Some of their equipment includes dialers, script developers, and schedulers (CallCenters.com). If you are reading this paper, chances are you have no idea what any of those pieces of equipment is good for, and that is one of the first noticeable differences in the marketing of B2B and B2C websites. In looking at a specific product from each website, this difference should become even more apparent.

Genesis is a nutritional drink sold on the Symmetry Direct website. Now most people in the United States understand the concept of nutrition, but just in case, Symmetry Direct spells it out for their customers. Not only does the company list the specific ingredients contained in a bottle of Genesis, it states the health benefits of each specific ingredient. For example, olive leaf extract helps to fight fatigue, promotes normal blood sugar levels, and supports cardiovascular health (Symmetry). This business to consumer website ensures that the customer can be fully educated about the product prior to purchase. CallCenters.com on the other hand takes a different approach.

The Live Agent Contact Manager Pro is a state of the art piece of equipment that no telemarketing company should be without. What is so special about this amazing piece of equipment? This author has no idea! According to the website, this product is “fully scalable to 24 analog telephone lines and 6 campaigns” (CallCenters.com). So what does this mean to Joe Consumer? Absolutely nothing, which spells out the difference between the two websites. As mentioned, the B2C website ensures their customers have the ability to be educated on their product prior to purchase. On the other hand, the B2B website assumes the customer already understands the equipment, they simply list the functions included on the product being sold.

Another difference between the two companies is in the way they price their products. According to Symmetry Direct’s website, a bottle of Genesis reatails for $43.30 (Symmetry). If however one was a preferred customer, one could get the bottle for a mere $32.20. It is easy to know the price of the product on the B2C website, because much like the benefits of the product, the price is spelled out for the consumer.

So what does it cost to purchase a Live Agent Contact Manager Pro? According to the website, the product starts at $1195, but it does not say anything else (CallCenters.com). Does the $1195 include all of the features listed on the website? Would a customer have to pay more than $1195 to obtain all of these features? Are there more features available, than what are listed on the website, if a customer were to pay more than $1195? On this B2B website, there is really only one way to find out the answer to any of these questions, and that is to call the company directly. As is common with most B2B operations, a customer looking to purchase this equipment would likely find the prices negotiable.

One of the biggest marketing differences between these two organizations is simply how they get the word out to potential customers. According to the Symmetry Direct website, the company relies on a multi-level marketing plan to get the word