Variations in targeting clients for B2C and B2B websites

Variations in targeting clients for B2C and B2B websites

The strategy defined for B2C and B2B markets are completely different.

B2C

I case of B2C market it is essential to spread a wide net to catch the target market.

The B2C market as defined in classic conversion funnel requires a lot of visitors who can be your prospective customers to visit your website . Once they visit the website they either turn away or become prospective leads. These prospective leads may then become a buyer.

As a general marketing rule when 100 customers visit you, only 30% (30 customers) may show interest in your product. of which 30% (10 customers) may come down to the stage of negotiation and finally 5% ( 5 people) may end up buying your product.

This is what is called the classic conversion funnel.

While targeting customers through a B2C website the factors that helps the most are

1.     Branding: Name recognition, Visibility, Presence and Top-Of-The-Mind- Awareness.

2.     Building Confidence: Establish your expertise, Avoid overt self-promotion, Sell softly, Provide value with Links, Resources and Unbiased information.

3.     After Sales Arena: Focus should be provided on after sales service where there are sections for detecting and correcting customer complaints, Customer Feedback Form, Details of Service Centers with address, location map, telephone numbers, work timings etc. The name of the Center Manager would be an added asset.

The standard market tools for a B2C website promotion is primarily based on

Demographics (Who): The message about a product varies by gender. A shampoo advertisement is rarely directed towards males. Though it may be a unisex product.

Demographics segmentation is the most common type of differentiation that covers standard categories like : Gender, Age, Ethinicity, Marital Status, Family Size, Household Income, Occupation, Social Class, and last but not the least Education.

Geography (Where): The relevance may seem a bit  obscure but is not. People living in dry climates will be more receptive to moisturizers than those living in a humid climate.

This differentiation covers : Country, Region, State, City,Zip Code etc.

Lifestages (What): A teenage boy may search for games on the internet , while a girl may be searching for an ipod, iphone similarly a woman may search for either household items or beauty products. The criteria for search can varies depending on the life stages.

The differentiation covers whether the person conducting the search is Single, Married, With Children below 5 years, having children who are above 5 years, Having children who have reached Teenage, and finally retired people.

And then the cycle continues with the child. As once the child reaches his youth he then becomes the “Single”-factor.

Lifestyle (Why) : People have different reasons for buying products. Some may buy branded products, some buy products based on the effect of it on the environment, some may buy products based on their being organic or chemicals being in it.

This segmentation depends on Social Class, Lifestyle, Shared Interests and Activities.

The Challenges in B2C is the target segment is very vast, so the reach should expanded widely. The audience can be very fickle minded.The product reviews given by your visitors can be good or bad. These reviews do influence the buying pattern of lot of people. But the same things can also be an advantage.

B2B

B2B sites run the gamut of a organizations selling kitchen equipment to restaurants to Corporate Companies selling software.

B2B the sales cycle is different. It caters to a very niche audience. B2B companies have a longer sales cycle and high value purchases, with multiple people involved in closing a sale. B2B marketing requires a completely different approach.

In B2B the focus is more on Branding, Top-Of-The–Mind Visibility, Customer support and problem solving as against sales focused messages on B2C sites.

The key step is to target the  people who make the buying decisions and also people who influence these decisions.

In case of  B2B sites the top priority is to get inside the customer’s head and convey the right story.

The best way is open with the right key words that your prospects care about and not the ones that you use to describe your company. Most of the times B2B companies are entrenched in their philosophies and may miss the customer’s point of view.

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