What does BtoB mean?
BtoB or B2B (Business to Business) exchanges refer to all commercial activities carried out between two companies. BtoB exchanges differ from BtoC exchanges because the issues are not the same. The purchasing process is longer and the sums more substantial. BtoB exchanges are numerous and represent the majority of commercial transactions.
BtoB exchanges concern a limited number of actors compared to the general public. These exchanges therefore call for more personalization of products or services. BtoB salespeople represent significantly higher business volumes than those in BtoC.
This type of commercial exchange requires the use of marketing techniques specific to the BtoB sectors.
Develop a BtoB commercial strategy
The elements to prioritize in a BtoB commercial strategy may differ from a BtoC strategy. Indeed, the stakes of the transaction and the involvement of the customer are greater in BtoB.
The typical profile of the company’s ideal customer
In an Inbound Marketing approach, identifying the typical profile of the company’s ideal customer is essential to convey the right messages. The aim of inbound marketing is to capture the customer’s attention naturally without being intrusive. It is therefore essential to be able to precisely identify your target audience to offer them suitable content throughout their purchasing journey.
Customer experience
Customer satisfaction is a major priority for businesses. Optimizing the customer experience must be a major lever in a company’s strategy. With digitalization, the customer has access to a large part of the information that interests him, he has all the cards in hand and can choose the company he likes. The company must be able to meet requirements regardless of the channel made available to it throughout the purchasing process. The company must offer a unique and authentic experience to the customer and place them at the heart of the commercial strategy.
The purchasing journey: smarking
Smarking is the contraction of Sales and Marketing, this term designates the marriage between sales teams and marketing teams. This alignment helps optimize the overall performance of the company. This rapprochement makes it possible to generate qualified leads and therefore sell more. This collaboration can sometimes be tense because the objectives and points of view of the sales teams and the marketing teams diverge. The objective is to align the two departments in order to meet the company’s objectives.
The close collaboration of sales teams and marketing teams makes it possible to optimize:
- Creating the typical customer
- Defining short, medium and long term objectives
- Creating content with high added value
- To analyze the benefits and improve the company’s commercial strategy.
Customer satisfaction in BtoB activities
Developing a marketing strategy for professionals requires thinking differently. We should therefore not focus on increasing turnover, in fact this is not the only important lever in developing BtoB relationships.
In order to acquire and retain BtoB customers, the professional must opt for a more global marketing approach. To the extent that decision-making power is held by demanding actors and with greater resources, a broader vision of the marketing strategy allows the company to control all stages of planning and execution of the contract.