B2C OR B2B Business? Marketing Strategies To Consider

Before considering your strategies for marketing, you must consider the type of business you are in. If you are into B2C type of business i.e. Business to Consumer type of business, then you have the final consumer as user and decision maker. In that case, you have to target him. There are two ways companies can go about marketing their products. One - they can advertise the product and create a pull from the market. Once you advertise the product with its advantages or ease of use or any other type, user/consumer is ready to buy it. He will go to the nearest store where he can get it. Since the consumer is demanding the product, there is a pull in the market and the retail outlet becomes irrelevant. It becomes only a medium for transaction between company & consumer. Then there is other type - Give the retailer/distributor good margin so he will push the product to the consumer.

I will give you two examples in this category. In Pull category, most of the FMCG brands operate - wheel, rin, nirma & even the OTC (Over the Counter) products like moov, vicks, zandu balm, etc. This is the most preferred category for bigger companies who have deep pockets to advertise and hammer their brand in the minds of the consumer. Then there is this push category. You might remember the Ghadi brand. Of course, I have seen their advertisement on TV which tries to create pull. But this advertisement is not hammered like those of wheel, rin, etc. The advertisement of Ghadi detergent is only for the purpose that their brand name should have been heard or seen by consumers. It should not come as a complete new brand when the retailer offers it. And once this is achieved, they are happy to advertise their brand to their targets - retailers. The advertisement says that retailers will receive something behind each carton. Normally, push is created by companies which are not as deep pocketed to continue TV/Paper Advertisement.

For B2B business, advertisement are done at different places. Because the purchaser in the Business to Business segment is the Purchase Manager or Business Head. And more often than not, B2B category products are not one time purchase but repeat purchases. The stakes are very high and more often than not bigger companies - OEM's & Tier -1 companies conduct audits and want to be sure about the quality. In this case, the contact is either through business newspapers, business magazines, trade expos, direct / email / phone contact with purchaser, website, trade websites, etc. These types work in B2B types and they are only for getting RFQ or interest. The rest would depend upon how you keep your company and products.