B2B – Brand to Business
B2B communication now competes for attention in the same feeds as consumer brands. Why B2B brands have to inform, stand out and charm, without losing their business focus.
In recent years we have witnessed a turning point in B2B (business to business) communication, one that probably calls not only for a new definition of the term, but also for new methods and processes to go with it.
Communication and marketing approaches that until recently suited only B2C (business to consumer) have quickly, and without much resistance, become part of the marketing of brands that sell only to other companies. As consumers, we have never known so many B2B brands. They have nothing to do with what we buy, yet we know them, and we understand that they shape our lives anyway, directly or indirectly.
B2B in the past
In the past, B2B communication was basically a fairly simple set of tactics and activities that companies used to connect their products and services with buyers: other companies and business entities. The channels had been well known and well established for years: pre-arranged personal visits and meetings, large trade fairs, and periodic printed publications that shared the latest news or tried to catch the attention of potential business partners.
The key to all B2B activity was that the recipients of almost every message and every piece of material were known in advance. They were personal contacts between marketers and clients, with whom companies had built relationships over many years. B2B companies did not have to innovate much in marketing, and above all, creativity and originality were always neglected, subordinate to the basic task of informing and passing on technical and sales information.
B2B today
Today we live in a world where communication has become instant and everywhere. The access to information that the smartphone gave us, with us 24 hours a day, has changed the way we communicate, and with it, B2B marketing is changing too.
80%
People in the marketing departments of B2B companies are no longer in touch with a brand only during working hours, on their work computers, at business meetings or at international trade fairs. Information reaches them all day long through social media, newsletters and messaging apps. Even after work, when they start scrolling through social media before settling on the sofa for the evening.
By showing up on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, certain leading B2B brands opened Pandora’s box, and to stay competitive, everyone else naturally has to follow. The world of B2B communication suddenly became remarkably similar to the world of B2C. On social media, people quite logically and naturally also follow their business partners from the B2B world. So while our buyers and business partners scroll endlessly through the personal brands they use in everyday life, they also receive messages tied to their work and their business. All of a sudden, in the flood of messages on these new channels, B2B communication has to compete for attention and potential recall with every B2C brand as well, in both content and visuals.
78%
B2B communication, its content and its visual brand assets suddenly no longer have only to inform and persuade, but also to catch attention, stand out from the competition and, above all, charm!
Merging B2B and B2C?
Of course, this does not mean we can suddenly merge B2B with B2C communication. The type of message, the way we communicate and our relationship with B2B target groups and business partners will always call for communication that differs in purpose and content from that of B2C brands. Even so, the outward form in which we deliver our messages, and the way we follow new media and channels, has to adapt to the world that B2C communication, and people in general, are creating.
Even personal meetings have, in the post-COVID era, become a mix of online workshops, Zoom and Teams calls, and promotional and informational material delivered as PDF documents, explainer videos and targeted landing pages. So today, apart perhaps from the really big international trade fairs, B2B brands no longer have channels of their own, exclusive to them, where they can shape the story to suit themselves. Just like B2C brands, B2B brands have to follow people wherever they happen to be, even if that means ending up on TikTok.
In a flood of information, both personal and professional, business partners demand clear, short, understandable and above all attractive content that lets them form a picture of the brand, its products and the advantages the company offers.
49%
Takeaways
- Get to know your customers outside the business setting as well.
- Explore all the channels and media the market offers you.
- Be open to innovative and unique communication: that may be where your new edge over the competition lies.
- Review your brand. It has to change with the times, in both content and design.
- Keep your B2B focus. Even as your communication follows the new B2C media it appears in, its message and purpose must still serve your B2B goals.