Sarah Spencer
Content marketing is a powerful tool for all kinds of businesses, but that doesn’t mean the same content marketing strategy will work well for every business. While they have a lot in common, there’s a pretty stark difference between B2B and B2C content marketing.
Something that works perfectly for a SaaS company may not do much for a local bakery, and vice versa. They have different business models, different target audiences, and different products, so they will also need to take a slightly different approach to content marketing.
Here’s what all forms of content marketing have in common and where you’ll need to shake things up to create content that is as effective as possible.
What Do B2B Content Marketing and B2C Content Marketing Have in Common?
B2B and B2C content marketing strategies are a lot like eyebrows: sisters, not twins. Still, they do have a lot in common!
Here are a few things that your content marketing strategy needs, regardless of the type of business or product you’re promoting.
A Way to Measure ROI
It’s not the most exciting part of content marketing, but if you want to keep putting time and money toward content marketing for your business you’ll need to measure the return on investment (ROI).
The basic equation for measuring ROI on any marketing campaign or strategy is subtracting the cost (ad spend, cost of time, cost of services) from the return (income generated by the campaign), then dividing that number by the marketing cost to get a percentage.
Put simply, the ROI is (return – cost) / cost = ROI.
For example, if I got a return of $1,000 on a blog post that cost me $200 to produce, the ROI would be 400%.
Tracking Returns on Content Marketing
To track returns on Content Marketing, you will need to decide the financial value of the action you want users to take after reading a blog post. Here are some examples of valuable actions users may be prompted to take through content marketing:
- Make a purchase
- Schedule a call
- Fill out a lead form
- Sign up for a newsletter
- Click to another page on your website
Usually, the goal of content marketing varies a lot, especially between B2B and B2C marketing. We will cover those differences later in this article. For now, just remember that the return on investment for content marketing doesn’t have to be sales, it can be any action that has value to your business.
Cross-Platform Promotion
While B2B content is more likely to thrive on LinkedIn and B2C content on TikTok, there’s still a lot to be said for cross-platform promotion. When you take the time to create and execute a content marketing strategy, promoting the resulting content on multiple social media platforms is the best way to increase your reach and get in front of as much of your target audience as possible.
Cross-platform promotional materials for both types of content marketing could look like this:
- A graphic with a pull quote from a blog post
- A video with the first few items of a listicle, prompting people to go to your original content to learn more
- An email newsletter that sends people back to the blog to finish the article
So, What’s Different?
In a word: lots.
Saying that a B2C and a B2B content marketing strategy are the same thing is like saying that thrillers and personal finance books are the same thing. Sure, both have a message to get across and might take your heart rate up a little, but you’re not going to mistake one genre for the other.
Now that we’ve gone over some things they have in common, it’s time to talk about the differences:
Audience Targeting
Having a target audience is important no matter what you’re selling, but the level of detail you put into it varies a lot from B2C to B2B.
For example, if you’re managing content marketing for a B2C business that sells soft drinks directly to consumers, your target audience is everyone who buys soft drinks in locations you can ship to. Chances are, things like their job title, education level, or the size of the business they work for aren’t going to make a big difference to you.
If you’re a B2B company, on the other hand, your audience will be a lot more niche.
For example, if you’re selling software that helps small teams manage customer service, you’re looking for decision-makers at small-to-medium-sized businesses that run the customer service department with a budget that will accommodate your pricing.
Whereas the challenge with B2C content is to draw in a lot of people from a large group, the challenge with B2B content is to draw in a few highly qualified people from a small group.
Call To Action
The CTAs B2C and B2B marketers use for content are usually in two different categories: inviting a purchase vs inviting a conversation.
If you’re selling a product to B2C customers, chances are you’ll be directing them to go purchase your product.
Sure, there are exceptions to this – think big-ticket items like houses and cars – but if you’re promoting scrunchies, you probably aren’t going to invite them to get on a call with you to determine if you’re the right fit for their needs. If the pain point is that they have hair they want to pull up + you have a scrunchie that will let them do it fashionably = problem solved, enter credit card information here.
If you’re selling a product to a business, you can try to send them straight to checkout, but it’s usually not going to be the best way to get a lead in the door. Instead, B2B content marketing is usually going to have a CTA related to learning more, signing up for a demo or sales call, or filling out a form to get a lead magnet.
The goal in B2B content marketing is to get people to take the next step toward a purchase, usually with several steps in between the initial discovery and them handing over their carefully-budgeted cash.
KPIs
The key performance indicators (KPIs) you use to measure a piece of content’s success are going to vary widely between B2B and B2C content.
A piece of content only getting 200 clicks a month might be an abysmal performance for a company that sells nail polish, even if it drives a few orders. A piece of content that gets 200 clicks and drives a few orders for a business software subscription, however, could feel like a gold rush.
When you’re trying to figure out a benchmark to aim at for conversion rate, average order volume, or lead forms filled out, make sure you’re researching the numbers for your industry. Otherwise, you could end up very overwhelmed or disappointed.
So, Should Your Business Use Content Marketing?
Whether you’re B2B or B2C, the answer is a resounding yes! Content marketing can help drive lead generation, sales, and brand awareness for every type of business. We’ve written for all kinds of businesses, from B2B SaaS companies to B2C e-commerce brands, and helped them grow their business with high-quality content and SEO results.
If you want help setting up your content for success or are ready to get some help with content writing, you can book a call with us here to learn more about how we can help your business grow with our content marketing services.
