A good B2B or B2C marketing strategy today has to be highly responsive to different environments. With substantial variations in the measurements, goals, and mechanics over time, it is imperative for companies entering Europe and those already marketing to the region to understand the existing discrepancies and to respond to them with effective marketing strategies.
Generally, one marketing strategy may not be effective across different countries in Europe as it is not a homogenous market, and this stands for both B2B and B2C marketing strategies. One of the key challenges here for companies is not only to understand the local language, market, and various buyer personas, but to create highly localized content and marketing strategies that are suited to specific regions in Europe.
Differences between B2B and B2C companies in the European market
Research shows that B2C companies are often leading when compared to B2B companies in exercising effective marketing strategies, especially on social platforms. The difference between B2B marketing and B2C marketing is that B2B companies sell products and services to other businesses. B2C companies sell products and services to consumers.
Businesses and consumers respond differently to different media. Therefore, companies use different ways to bring in their desired audience. However, because today both customers and businesses have an active presence on online channels, B2B companies must also lay more emphasis on enhancing their marketing strategies.
Creating a targeted approach - globalization or standardization?
Choosing localization or global standardization is one aspect of creating a great global marketing strategy. Above you can see an example of standardization in product marketing by McDonald's. Many American companies already understand the importance of elevating their campaigns and are implementing more targeted marketing strategies when compared to their European counterparts. In this era of immersive content, companies in Europe have to look at ways that they can enhance their marketing efforts by optimizing user experience using advanced technology.
Standardization example: McDonald's
European marketers sometimes make the mistake of creating and rolling out the same content across Europe without adapting their content to the specific target market and buyers in specific countries. The best-performing marketing strategies for both B2B and B2C companies are those that adapt to the changing needs of their business and by extent partner or customer. This can be done by gaining insights from the sales or customer service teams about what makes prospects dissatisfied and gaining knowledge of their specific pain points. More tech-savvy businesses use automation software to set up a social media monitoring dashboard to better monitor keywords, interests, competitors, and brand mentions.
B2B Companies and marketing in Europe
B2B companies entering the European market are usually specific to a niche area of products and/or services. Marketing decisions are usually rationally driven, which means that they choose to show other companies why they need their help by pointing out how they could improve their strategies and business plans.
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B2B example: Quickbooks
If a B2B marketing strategist can find a pain point in another business plan, they might be able to offer knowledge that solves the issue and creates a competitive advantage. For example, QuickBooks used a fun way to offer an honest and relatable testimonial that captures the difficulty of using accounting software and offers an easier solution. A business that provides SEO services may want to point out that SEO is important for lead generation, and their customer needs to be better at it. The B2B company can then present its services or products to help them with its SEO strategy.
What are B2B companies lacking in their marketing strategies?
Business-to-business companies often neglect to focus on building personal relationships with the businesses that they are selling to in a rush to secure leads. However, when they take time to build these long-term relationships, they can have long-term business from those companies they’ve created relationships. From testimonials and case studies to personalization options, B2B businesses must come off as a friend and authority to their clients. Otherwise, they may not gain the respect (and sales) of other businesses.
B2B example: Shopify
If your company can make your code of ethics stand out and relate to another business's desire to grow (or in Shopify's example make their dream come true) it will allow customers to separate your business from others in the same industry, you will be able to connect with other businesses and build your brand surrounding these concepts keeping in mind the differences in designated markets.
Interested in building long-term B2B partnerships in Europe? Connect with us.
Sources: LinkedIn, BusinessWire, InfinitiResearch
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