Appointment setting is mainly classified in two categories- B2B and B2C. B2B refers to Business to business appointment setting in which telephonic conversation is held between two businesses to initiate a transaction. On the other hand, B2C stands for Business to consumers in which a direct interaction is held between businesses and consumers. These types of lead generation concepts differ from each other in their tactics, as different consumers’ requirements are also different.
Let’s have a look at some of the key differences between these two concepts.
1. Nature of content
The scenario of a B2B conversation is like a choosy customer at a store. This is because B2B customers tend to be more knowledgeable as they, before making a purchase, research a lot than B2C customers. As B2B deals with very knowledgeable persons, it needs more valuable content that includes infographics, case studies and white papers. In contrast, the lead generation content in a B2C conversation is often promotion driven and focus lies on tempting offers and personal message.
2. Audience scope
The lead generation procedure under the B2C concept deals with a broad audience whereas in B2B the decision lies on the top management. In simple words everyone with purchasing abilities is a customer in B2C method. The challenge in the B2C conversation rests on the ability to catch your client’s interest amidst the noise of competitors. The market area of B2B is much smaller than that of B2C as it only consists of decision makers. The objective of a B2B service is to make sure that the products they are trying to sell remain on their radar when they plan to make a purchase.
3. Sales cycle duration
The amount of investment made in B2B lead generation is more elaborate as the contracts finalized by businesses are much bigger than the contracts made with consumers. Similarly the time duration and resources needed for a purchase in the B2B world is also larger than the B2C approach. This results in a longer sales cycle which can even last for months and years to complete. In comparison to this B2C sales cycle is much shorter and involves less amount of money.
4. Consumer’s reaction to unwanted calls
Work related or professional calls are usually made in the business hours in B2B scenario. These calls are initiated to request for a presentation or an office visit to deliver some materials for future references. But the picture is different with the B2C client. They often take such unwanted calls as an attack on their privacy. This is the reason why B2C marketers prefer the permission marketing methods to get in touch with their target audience.
5. The real challenge
The aim of B2B and B2C both is to increase sales but their main objectives are not the same. Generally, B2C tries to gain maximum customer attention in an extremely saturated market whereas B2B lead generation focuses on building a friendly relationship with the prospects based on the trust that when they need to make a purchasing decision, they recommend your brand’s name before others.
6. Audience on social media platform
When it comes to B2B prospects, they are mostly found on the social media platform LinkedIn which is a media center for professional and business executives. So B2B marketers can utilize linked in to reach out to their prospects. On the other hand B2C audience is found almost everywhere on social media starting from Facebook, Twitter to YouTube. However, there is no hard and fast rule for B2C or B2B marketers when it comes to tracking prospects through social media platforms. For both the methods three of the most popular social media platforms can be used.
Keeping these above mentioned differences in mind will help avoiding errors while building B2B lead generation strategies.
