Digital Marketing Middle Ground: Getting the Most from B2B and B2C Approaches

by Andrew Schulkind

Much has been written lately about the differences between B2B and B2C marketers, particularly when it comes to digital marketing. A lot of that writing has painting overly narrow pictures of what each group is interested in and should be focused on.

And will some of those ideas are true in very broad terms, there is middle ground between relentlessly seeking to generate website traffic, turn traffic into leads, and convert those leads into customers – that’s us B2B folks – and using your marketing to build a brand with awareness among your target audience. (The B2C crowd.)

[Photo Credit: Eli Christman]

Using Ourselves as an Example

Andigo’s own marketing is an excellent example of this. We publish a fair amount of content – here on the Andigo site as well as with publications like Biznology and Target Marketing magazine. From this, there are inquiries we can attribute directly to one of those sources, leads that come to us in a manner we can trace back to a particular article in one of those channels.

We also get inquiries (and win business from) folks who are either familiar with us because they’ve seen our name in one or more of these places or who tell us that the overall effect of our content – the fact that we walk the walk, so to speak – was a contributing or deciding factor in their decision to contact us.

For us, this means that we’re OK with viewing our content marketing activities through the John Wanamaker lens: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

Well, not exactly. We do examine the work we put out there and evaluate its effectiveness, but we are OK with the idea that content can still have value even if it doesn’t directly lead to traffic and conversions.

That’s not to say that we – and you – shouldn’t seek ways to generate more leads and better leads, but the success we’ve seen with this hybrid approach does suggest that there doesn’t have to be so great a difference between B2B and B2C marketers.

Finding Your Own Best Approach

Ultimately, it depends on your audience, your competitive landscape, and your own firm. You shouldn’t feel compelled to stick to one mode of marketing. In fact, I would encourage you to explore new modes even if only to prove that your current approach bests all others.

Because as marketers, our goal isn’t to find a great solution and rest on our laurels. The goal is to improve our results every day.

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