When it comes to marketing, there are lots of differences between things that work for a B2B versus a B2C company, and it’s important not to leave your copywriters out of the loop.
Whether you’re a small business owner looking to hire a general copywriter or you’re a copywriter just getting into the business, understanding the differences is crucial. In some cases, they could determine whether or not a company is successful.
For those who are unfamiliar, B2B stands for “business to business” and B2C stands for “business to community/consumer.” Understanding your audience and how you can write for your audience starts with categorizing your company into one of these categories (in some cases both). Once you’ve determined where you fall, you have to ask yourself that inevitable question: How does this insight affect copywriting?
The Differences Between B2B and B2C Copywriting
Although there are exceptions to every rule, below are a few common things you have to think about as a copywriter and how your answer will determine whether that article is best suited for a B2B or a B2C company:
- The tone of an article does make a difference.
For a B2C audience, they typically like more light-hearted and shorter articles. You want to keep them engaged as long as possible because they don’t always spend a lot of time making a purchasing decision.
For many B2B companies, this is the kind of audience that will act on impulse. A B2B audience is typically more professional and therefore taking their time to really research something before buying, so you want to have a detailed and well thought-out article for them to consider.
- The number of people you’re writing to will affect how a copywriter words an article.
A B2C company will typically want to focus on grabbing one person’s attention and therefore assuming that he/she will make the decision without any outside help.
A B2B audience typically needs to consult others in a company, so copywriters will need to try and appeal to people in all different sorts of positions in a business.
- Emotions come into play for copywriters.
Copywriters are always trying to focus on the emotions they want to appeal to when writing, and whether you’re a B2B or B2C company is a huge consideration. B2C articles should be more entertaining and humorous, although a very touching story can work if done correctly. A B2B articles wants to be logical and have solid evidence about a particular subject. The sweet story or funny anecdote might just be a waste of time for a B2B copywriter.
- How that piece of content is promoted will depend upon your type of company.
You probably guessed it: B2C content does great on social media. It’s more personal and it is where consumers go when they’re not necessarily looking to buy something specific. While B2B content does well on social media, it’s probably best to try and go through an email marketing campaign or trying to send a direct message to someone in charge.
As discussed above, it’s also worth noting that sometimes a company wants to appeal to both a B2B and a B2C audience. This is more rare, but it can occur. If this is the case, that copywriter needs to use both B2B and B2C strategies accordingly. It’s more difficult and it takes more time, but it’s worth it in the end.
What differences have you seen between B2B and B2C copywriting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Amanda DiSilvestro gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from keyword density to recovering from Panda and Penguin updates. She writes for the nationally recognized SEO Company HigherVisibility.com that offers online marketing services to a wide range of companies across the country.
1 comment
Don’t ignore emotions for your B2B customers. Companies don’t buy products and services. People do. Those people have problems and emotions like everyone else. And while there may not be a single decision maker for a B2B purchase, it’s much easier to read copy that was written as if you were speaking to one person.
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