B2B

[Sometimes written as B-to-B] My definition: If there is perceived risk involved in the purchase decision—and the decision involves more than one person—you’re a B2B marketer.

Here’s an example to help explain what I mean.

You sell homeopathic health products online. While the products may be used by an entire family, in most cases there is only one person involved in the buying decision. By my definition, this is not B2B marketing. Rather, it’s Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing.

Now let’s say you decide to sell your homeopathic health products through Whole Foods. While the products are the same, the decision process is much different. In this case, while the ultimate consumer may be the same individual, the purchase decision involves people working in product management, purchasing, store management, product safety and even the legal department, to name a few. It’s a complex buying process and each person perceives a certain amount of risk in their relationship with you.

Dealing with the “career decision” aspect of product selection is an important role of B2B marketing.

Traditional definition: Selling your products and services to other businesses. Non-consumer, non-retail. Note: Some businesses sell into both categories (Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer). For example, JC Penney sells to consumers through its retail stores and web site, but they also sell their gift cards to businesses (B2B) for use in an incentive program using a 3rd party reseller. The same is true for OfficeMax. Their retail stores sell to individuals and small businesses and their Contract Sales Team sells to Midsize and Large businesses.