NGR's Blog

Broadly speaking, B2C is the activity of a business servicing end consumers with a product and/or service, a consumer being defined as a buyer of products that are not business related. These products include food, clothes, houses, phone services etc. An easy example of a B2C transaction would be a person buying shoes from a retailer. The transaction that leads to the shoes being available for purchase, that is the buying of the leather, rubber and laces as well as the sale of the shoe from the shoemaker to the retailer, would be considered a B2B transaction.

When it comes down to it, a B2C email marketing campaign is most likely to be assessed by sales, which means it’s successful if it results in a purchase.

Some of the most effective B2C email marketing best practices include identifying the most opportune time to send messages, aiming to increase customer loyalty, using promotional offers in transactional emails and using surveys to gather data about customers.

If there is any single tool that we should be enthusiastically embracing as marketers, it is B2B email marketing. There is simply no way to match the value that B2B email marketing provides for communicating with prospects and customers.

The amazing thing is most of us are not actively engaged in any form of email marketing yet. At best, we send an occasional email blast to our customer base to introduce a new product or announce an event.

Many of us have NEVER sent a single promotional email to a list of prospects or customers. So if you are among the few who have, reach right back and give yourself a hearty slap on the back.

B2C email marketing is the most common form of email marketing used today. Business to consumer (B2C) email marketing differs from Business to business (B2B) marketing in many ways. The primary difference is the time between the point of contact and sale. When creating B2C email marketing messages, most marketer’s objective is to get a customer to click through and buy a product or service as quickly as possible. While relationship building is important, it is not as important as it is in a B2B email marketing situation.

B2B email marketing where you are promoting your services to other businesses is very different from B2C email marketing. Often the B2B buying cycle is much longer and depending on the purchase you often need to engage with people at different levels of the organisation.  Often the person making the buying decision will not be the end user, they may also be reliant on influencers covering a wide group to help make the buying decision. B2B purchasing decisions take time and you should use email marketing to build a relationship and trust with your audience.

With B2B email marketing you are often trying to turn a cold prospect into a lead. How you define a lead will vary from business to business however more likely than not at some point the buyer will interact with the sales team. If your sales team is proactively following up these leads then you need to use your email marketing to gauge how ‘hot’ these prospects are. If you are waiting for leads to approach you then your email marketing needs to nurture the recipient to a point where they are ready to buy.

When you think of a brand, or specifically your brand, what comes to mind? Broken down, a brand constitutes a name, tag line, logo and design, all of which should ultimately define your business perfectly. A brand, we now know however, is much more than that. It is the voice, attitude, style, familiarity and feeling that people get when they think about a business or company, and it’s hugely important.

On the back of a global recession competition is stiff and just a click away at the best of times, so the more awareness there is surrounding and supporting your business the better. One of the ways that you can boost your brand is to use (or make better use of) email marketing. These days it’s an extremely affordable solution that can help keep you in the inboxes and minds of those who matter most to your company; your customers and subscribers. On average it takes 7 times for a customer to recognize your brand after first encountering it. The beauty of email marketing is that it allows to you to engage, interact and find out more about your customers long after they have left your site. In short, it helps them remember you and recognize your brand quicker.