The differences are endless between the B2B market and the B2C market. As a digital marketing agency, it is important to ask: Is Digital Marketing A B2B Business Or A B2C Business?

The realm of digital marketing is not small. In fact, it is expanding and growing as more and more platforms are being introduced on the internet and countless more viewers are registering themselves every minute to enter the virtual market.

Before jumping into the discussion, first, let’s see what the differences are between the two markets.

B2B Business

To simplify, the relationship that the shopping mart has with the wholesaler is a B2B relationship. Neither the mart owner nor the wholesaler is the end consumer. Both of them are mutually benefiting from the products and are involved in the long-chain ending with the consumer. Operating in the B2B market, you will find that neither party invests in any sort of mass marketing. The reason is: their consumers are niche and selective. Even on the digital medium, they will make sure to target the local shopping marts via email or some sort of personal communication rather than running ads.

B2C Business

We talked about the long-chain ending with the consumer in the example above. Before reaching the consumer, a local grocery store plays an important role. One of a B2C business. After the shopping mart, the local grocery store is next in line to benefit from the products. While the grocery store maintains a B2B relationship with the shopping mart, it is also operational as a B2C because its consumers are the target market.

For the grocery store, marketing would be crucial. Because the consumer has no biding contract to buy from the same grocery store. In order to persuade the consumer to come to buy from their store instead of a competitor’s, the store will invest in attractive and catchy marketing ideas.

We discussed the difference between the two markets and also briefly touched on why it is important for a business to categorize itself between the two before deploying its marketing strategies. Now we come to the important discussion.

Digital Marketing Is A B2B Business

The job of a digital marketing agency is to set up a website, social media, lead generation campaigns, and more for a business or a person. The aim of completing these tasks would be to help the client reach their consumer. So, technically, a digital marketing agency would be a wholesaler or a shopping mart, operating in the long chain.

And to attract its consumers, a digital marketing agency should stick to a direct form of communication and restrict its marketing efforts to a specific niche. Email marketing, sales funnels, phone marketing, and physical marketing are prime ways that a digital marketing agency can target its potential clients and provide them with a one-on-one experience.

Digital Marketing Is A B2C Business

Now, hear me out, at the very core, digital marketing is actually a B2C business. It has multiple consumers, in various industries and targets them through numerous forms of communication.

A digital marketing agency may not have a direct link with a restaurant’s customers, but as functioning as the restaurant’s social media marketing manager, the restaurant’s customers become the agency’s customers because the marketing efforts will be deployed to attract the end consumer. The goals and KPIs set will rely entirely on the restaurant’s customers and whether or not they visit the restaurant for the deal that was promoted on their Instagram page. The link is very indirect. So much so, that the customer will never see/hear about the digital marketing agency through that restaurant. Nonetheless, the targets, the market research, the designs, and everything from top to bottom will be constructed for that one customer.

To conclude, a digital marketing agency is a B2B and a B2C business. While its direct consumers may be other businesses and brands, indirectly, its target market is the end consumer as well. The percentage may differ from one agency to another, but at HYM Global, we keep the percentage to 50:50. Our clients are important to us, and our client’s market is important to them.