B2b Marketing Strategy

Business to business (B2B) marketing is an interesting industry segment that is very different than business to consumer (B2C) marketing. It is an important market in today’s economy that has very specific needs and requirements. Understanding these differences is critical to your marketing strategy.
The first requirement is to understand the different types of B2B clients. They are identified as industrial, reseller, and government entities. An industrial client is someone that provides manufactured goods to other companies. An example of this would be a mining company who sells coal to an energy plant. The energy plant uses the coal to produce energy, which they in turn sell to consumers. A reseller is someone who purchases a product from

The organizational buying criteria refers to the attributes or specifications of the suppliers’ products and the capability of the supplier to produce or provide the products. For example, can the mining company produce enough coal for the power plant to generate electricity all year long? If not, this supplier may be rejected or multiple suppliers may be required. Another type of relationship that may exist between B2B providers is a “supplier development” or the effort of the organizational buyer to define the products, services and capabilities the fulfills the customers’ needs. It is called reciprocity when two organizations agree to purchase each other’s services or products. For example, it is common for the mining company to be located close to the electrical power plant. The electrical power plant users the coal to produce electricity. However, the power plant generates steam as a by-product, which it sells to the mining company for use in the purification process. This symbiotic relationship is very common in B2B transactions. A supply partnership exists when the supplier and the buyer collaborate for a mutually beneficial outcome, such as lowering the cost of goods or services, or to increase the value of the products and services for both companies. Apple Computers have numerous supply partners. Intel and Apple co-design CPUs to meet the growing performance requirements, design cost reductions into the manufacturing of the CPUs, and to drive the value of the CPUs and Apple computers