There are many ways digital marketing can support business-to-business organisations. All of these can be relevant components of B2B site:
- Transactional e-commerce site
- Service-oriented relationship building site
- Brand-building site
- Portal or media site
- Social network or community site
To understand how digital marketing can be best applied to B2B companies, we need to consider how the buying process operates in different B2B organisations.
Traditionally there are three main types of organisational markets in which business primarily trade with businesses: industrial, reseller and government. Analysis of the main organisational markets reveals variations in company size, trading requirements, investments and trading potential. The three main types are described below.
Industrial markets
Generally comprise organisations which are heavy dependent on raw materials and actually producing tangible goods e.g. agriculture and hunting and forestry, fishing, heavy manufacturing, engineering, vehicle industry, electricity and gas supply and construction. Due to capital investment required in many industry sectors, markets tend to be dominated by a small number of very large companies. This is particularly noticeable in areas of manufacturing that require major capital funding and investment (e.g. ship building and manufacture of chemicals). It should be noted that this does not mean all manufacturers operate on vast scale. In the case of specialist engineering companies, they can be quite numerous, small in size and widely dispersed.
Reseller markets
Made up of organisations that buy products and services in order to resell them e.g. wholesalers, retailers, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage, communications, financial institutions, estate agents and letting. This covers a very diverse collection of organisations and as a result company size and market sector structures vary considerably.
Government markets
Consists of government agencies and bodies that buy goods and services to carry out specific functions and provide particular services e.g. public administration, education, health services, armed forces, community, social and personal services activities. Government agencies control vast funds of public money generated from direct and indirect taxation. In many instances purchasing requirements exceed those of large private commercial organisations.
Adapted from
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012. Digital marketing: strategy, implementation and practice (Vol. 5). Harlow: Pearson.
Related posts
Customer acquisition B2B
Key differences in applying tools such as search engine marketing, online PR and affiliate marketing for B2B customer acquisition are listed here.
B2B customer retention strategies
Three areas of B2B relationship marketing activities are: post-sales customer relationship management, market research and knowledge sharing.
Types of e-procurement models
Main types of e-procurement models: e-sourcing, e-tendering, e-informing, e-reverse auctions, e-MRO and web-based ERP. Learn more here.
What is a B2B marketplace?
B2B independent e-marketplace is an online platform operated by a third party which is open to buyers or sellers in a particular industry.
Internet adoption
The internet became an important channel for promoting relationship with customers and provided other opportunities to transform businesses. Learn more.
Digital marketing B2B strategy
B2B organisations are developing a better understanding of strategic thinking and how it can lead to development of successful online trading. Learn more.