Business to Business is also referred to as B2B; It is a term that describes commerce transactions that are solely between business and not consumers. An example of this would be a transaction between a wholesaler and a manufacturer or a retailer and a wholesaler. There are two other contrasting terms, B2G (Business to Government) and B2C (Business to Consumer).
As a comparison between B2B and B2C the actually volume of sales is much higher in Business to Business, the main reason for this is business transactions in a typical supply chain tend to involve raw materials or sub components and a consumer transaction tends to be one item (the end product). An example of this would be a car manufacturer… the business transactions would involve the sale of all of the parts, where as the consumer transaction would be the finished product (one single transaction, the car itself).
The term B2B was coined originally to describe electronic communications between enterprises or businesses in order to distinguish it from consumer communication.
This was eventually picked up and used in marketing and now it is used all over the world to describe services and products used by enterprises.
However even though most marketing and sales people work in Business to Business a lot of trade publications and professional institutions focus a lot more on the Business to Consumer side.
If you are looking for these services there are a lot of companies out there that offer them, be sure to look around and find the company that best suits your needs.
Business-to-business marketing is the marketing of goods and services to businesses in order to keep those companies operating. Business-to-business marketing is therefore about meeting the needs of other businesses, though finally the demand for the products made by these businesses is likely to be determined by consumers in their homes. The most common business-to-business markets are manufacturers, resellers, the government and non-profit institutions. Most businesses that fall into these categories do make some money off of a consumer base; however, the majority of their capital is made off of other businesses.
Business-to-business is also used in the context of communication and collaboration. Many businesses are now using social media to connect with their consumers (B2C); however, they are now using similar tools within the business so employees can connect with one another. When communication is taking place amongst employees, this can be referred to as “B2B” communication. An important distinguishing feature of business-to-business markets is the importance of the personal relationship. A small customer base that buys regularly from the business-to-business supplier is relatively easy to talk to. Sales and technical representatives visit the customers. People are on first-name terms. Personal relationships and trust develop. It is not unusual for a business-to-business supplier to have customers that have been loyal and committed for many years.
The biggest differences between business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing are the types of goods and services being marketed and the types of entities the goods and services are being marketed to. Business-to-business marketers promote goods and services that will help other companies run. Some of the things businesses produce for other businesses include equipment, components, raw materials, processing services and supplies. Also, the goals of businesses and consumers are often the same. When choosing a company for goods and services, most consumers and businesses will make a decision based upon price, quality, delivery time and their history with the business. Other considerations might be the availability of the product or service and the quality of customer service if something goes wrong.
In the advertising world there are two main categories, you could say advertising is split in 2 the two different types are Business to Consumer and Business to Business. In this article I will write a bit about both types and some of the companies that offer these services:
Business to Consumer
This side of advertising is for companies that wish to offer their products or services to the general public and not necessarily to other businesses. A good example of this is general high street shops, they all offer products that anyone off the street can come in and purchase. In an advertising sense here are some companies that offer advertising for Business to Consumer:
Yell.com - This is one of the larger companies offering this service, they offer advertising for pretty much any industry sector. You will be able to find services like Plumbers, Food Restaurants and Takeaways, Toy Shops etc.
Plumber Marketing - This one specialises in plumbers, if you are looking for plumbers this would be a very good place to go.
Business to Business
This differs because of the target audience. This is much more specialised and is aimed for companies to advertise their products or services that are for other companies to use or buy. If you offer something that is designed for use by other companies this is the advertising that you should look in to. Here are some companies that offer Business to Business Advertising:
Businessmagnet Ltd - One of the leading directories available
Applegate - Well known and been around for some time
Kellysearch - Probably the longest running, however becoming dated and not used so much
There are a lot of other companies offering both services, feel free to look around.