Our world is getting more complex and this trend is affecting how we do marketing. Channels are multiplying, platforms and trends constantly evolving which has impacted the consumer’s buying journey. We are in the age of the never normal. Whether your business is B2B or B2C, your consumers need more touchpoints before they make a decision and their journey can be a bit of a mess to track and map!
In this blog, we’ll review how the buying journey has evolved for B2B and B2C and provide some tips on how your business can adapt to keep reaching your audience effectively.
- Introduction to B2B Buying Journeys
- Introduction to B2C Buying Journeys
- B2B vs. B2C Buying Journeys – What’s the Difference?
- Similarities Between B2B and B2C Journeys
- How to Reach Your Audience
- Best Practices for Both B2B and B2C Marketing
Introduction to B2B Buying Journeys
The B2B buying journey has transformed over time becoming more complex than it used to be. It is no longer a linear process from A to B, but a multi-faceted process that involves different stages, stakeholders and touchpoints – all this makes it harder for businesses to reach and convert consumers. Coupled with market conditions such as a tough economic climate, the B2B sales cycle is getting longer too; according to a survey, 58% of people say sales cycles have been even longer in 2024. There’s more choice too; which makes deciding on potential solutions increasingly harder, with more options to consider.
You need to understand the B2B buying journey so you can adapt your marketing, sales and customer service strategies to the new norm. Failing to understand your audience and their decision-making process could lead to missed opportunities, longer sales cycles, and ultimately lost revenue.
Understanding the B2B Buying Journey
The B2B buying journey can be split up into 4 areas; problem identification, solution exploration, requirements building and supplier selection, (although like we have said previously, the 4 areas don’t correlate to a linear process). You can also swap these stages for the traditional awareness, consideration and decision buying stages. In the awareness stage, your audience is identifying a problem they have, in the consideration stage, they are exploring the solutions that will solve their problem, and in the decision phase, they are weighing up the vendor options to ensure they are a fit for what they need.
Source: Gartner
The difficulty in B2B is that there are multiple people involved in the decision-making process, forming what is called the ‘decision making unit.’ Gartner found the average enterprise B2B buying group is usually made of 5 to 11 stakeholders who represent on average 5 distinct business functions. That’s a lot of people to identify and reach for each lead!
As the buying journey isn’t linear, engaging with all contacts in the decision-making unit becomes even more challenging as there’s not a one size-fits-all process. However, as marketeers and salespeople, understanding who you are trying to engage with is important to ensure you serve their needs and help them make a profitable purchase decision.
Introduction to B2C Buying Journeys
Most marketeers are familiar with the B2C buying journey moving through the stages of awareness, consideration, decision and retention. B2C tends to be seen as a simpler journey than B2B because there’s usually only one person making the decision and the process can be a bit faster than business purchases. However, what makes B2C buying journeys so complex, is the variety of channels that consumers use throughout this journey, from social media and review sites to in-store experiences and more. As a result, capturing and holding a consumer’s attention is more challenging than ever before.
Plus, with consumers frequently switching between devices and platforms – whether browsing on mobile, researching on desktop, or engaging with a brand via social media, the journey is unpredictable and dynamic. Research has found that the average consumer completes six touchpoints before making a purchase, and that those who have a strong cross-channel strategy see 3x the annual revenue increase compared to those with weaker cross-channel efforts.
So, to successfully engage potential buyers, brands must not only understand this multi-layered behaviour, but also anticipate and be present at every potential touchpoint. This requires a marketing strategy that is both agile and omnichannel, ensuring that brands remain top of mind, regardless of where the buyer is in their journey.
Source: Google’s representation of the ‘messy middle’ in the consumer’s journey
Understanding the B2C Buying Journey
Each touchpoint throughout the B2C buying journey is an opportunity for engagement, brand positioning and influence. Consumers today have access to more information, choices and channels than ever before, making it a challenge for marketeers to cut through the noise. Plus, external factors such as economic conditions, social trends and technological advancements, further impact the path to purchase.
Google have discovered the B2C buying journey is no longer linear and introduced the concept of ‘messy middle’. Based on behavioural science, it shows that the way people make decisions is getting messier! Once something triggers their journey, they fluctuate between an exploration phase and an evaluation phase, and keep oscillating between the two until they make a purchase. This highlights the importance for brands to be present across these platforms and touchpoints within the ‘messy middle’ which will vary depending on your audience.
Awareness
The consumer becomes aware of a product or brand, usually through advertisements, social media, word of mouth or content marketing. A consumer identifies here that they have a problem they’d like to solve (e.g. ‘I want a new shampoo for my curly hair’). Like mentioned previously, this could be done across a variety of channels and means:
- Consumer sees a TikTok video on their mobile where a creator shows a before and after hair transformation after updating their haircare routine.
- Consumer then keeps getting served similar hair-related content on TikTok.
- The consumer speaks to their friend about this content who recommends a selection of brands.
Consideration
After identifying their need, the consumer begins to research solutions by comparing brands, reading/consuming helpful content, reading reviews and/or looking for the best deal (e.g. ‘Which brand of shampoo is best for my curly hair?’). Potential methods of research include:
- Consumer explores YouTube on their mobile for hair-related content comparing brands for their hair problem.
- Consumer completes a Google search on their desktop, looking at reviews for the shortlist of brands they’ve identified.
Decision
Once convinced, the consumer makes the purchase online or in-store. This stage is likely to be influenced by promotional offers, pricing and the UX or customer experience (e.g. ‘I like Function of Beauty’s online hair quiz, and they have a welcome offer for new customers. I’m going to purchase my shampoo from this brand’).
- Consumer goes direct to their chosen brand’s website; sees they have an offer on for new customers and completes their purchase.
Post-Purchase
The B2C buyer’s journey doesn’t end with the sale. Post-purchase activities are vital to ensure customers keep coming back and remain loyal to a brand. This can include review generation and loyalty schemes (e.g. receive points based on loyalty to the brand).
Each of these stages provide a critical opportunity for brands to connect with their audience, build trust and encourage conversion. Unlike B2B purchases, which may involve multiple stakeholders and long sales cycles, B2C purchases are often impulsive or influenced by emotional factors. Hence, marketeers need to ensure a smooth, engaging, and consistent experience across all channels to meet the expectations of today’s savvy consumers.
Inflation and its Impact on Consumer Behaviour
Rising inflation rates and the increase in the cost-of-living have altered how and why people spend their money. Shoppers have less disposable income, so price is increasingly becoming the key decider when making a product-related purchase. As a result, brands need to differentiate themselves to shift their messaging to emphasise not only competitive pricing but also quality and a superior customer experience. Additionally, brands must focus on retaining existing customers by enhancing the post-purchase experience to maintain loyalty.
However, whilst cost is becoming an important factor in a consumer’s buying journey, it’s important for brands to avoid relying too heavily on discounts, as this can reduce profitability and create a consumer mindset that encourages waiting for sales rather than purchasing at full price. A well-rounded approach that balances value, customer satisfaction and smart pricing strategies, will help protect brand integrity and long-term profitability.
Yet, despite rising inflation and increasing costs of living, the luxury goods market is still projected to experience growth, with revenue expected to reach $368.90 billion in 2024. This suggests that there remains a strong demand for luxury products. This demand may stem from wealthier individuals who are less affected by inflation, or from consumers choosing to still allocate their money towards luxury items as a symbol or aspiration of achievement – a concept called the lipstick effect. Regardless of the economic pressures, the luxury market’s resilience highlights its unique ability to attract and retain consumer interest, even in challenging financial times.
B2B vs. B2C Buying Journeys – What’s the Difference?
Key B2B Differences
There are a number of key differences (and similarities) between B2B and B2C buying journeys. The main differences in the B2B buying journey are:
- Length and complexity of the buying process – sales cycles can typically last months, and in some cases years!
- More decision-makers involved – on average, there are five business functions involved in making a purchase decision in B2B. Business functions can differ depending on the service/product being sought. Within the business functions, there can be various roles that contribute to the decision too, including the end users, researchers and the budget holder. This makes driving consensus with multiple people and departments a big challenge in B2B. For example, the motivations of a Finance Director will differ massively in comparison to a Marketing Director.
- Purchase triggers and touchpoints – triggers can vary widely depending on the size, complexity and industry that a business operates in. Business growth and expansion, compliance changes and budget cycles can just be some of the reasons a business chooses to initiate the search for a potential solution. Depending on the problem, the decision-making unit will engage with a much higher number of touchpoints compared to a B2C purchase, in order to make their decision. We recognise the number of touchpoints a decision maker goes through in the B2B purchasing journey and recently worked with a client of ours to develop custom touchpoint reporting , providing our client with depth and insights to evaluate their database and inform decision making.
Key B2C Differences
- Short buying process: The buying process is typically shorter than B2B, with consumers often making purchasing decisions quicker, driven by immediate needs, emotions and sometimes, impulsiveness.
- Less decision-makers involved: Unlike B2B which involves multiple stakeholders, the B2C buying process is less bureaucratic as it involves the individual user, enabling faster decision-making but requiring a more personalised approach tailored to the individual’s preferences. However, in some cases, several decision makers might still be involved – for example parents or a group of friends.
- Motivations & priorities: B2C consumers are often motivated by personal needs, desires and emotions. Factors like convenience, brand reputation, pricing and social status, all play a role here.
- Purchase triggers and touchpoints: Purchases can be triggered by a wide variety of factors, from emotional impulses to seasonal trends or social influence. In contrast, B2B purchases are usually driven by business need.
Similarities Between B2B and B2C Journeys
Both the B2B and B2C buying journeys revolve around key elements such as the importance of a seamless customer experience, trust and personalised interactions. Don’t forget that all buyers are human, whether they’re buying for themselves or for a business. Let’s look at some of the key similarities:
A Seamless Customer Experience
When there are multiple stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, it’s important to provide a seamless customer experience for all involved. When you offer a streamlined experience from the product research to post-purchase stage, this can help to build trust, fosters loyalty, and increases customer retention.
For B2C, buyers expect a frictionless experience across all channels. From discovering a brand to completing a purchase, the process must be intuitive, fast and responsive. A poor user experience, such as a lengthy or slow checkout process, or lack of mobile optimisation, can quickly lead to abandoned purchases.
Importance of Trust and Credibility
Whether you’re selling handbags or software, building trust helps you to cultivate closer connections and relationships with your audience. In an age of economic uncertainty, the cost of living and the rise of AI, consumer trust is eroding, and this impacts purchase decisions. The more you can get people to trust you, the more likely you will get customers and revenue.
In B2B, trust can be achieved by providing excellent customer service, sharing reviews, case studies, accreditation, showing expertise and demonstrating your values.
Learn more about building trust in the digital age.
Role of Digital Channels
As we’ve seen from the B2B buying journey, your audience will interact with several touchpoints making a purchase decision. Gartner says that a combined digital and human-led selling approach delivers the best value to B2B purchasers. Therefore, maximising the use of digital channels and tools is important if you want to ensure buyers choose you. Successful organisations can create value through their website, social media, email and other channels – just like in the B2C buying journey.
Source: Gartner
The Power of Personalisation
Personalisation is powerful when engaging with both B2B and B2C audiences. In fact, 94% of marketers say personalisation boosts sales. Particularly when talking to multiple decision makers, tailoring communications to their individual buyer needs is vital to success. This can help to accelerate the purchase decision – leading to more closed leads and revenue.
Personalisation goes far beyond first name tactics – it can come in many forms such as sending relevant content or personalising landing pages and chatbots based on where the contact is in their journey.
Remember Your Buyers are Human
The human element is fundamental in B2B purchase decisions because, at the end of the day, even in professional contexts, people buy from people. It’s a fallacy to believe that B2B buyers are entirely rational or purely logical just because they aren’t spending their own money. Just like in B2C, emotions, trust, and relationships play a significant role in shaping purchase decisions. B2B buyers still rely on personal rapport, trust in the vendor, and their own feelings of confidence when selecting products or services. Recognising the buyer as a human being who is influenced by both emotional and logical factors allows businesses to connect on every level in the purchase journey.
How to Reach your Audience
Strategies to Reach Your Audience in B2B Markets
There are a number of strategies you can use to reach your ideal customer profile in B2B markets. Balancing the human element with digital can help drive profitable purchase decisions as B2B buyers prefer digital but make better purchases with a rep in the mix (as mentioned earlier). Just some B2B strategies you can consider include:
- Building strong relationships through account-based marketing
- Providing valuable content and thought leadership for each stage of the journey
- Using LinkedIn and professional networks for targeted outreach, lead generation and remarketing
- Nurturing leads through email marketing and CRM tools
- Exhibiting or talking at events your audience will be attending
Strategies to Reach Your Audience in B2C Markets
Source: Google
Leveraging Data
Understanding consumer behaviour is the foundation of effective B2C marketing. By analysing data from various touchpoints – whether it’s website interactions, email campaigns or social media engagement, marketeers can gain valuable insights into consumer preferences to inform marketing strategies. Plus, it’s not just about looking back, brands can utilise predictive analytics to anticipate future consumer behaviour.
Utilising the Power of Social Media
Social media has become an essential part of the B2C landscape, not just for brand awareness but as a direct sales channel too. Search behaviour is beginning to shift, with consumers exploring social media platforms as a method of discovery for new ideas and products. Plus, platforms like TikTok have enabled in-app purchases, meaning brands can engage consumers from discovery to purchase without them even leaving the app. Social media can also be used as a tool to leverage influencer marketing to help reach new audiences.
Creating Engaging & Valuable Content
It’s not enough to simply produce content, marketeers need to ensure that it’s relevant, engaging and tailored to each stage of the buyer’s journey. Consumers are looking for content that adds value, whether it’s through educational blogs, product tutorials or user-generated content.
Implementing Omnichannel Marketing Tactics
An omnichannel marketing strategy ensures that no matter where or how consumers interact with your brand, they have a consistent experience. By integrating all marketing channels, brands can create a seamless user experience whilst increasing the chances of conversion by meeting consumers where they are at each stage of their buyer’s journey.
Best Practices for Both B2B and B2C Marketing
In both B2B and B2C marketing, best practices include:
- Tracking and measuring success. Identify key metrics to assess performance and ROI to help make better business decisions.
- Iterate, iterate & iterate some more. Marketing never stops! Businesses need to continuously optimise their efforts based on data and customer feedback to stay competitive and ahead of the curve.
- Integrate AI & automation. Integrating AI and automation helps to streamline processes to improve efficiency and scalability by automating and scaling repetitive tasks.
- Consistency with brand messaging. Maintaining consistent brand messaging across all channels ensures a cohesive customer experience, helping to reinforce brand identity and trust.Top of FormBottom of Form
How to Stay Adaptable and Informed
Although B2B and B2C are very different worlds, the buying journeys do have some similarities. Ultimately, both rely upon revenue leaders to stay agile, ahead of emerging trends, adapt to shifts in consumer behaviour and continually revisit and analyse data to refine their strategies, ensuring you are engaging with your audience at the right time and in the right place.
Innovation Visual can help your B2B or B2C business craft effective strategies tailored to your audience and their evolving journeys. Whether through creating a revenue-led content strategy or using data to create personalised interactions, we have a wide breadth of experience partnering with businesses like yours to reach their revenue goals. We focus on talking to humans and solving their problems – a strategy that works for every business!
To find out how we can help, get in touch with us today.
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