Let’s just shoot it straight. Understanding the key to B2C and B2B PR is about understanding your target audience. As is widely agreed across the spectrum– consumer clients are looking to reach consumers. While, business clients are looking to reach decision-makers within the business.
Here is what most people don’t realize. When looking at B2B and B2C PR through that lens alone you miss the core messaging altogether. For us to really understand the key to business to consumer and business to business PR we need to understand what makes up the core of them.
What is B2B PR all about?
PR is all about being an effective connector and therefore B2B is relationally driven. To be able to maintain a strong connection in any relationship is in the ability to maintain effective communication. It’s vital in B2B PR to focus on educating buyers on how your product will add value to their business. Staying on top of major business, economic and geopolitical trends relevant to your client and understanding what your client values is incredibly important in business-to-business public relations. The businesses are looking to obtain communicative solutions that will help their business solve problems and create opportunities for revenue.
What is B2C PR all about?
Business to consumer public relations is centralized around getting people excited and enthused to consume what your business is selling. As stated by Ripley Public Relations, “Business buyers are driven to buy products that will help their business be profitable, competitive and successful. Consumer buyers buy based on emotions associated with status, desire, or price.” The focus is in being able to effectively communicate a brand to your consumers that it increases its awareness and loyalty.
What’s the core?
The core is made up of three key components:
Consumers.
Vision Critical, a cloud-based customer intelligence platform trusted by Adobe and Yahoo, states that “Whomever you’re marketing to, even in the B2B space, everyone’s a consumer and you need to keep it interesting”. The key to understanding the core of both B2B and B2C PR, you first need to understand that everyone is a consumer.
Relationships.
The number one desire of all humans is to feel and be connected. That’s why campaigns like Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” are so successful, because it connects relationally with people on multiple levels.
It is an innovative and humorous B2C campaign that connects to woman’s desires for their man to smell good and men’s desire to be “manly”. Of course, it is one of the top marketing campaigns out there. This is key for both B2B and B2C– the core is people. Therefore, even in B2B public relations campaigns it is important to understand humor, innovation, and creativity as key because everyone is relational.
Adaptation.
Accurate and genuine understanding of your target audience allows you to effectively communicate to what drives them. Customer intelligence is vital in this arena. It allows you to know where to position and pivot your campaign to attune with your audience. This will allow you to engage with them in successful ways that ensure your audience is getting reached and understands the message.
Ultimately, in the mesh of these core understandings is the key to utilizing B2C and B2B successfully. It also holds the challenge to take B2B public relations to the next level of innovation and creativity. So we ask, How will you take your B2B or B2C PR to the next level?
