A CLIMBER'S GUIDE

“Business to Business”
05/01/2008

Can you market from business to business in the same way that you market to a retail consumer?

Why not? Hath not a businessperson eyes? Hands?
If you prick them, do they not bleed?
If you tickle them, do they not laugh?
If you wrong them, do they not take their business somewhere else?

Remember that your B2B customers do not suddenly disappear every day when they walk out of their office. They have televisions and lives outside of their jobs just like those of retail consumers. In fact, I can't think of a single business customer who is not also some kind of retail customer. So why would you want to speak to them differently?

Saying that an ad in a business magazine is the best way to reach a B2B customer is like saying the best way to reach a car buyer is in Car and Driver magazine. Execution is everything.

Advertising is not about what you're selling, but rather, whom you're selling to. Focus on the customer, whether B2B or retail, and your results will ultimately improve.

When engaging in B2B advertising, your goal should be to create associations and speak to the business customer's emotions by focusing on how your offering will help to make their life a little better or easier - just as you would a retail consumer. Stop focusing on the features of your business and start focusing on the ways in which your business offering will benefit the individual customer. In this respect B2B advertising is exactly the same as retail advertising.

FedEx recognized this back in the 70's. In a bold move, FedEx decided to reach a very small number of people in the shipping departments of big businesses with mass media - television. FedEx understood that business people have a life beyond business and that they could reach them more effectively with advertising methods centering on impactful creative and by recognizing them as regular consumers and not just as business people. This strategy brought FedEx to be the dominant force in shipping.

Whether it's an airline courting a business traveler, a shipping company reaching a shipping clerk, or a local bank pitching small business loans, see your customers as people, not as a business enterprise, and you'll connect to your B2B prospects in a whole new way. All of your customers have needs. Learn to consistently speak to those needs in an unexpected way and your business will grow and achieve unprecedented success.

Keep climbing,

Mt. Mansfield Media, Inc.

	Climb With Passion
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