What is a Business-to-Business (B2B) company?

  • Durable Goods, such as HP blade servers, HNI office furniture, John Deere planters, Siemens wastewater treatment products or Honeywell building automation solutions.
  • Energy and Utilities, such as Chevron, MidAmerican Energy, and emerging companies in solar, wind, and biofuels.
  • Professional Services include financial services, management consulting, and market research firms, such as American Express, Burke, Millward Brown, and Nielsen.

B-to-B industries typically have a fewer number of business customers, higher average sales per customer, and a lengthy, sophisticated selling process. Imagine providing 60,000 offices to Motorola around the world, for a contract in the multi-millions of dollars. Or change management software solutions to a global client around the world, over a ten-year contract. As a result, a larger portion of the marketing expenditure is in supporting a sophisticated sales force and process. Because of the smaller number of customers overall and the difficulty of tracking individual transactions, the industry typically has much less customer data with which to make decisions. Product marketing and sales reign supreme.

Product Management

Product Managers are the quarterback of B-to-B durable goods marketing. They develop the long-term strategy for the product line’s growth and are responsible for P&L. They are responsible for all aspects of product development, marketing, and manufacturing quality. Think of them as the Brand Managers of the B-to-B world.

Corporate Brand Management

Unlike in B-to-C industries, in the B-to-B world a Brand Manager is responsible for building the corporate brand awareness and preference in the minds of customer decision makers and influencers. They are the brand champion (and police), making sure the brand positioning is appropriately presented and supported through the various product, marketing, and sales efforts. They do not have P&L responsibility and provide a governing structure that everyone throughout the company supports. They work closely with strategy and outside agencies to develop the brand strategy and execute it consistently.

Marketing Research

Because in the B-to-B world there are a fewer number of large customers who have multiple transactions within a complex selling and maintenance cycle, market research in the B-to-B world relies less heavily on a large set of customer data (simply harder to get) and more heavily on data that is collected through interviews, surveys, and field sales intelligence. It can be less quantitative and more qualitative, although it is equally important in developing sound brand and product strategy as it is in the consumer arena.

Promotional Marketing Services

The same promotional marketing functions that exist to reach and persuade customers—found in the consumer world—are found in the B-to-B world: advertising, public relations to web marketing, digital marketing, social marketing, content marketing, relationship marketing, and causal marketing. These functions recommend appropriate strategies to the Product Managers, support corporate branding objectives, and measure outcomes.

Because there are fewer customers with an intricate selling cycle and a complex set of influencers and decision makers, these functions typically provide a deeper level of communication and relationship support with a fewer number of customers.

Marketing Consulting

If you choose to work in a consulting capacity in a professional services firm (either a consulting firm or a research agency provider, for example), you will be responsible for delivering client program objectives, whether behind the scenes or in a client-facing role. 

Project management skills and content knowledge are extremely important, as is the temperament to thrive in a flexible, changing client environment. If you are in an outward facing role, communications and sales skills are extremely important. “Behind the scenes” roles such as Research Analyst will typically pay less than client-facing roles, such as Consulting Associate.

Other Marketing roles to consider

Shopper Marketing, Digital Marketing Management, Consumer Insights, Strategic Marketing, New Business Development or Sales