Editing Marketing (section)

== B2B and B2C marketing ==
The two major segments of marketing are business-to-business (B2B) marketing and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing.<ref name=":0" />

=== B2B marketing ===
B2B (business-to-business) marketing refers to any marketing strategy or content that is geared towards a business or organization.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Genovese |first=Shelby |date=20 September 2023 |title=What is B2B Marketing? |url=https://marketingcommunications.wvu.edu/professional-development/marketing-communications-today/marketing-communications-today-blog/2023/09/20/what-is-b2b-marketing |website=West Virginia University Marketing Communications}}</ref> Any company that sells products or services to other businesses or organizations (vs. consumers) typically uses B2B marketing strategies. The 7 P's of B2B marketing are: product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence.<ref name=":10" /> Some of the trends in B2B marketing include content such as podcasts, videos, and social media marketing campaigns.<ref name=":10" />

Examples of products sold through B2B marketing include:

* Major equipment
* Accessory equipment
* Raw materials
* Component parts
* Processed materials
* Supplies
* Venues
* Business services<ref name=":0" />

The four major categories of B2B product purchasers are:

* Producers - use products sold by B2B marketing to make their own goods (e.g.: Mattel buying plastics to make toys)
* Resellers - buy B2B products to sell through retail or wholesale establishments (e.g.: Walmart buying vacuums to sell in stores)
* Governments - buy B2B products for use in government projects (e.g.: purchasing weather monitoring equipment for a wastewater treatment plant)
* Institutions - use B2B products to continue operation (e.g.: schools buying printers for office use)<ref name=":0" />

=== B2C marketing ===
Business-to-consumer marketing, or B2C marketing, refers to the tactics and strategies in which a company promotes its products and services to individual people.

Traditionally, this could refer to individuals shopping for personal products in a broad sense. More recently the term B2C refers to the online selling of consumer products.

=== C2B marketing ===
Consumer-to-business marketing or C2B marketing is a business model where the end consumers create products and services which are consumed by businesses and organizations. It is diametrically opposed to the popular concept of B2C or business-to-consumer where the companies make goods and services available to the end consumers.  In this type of business model, businesses profit from consumers' willingness to name their own price or contribute data or marketing to the company, while consumers benefit from flexibility, direct payment, or free or reduced-price products and services. One of the major benefit of this type of business model is that it offers a company a competitive advantage in the market.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aspara |first1=Jaakko |last2=Grant |first2=David B. |last3=Holmlund |first3=Maria |date=1 February 2021 |title=Consumer involvement in supply networks: A cubic typology of C2B2C and C2B2B business models |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001985012030835X |journal=Industrial Marketing Management |language=en |volume=93 |pages=356–369 |doi=10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.09.004 |s2cid=226739953 |issn=0019-8501}}</ref>

=== C2C marketing ===
[[Customer to customer]] marketing or C2C marketing represents a market environment where one customer purchases goods from another customer using a third-party business or platform to facilitate the transaction. C2C companies are a new type of model that has emerged with e-commerce technology and the sharing economy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tarver |first1=Evan |title=Customer to Customer – C2C |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/ctoc.asp |website=Investopedia |access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref>

=== Differences in B2B and B2C marketing ===
The different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, number of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.<ref name=":0" />

*Demand: B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.<ref name=":0" />
*Purchasing volume: Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.<ref name=":0" />
*Number of customers: There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.<ref name=":0" />
*Customer concentration: Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.<ref name=":0" />
*Distribution: B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products may additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.<ref name=":0" />
*Buying nature: B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers, while B2C purchasing is informal.<ref name=":0" />
*Buying influences: B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.<ref name=":0" />
*Negotiations: In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.<ref name=":0" />
*Reciprocity: Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.<ref name=":0" />
*Leasing: Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.<ref name=":0" />
*Promotional methods: In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.<ref name=":0" />