When developing a marketing strategy, marketers in industries like pharma, healthcare, and financial services must consider multiple stakeholders.
As a marketer, you must influence decision-makers and convince them of the superiority of your product or service over competitors, proving greater value. It would be best if you also educated these decision-makers so that they are confident and competent to sell your offering to the consumer, which is the second target audience.
That relationship constitutes what marketers call a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) model. This model can be intimidating if you do not have a formula for success.
How to create a B2B2C Marketing Plan:
- Create a communication line between your business and its customers.
- Where is the biggest opportunity?
- Break the mold.
- Create a communication line between your business and its customers
Start by analyzing data to build an audience strategy from the B2B as well as the B2C perspective. This means going beyond demographics and focusing on motivations, values, and media consumption habits in order to guide audience activation.
It’s crucial to think about the lines of communication and relationships once you have a full understanding of your target audiences. How can your marketing strategy facilitate a dialogue between the company and its consumers?
Most businesses are familiar with the category in which the product you’re promoting falls. Instead of educating the industry on the category, focus on brand recognition, unique value propositions, and the benefits to the bottom line.
Consumers have a more basic understanding, requiring tactics to drive brand recognition and recall as well as an overall awareness of the product category and how it meets their needs.
The marketing of each consumer journey must be done simultaneously so that both parties are informed and empowered when the B2B2C discussion begins.
Find the biggest area of opportunity.
A brand that I’ve worked with “ever said to me, “I have an “untested budget.” It’s, therefore, important to use a data-driven, strategic approach to guide where you spend your marketing dollars. You will need to carefully consider what audiences and tactics will drive the biggest opportunity and divide the budget according to that.
According to a Forrester Report on B2B2C Customer Journey Mapping (subscr”ption required), “Even if you are trying to improve your end-customer experience, starting with processes that can have a positive effect on the experience or bottom line of your partner will help you build momentum and work with them ag”in in the future.” This means that in a B2B2C environment, you should prioritize efforts that will benefit your customers.
Ask questions and do research to better understand the entire customer journey, both for partners and for the end customer. Is the business in control, and is the consumer deferring to the consultant’s or consultant’s advice? Or does the end consumer take an active role in bringing ideas to the salesperson/consultant? Does the end consumer have the ability to complete a purchase without help, or does the salesperson/consultant hold the keys that unlock the offering?
All of these questions are important when you consider your audience strategy, messaging strategy, and resource allocation.
You should also do research to find out where your customers are spending the most time and where they pay attention. You can use this research to help you create your media mix but also think of it as an opportunity to test your hypotheses.
Fostering experimentation within your marketing strategy can help you avoid the pitfalls of confirmation bias. This will help you gain greater insight and improve the campaign’s effectiveness. You’re the mold!
You’re likely to have a model that your marketing team has already developed for the B2B2C strateIt’sf your brand. It’s awesome if it works! Keep doing what is already working to achieve your goals.
If you’re frustrated with your results or if you want to pivot while your brand undergoes a significant change, don’t be afraid to take a risk.
You may need to take a more innovative approach. Insanity is when you do the same thing repeatedly and expect a different outcome. Even if your colleagues think you are insane for bringing out-of-the-box ideas to the table, it is better than being stuck in a cycle of frustration.