Last Updated on February 26, 2020 by Anthony
As experts in the field of online content creation, Connotations has lots of opportunities to create unique content for a full range of clients. Some of our clients need business-to-business (B2B) content while others need business-to-consumer (B2C) content. Yes, there are distinct differences between the two. In this blog post, we will explain how to create effective B2C content that will strengthen your company name and brand, drive visitors to your website, and increase loyalty among your customer base.
The first thing to understand are the separate audiences of B2B and B2C content. A B2B-focused business is one whose core customers are other businesses in need of their products and services. One example we know very well is our own. Most of the content we produce is for other companies looking to boost online productivity through the content they post on their websites and social media channels.
By contrast, a B2C-focused company is marketing directly to individual consumers. This would include online retailers, contractors, professional service providers, and the like. Their audiences are made up of a much larger pool of individuals rather than smaller groups of companies. With this in mind, we can now move on to talk about creating compelling B2C content.
Rule #1 of Effective B2C Content Is to Know Your Audience
The number one rule of creating effective B2C content is to know just who your audience is. Are you targeting millennials who are apt to use mobile devices to make the majority of their online purchases? Or perhaps your target audience are older parents preparing to send their children off to university. You have to know who you are speaking to before you can develop the message you want spoken.
As HubSpot’s Eric Siu explains, one of the best tools for this task is what is known in the SEO world as the buyer persona. A persona is literally a fictional profile of a particular kind of customer you might want to target. By creating this profile, you are more able to put yourself in a position of thinking the way your customers think. You can then create content around the profile.
Craft Your Message Carefully
Content creators not positive of who their target audience is are forced to create generic content that does not necessarily speak to a specific demographic or customer base. This is not a very efficient way to use B2C content. Instead, it is much better to craft your message carefully and systematically.
Use the words and phrases your target audience is likely to use in everyday speech. Build your content around themes that are important to the audience you’re trying to reach. At the end of the day, every piece of content posted on your website and social media channels should be carefully crafted with a message that speaks directly to your customers.
Customer Loyalty Your Top Goal
According to B2B and B2C specialist Sujan Patel, the top priority of B2B content marketing is to build brand awareness among both current and future customers. Not so for B2C content. Given that B2C-focused businesses are targeting individual retail customers, the top priority of their content is customer loyalty.
You can use content to build customer loyalty by offering your readers information of value. An online retailer might create posts highlighting specific products for specific needs while a service provider may create content utilising popular themes such as ‘top 10’ lists and ‘how to’ guides. Customer loyalty is the priority, so build that loyalty by giving readers information they can use.
B2C content can be anything from written text to video to infographics. In most cases, website owners will utilise all three kinds of content over months and years of reaching defined audiences. At Connotations, we are here to help you create the effective written content you need. Our staff of expert content creators can help you craft a targeted message that produces the kinds of results B2C content is supposed to provide.