B2B vs. B2C Sales Funnel Defined
The sales funnel is a critical visualization tool for marketers to understand the customer journey and how to build demand for a product or service.
- A whopping 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales
- Yet 68% of companies surveyed by Salesforce say that they have not identified a sales funnel
What is a Sales Funnel?
- Also referred to as a conversion funnel
- A visual representation of the customer buying journey
- Represents the conversion rate between each of the stages
Shape of the Sales Funnel
The sales funnel is shaped like an inverted pyramid, which is wider at the top and narrows towards the bottom. More prospective customers moving from the top to reach the bottom of the sales funnel signifies a better conversion rate.
- Top: Awareness Stage
- Prospective customers first learn about your brand and/or product
- Middle: Consideration Stage
- Marketers try to qualify leads and nurture them
- Bottom: Purchase Stage
- Qualified leads become customers
*Tip: A marketer’s job does not end with conversion. This is when they prepare to nurture their customers to increase the retention rate.*
Sales funnels help businesses:
- Speed up the sales process
- Build stronger relationships with leads
- Provide a personalized approach
- Generate more sales
The Differences Between the Two Sales Funnels
How different should the strategies and tactics of B2B and B2C marketing really be? The answer is “completely”.
B2B and B2C marketing target completely different buyer personas. This makes it vital for marketers to have different strategies to engage these distinct sets of audiences.
B2B and B2C Buyer Personas
Let’s look at how different B2B and B2C buyers are:
| Parameters | B2B Buyers | B2C Customers | |
| Purchase on behalf of | The company | Self, family or friends (individuals) | |
| Focused on | Solving a business problem or achieving a business goal (like increasing productivity) | Meeting personal needs | |
| Decision driven by | Reason, logic | Emotion, single or few objectives | |
| Decision points | ROI, value addition, expertise | Benefits of the product, deals | |
| Time for decision making | Slow, with buyer weighing the offering much more critically | Fast, can even be impulsive | |
| Independence in decision making | May need to confer with other stakeholders and get approvals | Decisions are usually made independently | |
| Timeline for consumption | Usually seeking long-term solutions | Immediate | |
| Length of relationship | Long lasting | Short | |
Impact of Buyer Personas on the Sales Funnel
- B2C marketing targets a much wider range of prospective customers
- B2B marketing targets an exclusive group of customers who represent companies within a specific industry
Difference between the B2B and B2C sales funnel – More in depth:
| Parameters | B2B Buyers | B2C Customers |
| Top of funnel | Much narrower | Very wide |
| Targeting | Much more accurate | Broad-based |
| Conversion rate | Typically higher | Usually lower |
| Buyer journey | Customers may spend a considerable time at each stage of the sales funnel | Customers usually move very quickly through the sales funnel |
| Sales cycle | Lengthy | Short |
| Marketing material | In-depth, detailed, focused on educating the customer | Crisp, catchy, focused on grabbing attention |
B2B vs. B2C – Wrapping It Up
Contrary to popular belief, B2B sales need more online marketing than B2C sales. This is because B2B customers will spend much more time learning about the product or service by reading whitepapers, blogs, reviews, etc. In fact, 70% of B2B buyers watch a video at some point during their buying process.
References
https://www.leadforensics.com/sales-funnel/
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-a-sales-funnel/
https://www.ssim.ac.in/blog/difference-between-b2b-and-b2c-marketing/
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-statistics
