For many of us social media has become an increasing habitual element of our routine. When I reflect on my own personal experience with social I see it as essential for providing me with the latest news, a direct link to my friends and family and cooking inspiration that I convince myself I’ll one day use. The true extent of my dependence on social media, however, only became apparent to me when I recently discovered the phone usage reports delivered weekly by my iPhone. Taken back by the surge during the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown, I took the dramatic response of taking a social media sabbatical to break the habitual dependence I feared forming.

Social media has become indiscriminate with its user base. It’s a channel for people of all ages to learn, share and communicate. A parallel development of this has been the increasing accessibility of these channels extending beyond laptop, tablets and phones to be conveniently integrated into wearable tech and home appliances. The result of these developments? Consumers are spending more time on social channels than ever before. For marketers this only reinforces the importance of social as a pillar in a B2C marketing strategy.

B2C marketing. What is it? What are the traditional strategies?

Put simply, B2C marketing encompasses the range of strategies, channels, tools and techniques an organisation adopts to sell directly to the consumer.

Unfortunately for marketers, the fickle nature of consumer preference, the pace of technological development and the dynamic contexts that influence consumer behaviours, means that the B2C environment is forever changing. Consequentially a blog exploring the specifics of the B2C environment today might one day follow letter box drops and auto-play videos down a path of obsolesce. Despite this there exists axioms that distinguish customer marketing from the B2B counterpart that should remain back of mind when considering your brands strategy.

Important distinguishing elements from B2B marketing that impact the role of social

The drivers  

When marketing a B2B product it is a reasonable assumption that organisations are going to be acting rationally, this means choosing options conducive to organisational growth. These decisions will use data and evidence that support the purchase. By contrast, despite what we may like to think, humans are far less rational in decision making due to behavioural biases that pre-dispose us to sub-optimal decisions in favour of immediate gratification and reinforcing held beliefs. When marketing B2C products it is essential to use what is known about behavioural insights and craft a product narrative accordingly. Social provides B2C marketers with customer data and acts a platform for communicating with the customers both direct and via ad placement.

The decision-making process

B2B purchasing decisions must follow a process that seeks review and approval from various stakeholders which can take time and must support the business’ overall objectives and goals. In comparison, B2C decision making is a relatively shorter process, often relying on intuition or the momentum established by an emotional appeal. For the B2C marketer this means it is imperative that content exists in a manner that is convenient and catchy to influence purchasing behaviour. Many elements of social media channels mean they are the perfect point of distribution for content designed to influence consumers. The inexpensive alignment of a brand to influencers, the aesthetic standard expected on many of the channels and the short form restricted by platform policies; are just 3 examples of social media characteristics that ensure content is easy to digest, appeals to a consumer’s emotions and is convenient to access.

Is social media marketing and content marketing the same thing?

While there should be discussions on the importance of including social within a B2C marketing strategy, a common uncertainty is how it can exist with and complement existing content marketing efforts.  As the name would suggest, content marketing involves the creating, publishing and distributing of content, whilst it varies depending on the organisation this is often done for the purpose of educating, informing or entertaining customers and prospects.

Social media marketing should be considered an element of the wider content marketing strategy, one which is undeniably playing an increasing role thanks to the direct line of communication with audience members. Social helps brands establish awareness and build rapport using the short form content that publishers are limited to. However, this represents only a portion of the conversation funnel and organisations will still need to invest in other content strategies to drive audiences to their website and optimise their content marketing efforts. 

This is not to say a consumer cannot move through a conversation funnel natively. With shopping features on most channels, they can, and increasingly will continue to do so. However, it would be premature for an organisation to rely on a 220-character tweet to turn a customer into an advocate.