For years, B2C marketers have realized that creating personalized marketing campaigns provided better outcomes. Pay per click and social media marketing have allowed organizations to determine who is genuinely interested in a product and when to target them. It didn't take long for B2B marketers to take notice and realize that what has worked for retailers and service providers can also work for business accounts. Account-based marketing (ABM) was born.

B2B vs B2C Customers - Are They Different?

In most cases, B2B customers engage with brands in the same way as B2C consumers. They expect to be “danced” with during the buying cycle, they do the same research, and they are just as willing to shift to another brand that better matches their needs.

Consumers are more entitled than ever:

• Content finds them - via email, display banner ads, or social media marketing
• They curate their own channels to allow for relevant content to appear
• Their journeys aren’t linear, but rather provide bits of information about them every time they interact with the brand’s content

Historically, B2B organizations created campaigns that likely appealed to the mass target market instead of the individual. It was believed that the more eyes that viewed the campaign, the better. What came to be realized is that there are micro-targets within large target markets. These micro-targets actually buy or influence purchases, and they want to know about your business. Everything that is viewed by the non-decision maker is just a waste of time, for both the marketer and the non-prospect.