Digitalisering
28. februar 2022
What is B2C?
B2C is an abbreviation for Business to consumer, and the term is used to describe a company that sells goods directly to the consumer. This is in contrast to companies that sell their goods to other companies—also known as B2B companies.

When do you use the term B2C?
The term B2C is typically used to describe a company’s strategy and is particularly relevant in sales and marketing contexts, as the marketing strategies you should use differ depending on whether you are a B2B or B2C company.
Note
Your company can certainly use both strategies, but in that case it is important that you adapt your marketing strategies accordingly.
In B2C marketing, mass marketing is particularly relevant. Here, the aim is to increase the volume of customers who are exposed to your marketing efforts and who ultimately purchase a product.
What characterises B2C sales?
Sales of B2C products and services are most often characterised by being direct and driven by impulsiveness and emotions. This, of course, depends on the product and, among other things, its price level.
Consider, for example, the difference between buying a new laptop and a new shampoo in the supermarket—one is, in most cases, more influenced by impulses and emotions than the other.

In addition, there are typically only one or a few parties involved in the purchase, in contrast to B2B, where there are typically several stakeholders involved in a purchase.
Traditionally, many B2C sales took place in physical stores, where the customer could buy products and services directly from the seller, but over time e-commerce has become a common way for B2C companies to target their marketing efforts to their audiences.
What characterises B2C marketing?
B2C marketing is generally characterised as “mass marketing” and focuses on creating a high level of frequency. As a result, there is not as much focus on the individual customer as B2B companies typically have, since their market will, in most cases, be narrower and the value of their products and services will tend to be higher in financial terms.

Because the market for a B2C company is typically very broad, it is important for the company to make an effort to stand out from the crowd of providers of the same product. In addition, purchases of B2C products are most often driven by emotions and impulses, and therefore the company should tailor its marketing efforts to the specific product—as well as try to appeal to the customer’s needs and take care to communicate how the product can create value for the consumer.
To create effective and targeted online marketing, it is important to understand your consumers and target audiences and their needs. It is important that you understand how your product or service creates value for the consumer, and how you can best communicate this to the consumer. A good way to investigate and learn to understand your consumers is, for example, through data provided by Google Analytics.
In addition, it is important to examine which social networks your primary target audience is active on to ensure you choose the right online marketing strategy. You should also consider which content format is most relevant for your product and your target audience.
Typical marketing channels and strategies for B2C companies include:
- Social media
- SEO
- Google Ads
- Email marketing
- Amazon ads
Marketing objectives that are relevant to consider as a B2C company include, among others:
Hard conversions:
Soft conversions:
- Engagement
- Traffic
- Followers
- Material downloads