{"id":77571,"date":"2019-07-29T16:33:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T20:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketinginsidergroup.com\/uncategorized\/building-brand-trust-in-b2b-vs-b2c-whats-the-difference\/"},"modified":"2023-09-14T05:39:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T09:39:31","slug":"building-brand-trust-in-b2b-vs-b2c-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketinginsidergroup.com\/content-marketing\/building-brand-trust-in-b2b-vs-b2c-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Brand Trust in B2B vs. B2C: What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building a trusted brand is everything when it comes to the long-term success of a company. Wise B2B and B2C marketers alike work hard to build brands that not only win attention from prospects and customers, but also win the kind of trust that results in strong customer relationships and retention.<\/p>\n

While the B2B sales cycle has grown to resemble the B2C sales cycle\u2014in terms of customer demands for convenience and immediacy, a seamless shopping experience and autonomy\u2014B2B and B2C markets are still different when it comes to trust. In B2B, buying decisions are still bigger and are usually made with the approval of more parties than just the prospect who first encounters your content.<\/p>\n

In this post, we look at three major ways that B2C brands build trust, and adapt them for B2B markets.<\/p>\n

3 Ways to Build Brand Trust in B2B [Adapted from B2C]:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Create polished and professional content: be friendly, but not overly conversational, and demonstrate your expertise.<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Use LinkedIn as your primary video marketing medium: B2B customers trust LinkedIn the most of all social media. As video marketing grows in prominence, sharing on the right platform will be the difference between winning and losing.<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Be wise and watchful about public relations: brand awareness does not equal trust.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1. Polish and Professionalism are Still Crucial<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This isn\u2019t to say that B2C brands don\u2019t present themselves professionally, but brands dialogue with customers differently depending on the nature of the transaction and who the customer is. If a customer is shopping for clothes for an upcoming vacation, they\u2019re expecting a different conversational tone and approach than a customer looking for vital resources to use to grow their business.<\/p>\n

    B2C brands often build trust by taking a more familiar tone that\u2019s almost less \u201cpolished\u201d in their marketing content to give themselves a \u201cdown to earth\u201d appearance that builds a friendly rapport.<\/p>\n

    \"Brands\"<\/p>\n

    B2B companies can do the same up to a point, but should still contain enough professional vocabulary to show that even though you\u2019re human, you still do what you do with excellence. Exhibiting your expertise isn\u2019t the only reason to do this: sometimes attempts to be overly-personal and relatable can be perceived as disingenuous or clunky, which works against your company\u2019s trust factor.<\/p>\n

    2. Video Marketing (and Its Medium) is (Almost) Everything
    \n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Video marketing is only growing in prominence. Marketing videos help you build trust with prospects and customers by being entertaining and informative. In order for your marketing videos to effectively build that trust though, you need to get them to your audience through the right means.<\/p>\n

    B2C brands primarily use YouTube and Instagram for their video marketing. These brands will connect with vloggers and influencers who, in turn, create video content such as the ever-popular \u201cun-boxing\u201d videos (that\u2019s when the vlogger opens and samples a product to showcase it from the customer\u2019s perspective). This type of marketing doesn\u2019t translate to B2B since B2B products and services don\u2019t always lend themselves to an \u201cun-boxing\u201d format. Not to mention, B2B customers aren\u2019t likely looking to YouTube as a credible source for product information and reviews.<\/p>\n

    YouTube may rule the world of B2C video marketing, but our data shows that B2B customers trust LinkedIn the most out of all social networks.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Of course, YouTube still has its place in B2B as a medium for decision-stage or post-sale content like tutorials and product information, but with LinkedIn\u2019s video-sharing capabilities, you can share marketing videos and use the trust customers place in LinkedIn to supplement their trust in yours. Best, you can tell brand stories, drive traffic to your website, and collect high-quality leads with native videos in LinkedIn Sponsored Content<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"Linkedin
    Source: https:\/\/conversionxl.com\/blog\/linkedin-video-ads\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    B2B marketing videos shared through LinkedIn should look clean, well-lit and have closed captions free of errors. And, creating these videos is simpler that it sounds: it\u2019s easy to find stock footage, free music and user-friendly editing programs that let you create professional-looking videos without being a Hollywood mogul.<\/p>\n

    3. Brand Awareness from PR Does Not Equal Trust<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    B2C companies can often benefit from being well-known, even if they\u2019re not widely trusted. E-cigarette brands, for example, have benefited from creating large presences: their promotional materials wallpaper gas stations, convenience stores and billboards.<\/p>\n

    This brand presence is enough to help an e-cigarette company\u2019s products obtain and retain popularity even as news stories about the dangerous health consequences of using their products begin to break the trust customers had with these companies.<\/p>\n

    B2B relationships are different. Being widely known doesn\u2019t mean as much if your company doesn\u2019t seem stable and trustworthy. Data shows that B2B customers\u2019 trust of Amazon declined steeply since 2018.1<\/sup> While there are several possible reasons for this decline, it\u2019s highly likely that the company\u2019s PR efforts are a significant factor. Your company\u2019s reputation is everything to your long-term success.<\/p>\n

    Which is why you can\u2019t ignore public relations<\/a> as part of your integrated marketing plan. Stay ahead of potential issues and work proactively to build a reputation as a reliable, trustworthy brand.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s tempting to just throw most of your budget and effort at fostering brand awareness, particularly for marketers at smaller, newer companies. However, if you narrow your focus to just spreading awareness without building a strong reputation and cultivating trust, you\u2019ll bring in a mixed bag of results:<\/p>\n