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The world of content marketing is full of jargon, insider language, and industry specific terms. If this is your first time working with a marketer, sifting through all of these new phrases can be like learning a new language. However, with a little insight and the proper context, you will be up to speed in no time. To start, consider two of the most common approaches to setting up a marketing strategy – Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing. With a firm grasp on these advertising archetypes, building a successful and effective foundation for enhancing your online visibility becomes considerably easier to achieve.

The Basics of Marketing to Businesses

First, take a look at how B2B operations work. Marketing is the targeting and exchange of your products and services with other business outlets, instead of the traditional business to consumer connection, according to an entry on SearchCIO, B2B. While the basic connection between your business and the consumer business is often fairly obvious, you provide goods and services that are either highly desired or essential to the targeted company’s business process, how you interact with these organizations can take on a variety of forms based on what is most effective in your industry.

White papers and industry releases can serve as a formal gateway to transfer information about your offerings to businesses. However, blogging and working with industry thought leaders can give you a more approachable and easily digested method that is highly effective and helps promote repeat interactions. With properly constructed web copy, even your own web page can serve as a mini-tradeshow that is open at all hours for clients looking to learn a little bit more about how you can change their business process.

Bridging the Gap with Consumers

On the other hand, there’s the relationship your company has with consumers. For a more formal definition, Business News Daily offers a description that categorizes this process as marketing your goods and services directly to shoppers. You’re probably highly familiar with the more traditional methods, like commercials and newspaper ads. However, the online world of marketing has a considerably more advanced process that takes on some unique techniques and strategies to get the most out of your virtual visibility, and keep you on the minds of the consumer audience.

Today, proper B2C operations require an intricate understanding of online shopping habits and trends. With this knowledge, the aforementioned Business News Daily article goes on to detail the importance of proper content and search engine optimization (SEO). With great content, like blogs and guest posts on popular pages that relate to your consumers, traffic heading to your site can see a significant boost. Additionally, SEO tactics can further enhance these results by tailoring your site and content to maximize search-result page rankings. When combined, these two approach to B2C marketing help you hone in on your targeted audience, and become a major name within the audience that directly relates the goods and services you offer.

How Effective Are These Strategies?

Regardless of which strategy matches your business process, both are highly effective when utilized appropriately. Companies that blog and offer insightful content to client businesses generate 67 percent more leads per month from this active blog, according to Social Media B2B. Additionally, the Content Marketing Institute reports that 79 percent of companies achieved their brand awareness goals via B2B solutions. On the B2C side of marketing, NewsCred ranks content marketing as the single most effective strategy for reaching out to retail customers. For any company looking to maximize its marketing budget, these facts, along with a little insight into some of the industry lingo, can give you the platform you need to get the most out of your next marketing venture.