B2B or B2C, the Line is Getting Fuzzy

Over the past decade or so, lines have become blurry in the US as to when work ends and your personal life begins. If you've ever carried a pager or responded to a late night text or email, you know what I mean. Work encroaches on your personal life if you're a committed professional. And the same goes for the other way. With all the time spent at work, sometimes you have to cover personal items at the workplace. Sometimes technology sneaks into the office from the home whether you're talking about Linux hobbyists or iPhone fanatics. In all honesty, the line between work and play has become increasingly blurred.

So of course there should be no surprise that marketing techniques and tactics are starting to overlap in the B2B and B2C provinces. While the purchase cycle may be longer and the dollar amounts larger, marketing an enterprise or corporate solution is increasingly reliant on vehicles and mediums that have been more B2C specific. Social media, twitter, online forums and communities, hitting the event and trade show circuits never seemed more anachronistic or inefficient. Giving up control of your brand and relying more on inbound marketing is shifting marketing efforts all over.

And the reason is simple, the same person making B2B purchase decisions is the same person making B2C purchases. While the purchasing cycle and stakeholders in corporate environments are more complex, the tools and rationale for choosing one product or service over another is no different. Does the product do what I need it to do? Is the product competitively priced in the marketplace? Is there any risk in purchasing and deploying this product? And ideally, will this product improve my day to day business and take it to the next level?

Whether you're purchasing a 46" LED TV or a $50K core routing switch, the need for unbiased and unvarnished information is critical to making the most effective decision. The digital tools to present and find this 3rd party information is now readily available out there on blogs, forums and the web. And for those organizations that don't respond to this shift in the market? Well before you know it the information and opinions will be out there about your product and services. Perhaps too late for you to influence the course the online conversation will take.

It's a brave new world, learn it, embrace it and live with it...