B2B or business-to-business marketing focuses on the sale of products or services from one company to another, such as manufacturers marketing new products to distributors or software companies marketing applications of enterprise resource planning to companies. While B2B marketing shares some basic principles with consumer-facing marketing, such as the 4Ps, the execution of B2B strategies diverges from B2C marketing in many ways. Target Market Target markets in B2B marketing are much smaller than in consumer-oriented marketing and typically measured in the thousands. Companies in their target market often target a niche market that inherently limits growth. The small nature of the target market leaves a much smaller margin for error in several areas, including: Branding Alignment Product quality The failure to brand your business on factors that target market companies care about, such as competence and honesty, can harm sales. B2B customers need to know that your product can meet their specific needs. Alignment is the process you use to demonstrate that your product meets their needs by developing expertise in your customers' industry, creating content that speaks to that industry, and offering post-sale product customization. If a product doesn't work as described, it can irreparably damage your reputation in your entire target market and effectively put you out of business. Sales Cycle The sales cycle in B2B marketing is much longer than the sales cycle in B2C. Most B2B sales take more than a month, and sales take up to a year. There is a correlation between deal size and sales cycle length. More expensive products or services that touch more areas of the business typically require… half the paper… or B2B marketing faces a different psychological mindset than B2C marketing. B2C marketing is largely emotionally driven and paints a picture of a better, richer life for the consumer. B2B buyers tend to be more analytical. Of course they are interested in the benefits, but for them the facts matter. B2B marketing must be able to answer questions related to scalability, integration, ROI and implementation, not just try to sell an image of happy, productive employees. B2B marketing offers a way to open new, often highly profitable markets, but it creates challenges. The typical characteristics of B2C marketing, such as mass media advertising, emotional appeals and target markets of millions of consumers, do not apply. You need to demonstrate tighter alignment with customer needs, market using fewer communication channels, and cope with much longer sales cycles.