B2B customer marketing has become essential in maintaining customer loyalty across various industries, because retaining loyal customers and reaching new ones is the lifeblood of a company. This is great news for customers who exhibit high levels of engagement. They are more likely to maintain their loyalty toward a brand—and share their experiences with others. By implementing a customer marketing strategy that is tailored to specific demographics, it is possible to prioritize your efforts on making them feel like a partner (and advocate). This connection will encourage a stronger, long-term relationship with your customers and lead to big gains in retention, acquisition, and lead generation. In this blog, we focus on the importance of a consumer market for your B2B business and answer what are the four types of customer markets that a company might target. 

What Is a Consumer Marketing Example for Businesses?

B2B companies leverage and invest in Customer Marketing and Customer Advocacy to drive customer referrals, references, case studies, advisory boards, community events and much more. By employing customer focused techniques, your business can best support your customer and  leverage their voice throughout your business cycle.

For example, your company can create a loyalty program that rewards repeat business and encourages satisfied consumers to share about your brand . These programs have a significant impact on both customer acquisition and retention. One major advantage of a loyalty program is your business's ability to tap into the potential of existing customers. You can generate new leads based on your existing relationships—which means more conversions. Customer marketing platforms like Orca empower businesses to tap into your customer relationships and take advantage of your relationships and build stronger connections.

With these types of customer loyalty programs, it is vital that they are straightforward and user-friendly. These rewards could include a discount on future purchases or a complimentary product or service, upon the new customer's purchase or subscription. Your business can increase your customer base and offer more alluring incentives if you form partnerships with new and existing customers. Consider what your customers might be drawn to. Some customers enjoy a friendly competition based around points and activities, while others care deeply about status levels or VIP perks. No two programs are the same, so tailor the loyalty program for your unique customers.

What Are the 5 Characteristics of a Consumer Who Wants to Buy from You?

Motivation, perception, attitude, learning, and lifestyle are the most important characteristics that impact the actions of consumers. Due to these characteristics of the consumer market and business market, the success of any company's marketing strategy relies on its ability to anticipate and respond to changes in customer buying habits. 

• Motivation describes the underlying reasons why a person engages in a certain type of consumer behavior or makes a specific purchase. 
• Attitude describes an individual's overarching evaluation of and feelings toward a good, service, brand, or form of consumption.
• Perception describes the interpretation of products and services, as well as customers' overall interactions with companies and brands.
• Lifestyle describes the manner in which an individual lives and organizes their life. Consumer lifestyle encompasses a customer's opinions, values, and hobbies, which all have an impact on their purchasing habits.
• Learning describes the cognitive process through which individuals acquire knowledge, information, and skills that are relevant to making informed purchasing decisions and engaging in consumer behaviors. 

Each of these characteristics gives marketers insights on who is buying products and why—and how they might buy in the future. With a strong customer marketing approach, you can understand your customers and their needs to more effectively reach your target audience. 

What Are the 4 Elements of Consumer Segmentation?

The four fundamental components of customer segmentation are demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral. With these different segmentations, it is possible to focus on initiatives with greater accuracy. You need to make sure you cover all of the bases for segmenting consumer markets for an effective customer marketing strategy. By leveraging each of these elements, you’ll develop stronger liaisons for your products and services. And advocacy is essential to generating leads and securing ideal customers.

Demographic

Demographic segmentation involves categorizing audiences based on observable business traits. This enables businesses to gain a deeper understanding of their target demographic and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. B2B demographics are influenced by various factors such as industry, company size, tenure, and functional classification. A notable benefit of implementing this particular segmentation approach is that the acquisition of data can be achieved with minimal labor and cost. 

Psychographic

Psychographic segmentation differs from demographic segmentation because it concentrates on mental and emotional characteristics. By identifying the intended audience and their preferences, it is possible to customize the content to achieve higher efficacy. Understanding psychographics can be instrumental in predicting consumer actions such as purchasing a product, clicking on an advertisement, or engaging in other desired behaviors.

Behavioral

Behavioral segmentation categorizes customers on the basis of their actions and interactions with a company. This form of segmentation examines various behavioral variables such as customers' familiarity, attitude, utilization, and responses to a product, campaign, or brand. Undoubtedly, recognizing the purchasing behavior of customers offers a significant advantage as it eliminates operational hurdles—like buyer complexity—and promotes faster sales of products. 

Geographic

Geographic segmentation is a useful strategy for gaining insights into the purchasing patterns and preferences of diverse regions, which can facilitate the implementation of more focused and efficient marketing campaigns. The underlying principle of this approach is that individuals located in a particular geographical region share comparable expectations, needs, and cultural influences. Geographic segmentation can also be utilized as a means for promoting innovation in product development and catering to the particular needs of the customer base.

What Does Customer Segmentation Mean for Customer Marketing?

The utilization of customer segmentation results in the development of more robust customer marketing strategies, as it enables businesses to concentrate on ideal customers who are more inclined to engage in along the customer journey. Furthermore, organizations can use customer segmentation to identify their most valuable customers, increase their market share, and communicate with those customers using the channels that suit them best. 

Build Brand Advocacy with Orca

If you're looking to boost your customer marketing strategies, Orca provides a comprehensive solution for your business, including referrals and recommendations. You can manage case studies and public events where you gain even more brand awareness and advocacy for your business. Because it is 100% native in Salesforce, you can engage your customers by bringing structure and insights to your program. Take your marketing beyond the surface and book a demo today!