Melbourne Institute of Technology: B2B Marketing Case Study

This case study analysis delves into the intricacies of Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing, comparing it with consumer-based marketing and highlighting key differences in approach and strategy. The analysis explores the characteristics of B2B markets, including market structure, demand dynamics, and the nature of buying units and decision-making processes. It further develops and evaluates effective B2B marketing strategies and tactics based on marketing mix specifications relevant to the industry, including influencer marketing, social media strategies, and search engine optimization (SEO). The study extends to the analysis of business marketing strategies applicable in global markets and discusses various analytical skills and data interpretation techniques necessary to solve B2B marketing issues, such as lead generation problems and the effective use of social media channels. The case study incorporates diagrams and figures to illustrate key concepts and provides a comprehensive overview of the B2B marketing landscape.

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Background- two people meet to discuss on important marketing issues.
MrA- Good morning Mr B
Mr B- Good morning Mr A
Mr A- I hope the purpose of our meeting is clear because I have some important questions to ask
about B2B marketing.
Mr B- I know Mr A the purpose of our meeting today. Even I have a few questions to ask to you.
Mr A- ok Then let me ask my question first- what is the difference between B2B Marketing and
consumer based marketing?
Mr B- consumer based marketing is also known as business to consumer marketing and it is different
from business to business (Lau & Lim, 2018). B2C marketing involves directly selling to the
consumers and is therefore influenced more by consumers whereas the B2B marketing is carried out
between two businesses and it involves more logic. B2B transaction involves more money because
they have to consider many things- people, resources and others. In case of B2B marketing the
purchasingdecisions not at all influenced by emotions rather it is influenced by logic. The marketer in
case of B2B marketing focuses on understanding the buyers within the other organization and what
are their roles and other information. This type of marketing does not focus on the product but
rather the person who uses the product. In this form of marketing the main concern is on the return
on investment expected by the buyers when they purchase the product. It also focuses on how to
save money, time and resources of the buyers. The marketers need to explain to the buyers that
how using a certain product will save their time, resources and provide other benefits. In case of a
B2C marketing, the marketer will have to focus and discuss about the benefits of the products. The
customer’s decision about a product is affected by emotions. The customers want convenience and
for that they need various channels of distribution. The customers are not interested in knowing
much information about the product they just want to know the exact to the point explanation of

2CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
the same (Lilien, 2016). The message in case of B2C marketing should be clear and simple so that it
can be easily understood by the consumers. The purchasing process for B2C marketing is also
different depending upon the consumer’s decision. The consumers may decide to purchasethe
goods immediately or they may take many day’s time for purchasing the product (Iankova et al.,
2018). The marketing strategy that will be used in case of B2C is that the focus is on the benefits of
the products and services to the consumers. The marketing strategy should focus on solving the
needs of the consumers.
Mr A-I have understood the difference between B2B and B2C marketing. Do you have any questions
that you wish to ask?
Mr B- Yes I have a question to ask. What are the characteristics of B2B marketing, including the
market structure and demand, the nature of the buying unit and the decision process in B2B
marketing?
Mr A- I will discuss the main market characteristics of the B2B marketing related to the market
demand and structure. A characteristics of the B2B marketing is that they have larger buyers but
they are small in number as compared to the B2C marketing. The amount of the purchases by these
purchases is much larger (Cortez & Johnston, 2017). The demand for the goods in casae of the N2B
marjeting depends on the demand of the consumer goods in the B2C market. Therefore the demand
on the B2B market is a derived demand. The demand in case of the B2B marketing is inelastic
demand. The price in case of B2B marketing remains unaffected by the any changes in price in the
market because they buy in bulk and their purchase is not affected by the pre changes. The B2B
market goes through a phenomenon called the Bullwhip effect. In this case the demand will
fluctuate more than it fluctuates in the B2C market structure (Anees-ur-Rehman et al., 2018). This is
because the retailers purchasing capacity is dependent on the demand by the consumers so if the
demand increases than the demand by the retailers will also fluctuate more than proportionately.
The buying unit in case of the B2B marketing is more buyers which results on a larger decision

3CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
making unit. In other words it means that the decision about the purchase will be taken by more
people. The complexity of the purchase will determine the decision making process. The purchasing
efforts in case of the B2B marketing is more professional and it is usually carried out by purchasing
agents in most cases because they are experienced and know how to buy better. There can be
different committees for this purchase. The decision making process in case of B2B marketing is
more complex and formalised as compared to the B2C marketing. The decision making process is
affected by the desire to enter into long term relationship with the clients. The sellers try to create
customer lifetime values.
Figure 1: B2B customer centric approach
Source: (Assimakopoulos, Papaioannou & Sarmaniotis, 2017)
Mr B- I have understood the characteristics of the B2B marketing in terms of its structure, demand
and others. Let us proceed with the next question.
Mr A- can you develop strategies and tactics for B2B markets based on marketing mix specification
relevant to industry?
Mr B- Ok.

4CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Figure 2: Strategy of B2B marketing
Source: (Anees-ur-Rehman et al., 2018)
The marketing strategies for the B2B marketing can be influencer marketing
strategy. The decision making process in case of the B2B marketing, starts with carrying out
researching opinions of various experts of the industry. In this situation it becomes important for the
company to engage in the strategy of influence marketing. The people suitable for this activity are
various leaders who have influence n the industry. These people can be found in the social media
and they must be having less than 10000 followers to be called the micro-influencers (Cawsey &
Rowley, 2016). These people can help in developing strategy as they know about the target audience
closely. Social media strategy is the most effective marketing strategy that can be used by the
company for carrying out their B2B activities. The social media can be used by the company to
provide value to the customers or to generate sales through various social media advertisements.
LinkedIn is the most effective social media channel for carrying out the B2B activities because it
helps the company to connect with the customers through the platform. The company can create
good relationships with the customers over LinkedIn. Advertising can also be done on LinkedIn with
the help of various demographics. Face book can also be used as a marketing strategy for all forms of
industry whether it is retail or others. Face book provides the opinion for ads manger where the
sellers can boost posts, see analytics and others. There are options for targeting lookalike audience.

5CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Mr A- Now i have understood by the strategies that can be adopted by B2B markets in order to carry
on the activities properly. Do you have any question to ask?
Mr B- yes I want you to analyze the business strategies applicable in global markets.
Mr A- Marketing with help of social media means making use of various internet based platform in
order to promote the products or the services of the company. Many platforms have data analytics
tools that help the company in advertising its products and services. SEO or the search engine
optimization is the process of increasing the website traffic both quantitatively and qualitatively and
helps in increasing the company webpage visibility to the search engine users. Search engine
marketing helps in process of dealing with the ads campaign of the company through designing,
optimizing and running it effectively. There is however difference between the SEM and SEO because
of the differences in the results n the basis of paid and unpaid. The purpose of SEM is prominence as
compared to relevance. A marketing campaign in order to become successful needs designing an
attractive web page because in order to attract customers, the site owners can see and check the
results of the webpage and control various data analytics activities. Sufficient return on investment
can be generated by the search engine optimization on various campaigns. Search engine
optimization can help in reaching the target market because of their strong tuning with the target
market search engines. The market shares of the search engine optimization varies with location.
There is need to have a proper professional translator who can translate the web pages in order to
have a search engine optimization that is successful. Key word search is the main purpose of SEO
strategy for starting a good webpage or redesigning the existing webpage. Just by searching a good
keyword, the content will be available easily. For deciding this keyword it is important to have a
discussion with the customers. This will help in understanding and then the keywords can be
selected. This will also help the organization in increasing the keyword list for the consumers.
Various social network platforms can help in understanding this concept of SEO. The intention of the
search is also important for the SEO. By understanding the intent, SEO can help the business in

6CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
meeting the needs of the people by analyzing the intent of search. These days search engine is also
aiming at solving the various queries of the consumers on various sites b ensuring the visibility of the
company in front of the target audience. In relation to the use of SEO, SERP can be introduced by the
companies in order to help the B2B businesses become profitable.
Mr B- I have understood the strategies of marketing adopted by the B2B markets in order to reach
global markets.
Mr A- Can you please discuss about the range of analytical skills through the proper interpretation of
data and information to solve B2B issues.
Mr B- some of the major problems or issues faced by B2B is that they have to face a lot of problems
while generating leads. The B2B may be having various problems related to selection of the wrong
social networking site. The efforts required in order to keep the social media profile of the company
attractive is what is difficult and time consuming. If the company des not properly have an idea the
social media channel used by the customers it may be operating its profile in a wrong website. the
following diagram shows which channel of social media is being used by various B2B marketers.
Figure 3: Social media channels of B2B marketers

7CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Source: (Cawsey & Rowley, 2016)
Some of the main analytical skills needed for solving the B2B issues are- Analytical
thinking, data visualization, ability to adapt to new technologies and techniques, understanding the
data structures, understanding the statistical concepts, a proper mindset aiming towards growth.
The analytical thinking will help the to avoid information paralysis and for effectively and efficiently
dealing with large volumes of data. Analytical thinking can help in designing various action plans for
solving the problems. Data visualization skill will help to analyze all the data more effectively by
visualizing the same. Well-designed graphics are of great importance for solving problems relating to
dealing with voluminous and complex data. By having the ability to learn and adapt to the
technological changes, the marketers can help to improve business intelligence, analytical tools of
self-services. In order o meet the changing needs of the customers it is important for the marketers
to have skills of adaptability. Data democratization can help in solving various issues. It is important
for the marketers to have a basic understanding of data concepts and structures such that they can
solve problems relating to complex data. Design thinking is important on part of the marketers in
order to solve various problems relating to B2B issues because the present business scenario is such
that there is a continuous change in the business environment. These marketers need to have an
open mind such that they can carry out these changes whenever required they should not be having
a blocked mind.

8CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Figure 4: Importance of SEO marketing strategy
Source: (Shenoy & Prabhu, 2016)

9CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
References
Anees-ur-Rehman, M., Wong, H. Y., Sultan, P., & Merrilees, B. (2018). How brand-oriented strategy
affects the financial performance of B2B SMEs. Journal of Business & Industrial
Marketing, 33(3), 303-315.
Assimakopoulos, C., Papaioannou, E., & Sarmaniotis, C. (2017, June). Customer Centric Orientation
of Companies Management and Its Effectiveness on International B2B Strategy. In 5 th
International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues ICCMI June 21-23, 2017
Thessaloniki, Greece (p. 207).
Cawsey, T., & Rowley, J. (2016). Social media brand building strategies in B2B companies. Marketing
Intelligence & Planning, 34(6), 754-776.
Cortez, R. M., & Johnston, W. J. (2017). The future of B2B marketing theory: A historical and
prospective analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 66, 90-102.
Iankova, S., Davies, I., Archer-Brown, C., Marder, B., & Yau, A. (2018). A comparison of social media
marketing between B2B, B2C and mixed business models. Industrial Marketing
Management.
Lau, K. C., & Lim, L. (2018). Transformational branding for B2B business: protective packaging
company. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 30(2), 517-530.
Lilien, G. L. (2016). The B2B knowledge gap. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(3),
543-556.
Shenoy, A., & Prabhu, A. (2016). Social Media Marketing and SEO. In Introducing SEO (pp. 119-127).
Apress, Berkeley, CA.