You’re probably pretty familiar with the two primary business revenue models: business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). Most companies either sell their products or services to other companies or to an end user. But have you heard about B2B2C? It’s more relevant to your business than you might think.
B2B vs B2C
A B2B model focuses on an interaction between two businesses. A manufacturer selling a product to a veterinary clinic would be considered B2B, for example.
A B2C model, on the other hand, is aimed at selling directly to consumers. A veterinary clinic selling a product to a pet owner (ie, the end user) is a good example.
Breaking Down B2B2C
A B2B2C model combines these two approaches. Let’s consider the manufacturer from the B2B example to illustrate this process.
As you might expect, there are three entities involved in this model: Business A, Business B, and C (the consumer). For our example, Business A is the manufacturer, Business B is the veterinary clinic, and C is the pet owner.
Let’s say Business A creates a product for pet owners that must be sold by a veterinary clinic (Business B). Business A must sell the concept and the product to Business B. Then, it can help the veterinary team effectively sell it to pet owners (the consumer). Essentially, Business A is accessing the consumer market through another business.
The B2B2C model delivers a mutually beneficial result for both businesses involved. Companies often use this approach to retail a product or service through a business with access to consumers. Business B, by virtue of its relationship with the end user, benefits financially from selling the product or service of Business A.
B2B2C models are not only employed for selling products. You can also use this model to increase brand awareness. Or, perhaps, to support educational initiatives where mass awareness amid a consumer audience is needed.
Examples of B2B2C Campaigns
- Awareness: A manufacturer has a message it wants distributed to pet owners. It can launch a campaign designed to educate clinicians. Then, it can provide the tools—and a compelling reason—to communicate a pet-owner targeted message to their audience of pet owners.
- Consumable Products: A manufacturer may create an e-commerce experience for veterinary clinics, designed to help them more effectively sell the manufacturer’s products to pet owners.
- Leads: A manufacturer may launch pet-owner targeted campaigns and distribute leads to the veterinary clinics to enable clinics to sell more products to pet owners.