How can brands leverage the B2B market?
How can brands leverage the B2B market?
Are you looking to move your products or services into the B2B space but haven’t been quite sure how to do it? Gift cards are one of the best ways to start to tap into a whole new market without turning off focus, resource or funds from your core ‘bread and butter’ of your business, the consumer arm.
Why move to B2B?
Business to business tends to have a slower purchase funnel, and decisions are more considered. That being said, when it comes to gift cards, there’s a consumer feel to a gift card purchase – and it’s usually done with a goal in mind, whether that’s reward and recognition, marketing promotion or to create loyalty/ advocacy.
Companies are looking to access gift cards for internal and external incentive programmes, to acquire new customers, to apologise to customers and to say sorry for any poor brand experiences.
These aren’t small businesses either. Insurers, banks and financial services represent thousands of employees and millions of customers.
There is also a huge market in the ongoing reward and recognition of employees at global businesses right down to SME sized companies.
What’s the market like?
There are many companies offering solutions in the area of staff rewards and incentives, as well as gift card 3rd parties who can resell gift cards B2B, sometime with a bulk purchase discount. Just like the ‘shopping mall’ style gift card displays, online B2B businesses offer this same experience but online, designed for the business customer who has different needs, such as using an API or integrating HR data to purchases high volumes of cards at the best prices, delivered in a way that suits their campaign goals.
There is ample opportunity for any retailer who has a good solid reputation to be added to a roster of included gift cards within these platforms, and to team up on your marketing to ensure your programme looks the best it can be – but when it comes to B2B, it’s all about relationships.
B2B gift card marketing needs to be guided by partnerships
Going it alone and putting your ad spend into focusing on reaching B2B buyers direct can be an expensive game if you don’t have the right strategy in place or a long term plan for converting these buyers over and over again. Just like in B2C, there needs to be a team in place to think about re-engagement and remarketing. Do you have the team to do that right away? If it will involve a full business reshuffle you can’t gamble on right away, one of the better ways to enter the B2B market is to meet the key players who could position your card in front of the right people.
That’s where we can help. At RL Consulting we’ve worked with some of the best known retail brands, acting as a partner that can give clear direction on the best way to tap into the B2B gift card world, alerting them to potential opportunities, and indeed threats.
We welcome the chance to discuss with you!
Please reach out to our team today.