Difference between Industrial and Consumer Marketing:

Industrial Marketing:

Industrial marketing or B2B marketing refers to the marketing of industrial

goods/services in the industrial market. Industrial marketing relies on the tools of
competitive tendering and effective communication channels between industrial
companies and professional buyers of their highly specialized products. It involves a
protracted sale-purchase process that aims at providing innovative solutions to the
problems of industrial customers.

Consumer Marketing:

Consumer or B2C marketing refers to the marketing of finished products/services to

the potential end-customers in a consumer market. It relies on gaining extensive
knowledge about the tastes and preferences of the end-customers. It focuses on
generating demand through marketing tools such as advertising campaigns,
attractive packaging, after-sales services, etc

Comparative Analysis:

Criteria Industrial Marketing Consumer Marketing

Products are Products are simple

complex and highly and easy-to-use that
Type of Products specialized that can be
require expert straightforwardly
knowledge. mass-marketed.

Market Structure • Geographically Consumer Markets:

 concentrated – Auto
component
manufacturers in
Pune, Gurgaon etc
• Geographically
• Relatively Fewer
Dispersed – Demand
Buyers • Oligopolistic
for buying cars is
Competition (A
dispersed
market condition in
• Mass Markets,
which sellers are so
Many Buyers
few that the actions
• Monopolistic
of any one of them
Competition
will materially affect
price and have a
measurable impact
on competitors

• Individual
Professionally Purchasing – an OTC
Trained Personnel – product will be choice
Purchase of sterile of consumer. Aspirins
pumps by a biotech etc are sold by many
Buyer Behaviour
or pharma plant will pharma companies •
involve quality Family involvement,
control, purchase and influence • Social/
other departments. psychological motives
predominate

Professional and
trained business
owners who use the End-users who
product of your purchase the product
Target Audience industrial company or avail the services
as a factor of for final consumption
production, i.e. as an and gratification.
input in their
production process.

Buyer Seller Relationship • Technical Expertise • Less technical

an asset – engineers expertise – expensive
are hired by consumer durables
companies selling like home theatres
railway equipment may be purchased on
• Interpersonal simple technical
relationships specs
between buyers and • Non-personal
sellers relationships
• Significant • Less exchange of
information exchange information – OTC
 – a pharma company products are
will explain in detail purchased on simple
the specs of a advertising and drugs
tableting machine on doctor’s
• Stable, long term prescription
relationships • Changing short term
encourages loyalty relationship

To create awareness
To influence of the availability of a
institutional buyers product or service by
Motives of Sellers throughout their a particular brand and
complete industrial generate demand by
buying process. highlighting the
salient features

Dynamic advertising
Developing and that induces the
nurturing impulsive buying
partnerships that behaviour of the
focus on building customers and makes
Strategic Focus
long-term relations them loyal to the
with business brand. Customers
partners by gaining may or may not be
their trust. the long-term users of
the products/services.

Digital Content
marketing (posting Various online and
blogs, white papers, offline advertising and
case studies on marketing tools
informational including print,
Marketing Strategies
websites), television, and
personalized several online or
presentations to social media
clients, distributing platforms.
product samples, etc.

Encompasses all the

Encompasses only
operational
highlighting the
competencies and
benefits/utilities that
Marketing Elements processes employed
customers will derive
by the company in
by using the
delivering value to
product/service.
their customers.

Market Reach Narrow and Wide and extensive

constricted as as consumer
industrial marketers
deal with the limited marketers market the
magnitude of products/services to
businesses requiring potential mass
products/services of customers.
their clients.