B2B Marketing is BIG Business

Business-to Business (B2B) marketing is most definitely BIG business any way you slice it. A study by the Business Marketing Association (BMA) revealed that B2B marketers in the US spent about $85 billion dollars in 2003.
There are some key differences between B2C and B2B marketing.

B2C: Short sales cycle Small purchases One/few decision makers Seeking product satisfaction

B2B: Long sales cycle Large purchases Many decision makers Seeking ROI

B2B Marketing Activities
The BMA study spending break out, in billions of dollars:

• Trade Shows/Events -- $17.3
• Internet/Electronic Media -- $12.5
• Promotion/Market Support -- $10.9
• Magazine Advertising -- $10.8
• Publicity/Public Relations -- $10.5
• Direct Mail -- $9.4
• Dealer/Distributor Materials -- $5.2
• Market Research -- $3.8
• Telemarketing -- $2.4
• Directories -- $1.4
• Other -- $5.1

All of these B2B marketing activities are valuable marketing tools, but the one that has climbed close to the top of the list over the last few years is Internet/Electronic Media. In the US, Internet-based B2B marketing investment continues to grow relative more traditional B2B marketing methods.

I haven't found reliable statistics for Canada, but anecdotal evidence indicates that Canadian companies are far behind the curve on Internet marketing.