B2B marketing defined - The commercial advertising and selling of products or services from one business to another (B2B). B2B marketing differs from other marketing in that businesses that sell to other businesses don't normally have a store-front to display their wares as would be the case in retail business-to-consumer stores. Their marketing message must be publicized by other means for businesses to discover their products or services.

The scope of B2B marketing isn't limited to just marketing from one business to another; it also includes businesses that market their products and services to institutions and governments. Examples could include businesses that sell software to federal governments or businesses that sell machinery to non-profit institutions or agencies.

Marketing business-to-business is different than marketing business-to-consumer, but in what ways? How do B2B businesses market themselves? Here are a few of the ways in which B2B marketing is done:

• Advertising campaigns
• Press releases
• Creating a professional sales team
• Internet marketing
• Classified ads
• Media (for example, newspaper interviews)
• Networking

The major difference between B2B and B2C is that B2C businesses usually have store-fronts, as in retail, where they often get pedestrian traffic. B2B businesses normally don't have such storefronts and so must find other means of advertising their products and services to their potential customers.

As well, transactions in the B2B marketplace will often have more than one decision-maker and so a entire sales industry has flourished where salespeople selling B2B must learn certain skills such as presenting, negotiating, selling, public speaking, and persuasion.