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What is B2C Marketing? [+ New Data & Trends to Captivate Audiences in 2025]


Back in business school, consumer behavior was my favorite marketing class. I loved learning about the psychology of marketing and what makes people spend the way they do. It’s no wonder I still love B2C marketing today.

But as fun as it is, it’s also challenging – especially in 2025.

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Unpacking the latest HubSpot data, let’s chat about what the B2C marketing landscape looks like today and what trends you must master to stay competitive this year and beyond.

Table of Contents

    • What is B2C marketing?
    • What makes B2C marketing different from other types of marketing?
    • Top B2C Marketing Trends of 2025
    • How to Create a Future-Proof B2C Marketing Strategy

What is B2C marketing?

B2C or business-to-consumer marketing are marketing tactics that aim to sell products directly to individual consumers — not other businesses or organizations.

That means marketing that talks to you, your best friend, mom or dad, your boss, or your second cousin’s boyfriend’s sister’s mother-in-law.

B2C marketing also drives consumers to purchase from third parties like retail stores and partners. Tactics can include website strategy, email marketing, social media, content marketing, and public relations, but these responsibilities are often shared with the retail partners.

What makes B2C marketing different from other types of marketing?

So, honestly, I’m at the party that all businesses are B2C. I mean, no matter the product, there’s a consumer or person on the other end buying from you, right?

However, there are some subtle nuances that distinguish B2C from business-to-business (B2B) and direct-to-consumer (D2C), for instance.

B2C Marketing vs B2B Marketing

two-column chart comparing b2c marketing vs b2b marketing

Source

B2B marketing is for products or services that are being bought to be used by or for organizations. Individuals may make the actual purchase, but they’re making it for professional purposes.

Like if people buy software to help their business schedule social media content like Sprout Social or help an organization improve its team communication like Slack, then it’s B2B.

They’re trying to build trust with and drive sales from other businesses by focusing on values like improved productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Messaging is conventionally more formal and focused on return on investment and sales cycles longer.

screenshot of sprout social’s homepage

Notice how Sprout Social highlights other companies that use its tools and makes it clear it’s talking to organizations in its copy.

If people purchase a product with personal goals, such as improving their athletic performance (e.g., Nike) or their health (e.g., Calm seen below), it’s B2C.

screenshot of calm’s homepage

B2C marketing is usually more casual and focused on showcasing value, such as personal fulfillment or improving daily life.

Depending on the purchase size, B2C sales cycles can be long or short, but as these are purchases made for oneself, they typically can be made faster and with lower risk and barriers than B2B.

For an even deeper dive into the differences, check out our article, “B2B vs. B2C Marketing: My Key Takeaways as a Marketer.”

But what about D2C?

A few months back, I dug into D2C marketing, and it took me a beat to understand how it differed from B2C. Here’s how I summarized it.

“B2C works with third parties or “middlemen” like wholesalers, retailers, or distributors to get your product into consumer hands. Retailers often even help shoulder some of the marketing to drive sales.”

Meanwhile, “D2C doesn’t have any of that help. Your product goes straight from the manufacturers to the consumer who bought it through the brand’s website, store, or popup. Overall, it’s a more direct line to the buyer than B2C.”

B2C Marketing Challenges

graph showing the top 3 challenges b2c marketers reported facing in the state of marketing report

Like marketers from any industry, B2C marketers reported generating traffic and leads and keeping up with trends as some of their biggest challenges in 2025. There are, however, some more unique pain points they face as well.

Here are the top three.

  1. Consumers are less trusting with their personal data (22.83%)
  2. Poor data quality 18.07%
  3. How rapidly your audience’s lives have changed over the past few years 17.95

Consumers Are Less Trusting With Their Personal Data

Concerns about data privacy are alive and well. Modern consumers are concerned about having their information sold and their identities stolen, among other things.

Because of this, many are reluctant to share their names or email addresses or grant brands the cookies they need to personalize experiences.

This can make it harder for B2C marketers to understand what their audiences want to see from them and to cater their marketing effectively.

Poor Data Quality

On top of consumers not wanting to share their data, B2C marketers also face poor data quality. We’re talking about inaccurate or old contact information and data with typos or redundancy.

Issues like these create incomplete information about what you’re working with. They make it difficult to shape a strategy and use AI to be more efficient.

Ryan Gunn, Director of Demand Gen & Marketing Ops at Aptitude 8 recently explained how clean, well-structured data is the secret to succeeding with AI.

“As businesses ramp up segmentation and personalization, syncing accurate data across systems will be the key to unlocking AI’s full potential. The better your data, the smarter your AI-powered marketing becomes, and the easier it is to hit your goals.”

Pro Tip: Tools like HubSpot’s Breeze Co-Pilot can make keeping your data clean and up-to-date easier by connecting your CRM data across all your business efforts.

Lifestyle Shifts

It’s no secret: the world’s been pretty crazy the past few years.

Between the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, shifts to remote working, increasing costs of living, and a great deal of social and political unrest, consumer lifestyles and buying behaviors have changed dramatically. And they’ve yet to settle.

As B2C marketers, it’s hard to keep up. Constant shifts make planning harder, whether you’re thinking about budget or messaging.

So, how are marketers navigating these challenges in 2025? We surveyed over 1,400 global marketing professionals to find out.

Top B2C Marketing Trends of 2025

graph showing the top 3 trends b2c marketers reported trying in the state of marketing report

In 2025, nearly 80% of those in B2C marketing plan to increase or maintain their marketing budgets.

The question is: Where exactly are those big bucks going? Are our peers reinvesting in the same strategies or trying on new trends for size? Should you be doing the same?

Here are the three biggest trends we uncovered in our research.

  1. User-generated content (22.34%)
  2. Creating content that reflects your brand’s values (e.g. social responsibility) (21.86%)
  3. Using AI to turn text into multi-channel campaigns. (e.g. video demos, product walkthroughs, presentations, podcasts) (21.61%)

1. User-generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content is voluntarily created by your buyers or target market about your product or brand, usually on social media — and, let me tell you, it’s some of the best content you can have as a B2C business.

Why exactly?

Here’s the truth — people trust other people more than they trust brands.

Everything a brand says just comes off as a sales pitch, because, well, they’re trying to sell something. Of course, they’re going to boast.

Messages and praise from fellow consumers are seen as more trustworthy and reliable because they don’t have a horse in the race. That’s why word-of-mouth marketing and influencer marketing are so effective and why so many people turn to product reviews before making a purchase.

When real people share their experiences with you online, it acts as social proof of what you claim. So, lean into this in 2025.

Encourage your customers to post content about your brand on social media or to send it to you through email or direct messages.

Create a unique hashtag they can use to showcase their content, or even better, offer the chance to have it shared on your account. This not only shows appreciation for your customers and gives you great content to highlight to your audience, but it also fosters a sense of community.

One of my favorite UGC efforts is Apple’s #ShotOnIphone. The campaign turns 10 this year and continues to supply the bulk of content shared on the tech giant’s Instagram account.

(I mean, just search the hashtag and you’ll be met with over 30 million posts.)

screenshot showing the number of results for #shotoniphone on instagram screenshot showing the image results for #shotoniphone on instagram

Not only do iPhone users get to enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame by having their content showcased to nearly 34 million people around the world, but Apple gets to highlight just how good its camera quality really is.

 
 
 

 
 
View this post on Instagram

 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

A post shared by apple (@apple)

Check out How to Leverage User-Generated Content in Your Marketing Strategy to learn more about UGC.

2. Creating Content That Reflects Your Brand’s Values

Last year, Manuela Gaitan, Head of Marketing at Awtana, told us:

“There has been a growing trend towards creating content that reflects a brand‘s values, particularly those centered around social responsibility. While this approach may not be as popular as focusing solely on product features or lifestyle imagery, it’s proving to be a worthwhile investment for B2C companies.”

And that trend only continues in 2025. Almost 56% of B2C marketers plan on addressing social issues in their marketing in 2025, while 57% said doing so was effective in their marketing in the last year.

But why is it so effective?

Gaitan believes there are three reasons creating content that reflects brand values is important for B2C marketers. As she puts it:

“Aligning marketing content with a brand’s values helps establish a deeper emotional connection with consumers. By showcasing a commitment to social responsibility through content, companies can resonate with their target audience on a more profound level, fostering loyalty and trust in the process.”

“Communicating brand values in marketing content can set a company apart from its competitors in a crowded marketplace. By highlighting these values, B2C companies can carve out a distinct identity for themselves, attracting like-minded consumers who are drawn to their mission and purpose.”

Now, I know. It can be scary to take a stand — nearly 73% of marketers are concerned about this, too (though about 44% say it’s only a minor concern).

You may fear alienating buyers and losing money, but here’s the thing: more and more people will be putting their money where their values are in 2025.

It’s already common among Gen Z and millennials, who are quickly becoming the most prominent players in the buying market. So, ignoring this buying behavior now could hurt you long term.

Also, while, yes, some buyers may turn away, showcasing your values in your content and marketing will also help you attract new buyers — buyers who will likely stay more loyal and even promote your brand because they align with your vision on a deeper level.

(They might even create some of that gold UGC content we talked about.)

So, take the chance.

Pro tip: Whatever values you showcase, make sure they are authentic to your brand and practices.

For example, if you’re a fast-fashion brand, you can’t preach sustainability. That’s just not gonna fly. Buyers can tell when you’re just jumping on a cause to win them over and studies like this one from The University of Chicago show they will not support performative allyship.

Think about what your brand genuinely believes in; what change would it like to see in the world, and how does it reflect that in the way it does business? Returning to our example of sustainability — one brand that advocates this well is Allbirds.

The company’s shoes and packaging are made from natural resources, and 90% of the materials are recycled. It also works with the non-profit SOLES4SOULS® to donate lightly used products to charity.

It discusses all of these practices in detail on its website and even releases an annual sustainability report to hold itself accountable.

screenshot allbird’s sustainability website page

Source

3. Using AI to Turn Text Into Multi-Channel Campaigns

In my opinion, one of the best use cases of AI in marketing is repurposing.

Repurposing your content for a new medium, format, or audience is an efficient way to get even more out of the work you’ve already done, and AI makes it faster to do than ever before.

How else can you use AI to repurpose content?

  • Turn blog posts into video scripts.
  • Transcribe podcasts or videos into blog articles. (Pro Tip: DeScript or Otter.ai)
  • Transform long-form content into short-form social media posts.
  • Create visuals based on long-form content to share on social.
  • Build landing pages from email sequences or podcasts.
  • Turn product content into marketing promotional materials.
  • Take raw data and create data visualizations and reports.

HubSpot’s Content Remix is one tool built specifically with content repurposing in mind.

With Content Remix, Professional and Enterprise-level users of Content Hub can transform existing content into new formats.

This can be materials you have hosted on HubSpot (i.e. images, social posts, text messages, ads, and blog posts) or new content you upload to the tool.

screenshot showing an example of a content remix workflow in hubspot

You can remix content from the content remix tool, the overview page for your posts or pages, and the content editor.

How to Create a Future-Proof B2C Marketing Strategy

1. Flesh out your target audience.

Before launching any campaign, let alone a B2C marketing campaign, you need to know who you are trying to reach — in other words, who your target audience or buyer persona is.

Once you understand that, you’ll know what preferences and behaviors your strategy needs to align with. Dig into your buyer personas, paying careful attention to their shopping behaviors, where they consume content and their pain points.

If you don’t have buyer personas, better late than never. Use our free template to document all the key information for your B2C marketing strategy and other initiatives.

2. Define your goals and metrics.

With your audience identified, what do you want to accomplish with them? Do you simply want to build brand awareness? Do you want to increase sales?

Clarify your goals using the SMART framework and use them to identify what metrics you’ll use to track your progress toward them.

For example, if you want to increase sales, you may track leads or revenue generated. If you’re trying to build brand awareness, then maybe it’s website views or new followers on social media.

3. Set your budget.

Thankfully, many modern B2C marketing tactics and mediums are low to no cost, but before you get started you want to have a firm grasp on how much your team can spend if needed.

This will impact whether or not you can invest in specific premium tools or even paid ads.

Here are some resources to help:

  • Marketing Budget: How Much Should Your Team Spend in 2024? [By Industry]
  • How to Manage Your Entire Marketing Budget [Free Budget Planner Templates]

4. Clarify your brand positioning.

Now, this is a bigger question beyond just your B2C marketing strategy: how do you want your brand to be perceived in the eyes of your target audience? How will it be different from others in the space?

This is your brand position, and having a firm grasp of it will inform all of your B2C marketing messaging. To be honest, it’s a big endeavor, but for these intents and purposes, you can focus on your unique selling point (USP) and brand voice.

  • Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Clearly state what makes your product or service different and valuable.
  • Brand Voice: Develop a consistent tone that resonates with your audience (e.g., friendly, aspirational, authoritative).

Marketing thought leader and founder of Mailshake Sujan Patel unpacks brand positioning in detail in “A Complete Guide to Successful Brand Positioning.”

5. Decide on your platforms and tactics.

The list of platforms and tactics you can use for B2C marketing is long and growing.

It’s easy to get caught up and want to try everything, but when it comes to achieving your goals, it’s best to focus your strategy on proven avenues and experiment on the side.

Your strategy may include, but is not limited to:

  • Content Marketing: Blogs, videos, and other content to educate or entertain.
  • Social Media Marketing: Sharing and engaging with your audience where they hang out. You can also consider social selling. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest are particularly popular for B2C brands.
  • Email Marketing: Use personalized emails for nurturing and retargeting.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Attract organic traffic by optimizing for relevant keywords.
  • Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers in your niche to tap into their audience.
  • Personalization: Use data to deliver tailored customer experiences (e.g., product recommendations, location-specific offers).
  • Paid Ads (or pay-per-click (PPC)): Use Google Ads or social media advertising for targeted campaigns.
  • Purchase Incentives: Discounts, promotions, free trials.
  • Loyalty Programs: Offering exclusive benefits and rewards for return customers.

Look at your existing audience’s behavior and data to determine what platforms and types of content they enjoy and align this with your budget. When it comes to social media, I’ve also always found this chart from WordStream helpful.

chart comparing the marketing benefits and features of the top social media platforms

Source

6. Develop your plan for tracking your success.

Remember those metrics and KPIs we determined earlier? Here’s where you establish a plan for tracking and reporting on them throughout your campaigns.

I know — numbers scare me too — but you can’t ignore them until your campaign ends. If things don’t go so well, this gives you no time to pivot.

If you’re a HubSpot user, you can set up dashboards in Reporting for your most important metrics and even set up your portal so they’re the first thing you see whenever you log in. (More on that here.)

But if you’re not, you can also turn to tools like Google Analytics for data

screenshot of a sample marketing report in hubspot

Source

I’ve also found it’s helpful to have spreadsheets with just the numbers. This lets you easily see how things have changed over time and what needs your most immediate attention.

Check out: 22 Best Free Marketing & Sales Templates for Microsoft Excel

7. Revisit and refine.

So, how did you do? After you’ve executed your strategy, it’s time to debrief and ask yourself what worked well and what didn’t. Take time to analyze your performance critically and constructively.

This is how you know what needs to be refined and improved in the next strategy.

Giving Consumers the Loyalty You Crave

The future of B2C marketing is exciting, dynamic, and full of opportunities to stand out. With user-generated content, value-driven messaging, and AI-powered efficiency leading the charge, 2025 will be a year of big wins for marketers ready to try new things.

But here’s the kicker: staying competitive isn’t just about following the data or the trends—it’s about knowing your audience, being authentic, and continuously refining your approach to doing right by them.

The heart of B2C marketing will always be about connecting with people on a meaningful level. This is also the key to long-term customer loyalty.

So, take these insights, mix in your own brand magic, and create campaigns that inspire, delight, and convert.



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