Business to Business Advertising

Advertising intended to communicate among businesses, as opposed to consumer advertising. Business-to business advertising is directed at business people or companies who buy (or specify-such as architects, engineers, or contractors) products for business use. Businesses advertise in their own trade publications (a practice called business paper advertising), of which there are three times as many as consumer magazines.

Business-to Marketing efforts directed toward other businesses rather to individual consumers. Business-to-business advertising may involve the promotion of products such as copier machines, or services such as human resources consulting or logistics, that are primarily designed for businesses. Business advertising accounts for approximately $3 billion annually in advertising revenue.

While business-to-consumer advertising focuses on reaching a household's decision-maker, business-to-business advertising focuses on reaching the employees of a business responsible for making capital decisions or who are in charge of purchasing. While consumers may be able to make rapid decisions on whether a product is of interest, businesses are often slower and have to go through a more complex process because the cost of products for a business can be high and may require approval from several levels of management.