B2C vs. DTC Marketing: What’s the Difference? [+ Strategy Examples from Bulk]

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How you connect with your customers can make or break your brand. Should you capitalize on the speed to market and broad reach a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) model offers,  or would a DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) approach, offering direct relationships with customers, better align with your goals? 

Both models have unique strengths and challenges, and understanding these differences is key to crafting an effective marketing strategy.

With the global B2C e-commerce market projected to reach $4.9 trillion by 2025 and DTC brands transforming retail by bypassing traditional intermediaries, there are clear benefits to each model. This guide explores the key distinctions between B2C and DTC models, offers actionable strategies for success, and shares lessons from real-world examples.

Breathe new life into your loyalty and retention strategy

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Understanding B2C and DTC Models

Both B2C and DTC models focus on selling to consumers but differ in approach. Let’s break it down:

What is B2C Marketing?

B2C relies on intermediaries such as retailers, wholesalers, and marketplaces to sell products to consumers. This model emphasizes mass marketing and brand awareness, making it ideal for businesses targeting broad audiences.

  • Mass marketing campaigns aimed at wide audiences.
  • Distribution through intermediaries like retail stores or online marketplaces.
  • Emphasis on brand awareness and competitive pricing.
  • Reduced control over customer relationships and branding.

For example: A soft drink company like Coca-Cola follows a B2C model, distributing its products through supermarkets, vending machines, and restaurants. Their focus on mass marketing—think global ad campaigns—ensures brand recognition and high-volume sales but the brands direct interaction with customers is limited (when did you last visit www.coca-cola.com?).

What is DTC Marketing?

DTC bypasses intermediaries, enabling direct sales to consumers. This model offers more control over branding, customer experience, and data, relying on e-commerce, social media, and targeted marketing.

  • Direct customer relationships, fostering loyalty and trust.
  • Greater control over branding and customer experience.
  • Personalized marketing powered by first-party data.
  • Higher profit margins by cutting out intermediaries.

For example: Feel Good Contacts, a leading DTC eyewear brand, sells its glasses directly to customers through its website and exclusive stores. This approach allows the company to maintain complete control over its branding, provide personalized recommendations, and offer competitive prices by eliminating the middleman.

“With the SAP Emarsys platform, we check, we run A/B tests, we find out ‘does this resonate well with the customer?’ We’re then able to, anything that we have an issue with, we raise the support system, with SAP Emarsys and we figure out with their expert knowledge, essentially, working out with them, where there’s a will, there’s a way. And we’ll definitely find a solution.”
Nimesh Shah
Marketing Director

B2C vs DTC: Key Benefits to Understand

Choosing between the B2C and DTC models can have a profound impact on your marketing strategy, customer relationships, and overall business success. Both models come with distinct advantages that cater to different goals, audiences, and operational structures. Let’s explore their unique benefits:

B2C Benefits: Leveraging Established Networks for Rapid Growth

The B2C model thrives on scale and reach, leveraging established intermediaries like retailers and marketplaces to distribute products to a broad audience. This model allows businesses to quickly penetrate markets without building their own distribution infrastructure, making it ideal for scaling.

Key benefits:

  • Market demand at scale: Access a vast, existing customer base through retail and marketplace partnerships.
  • Brand awareness: Tap into mass marketing opportunities to position your brand prominently in the minds of consumers.
  • Ease of entry: B2C businesses can rely on established logistics and distribution channels to deliver products efficiently.

Example in action: A leading global electronics brand uses B2C strategies to partner with major retailers, ensuring their products are available in every corner of the market. Their presence in high-traffic stores allows them to achieve brand ubiquity while focusing their efforts on product innovation.

DTC Benefits: Building Deep Connections with Customers

The DTC model is all about forging direct relationships with your customers. By cutting out intermediaries, brands gain control over the entire customer journey, from branding to fulfillment. This approach allows for personalized interactions, loyalty-building, and deeper insights into customer preferences.

Key benefits:

  • First-party data ownership: Gain valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling hyper-personalized marketing and product development.
  • Brand control: Own your narrative and deliver consistent, differentiated experiences across every touchpoint.
  • Higher margins: Remove intermediaries to improve profitability and reinvest in customer engagement strategies.

Example in action: A premium skincare brand adopted a DTC approach to sell exclusively through their e-commerce platform. By doing so, they created personalized experiences based on customer preferences, leading to increased retention and a higher lifetime value per customer.

Many brands today are blending B2C and DTC strategies to capitalize on the strengths of both. While B2C offers the scale and visibility to capture mass audiences, DTC delivers the control and data needed to foster loyalty and innovate effectively. The balance depends on your business goals and customer expectations.

Breathe new life into your loyalty and retention strategy

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4 Lessons for B2C and DTC Success

Success in B2C and DTC marketing goes beyond understanding the differences—it’s about applying actionable strategies to meet evolving customer expectations. Whether scaling through B2C or building personalized connections via DTC, these seven lessons will help you enhance engagement, leverage data, and refine your approach for maximum impact.

1. Leverage first-party data to drive long-term loyalty

First-party data is the cornerstone of building meaningful, long-term relationships with customers. By gathering insights directly from their audience, Bulk has been able to craft personalized experiences that foster loyalty and boost engagement.

Techniques like progressive profiling—where customers provide small amounts of information over time rather than filling out lengthy forms—have been game-changers for the brand. Bulk incorporates these insights at every stage of the customer journey, from welcome programs to reactivation campaigns and post-purchase follow-ups. This approach allows the company to deliver tailored recommendations and offers that meet customers’ specific goals and preferences, strengthening trust and retention.

Example in action: In Bulk’s welcome program, the team starts the customer relationship by asking simple questions to better understand their needs. This ensures customers feel recognized and valued right from the start, setting the tone for future interactions.

"We use techniques, you know, progressive profiling, for instance. We ask questions via our website through automated communications. A welcome program is absolutely perfect for this—just to start that relationship and build that relationship with the customer by getting to know them more."
Scott Jonsmyth-Clarke
Head of CRM, Bulk

2. Deploy automations for always-on engagement

When customers face disruptions, they expect brands to remain consistent and responsive. Bulk mastered this by using automation to keep the conversation going, no matter the challenge. Their welcome program became the foundation of their customer engagement, capturing essential details like dietary preferences and fitness goals to craft highly personalized interactions.

But Bulk didn’t stop there. They layered in automations like replenishment flows, abandoned basket reminders, upselling campaigns, and tailored cross-sell offers. These strategies turned potential lost opportunities into meaningful engagements that drove conversions and nurtured loyalty.

What we can learn: Automation saves your brand time and builds engagement and loyalty by ensuring customers receive meaningful, timely communication at every step of their journey.

Actionable tip: Start with automations that address critical moments, like onboarding and cart recovery. Then, expand into lifecycle campaigns that foster deeper connections, such as personalized post-purchase journeys or re-engagement emails.

3. Prioritize personalization

Personalization is the secret ingredient to customer loyalty, and Bulk made it the star of their strategy. By collecting data through progressive profiling, they learned about each customer’s goals and preferences over time. This allowed them to go beyond generic recommendations and deliver truly relevant offers and content.

For example, their abandoned basket emails didn’t just nudge customers to complete their purchase—they included curated product suggestions aligned with the customer’s fitness goals. This thoughtful touch made customers feel understood and valued, turning casual buyers into loyal advocates.

What we can learn: Personalization isn’t optional—it’s the expectation. Customers want to feel like you know them, and when you deliver, they’re more likely to stick around.

Actionable tip: Use progressive profiling to gather data in small, digestible steps. Apply this information to create hyper-relevant segments and campaigns that resonate deeply with your audience.

4. Leverage first-party data to drive decision-making

In a world where customer behaviors can shift overnight, data is essential. Bulk used their first-party data to identify trends, like the shift from gym-related purchases to at-home fitness products during the pandemic. Armed with this insight, they quickly adapted their messaging to meet customers where they were.

They also implemented a free delivery incentive that encouraged customers to reach a basket threshold. The result? Higher average order values and happier customers who felt rewarded for shopping.

What we can learn: Data is more than numbers in a dashboard—it’s the key to understanding your customers and shifting from creating generic engagements to delivering personalized experiences that matter to them.

Actionable tip: Use a customer engagement platform like SAP Emarsys to regularly analyze your first-party data and spot trends and opportunities. Use these insights to refine your messaging, craft compelling offers, and drive meaningful results like increased AOV and repeat purchases.

5. Test, learn, and adapt

Marketing isn’t a “set it and forget it” game—it’s a constant cycle of experimentation and improvement. Bulk embraced this philosophy through A/B testing, experimenting with everything from discount structures to messaging styles.

For instance, they tested whether customers responded better to percentage-based discounts or fixed-dollar savings. They also explored how celebratory messaging compared to everyday communications. These tests gave them a clear understanding of what worked, helping them fine-tune their campaigns for maximum impact.

What we can learn: Testing is the fastest way to uncover what your audience really wants. The insights you gain can turn good campaigns into great ones.

Actionable tip: Start with small, focused tests on key elements like subject lines, CTAs, or discount types. Use the results to build smarter, more effective campaigns that deliver real results.

"We tested whether percentage-based discounts or fixed-dollar savings worked better, and what types of messaging resonated more with our audience—like celebratory content versus everyday communications."
Scott Jonsmyth-Clarke
Head of CRM