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The difference between a B2B product manager and a B2C product manager depends on your product’s audience. B2B product managers focus on a limited number of clients and build relationships. 

Meanwhile, B2C product managers deal with the end user and a much bigger target audience. 

This article covers the key differences between a B2B product manager and a B2C product manager, including their responsibilities, skills, career trajectories, and more. 

Let’s dive right in. 

B2B Product Managers vs B2C Product Managers: What Do They Do? 

In B2B product management, you have to focus on customers and their needs by knowing more about them. B2B product managers develop long-term relationships with customers. More so, if it’s an enterprise-level product. 

It’s safe to say you manage large B2B contracts, sign long-term contracts, and have regular meetings and calls with customers. 

Therefore, B2B product managers always need to be one step ahead of the industry standard to retain their clients. 

Meanwhile, B2C product management is more generalized compared to B2B. B2B product managers focus on the end-user with little knowledge about their customers. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t conduct regular research to keep up-to-date with customer needs. 

B2C product managers conduct regular user research, including conducting user interviews, and they also hold focus groups. They also conduct surveys to determine prospective buyers and find out more about their end users. 

That said, they don’t need to maintain an ongoing relationship with their customers. This is why their focus is more on product analytics. That includes studying and analyzing user behavior patterns to better optimize their products. 

However, both B2B and B2C product managers are responsible for determining customer needs and adjusting their products according to them. 

What Does a B2B Product Manager Do? 

B2B product managers are industry experts who focus on building ongoing relationships with customers. They focus on the professional buyer persona, and for that, they need to have the latest industry information and updates. 

Keep in mind that in a B2B setting, the person that buys the product is not always the final user. This is why it’s not wise to prime B2B products for end-users, do it for your B2B clients only. 

That said, all B2B clients have certain expectations and demands that a B2B product manager needs to be aware of. This is why they need to have regular calls and meetups with their clients, so they’re up-to-date with the requirements of each client. 

Furthermore, since most business-to-business products are part of existing workflows, it’s not wise to release new features one by one. It’s important to release new features, updates, and fixes in bundles, so the updates don’t affect regular workflows. 

Moving on, B2B product managers have to keep engaging prospective buyers to get them to sign up. Compared to B2C products, B2B products come into the use of a handful of people and have limited scopes. 

That is why B2B product management requires targeted approaches. 

When it comes to metrics, a B2B product manager is more inclined to consider customer satisfaction as a metric than the total number of users. Both kinds of product managers have a customer churn issue. However, it’s more of an issue for B2B product managers. 

That’s because new customer acquisition costs are much higher in a B2B environment. Furthermore, the customer lifetime value isn’t that much of a help because the key to B2B success is long-term relationships. That is why both of these metrics don’t play a major role in B2B product management. 

What Does a B2C Product Manager Do? 

B2C product managers deal with more users, and that is why it is difficult to develop a long-term relationship with every user. That said, they still need to study user behavior patterns and understand customer needs. 

Therefore, B2C product managers develop individual buyer personas based on clusters of users. They conduct market research to learn new market trends, customer needs, and customers’ frustrations. 

After that, they use data analysis and experimentation to determine how to move forward because they are responsible for creating memorable customer experiences. 

That said, B2C product managers deal with a much larger user base, and they need to analyze customer feedback to find out more about their end-user. That’s because the person buying the product here is the final user. 

That is why B2C product managers have to build brands customers love, while B2B product managers build brands that customers tolerate. 

A more customer-centric approach requires knowledge of the buyer process and sales process. It also requires a higher release frequency of new updates and new features. 

More release cycles mean the product team has to prioritize features and issues. That is why metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (LTV) play a major role in B2C. 

How Do B2B Product Managers and B2C Product Managers Work Together? 

There aren’t many cases where a B2B and B2C product manager works together. Most organizations have a singular focus when it comes to their products. 

However, some SaaS products tend to have two different versions of their products. Both business and consumer products have different audiences but are the same general product. 

In this case, a B2B product manager and a B2C product manager work together since it’s the same product. They need to collaborate to determine what features need to be in both product versions and what features need to differentiate each version. 

Who Earns More: B2B Product Manager or B2C Product Manager? 

According to Glassdoor, the average B2B product manager earns $162,103 per year in the US. The average salary range is between $100,000 and $268,000. However, a closer salary range is $125,000 and $212,000. The base pay is $125,818, and the additional pay that includes bonuses, stock options, and more is $36,285. 

On the other hand, the average B2C product manager salary in the US is $127,551 per year. The average salary range is between $76,000 and $216,000. The more exact salary range is between $97,000 and $169,000. Furthermore, the base bay is $102,289, and the additional pay is $25,262. 

Therefore, a B2B product manager tends to earn more than a B2C product manager. However, product manager salaries vary a lot based on your industry and organization. 

Becoming a B2B Product Manager vs B2C Product Manager 

Now that you have an idea about the key differences between B2B and B2C product managers, let’s have a look at how their career paths and skills differ. 

Career Path 

The career paths for B2B product managers and B2C product managers are not that different. It’s possible that the same person works on a B2B product after working on a B2C product. 

However, some companies differentiate the roles of both kinds of product managers. These companies tend to have a strict business model. That means they’re either focused on B2B products or on B2C products. 

In any case, here’s the typical career path of a B2B product manager: 

1. Associate product manager 
2. B2B product manager 
3. Senior B2B product manager 
4. Director of B2B products 
5. Head of product or Chief Product Officer 

On the other hand, here’s a typical B2C product manager career path: 

1. Associate product manager 
2. B2C product manager 
3. Senior B2C product manager 
4. Director of product or Head of Product 
5. Chief Product Officer 

Both roles have almost the same career path, but the difference comes in their focus. For the most part, companies add some more information in the title to determine what kind of product manager they need. 

Furthermore, both product managers have the same educational requirements. However, B2B product managers need to showcase work experience in a B2B setting only. Meanwhile, B2C product managers have more leeway when it comes to working experience. 

Skills 

When it comes to skills, there are a lot of them that overlap for both B2B and B2C product managers. However, there are some skills that only B2B product managers need and some that only B2C product managers require. 

Here’s a detailed list of B2B product manager skills: 

• Business intelligence 
• Strategic thinking 
• Project management 
• Design and user experience knowledge 
• Industry knowledge 
• Sales process knowledge 
• Account management 
• Understanding of digital product analytics 
• Data Analytics 
• Interpersonal skills 
• Leadership skills 

Here are a few key B2C product manager skills: 

• Conducting market research 
• Ability to work with the sales team and marketing team 
• Understanding of the sales cycle 
• Product roadmap expert 
• Ability to make the buying process scalable 
• Ability to optimize product UX 
• Knowledge of usability testing 
• Understanding of marketing speak 
• Ability to focus on the customer experience 
• Basic understanding of web development 
• Ability to write technical requirements and specs 
• Critical thinking 
• Time management 
• Problem-solving 
• Excellent communication skills 

While some skills overlap, the difference comes because of their focus on their audiences. 

B2C businesses focus on providing a smooth user experience. That’s why B2C product manager skills are more about understanding direct product users and adjusting the product according to them. 

For comparison, it’s possible for a B2B product manager to only focus on a single customer. However, a B2C product manager always has a wider audience to focus on. 

Certifications 

Certifications and courses are common among product managers because a lot of product management experts come into the field after a career change. This is why almost 80% of product managers are 30 years of age and above. 36% of people do it as a gateway into the technology industry. 

They use certifications and courses to increase their credibility and provide a solid foundation for their careers. 

For the most part, the certifications and courses for B2B and B2C product managers are the same. If you’re a veteran product manager, then it may be wise to go for a specialized course or certification. 

However, if you’re getting into the industry or only have a few years of experience, it’s wise to consider the following certifications to build your profile: 

1. Product Manager Certification Course by Product HQ 
2. Technical PM Certification Course by Product HQ 
3. Product Management Certification by Product School
4. THE CERTIFIED PRODUCT MANAGER® CREDENTIAL by AIPMM
5. Agile Certified Product Manager Credentials (CPM) by AIPMM 

It’s best to start with some courses to learn more about your product management specialization. Then work on getting certified with the certifications above to secure your next B2B product manager or B2C product manager role. 

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