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Sarah Warsaw
For too long now, performance marketing and its tracking, attribution and data-led insights have dominated the headspace and importantly, budgets, of marketing leaders. For many, brand-building spending gets left behind as fast results take priority.
But that’s just not the case anymore. With those longer sales cycles, multiple decision-makers and such a crowded online space, we cannot underestimate the importance of long-term brand building for your B2B organisation. Even some of the biggest, global brands like Salesforce (which arguably everyone knows) have to work on brand awareness, or in the case of this story, mental availability.
A recent report, ‘The Awareness Advantage’ by brand trackers Tracksuit, explored supporting data. High awareness can boost conversion rates by 2.86x, demonstrating the importance of a holistic approach to brand awareness, performance results and business growth.
With all this in mind, here are some essential considerations for a balanced, 2025 B2B marketing strategy and planning…
The future is bright, the future is where your buyers are
Typically up to 95% of your total market isn’t ready to buy at the moment you’re running a demand-gen campaign — they are ‘out market’. It’s the remaining 5%, ‘in-market’ that you’re targeting with your fast action tactics. This model makes a great case for investing in brand and trust-building awareness and content strategies. Focusing efforts on that all-important 95% and helping your brand stay top of mind for those future customers.
This strategist argues it’s more nuanced than 95-5, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Research in a recent report by Inbox Insight supports this – 90% of participants agreed they’re likely to engage with content from a brand/vendor they trust or recognise. Successful investment into long-term trust and brand building means that when prospects are ready to buy (when they drop into that in-market 5%), you are in the running, if not the first choice.
What next? Balance short-term lead-gen tactics with long-term awareness and trust-building strategy. This can include valuable content marketing, nurture programmes and thought leadership.
The rise of B2B influencers
Leaders are increasingly looking to podcasts for inspiration, advice and recommendations. The rise of LinkedIn influencers and top voices helps build that all-important credibility in the market. In tech purchasing, reviews and comparisons are still an essential stage in the buyer journey. And of course, referrals and networking recommendations prevail. 75% of decision-makers trust a brand more if it is affiliated with industry experts or influencers.
Whilst working with influencers in consumer marketing has typically been about reach, B2B influence is all about trust, authenticity and depth. 61% of B2B leaders say they will increase spend on influencer content in the near future and 94% of B2B marketers see influencer marketing as a successful tactic — but the key is choosing the right influencer for your brand.
What next? Engage, and build a genuine and long-term relationship with an influencer who aligns with your industry and brand values before reaching out to them. Co-create content and thought leadership to reach their audience and build trust with your brand.
Put the thoughts back into thought leadership
Ok, so thought leadership isn’t exactly new, but I believe it’s becoming even more relevant for decision-makers than ever before. The competition in the market with multiple companies offering similar if not the exact same services or products — but the USP? The people making it all happen.
As a founder you’re blessed with a level of authority. Thought leadership is THE opportunity to maximise this and use it to your business and brand advantage. And the research backs it up — 73% of B2B buyers consider thought leadership to be a more trustworthy basis for judging a company’s competencies than traditional marketing materials and 88% agree that valuable content helps build trust.
“Thought leadership sits inbetween brand and demand and actually plays a role in the full funnel” explains Joel Harrison, Founder, Editor-at-large at B2B Marketing in a recent conversation with Katy Howell, CEO of social agency immediate future, “There are not many things that can do that”.
Beyond your founders, thought leadership also offers your team the chance to shine. From researching industry trends to sharing divisive opinions and innovative points of view — your content must deliver value to your target audience and stand out.
What next? Capture interesting insights, points of view and thoughts from your founders and team members as a starting point. It has to be well-researched, thought through and relevant to your audience.
Keeping it personal, or let’s just say relevant
Personalisation in the context of B2B marketing really means, relevance. Do you get it from my point of view? Do you understand my industry? And, do you understand how you can help solve my specific challenges?
In my previous article, I talked about delivering value through email marketing, but there’s something else: relevant, timely follow-up. According to Inbox Insight 83% of buyers prefer email over other forms of communication, but it’s true to say for us all that we’re only signing up to brands we really want to hear about.
With that in mind, results from a recent client campaign we delivered via Account Engagement and segmented by industry saw over 25% click-to-open rate. But an even more exciting project saw 88% of customers place an order, thanks to a relevant, timely email, sent via Marketing Cloud. The campaign reactivated dormant customers and in just 3 months our customer made over £80,000 through relevant, personalised emails alone.
You can address client concerns through messaging, web pages and email nurture flows. Offer case studies that demonstrate your experience in their industry — show (don’t tell) that you can make an impact for them.
What next? Tailor messaging, content, case studies and email content to the audience by industry or even pain point. Keep it relevant to them, and where possible show, don’t tell how you can help them achieve their goals.
In conclusion trust, authenticity, and relevance are essential for success in 2025
Balancing your short-term performance with long-term brand and trust building is what we all need to prioritise next year. As tech budgets grow, along with the number of decision-makers AND the number of solutions/services/products on the market, you need to be top of mind for your prospects as they start to embark on research.
To build that long-term trust, offer valuable, relevant and thought-provoking content to your audience. Demonstrate you’re interested in their challenges, their industry and their growth. Use thought leadership at every stage of the buyer journey and send relevant and timely emails.
B2B marketing is at an exciting turning point. There’s a HUGE opportunity to be creative, stand out and really connect with your audience and prospects before they consider buying. Once they hit that 5% ‘in-market’, the successful version of this strategy will have them considering you straight away.