B2B marketing in practice

Many B2B companies still run a traditional lead machine. Whitepapers behind forms, campaigns built around downloads and dashboards full of new leads. Yet many commercial teams notice that this delivers less and less. The leads turn out to have hardly any buying intent, and sales has to work hard just to start a conversation. 

That is because the B2B customer journey has become longer and more self-directed. We see that an average B2B buying journey takes around 192 days. During that period, decision-makers do their research, compare suppliers and already form an initial preference. So in practice, you don't win by collecting the most leads, but by building the most trust and awareness with your ideal customer. In other words, by winning the most mindshare. 

Why is traditional B2B marketing less effective in today's market?

The way business decision-makers gather information has changed. Where marketing used to revolve mainly around campaigns and downloads, buyers now do a large part of their research on their own. They read articles, follow experts on LinkedIn, watch videos and discuss insights internally with colleagues before contacting suppliers. This means a large part of the buying process takes place without marketing or sales having direct sight of it. 

An approach that tries to get people to fill in a lead form as quickly as possible is a poor fit for this. You want buyers to get in touch, while in practice they are often still researching. This creates a mismatch between what marketing wants and where the buyer is in the process. 

A modern B2B marketing strategy does fit that behaviour. Instead of putting information behind forms, you make knowledge and insights freely accessible. That way you are visible in places where your target group is already active, such as LinkedIn, podcasts, articles on your website and videos. A buyer can then do their own research at their own pace, while your brand becomes familiar and trusted in the meantime, long before a buying decision is made. So you are already 3-0 up by the time they are ready to buy. 

A B2B marketing strategy that does work

One of the most important insights in B2B marketing is the 95:5 rule. Only a small part of your market is actively looking for a solution right now (5%). Most companies do have the problem, but are not yet actively researching (95%). 

Many organisations focus their marketing entirely on that small group of 5% who want to buy now. They compete on the same keywords, the same ads and the same downloads. The result is that everyone is fighting over the same 5% of the market. 

A more effective B2B marketing strategy also focuses on the other 95%. These are companies that don't want to buy right away, but will need your service or solution in time. By reaching them earlier with insights and knowledge, you build trust. When the moment comes that they look for a supplier, your brand is already familiar. 

What does a good B2B marketing strategy look like in practice?

In practice, a strong B2B marketing strategy combines two elements: demand generation and demand capture. Together, they ensure you both create demand and capture existing demand. 

Demand generation

Demand generation focuses on creating awareness and trust among your target group. The goal is not to collect leads straight away, but to be visible with relevant insights. Think of relevant articles, videos, LinkedIn posts and events that help people understand a problem better. 

An important part of this is clear positioning. In the Playbook we call this an Onlyness Statement. It makes clear who you are there for and which problem you solve better than other providers. Without such sharp positioning, in practice you are quickly compared on price. 

Demand capture

Demand capture focuses on the companies that are actively looking for a solution. With demand capture, you mainly use targeted ads. You make sure you are visible when someone is searching for a solution to the problem you solve. In the longer term, you can also do this with a good SEO strategy, for example, focusing on commercial search terms. 

The strength lies in the combination. Demand generation ensures people already know you before they start searching. Demand capture ensures you are visible at the moment they do start actively searching. 

How does B2B marketing work in practice for the Decision Making Unit (DMU)?

An important difference between B2B and B2C marketing is that decisions are rarely made by one person. In many organisations, several stakeholders are involved in a purchase. We call this group the Decision Making Unit, or DMU. 

Depending on the type of solution, that can be five to ten different roles. Think of a CFO who looks at costs and return, an IT manager responsible for security and integration, and an end user who has to work with the solution. For B2B marketing, this means you have to serve different perspectives. Content that is relevant to a finance director is not automatically relevant to a technical specialist. So you need to take this into account when creating the right content. A good search 360 SEO analysis can provide useful input for this. 

How do you convince different stakeholders in a B2B buying process?

A practical way to reach different decision-makers within an organisation is to work with content pillars. These are central themes in which you as a company can demonstrate clear expertise. Such a theme forms the basis for several pieces of content that explain the same topic from different angles. 

Within one content pillar, you can therefore respond to the questions of different stakeholders. By creating different articles, videos or LinkedIn posts around one theme, each covering a different perspective, you make sure everyone in the decision-making group finds the information that is relevant to them. Say you offer a software solution. An article for a CFO could then cover cost savings, productivity and return. For an IT manager, the emphasis is more on security, integrations and technical stability. 

An important lesson from practice is not to try to sell a demo too early. Many organisations push for a product conversation at an early stage, while the buyer is still trying to understand the problem. By first sharing a clear Point of View on the issue, you build authority and naturally attract interested prospects. 

From lead generation to creating demand (Demand Generation)

In traditional lead generation, you are mainly busy collecting contact details. Marketing campaigns are designed to get a form filled in as quickly as possible. 

Demand generation works differently. The starting point is that trust and awareness have to grow before someone gets in touch with you. Instead of collecting as many leads as possible, you work on creating demand in the market. 

The result is that companies get in touch themselves when they are ready. These prospects are often called hand raisers. They are organisations that are already convinced of your expertise and therefore start the conversation themselves. 

How do you get more B2B leads?

The paradox is that you get more quality leads when you put less emphasis on lead forms. By sharing knowledge and showing a clear vision of your field, you attract companies that are already much further along in their research. 

Many trade articles still advise putting whitepapers behind forms. In practice, it often works better to make valuable content freely accessible. Ungated content lowers the threshold for your target group and speeds up building trust. 

When an organisation then gets in touch with you itself, the conversation is usually much more concrete and substantive. 

How do you measure B2B marketing success if you don't steer directly on leads?

A strategy built around creating demand also calls for different metrics. The number of leads alone says little about the real impact of marketing. Instead, you look at signals that show your brand is being recognised and considered more and more often by your target group. 

Important indicators include: 

• Branded search volume. The number of searches for your brand or company name. If this rises, it means more companies are actively looking for your organisation. 

• Hand raisers. Companies that get in touch themselves via a contact form, demo request or direct email. These are often the most valuable conversations for sales, because the interest is clearly already there. 

• Sales pipeline velocity. If prospects already know your brand and vision, the sales process often moves faster. Less explanation is needed and conversations move more quickly towards a concrete solution. 

• Quality of sales conversations. Sales notices that prospects are better informed and ask more targeted questions. That makes conversations stronger in substance and increases the chance of working together. 

Ultimately, it comes down to one clear yardstick. Marketing only really works when sales notices that conversations are becoming easier and prospects already have a clear picture of your expertise before the first conversation starts. 

B2B marketing that really works

B2B marketing is not a quick campaign, but a process that builds over a longer period. Companies that consistently invest in visibility, knowledge sharing and brand preference build a position that becomes harder and harder for competitors to catch up with. 

In our B2B Marketing Playbook we describe step by step how organisations can implement this approach. From choosing a sharp niche to building a demand generation engine that structurally creates new opportunities. 

Want to know what this approach could look like for your organisation? Then get in touch with us for a conversation. Together we will look at how you can turn marketing into a growth engine for your business.