Why B2B marketing needs to change now

The problem nobody wants to name

For many B2B business owners, marketing feels like throwing money away. You invest, you hope, you wait. And meanwhile, the phone stays silent.

This is no coincidence. 80% of your potential customers have already drawn up a shortlist before they call you. They spend months researching, comparing providers and making most of their decision without your sales team. By the time they get in touch, the game has already been played.

The painful truth: the buying process takes place out of your sight.

Why chasing leads no longer works

B2B companies have become fixated on generating leads. But what use are leads if your sales team can't turn them into business?

The real problem lies earlier in the process: you aren't present in the minds of your ideal customers when they make their choice. Especially with complex products and large investments, the buying process takes a long time, involves many people and happens beyond the reach of traditional marketing.

90% of B2B buyers ultimately choose a supplier from their original shortlist. If you're not on it, you've lost before the game even starts.

What is really needed

Stop trying to be relevant to everyone

B2B companies with complex products make a crucial mistake: they try to be relevant to everyone. If you want to do everything for everyone, you will never win. You disappear into the mass of online content.

You need to be able to sum up what you want people to remember about you. Competition forces you to differentiate. And ever longer buying processes call for trust and preference that you can only build with a strong brand.

Build a brand that is recognised and chosen

Marketing is about building meaningful value for people, in a way that makes a brand relevant, distinctive and memorable. That isn't a process of weeks; it calls for building your brand sustainably.

Before you start on marketing, your foundation has to be right: a strong vision, promise, proposition, personality and position on your market. Without that foundation, marketing makes little sense.

The process works like this:
→ The company develops a product
→ The product attracts customers
→ The customers trust the brand
→ The brand sets the company apart

Think in brand preference, not leads

Once the foundation is in place, you systematically build awareness, trust and preference. You offer value, help your audience make choices and make sure your ideal customers discover that you are the safe choice.

This takes consistency and patience. The first results often only become visible months later. But then you are on the shortlist when buying intent emerges.

Practice what you preach

We see these challenges at our clients every day. So we do what we advise them to do: make sharp choices.

The digital landscape is changing at lightning speed. Keeping up across the full breadth of digital is a challenge for large agency groups, let alone for a mid-sized agency like us. That is why we are making the switch from 'Full service digital agency' to 'B2B Marketing Agency'.

Why we can make the difference

Our experience is unique. Since 2006, we have helped leading B2C brands with online marketing. We learned about measurability, about how good messages spread and, above all, about the power of brand building. That knowledge is now relevant to B2B companies.

By focusing on B2B, we deepen this expertise. We validate more experiments, map out more pitfalls and see patterns across similar propositions and audiences. The recipe is ready. We sell a process we know works.

How we help you

We look beyond marketing at your broader business strategy. We stand beside you as a business owner and give honest advice. Marketing makes little sense if it doesn't contribute to sales and business goals.

With our marketing subscription, you get a complete team, from strategy to execution, for the price of one FTE. We help with strategy and operations. We get a train running that you can keep building on. And when you no longer need us, we see that as proof that our process works.

Our promise is simple

We combine branding and demand generation to turn complex buying processes into clear routes to conversion. With our B2B Marketing & Sales Playbook, we align strategy, creative and execution.

Instead of chasing leads, we build a brand that is seen and chosen. Within six months you will see the difference: more qualified enquiries, more buying signals, more momentum.

Become a brand in demand.

The question is not whether you will invest in brand-driven marketing. The question is whether you do it before your competitors overtake you.