If 20-year-old marketing me had a conversation with today marketing me, her head would spin at the drastic difference. To say that I remember when email first came to the office, and designing paper newsletters on Quark Express was a badge of honor, (IYKYK), is to say that I’ve executed on a lot of marketing. B2B marketing has always been fun, but it’s getting more interesting every day.
Brand is a growth driver
Branding used to be a top-of-the-funnel marketing staple. Your goal was to make sure the right people saw your brand everywhere. The perpetual challenge has always been tying that brand exposure directly to lead flow. Branding’s importance has shifted from purely landing on someone’s radar, to actually pulling them through your funnel and today’s tools can help you actually track ROI. What we’ve learned is that:
- Many buyers already have a preferred vendor before they start researching
- Buyers are often 70–80% through their decision before talking to sales
- Your prospects may have had an experience with your brand that you’re not even aware of, so make sure it’s a good one
Basically, branding is the top of the funnel, the middle, and when done right, also beyond the funnel helping to retain your customers. If you aren’t investing in branding efforts, and your brand isn’t being seen (and not in an annoying remarketing way), then… good luck.
“AI visibility” is the new SEO
Everyone said that SEO was dead and AI held the gun. SEO isn’t dead, it’s merely become a hydra: humans, search engines, AI platforms. It takes some expertise to stay relevant.
- Buyers are starting research in AI tools, not just search engines like Google or Bing
- Your brand now needs to show up in multiple AI-generated answers, summaries, and recommendations on search AND in AI subscription tools
We began optimizing our client sites for AI years ago and we’re absolutely seeing their traffic and leads convert from that AI traffic.
Trust is the whole game
So AI is the “it girl” but the downside of AI is that there’s a lot more “meh” info on the internet. Lazy marketers are churning out mountains of content in an effort to get into that holy grail of AI search. The issue is, though, that if your content reads like AI, no one is going to believe you actually wrote it, or care about what you’re saying. Honestly, they won’t read past your first “in the age of” sentence.
- Buyers are overwhelmed with content and reviews and spam email and fake videos. They are skeptical of what to believe online, and risk-averse to falling prey to artificial influence
- Brands that feel credible, consistent, and easy to validate win
While it is great at streamlining processes, breaking through writer’s block, and analyzing data, AI doesn’t replace authenticity and real-world experience. That’s what you need to communicate through your content. It’s not just what you say, it’s the proof, consistency, and experience across every touchpoint that resonates with your buyers.
B2B is acting a lot more like B2C
This has been building for a while: B2B marketing stretching its wings into a B2C playbook. It’s a natural extension of buyer expectations. After all, your B2B buyers are B2C in their real life, and their expectations are for:
- Self-service, great UX, and fast answers. Your website needs to reflect this, and your marketing material needs to get to the point
- They want clear messaging, not jargon, and they want to know that you understand their daily problems and how to fix them
- They respond to authentic emotion and storytelling, not just specs alone
Even in industrial spaces, presentation and clarity matter more than ever. The best B2B brands don’t feel like B2B brands anymore. They are engaging and build community.
Brand experience > individual channels
Back in 2000, we used to tout media empires like Martha Stewart, for their trailblazing brand integration through every consumer touchpoint. B2B has lagged behind this a bit, but now thankfully, there is a shift away from “optimize each tactic.” Good marketing has a more holistic approach.
- Winning brands focus on removing friction across the entire journey
- Not just ads, not just website — the whole experience
Does your customer journey have the same brand experience throughout all of your channels?
People (not logos) are creating brands
Fact: People like to do business with people they like. With so much distrust in AI-generated digital media, company culture has never been more important in B2B than it is today. In B2B, you’re still creating a relationship with your customers, one that you want to continue for years. You already know that flip-flopping your messaging and scattered campaign themes creates friction in your funnel, now you need to consider that huge impact that staff turnover has on your pipeline.
- Employees, founders, and subject matter experts are becoming additional brand channels.
(Examples are Jesse Cole of Savannah Bananas and Veeam Vanguards) - “Subtle celebrity” and thought leadership are rising. Have a standout salesperson? I’d bet you that they draw the most engagement on the company – and their — social campaigns. They are the influencers for your company
- Buyers trust people more than companies. Keeping good talent is imperative
Video and “show, don’t tell” content is exploding
It’s time to accept that:
- Video is becoming a primary communication format, not an add-on
- Demos, walkthroughs, real-world installs are especially powerful
- Perfection is not the goal, and not believable in the eyes of your customers
I know, I get it. No one has to tell me how difficult it is to get video – or even photo – content from companies. I spend a lot of time coaching them to let go of their paralyzing fear that it’s not a “perfect” representation of their brand. As much as we preach progress not perfection, most don’t appreciate the value of consistency until they see their competition winning at amazing graphics, engaging social, and viral video.
I heard a quote once that said, “You can’t get to the Olympics without competing,” and it rings true with making a commitment to photo/video content. REAL images and videos build trust faster than slick production and inauthentic messaging, and sharing them consistently is how you improve and build engagement.
Community + events are back in a big way
I was at a networking meeting this week and the question of the day was, “What is one thing you’d miss about your job if AI replaced it?” Every single person said that they would miss working with humans.
The more digital we become, the more people want to find “their” people. Any way that you can foster a shared interest and experience around your brand and your people is a win. Meeting colleagues in person, looking them in the eye, connecting on things that may have nothing to do with your product, all those activities build trust. Something we can’t guarantee in the digital world.
Before we move on, I need to also say, don’t dismiss the small-scale opportunities. I find them to be less expensive and less of a lift, yet more meaningful and have longer-term value when done correctly. Nearly half of B2B companies are increasing event budgets because they see the success that marrying relationships and brand building can bring. (SalesFuel).
B2B branding isn’t something you layer on later. It’s not just visuals or a logo refresh, a blog post or a webinar. It’s how your company is understood before you ever get the chance to explain it. Creating graphics that stir emotion, swag that aligns with your brand, events that become an experience that your people talk about long after the fact.
It’s never been more fun to build brands in the B2B world!
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