Brand-building is the ROI multiplier that B2B keeps ignoring. But strong brands don’t just pay back – they make every dollar work harder. Bradley Keefer of Keen Decision Systems explains why.
For too long, B2B marketers have treated brand spending as a luxury item – nice to have when times are good, but first to go when budgets tighten. The irony? Brand is one of the most powerful levers for long-term marketing efficiency. But many B2B organizations still measure success in short-term ROI, rewarding tactics that deliver quick returns at the expense of sustainable growth.
As a result, they’re wasting ad spend and stunting the growth of their organization in the long-term.
So why should and how can B2B brand-building be super-charged, to drive longer-term ROI?
Competition in B2B is fierce. There are only so many ways companies can leverage technology to optimize a business or that a website can be designed. As such, B2B brands need to invest in marketing to demonstrate their expertise and build relationships that’ll lead to increased sales or generate new leads.
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Having a strong B2B brand means building brand equity that shows leadership and trust. So brands need to invest in long-term campaigns instead of a one-and-done campaign every quarter. But there’s a tendency to deprioritize investments in top-of-funnel tactics like brand building, especially during down periods. And that undercuts a firm’s ability to build brand equity in their industry.
Not investing in B2B brand-building also allows competitors to fill the gap and establish a leadership position. So, if and when the top-of-funnel budget tap turns on again, the firm is starting from behind. Which means they’re wasting their ad budgets and setting sales teams up for failure in a crowded landscape.
Instead of deprioritizing brand building, brands should find ways to reallocate spending so they’re adopting a more balanced approach. That means they’re able to maintain some market share, while also focusing on the tactics that’ll help generate short-term leads. It also allows them to build the brand equity they need to thrive.
Beyond maintaining brand equity, brand investment also compounds performance across the entire marketing ecosystem. From improving paid media efficiency to accelerating sales velocity, a healthy brand amplifies every downstream dollar.
For instance, Keen Decision Systems recently worked with a telecoms company to generate more B2B leads and optimize its marketing plans. Our strategy to shift dollars from the bottom of the funnel to the top resulted in new, attributable leads. Meanwhile, reallocating top-of-funnel tactics to optimize based on performance, such as shifting Google Display Network dollars to the better performing DV360, led to a 10% increase in B2B lead growth.
By investing in a more brand-focused approach, the company is creating a stronger marketing base across the year, creating greater, long-term value.
And building that long-term value doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It requires the entire organization pulling in the same direction.
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Investing in brand building means a company must come together on a set of objectives so that the company can be marketed properly. For example, if a challenger brand is looking to position itself as the healthy alternative in the CPG industry, every facet of the campaign must tie back into that.
By having this company-wide conversation, marketers and sales teams can properly align on a message that’s going out to market. Ensuring that everyone is on the same page makes it easier for a sales team to sell that product to market, and reduces the time needed for new leads while improving marketing ROI.
In an era where every dollar is under scrutiny, the brands that treat proof and perception as two sides of the same coin will be the ones that outperform. A properly aligned B2B brand with solid brand equity and effective spending allocations will win out every time.
Keen Decision Systems
Keen Decision Systems is a high-growth SaaS company that helps enterprise and mid-cap organizations, agencies and other marketing leaders forecast, optimize, and...