In B2B marketing, timing is everything. Yet, many strategies and tactics focus solely on immediate conversions, overlooking a crucial insight: at any given moment, only 5% of your target market is actively seeking to purchase (source).
The 95:5 rule highlights an important reality for B2B marketers and businesses. It's not ground breaking, but often marketing teams and agencies are tasked with short term, lead generation tactics because that is what they are being measured on each month. MQLs, form submits, opportunities created - all these metrics are focused on in-market buyers. These prospects have an immediate need and are open to having conversations with sales staff or consuming sales-led material.
What is often missing, is business owners, sales leaders and business leaders allowing marketing some freedom to focus on the remaining 95% of the market. Those people who are not in an active buying process today. Over time, a portion of this market will transition into buying phase and that is where growth will occur. Marketing tactics that aim to build credibility and salience in their sector with future buyers lay the foundation for consideration when the need arises.
Understanding and coming to terms with the 95:5 rule shifts how you should allocate marketing resources and budget. Instead of placing all emphasis on immediate conversions, B2B marketing strategies need to allow a balance between short term and long term tactics.
The 5% of the market that are in-market require more direct response tactics. These may include retargeting ads, sales outreach and marketing material that address urgent business challenges. This is where metrics such as form submissions, meetings booked and opportunities generated come in.
The remaining 95% represent a larger growth opportunity over time. For this audience segment, marketing campaigns should be around building brand salience, establishing credibility and fostering trust. Tactics may include thought leadership pieces, educational resources, story-telling and interactions with your audience that position the business as one of the short-listed options when a need arises. It is often harder to measure this type of activity which is why business leaders tend to only look at KPIs surrounding short term lead generation.
Produce high quality content that addresses challenges your target audience face, even before they are ready to buy. This may include informative whitepapers, guides, videos and thought leadership articles.
The rise of AI is interesting here. I have seen numerous brands want to leverage AI in content generation. While AI is beneficial in content ideation and streamlining the writing process, it should not replace the human insight required for true thought leadership. Content that builds trust needs to be rooted in experience, perspectives and real-world expertise, something that AI cannot yet replicate.
Regular touchpoints with your 95% keep your brand front-of-mind when buying decisions emerge. Here's how to maintain meaningful engagement:
You can't manage what you don't measure, but measuring brand-building activities requires different metrics than lead generation. Here's what you might look at tracking:
For B2B brands, most buyers aren't ready to buy right now. However, when they are, they'll turn to people they trust and brands they remember to find a solution. Investing in brand building, thought leadership and meaningful engagement (including relationship building) keeps your business top-of-mind.
The businesses that understand and act on the 95:5 rule will capture a larger share of the market when those out-of-market prospects eventually need solutions. Start building those relationships today, and you'll see the results when tomorrow's buyers become ready to purchase.