B2B marketing is changing at a dizzying pace.
What’s driving these shifts?
Increasing buyer sophistication, shorter sales cycles, and of course — AI!
To succeed in the coming year, you need to know where to focus your marketing efforts and how to act on data insights.
Imagine having a marketing strategy that predicts buyer behaviour, personalises every touchpoint, and nurtures leads seamlessly through the funnel. Forward-thinking B2B marketers are embracing this reality.
Let’s take a closer look at the trends shaping B2B marketing in 2025 including actionable steps for integrating them into your strategy.
1. Ads will get more strategic
Ads are making a comeback!
Okay, so they never really went away. But they’re becoming a more integral component in the B2B sales process.
However, every B2B marketer knows ads aren’t easy. Effective digital marketing requires a fine-tuned strategy across the entire sales funnel. Each stage demands messaging that resonates with the prospect’s current stage in the buyer journey.
In other words, you can’t get away with just advertising to bottom-of-the-funnel leads.
Let’s go over the best ad types below.
Top-of-Funnel (ToF) ads for building awareness
At the awareness stage, you need to educate and captivate. Take a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company targeting procurement managers.
ToF ads could feature an animated video explaining hidden manual procurement costs. Promoting this content via LinkedIn Ads with parameters such as job title and industry ensures the right audience sees it.
Interactive content, like quizzes or calculators, also performs well here.
For example:
A quiz titled “How Efficient is Your Procurement Process?” can engage leads and help you collect first-party data for retargeting later.
More on first-party data in a bit!
Middle-of-funnel (MoF) ads for nurturing interest
Prospects in the consideration phase need proof. Give them case studies, in-depth whitepapers, or product comparison guides to highlight your expertise and differentiate your brand.
For example:
A logistics tools company might create a whitepaper about how its software reduced shipping delays for a major retailer by 25%.
Retargeting ads can also invite potential customers who engaged with your ToF content to download this whitepaper. Or attend a webinar — bringing them closer to conversion.
Here’s a MoF ad we ran at Cognism on Instagram:
(Image provided by author)
And here’s the landing page that it led to, which focuses on how we cut our customers’ list build time by 75%:
Since this focuses on one of our MoF leads’ top pain points and shows an impressive data point, it helps us build trust in seconds.
Bottom-of-funnel (BoF) ads for driving decisions
When prospects are ready to make a decision, specificity is key. Ads featuring product demos, TAM calculators, or limited-time offers can be the final push hesitant buyers need to act.
For example:
If your SaaS solution includes a month’s free trial, run a BoF ad that shows how much users typically save within 30 days of implementing your software.
Add social proof, like a testimonial from a well-known client in your industry, to help strengthen trust.
Post-conversion: Encouraging loyalty
Your existing customers are just as important as new leads.
Loyalty campaigns focusing on cross-selling or upselling can help you drive additional revenue with your customers.
A cloud storage provider, for example, might target customers nearing their storage limit with an offer to upgrade to a higher-tier plan at a discounted rate. Genius!
Retargeting ads are also so important — otherwise, you miss out on easy, low-hanging fruit.
For example:
Re-engage churned customers through ads to highlight new features or improved services to rekindle their interest.
You can also nudge them to conversion with a generous discount, free trial, or personalised solution that solves one of their most annoying pain points.
2. Data and AI will improve personalisation
Personalisation has become non-negotiable in B2B marketing. Say so long to generic mass emails!
With AI and data analytics, marketers can now craft experiences that feel more relevant to B2B buyers. This, of course, encourages better engagement and higher sales because you’re tailoring the customer experience.
Let’s explore this more.
The power of actionable insights
AI-powered tools can analyse behavioural data to uncover valuable insights.
(Like identifying which content a prospect engages with most. Or discovering which parts of a website encourage leads to sign up for a subscription or download a free guide.)
For example:
You might learn that your financial services prospects are mostly interested in risk management content.
You might also learn that your Help Centre articles attract the most free trial leads. With these insights, you can create more content like this to help scale your success faster.
SEO insights also play a critical role in this personalised approach.
When you analyse search trends, you can identify high-priority topics to create content that speaks directly to your target audience’s needs.
Sales intelligence platforms like Cognism also help personalise the buying process.
With Cognism, you can pull detailed information about prospects — including firmographics, decision-makers, and buying signals — so your B2B sales team only focuses on high-potential leads. (And knows exactly what these leads need to convert.)
With a platform like this, you can shorten your sales cycle, boost conversion rates, and build meaningful relationships with prospects.
Take an interactive tour to see how Cognism works 👇
Scalable AI tools for content creation
Streamlining B2B content marketing and improving overall quality are imperative if you want to stand out in 2025. This means making sure your writing, editing, and optimisation are all on point — and scalable.
For instance, with an AI grammar checker, you can ensure all client-facing content is professional and consistent. You can also review pieces in batches to complete your editing production work faster.
Other scalable AI tools you can use for creating valuable content include:
- Keyword optimisation tools.
- Email personalisation tools.
- Readability scanners.
- Graphic design tools.
- Social listening tools.
- Plagiarism checkers.
- AI marketing tools.
- Video editing tools.
- Voice-to-text tools.
- Note taking apps.
3. Buyers will want more in-depth content
B2B customers are savvier and better informed than ever.
To capture their attention, you need to offer genuinely valuable resources.
This means creating relevant content that positions your company as a trusted authority.
Why?
It’s the only way that leads can truly vet your business without signing up for a trial or demo call. When they get a bite of your free content, they can more easily determine if your brand aligns with their needs.
Examples of high-impact B2B content include:
- Case studies: Real-world examples of how your product or service solved a client’s problem, often including measurable outcomes.
- Comparison guides: Detailed documents comparing products, services, or solutions to help customers make informed decisions.
- Thought leadership articles: Articles that showcase your expertise and insights on industry trends and future developments.
- Topical and relevant tutorials: Step-by-step guides addressing current issues or challenges in your industry.
- Templates: Offering ready-to-use resources, such as budget planning spreadsheets, trackers, and calculators.
- White papers: Authoritative documents that provide detailed research or analysis on a specific issue.
- Industry insight reports: In-depth analysis that provides valuable trends and data for your audience.
- eBooks: Comprehensive guides that cover a topic in-depth, offering valuable insights or solutions.
- Courses: Building skills-based training that establishes your brand as an educator.
- Webinars: Hosting live sessions with industry experts or product demonstrations.
The key is to ensure that your content addresses real pain points and end-goal transformations — this makes it indispensable to your audience.
4. In-person events will become a key strategy
Think in-person conferences are old school?
Think again!
While virtual events surged during the pandemic, in-person conferences are regaining popularity. They offer unique opportunities to connect with decision-makers face-to-face and foster lasting business relationships.
In fact, Statista published a survey (in December 2024) revealing that in-person events are ranked as the top strategy B2B marketers plan to implement in the near future.
For example:
Host an exclusive workshop or roundtable discussion. This will position your brand as a thought leader and provide attendees with tangible value.
Top tip:
Create conference-specific assets, such as a printed case study booklet or a QR code linking to a digital resource hub. This helps your brand remain top-of-mind post-event.
And, of course, don’t be afraid to attend in-person events that other big industry players host, too!
5. B2B social media will be more like B2C
Surprisingly, platforms like Instagram and TikTok (traditionally seen as B2C spaces) are gaining traction for B2B outreach.
Yes — you’ll need to continue nurturing your audience on B2B channels, like LinkedIn, X, and email, too.
But don’t overlook creative, B2C-style social media content in 2025.
These humanise your brand, which B2B audiences appreciate more since AI can blur the lines between reality and fiction.
For example:
On Instagram, behind-the-scenes content can give your brand a face. Reels showcasing quick tips or client success stories can captivate viewers.
TikTok also gives you a great platform to experiment with short, informative videos that demonstrate expertise in a digestible format. (You can also repurpose these into mini-series-type videos for other channels.)
Combining organic strategies with paid campaigns gives you maximum reach. Some B2B brands even explore getting Instagram likes to boost their visibility.
But be cautious when doing so to make sure you’re purchasing from authentic partners. Influencers, for instance, trust platforms like Superviral.
6. Marketers will leverage more first-party data
With privacy regulations tightening, first-party data has become an effective marketing pillar.
When you get data directly from your audience, you can maintain privacy compliance and collect invaluable insights.
Some practical methods for gathering first-party data include implementing interactive quizzes, gated content campaigns, and feedback forms.
For example:
A quiz called “What’s Your Digital Transformation Readiness Score?” can engage prospects and help you gather insights to refine your future campaigns.
With this data, you can create ultra-personalised content, such as detailed industry trend reports or stat-rich listicles that captivate your audience.
7. Marketers will adapt to changing search trends
Search behaviour is changing.
That’s why it’s so important to consider optimising for various search methods like voice search, mobile search, and social media SEO. (In addition to your traditional SEO strategies, like blogging and guest posting.)
For example:
For voice search, focus on conversational phrases and questions, such as “What’s the best CRM for small businesses?”.
And for mobile SEO, make sure you have fast-loading, responsive pages to cater to on-the-go users.
For social media SEO, you’ll need to focus on optimising captions, hashtags, and profile information to improve discoverability.
Use SEO tools like Moz and Ahrefs to stay ahead of emerging search trends.
8. Topic clusters will build authority
Building authority in B2B marketing requires that you focus on highly specific topics for your audience.
And in 2025, the fight for authority will only increase.
Thankfully, strategic topic clusters can help you create a web of interconnected (and repurposed) content that establishes your brand as the go-to authority on a subject. (And its subtopics.)
Brex, for instance, has a resource centre packed with eBooks, articles, podcast episodes, and more.
It also has a page dedicated to spending trends like “expense management,” “financial operations,” and “corporate credit cards.”
One of the spending trends it covers under its “Corporate credit cards” topic is using business credit cards with EIN only. With a hyper-focus like this, Brex carves out a special spot for itself in the marketplace.
For example:
Imagine your company provides HR software.
You might have a pillar blog post on “The Future of Employee Management”, which could link to articles such as:
- “The Role of Automation in Onboarding Processes”
- “Top Employee Retention Strategies for 2025”
- “How AI is Shaping Workforce Analytics”
This creates one “cluster.”
It enhances SEO by improving site structure and keyword targeting. It also guides prospects through a logical discovery journey.
Use tools like Ahrefs or HubSpot to identify cluster topics that resonate with your audience.
Top tip:
Always start with your audience’s pain points, common questions, and needs. And then conduct keyword research to pinpoint specific topics and subtopics to target.
9. Influencer partnerships will be more important than ever
Niche influencers are powerful allies in B2B marketing.
Unlike celebrity influencers with broad appeal, niche influencers focus on specific industries, offering credibility and direct access to warm audiences. They also bring authenticity and help translate complex topics into relatable narratives.
For example:
A cloud solutions provider might partner with a well-known IT consultant on LinkedIn to create content on how businesses can scale operations. That’s influencer marketing in action!
Affiliate marketing campaigns add another layer to this strategy.
Collaborate with industry experts or trusted partners who can promote your product in exchange for commissions.
For instance, a cybersecurity firm might partner with software resellers, offering a percentage of every successful lead converted through affiliate links.
10. Ethical link-building will be a bigger concern
Search engines continue to reward high-quality backlinks.
But B2B brands in 2025 must focus on ethical link-building practices to maintain credibility.
Ethical and white hat link building involves creating content so valuable that others naturally want to link to it.
For example:
Publishing a well-researched industry report with proprietary data can attract backlinks from reputable publications. Partnering with complementary businesses to co-create high-quality content — such as guest blog posts or collaborative whitepapers — is another great way to build links ethically.
Tools like Ahrefs and Moz can help you identify link opportunities and track domain authority growth over time.
11. Thought leadership content is how companies will win
Establishing your B2B company as a thought leader is a long-term investment that pays dividends in trust and visibility.
LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) are still great platforms for thought leadership campaigns in 2025 — but you need to go above and beyond.
In other words...
Be ultra-generous when posting on these platforms.
For LinkedIn marketing, share lots of free content that explores in-depth topics like industry challenges or future trends.
On X, engage in real-time discussions and share bite-sized insights — like a link to a generous walk-through video. (More on this in a bit.)
For example:
A B2B fintech company could publish a LinkedIn article on “The Role of AI in Fraud Detection” — and a thought leadership quote on X to start a debate on the issue.
Consistency, as always, is key.
Share original insights regularly, engage in discussions, and repurpose long-form content into micro-content to amplify your reach and reinforce your authority.
12. Video will be integral to marketing and sales
Video content is still one of the most engaging formats in B2B marketing.
Tutorials and walkthroughs are particularly effective for complex products because they help your prospects see your solution in action.
For example:
One of your video series may demonstrate how your CRM tool streamlines sales pipelines. Your videos could range from high-level overviews to detailed, step-by-step guides on specific features.
Adding customer testimonials and real-world use cases within the walkthroughs can also help you boost credibility.
Wrap up
2025 will be a transformative year for B2B marketing.
If you embrace trends like hyper-personalisation, strategic ad placement, and first-party data collection, you’ll keep pace with competitors — and make a name for yourself in your industry.
Adopt these strategies now to position your business for sustained growth. Your next big opportunity is just a campaign away.
PS: We’re ready to become your sales team’s favourite sales intelligence provider. Book a demo with Cognism now to learn more.
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