Building a brand while hitting short-term targets is one of the toughest jobs in B2B marketing today. This week on Beyond the Billboard, hosts Charlie Riley and Greg Wise spoke with Jonathan Bland, co-founder of OmniLab Consulting, to uncover why brand building remains essential even in a performance-driven world.
Here are the top insights from their conversation to guide your marketing approach.
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The Problem with Short-Term Focus in B2B Marketing
Jonathan Bland highlighted a stark reality: most B2B SaaS companies invest heavily in short-term tactics while neglecting brand marketing.
“There’s even more focus on it. There’s been a bunch of surveys done about where budgets are actually being spent. And right now they’re still headed in a direction away from what would be typical brand marketing, even in the e-com B2C sense, which is pretty unfortunate, right?”
This over-indexing on quick-win campaigns prioritizes immediate lead conversions. However, it misses the larger opportunity to create awareness and trust among future buyers. As Bland emphasized, marketers need to look beyond capturing the 5% of audiences actively in-market and focus on nurturing the 95% who are not yet ready to buy.
The 95/5 Rule: Why Brand Awareness Matters
Bland explained the 95/5 rule from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, which shows that only 5% of potential customers are ready to buy at any time.
“The basic rule states that 5% are in market versus 95% out of market. And so that’s where you just got to ask yourself, why are we spending so, so much money on capturing people that are in market when it’s the smallest fraction of the entire audience?”
Investing in brand awareness ensures your company remains top of mind when those out-of-market prospects eventually enter a buying cycle. Building mental availability through consistent, valuable brand marketing positions your business for future pipeline growth.
The Tension Between Performance Marketing and Brand
The episode highlighted a core issue: venture-backed companies often demand immediate results, pushing marketers to prioritize demand generation over brand investments. However, Bland noted that brand and performance marketing are not mutually exclusive.
“Brand ultimately, it’s every touch point you have with a customer at the end of the day. Right? Everything’s going to affect the brand in some way.”
A strong brand enhances performance marketing outcomes. Consumers trust brands they know, which reduces acquisition costs and increases conversion rates.
Brand Marketing Is Not Just About Campaigns
Bland shared that brand is built through every customer interaction, not just big campaigns or visual assets.
“We all know there’s data from DreamData, HockeyStack, many other attribution tools of the trackable touch points that one can see. And we all know that it’s not like one day no one heard of your brand before, all of a sudden sees one thing from you and then says, yippee, I’m interested.”
Each touchpoint—from LinkedIn posts to ads and website experiences—contributes to building a lasting impression. Ignoring this truth means missing out on the compounded benefits of brand familiarity.
Rethinking Intent: Match Content to Audience Needs
Jonathan Bland also urged marketers to reconsider their approach to intent-driven campaigns.
“To your point about intent, if you start thinking about it that way, then you start saying, Wait a minute. Why are we indexing all of our campaigns and all of our ad creative around getting people to convert off of a demo or to PLG Motion on a trial? It makes no sense.”
Not everyone is ready for a demo or trial. Some prospects are simply looking to learn. Delivering value through educational and brand-building content ensures you meet buyers where they are in their journey.
Action Steps for Marketers
Here are three ways to apply these insights:
- Allocate budget to brand. Reserve at least part of your marketing budget for long-term brand awareness initiatives.
- Craft campaigns for the 95%. Focus on educational, thought leadership, and storytelling content to build trust with out-of-market prospects.
- Measure brand impact over time. Combine traditional performance metrics with brand lift surveys, direct traffic growth, and share of voice analysis.
Conclusion: Brand Building Is Business Building
Jonathan Bland’s insights reinforced a powerful truth: brand marketing is not a luxury. It is a necessity for sustainable growth. While short-term campaigns may deliver immediate leads, long-term brand strategy creates lasting market share, lowers acquisition costs, and builds customer loyalty.
Invest in your brand today to ensure your business remains top of mind tomorrow.
Check out the full episode of Beyond the Billboard with Jonathan today.