LinkedIn and the B2B Institute<\/a> held their B2B<\/a> Trends update on the key things to look out for in 2025. As an agency partner, Hallam were lucky enough to be invited along to this, and here are our insights.<\/span><\/p>\n A key theme of the update was the aim to challenge behaviours that we see in B2B<\/a>, and to empower brands to provide a commercial advantage in the category at the moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alex Jackson,<\/a> our Paid Media Lead attended and has summarised the most important takeaways for you below;<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps more familiar to those of you that watch trash TV \u2013 specifically The Bachelor. The key focus here is around ensuring that you leave a strong impression early on in the buying cycle as opposed to waiting until the last minute to make a move. <\/b><\/p>\n Whilst I\u2019m not one for reality TV, the same can definitely be said of ensuring you have your potential customers attention, and doing it as early as you possibly can.<\/p>\n With a staggering 86% of B2B buyers starting their buying process from their Day One List (a pre-existing list of brand that are already in the buyers\u2019 mind), there is no room for chance. Especially given that the average buyer only has an average of\u00a0three\u00a0<\/strong>brands on their Day One List.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, if you aren\u2019t on that Day One list, you have a mere 8% chance of selling your product to a buyer, with 92% purchasing from that original list.<\/p>\n So yes, you might not be watching reality TV, but you need to make sure you grab the attention of your potential buyers well\u00a0before\u00a0<\/em>they even begin looking to start the buying process, or chances are, you\u2019ve already missed out on the sale.<\/p>\n A lot of brands are scared of using\u00a0bold creative<\/a>, assuming that it is risky. But when there has never been a greater reason to remain memorable from the very first impression, there has also never been a greater reason to have attentive, branded ads<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As humans, our attention typically is drawn to that which stands out. The \u201cVan Restorff Effect\u201d, also known as the isolation effect is a psychological theory that suggests that if something stands out from the crowd, it is more likely to be noticed.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Now take B2B ads.<\/p>\n They\u2019re all blue and white.<\/p>\n Literally, if you look at the market leaders in almost any B2B focused vertical, you\u2019ll likely see some, if not most of the brands are using very similar colour palettes. If you don\u2019t believe me, go and have a look at the LinkedIn Ads Library<\/a> and check it out for yourself.<\/p>\n The assumption may be that having similar brand colours (or a similar brand style in general) to a large, category defining brand such as HubSpot would automatically create a level of recognition between your brand and a customer for using those similar\u00a0<\/em>styles, right? Well in reality, the complete opposite happens, and you actually tend to see a reduction in your brand attribution.<\/p>\n Dell were a great example of this in a B2Bi study.<\/p>\n In short, if you are not actively trying to stand out, your potential customers could \u2013 and likely, are \u2013 confusing you for a competitor in the same sector. The lower your ad attribution, the less likely your brand is to be identified correctly, resulting in a vastly lower brand recall. If you remember, you need good brand recall to be on a day one list, so without if you\u2019re getting lost in the Sea of Sameness, you\u2019re losing sales.<\/p>\n Interestingly, one easy way to stand out is with a \u201cbrand character\u201d. Whilst this can sometimes be seen as a celebrity, that isn\u2019t always a viable option for challenger brands. It is possible to create your own brand character. Salesforce saw a +6% uplift to their brand attribution in ads that used Astro, compared with ads that did\u00a0not <\/strong>feature him.<\/p>\n If creative time limits and restricts your ability to diversify, fear not, brand characters can be leaders within the company, and lead themselves fantastically into utilising Thought Leadership Ads.<\/p>\n Media Mix Modelling? That\u2019s so, last year<\/em>. Well, it isn\u2019t. But Memory Mix Modelling looks at a different kind of attribution, and focuses more on the attention your brand is able to achieve, as opposed to the tangible click or impression volume. \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Memory mix modelling looks at understanding (and measuring) the flow from initial Attention, through to Connection, then to Revision, and finally on to Recall. In short, we are testing how well the advertising has been able to effectively stay in the memory of the end-user.<\/p>\n B2B brands often prioritise click-ability over memorability, but in long-term memory and ad recall, there is very little correlation between clicks, purchase intent, or brand awareness.<\/p>\n The age old question, can Marketing and Sales work together. The age old answer, yes. The age old reality, they don\u2019t. <\/b><\/p>\n Circles of doom refers to the mismatch between Marketing and Sales, a grandiouse misalignment due to inaccuracies in understand who each department should be addressing.<\/p>\n Marketing should want to reach everyone in a set, and defined category; current and future buyers.<\/p>\n Sales should want to reach every buyer, that has already been reached by marketing.<\/p>\n This seems obvious, and it will also be obvious that the sales and marketing audience overlap should be 100%. In reality, the average overlap between Sales and Marketing teams is a mere 10%. That means that, on average, 90% of audiences being targeted by Marketing or Sales are either not being followed up after seeing a brand, or are getting a cold sell.<\/p>\n To make matters worse (looking at you, Performance Marketers), there\u2019s an even greater discrepancy when it comes to brand and demand marketing \u2013 with a meagre 6% overlap.<\/p>\n Why should you be looking at a more cohesive strategy?<\/p>\n You\u2019re probably not talking to the right people, which is costing you sales.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In the B2B world, it\u2019s no secret that the sales cycle is one of the most convoluted to possibly exist. With multiple stages, conflicting priorities, and procurement hoops to jump through. Well chances are, you\u2019re not talking to half of the people you should be, to counter most of those issues.<\/p>\n 51% of buyers are targets \u2013 for outbound, or for marketing.<\/p>\n 49% of buyers are\u00a0hidden<\/em>.<\/p>\n Or to think of this another way, half of the buying committee is blind to you, your product, brand and offering until they have to pay.<\/p>\n Brands almost always over-index their marketing on Product Experts as their target buyers, forgetting about the Process Experts. With over 40% of B2B deals failing specifically because of hidden buyers raising concerns in the late-stages of the sales cycle, many often forget that these Hidden Buyers also have a Day One List.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s as simple as addressing wider concerns early with marketing, to ensure that when you need to bring the process experts back into conversation, they are already aware of your brand, and are more focused on how you <\/strong>can address their financial, operational etc. queries instead of using this as a chance to introduce other brands on their initial Day One list.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n AI<\/a> > more deals are getting stuck due to commercial decisions being shrouded in fear and people trust and understand what is going on. To resolve economic impact, trust and education at the wider hidden (buying committee) needs to be a priority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Summary<\/span><\/p>\n A lot of this is probably not <\/span>new <\/span><\/i>to those of us actively working in the B2B<\/a> world, but it is very important.<\/span><\/p>\n If you take nothing else from this, I\u2019d suggest that the single-most important key takeaway is the need to stand out from the crowd<\/a>. The Sea of Sameness is damaging more brands than doing them good, and it is perpetuating a cycle of lost media share to the challenger brands. Don\u2019t be afraid to be different.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Remember, if we want to disrupt normality, we have to be the ones leading the changes in the industry. Hallam<\/a> can work with you and empower you to do that too, so please get in touch today<\/a> to tackle your B2B challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LinkedIn and the B2B Institute held their B2B Trends update on the key things to look out for in 2025. As an agency partner, Hallam were lucky enough to be invited along to this, and here are our insights. A key theme of the update was the aim to challenge behaviours that we see in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[14810,24793,15684,14073,11604],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-158570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-b2b","tag-hallam","tag-institute","tag-linkedin","tag-trends"],"yoast_head":"\nThe first impression rose\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"first-impression\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/fir-2.png.original.png\")
<\/p>\nSea of sameness<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Memory mix modelling<\/span><\/h2>\n
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![\"memory-mix-modelling\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/memory-mix-artlicle1.png.original.png\")
<\/p>\nCircles of doom<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Hidden buyer group<\/span><\/h2>\n