Most buyers shortlist suppliers they already know. That makes visibility with future customers essential, not optional.
Most marketing budgets are aimed at people who need to buy now. That sounds sensible – it gives us measurable enquiries and a nice sense that advertising spend is buying orders.
The problem is that in many B2B markets, perhaps only 1 in 20 potential customers are actively “in the market” at any one time. The exact figure will vary, but the principle is solid enough. There is a small active group, and a much larger inactive group who we neglect at our peril.
The 1 in 20 is constantly changing. Buyers move into that group because a contract ends, a new manager arrives, a regulation changes or one of a hundred other often unpredictable reasons. But most people do not create a completely fresh supplier universe every time they need something. They start with names they already know or ask colleagues, well before they shortlist from Google. Few people want to risk choosing a strange supplier nobody has heard of.
So the smart supplier does not spend every pound chasing today’s active buyers. Some budget must be reserved for visibility among the other 19 in 20.
That doesn’t mean vague brand advertising with no commercial purpose. What we need is content that’s useful enough to be read even when the future buyer isn’t currently in the market. The aim is to be remembered when circumstances change.
If all the budget goes to the 1 in 20, we’re forever trying to win buyers at the most expensive point in the journey. There’s a balance between that and quietly building future preferences.