Our CEO, Thad Kahlow, has a hypothesis:
“Demand generation has taken center stage in B2B marketing strategies, often at the expense of brand investment.”
Why?
The pressure to drive immediate pipeline and show quantifiable ROI has led companies to prioritize short-term tactics — think digital ads, lead-generation webinars, and automated nurture streams — that masquerade as personalization but, in reality, often read like copy-and-paste.
Short-term wins might satisfy the boardroom. But is this a sustainable strategy or a marketing blunder?
The Shift Toward Demand Generation
In today's B2B marketing landscape, there's a noticeable pivot toward demand generation. This shift is largely driven by mounting pressures from the C-suite to deliver immediate, quantifiable results.
A recent survey found that 63% of U.S. marketing leaders feel increased pressure from their CFOs — a significant rise from 52% the previous year.
This heightened scrutiny is pushing marketing teams to prioritize short-term tactics like digital advertising, lead-generation webinars, and automated nurture streams that promise quick returns. However, this intense focus on immediate outcomes often comes at the expense of long-term brand building.
While demand generation strategies can deliver fast results, underinvesting in brand marketing can be a costly mistake. If you’re only capturing current demand without creating future demand, you're building a leaky funnel — one that gets harder (and more expensive) to fill over time.
Buyers are also paying attention. According to Gartner: “The large majority of B2B buyers (82%) want personalized communications from brands they trust — but nearly 60% block brands they find invasive, and 44% block brands that communicate in ways they find irrelevant or annoying.”
A heavy hand on short-term demand generation without authentic brand-building isn't just inefficient — it's actively alienating your future buyers and current customers.
The Case for Long-Term Brand Building
Long-term brand building is the foundation for sustained B2B growth. It enhances emotional connections, strengthens market presence, and makes demand generation efforts more effective.
According to LinkedIn, you should aim for a 60/40 balance between brand and demand marketing — optimizing both short-term conversions and long-term brand equity.
Broad reach, emotional engagement, and an integrated brand-to-demand strategy are key to driving sustainable success. Over time, a strong brand also lowers customer acquisition costs by building trust and credibility.
Neglecting brand investment, however, leads to costly consequences:
- Lower conversion rates
- Higher customer acquisition costs
- Eroding market differentiation
In short: Brand is not a "nice to have" — it's a growth multiplier.
The Bottom Line
Demand generation is critical. But it can’t stand alone.
Strong brands create trust, emotional relevance, and future demand — fueling lower-funnel performance and long-term growth. The most successful B2B marketing strategies are no longer “brand or demand.” They are “brand and demand.”
At BOL, we know how to strike the right balance between brand and demand so you can drive pipeline while also positioning your business for long-term success. Check out how we can help you boldly bring your brand story to life.