The use of B2B media is evolving dynamically. Are you ready for the challenges in 2025?

At the end of 2024, our company EssenceMediacom released a report, B2B Media in 2025: AI, Trust and Digital Evolution. Recognizing an era in which digital transformation is the new normal, it broached the topic of media usage in the B2B segment and created a guide to help B2B marketers navigate the rapidly changing landscape.

The B2B buying landscape has undergone tremendous change in recent years. Digitally savvy buyers, accustomed to personalized and multi-channel experiences in their personal lives, now expect the same level of sophistication in professional interactions. This setup on the buyer side thus requires a fundamental transformation in B2B marketing, where their desire for connection, authenticity, and a deep understanding of their unique challenges will take center stage.

In the last five years, the B2B media space has been reshaped by digitization, evolving buyer behavior, and rapid technological advancements.

Today's B2B buyers, predominantly millennials and Generation Z (making up 75% of all B2B buyers by 2024, according to Forrester), are tech-savvy, naturally digital, and demand a seamless buying experience in the online space. This digital approach prompted 6sense to conduct separate research, in which they found that 70% of the buying process now happens before direct contact between buyer and seller. Gartner supports this digital transformation by predicting that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will take place digitally. This shift requires a fundamental change in B2B media strategies. Marketers need to reach buyers much earlier in their buying journey with personalized digital content across multiple touchpoints, especially on mobile and social platforms - with B2B buyers 30% more likely to make their purchase on mobile by 2020. The global B2B e-commerce market is booming, worth more than $26 trillion in 2023 and projected to grow to nearly $57 trillion by 2028. Going forward, the integration of AI and advanced analytics tools into digital platforms will continue to drive the personalization of the shopping experience and improve the effectiveness of sales and marketing strategies. These developments suggest a more connected B2B marketplace where strategic decisions are driven by first-party data and predictive analytics.

Key budgetary and media trends

B2B advertising is expected to grow after declining in 2023, as has already been shown in 2024. EssenceMediacom predicted the trend based on a composite of B2B advertisers in the U.S. that includes 40 companies from the technology, telecom, industrial and service sectors. Ad spend is forecast to grow by a further 9.5% in 2025, having already grown by around 7.5% in 2024, bringing total global spend to over $24 billion. Heavily regulated industries such as technology, finance, healthcare and telecommunications are poised for further growth in B2B digital ad spending. These verticals are expected to see the fastest growth of the telecom and technology sectors. By 2025, GroupM predicts that U.S. digital ad spending in these sectors will exceed $7 billion.

Despite the current economic uncertainties, the overall outlook for B2B marketing budgets remains positive. The majority (68%) of global B2B marketing professionals report an increase in budgets, with nearly 20% reporting growth of 25% or more. This optimistic outlook reflects a growing recognition of marketing's critical role in supporting business growth in an increasingly competitive environment.

LinkedIn and Ipsos data shows that globally 60% of companies are prioritising new customer acquisition and investing in lead generation (36%) and pipeline building (20%). While global trends provide direction, intelligent budget reallocation requires more detailed work with data. It is therefore important to analyze customer acquisition costs, customer lifetime value and regional market dynamics to maximize ROI. Real growth comes from a balance between customer acquisition and retention. Loyal customers are not only more cost-effective, but also form the foundation of sustainable success.

Building trust and relevance

However, B2B brands also face a very specific challenge of communicating often complex products and solutions in a way that is consistent with digital platforms and the self-care model - promoting customer engagement, authenticity and relevance to the moment, while providing brand trust and relevance to an even greater degree than trust in the product itself.

While data and logic are still important, B2B brands are recognizing the power of emotion in decision making. Research from Google and CEB's Marketing Leadership Council shows that B2B buyers are eight times more likely to pay premium prices for products and services that resonate with them on a personal level. This research further confirms that emotional ads generate more revenue, profit and market share growth than rationally based ads.

Another aspect to consider is the humanisation of the B2B experience. Stories have the power to captivate, inspire and create lasting connections. B2B brands can use storytelling to showcase their values, connect emotionally with buyers and foster a sense of community. They can do this through long-form content, articles and videos, for example. Partnering with trusted influencers in the industry allows B2B brands to leverage existing communities and harness the power of recommendations among peers. Ogilvy says that 75% of B2B companies use influencer marketing, with the biggest impacts being increased brand awareness, ROI, engagement and the generation of new, higher quality leads. Showing the people behind the brand-employees, customers and partners-helps humanize the company and build trust. People connect with people, and sharing authentic stories can create a strong emotional connection.

Investing in brand building for long-term growth is a cornerstone of B2B. Nielsen research confirms that brand memorability is a key driver of brand growth, influencing 38.7% of brand growth in new media. Investing in brand-building activities such as content about demonstrating industry leadership, partnerships with influencers, and community engagement is essential for long-term success.

In a world saturated with information and decisions, trust and relevance are highly valuable attributes. By embracing emotional intelligence, humanizing the B2B experience, and investing in long-term brand building, B2B brands can make lasting connections that will foster sustainable growth.

Re-evolution of traditional channels in the B2B space

The B2B marketing space is constantly adapting to new technologies and evolving audience behaviours. Traditional channels that were once considered outdated are experiencing a renaissance, albeit in a more modern form.

Audio has evolved beyond traditional formats and uses dynamic scripts and sequential messaging to create personalized experiences through a variety of formats, including streaming audio and podcasts. Connected TV (CTV)/Programmatic TV (PTV) bridges the gap between digital and traditional formats, delivering hyper-targeted, data-driven advertising that delivers digital fidelity at scale. With Programmatic TV (PTV), B2B marketers can maximize efficiency by optimizing campaigns in real-time while ensuring their message reaches the right audiences across different networks based on targeting criteria such as demographics, location and viewing habits.

Experiential marketing is on the rise at the moment, especially in live events, especially in sports. B2B brands are embracing this trend as they realize the power of sharing passions to create deeper connections with their hard-to-reach and valuable target audiences. These experiences offer a unique combination of omnichannel touchpoints, influencer marketing and immersive activations that create brand connections that are not achievable with traditional approaches.

The rise of women's sports provides a powerful platform to connect and grow through sports sponsorships. By connecting with these themes, brands can tap into rapidly growing audiences, show their commitment to diversity and inclusion, and achieve significant returns in the process. For example, the Sports Innovation Lab reports that Visa experienced a 2,700% year-over-year increase in ROI after announcing its sponsorship of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, while Budweiser saw a 1,075% increase after announcing its sponsorship of the NWSL. These impressive numbers are a testament to the power of supporting women's sports, especially when considering Aggregate Sport's finding that 62% of consumers feel a closer affinity to brands that support women's sports - making this a winning strategy from both a social and commercial standpoint.

While digital ad spend is on the rise, traditional channels and tactics have been reinvented and reinvented to be leveraged in a more holistic and integrated approach. By embracing the strengths of both traditional and digital channels (and in some cases where traditional channels have transitioned more into digital), B2B marketers can create powerful, multi-layered campaigns that resonate with their target audience on multiple levels.