Peep Laja's Linkedin Analytics

Here are my top takeaways from our research into how the C-suite buys and evaluates software. We surveyed 300 CMOs, CTOs and CFOs from $50M+ B2B SaaS companies. Learnings: • Being top of mind (mental availability) is what determines if you're in the initial consideration set. This will not show up in your marketing analytics. • 75% of buyers turn to peers first when creating vendor shortlists, not Google • Physical availability matters: you gotta be findable on Google, LLMs and review marketplaces when buyers are doing category research + checking you out • Only 5-8 tools make it to initial consideration, then buyers narrow to 3 for demos • Bigger brands automatically get considered (the rich get richer) • Your website sells when you're not in the room. Buyers want to know "why you over the category leader?" (primary JTBD) • For mission-critical, high ACV tools like CRM or security, brand reputation matters most • Lesser-known vendors are considered if lower cost and/or point solutions • Buyers narrow don the shortlist to final 3 vendors BEFORE any contact, based mainly on your website and your reputation • They check your social media to verify if you're still active and viable as a company • Trade shows suck for discovery but are great for building relationships • The personality and preparation of your salesperson significantly impacts buying decisions • Pricing evasiveness is a major turn-off - just give them the damn number • CFOs get involved at different thresholds (as low as $10k for small companies, $1M+ for large enterprise), know what the number is for your ICPs • CFOs are skeptical of your ROI calculations - give them ingredients to make their own • Word of mouth from happy customers is still your best marketing.

Spryng - the B2B SaaS marketing conference - is next week already. These are the last days to get your ticket. People have said it's the best B2B event they've been to. Come find out. We'll spend 2.5 beautiful days in sunny and warm Austin at a cool brewery, connecting and learning from each other. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you. Dropping the event link in the comments, or just google it.

The future of B2B marketing isn't what you think. And it's staring us right in the face. Undeniable truths: • The number of B2B companies in every category is staggering, with tons of new ones starting every month • All categories are getting saturated with tools that do the same things, there's little actual differentiation • AI made unlimited content creation nearly free, so the value of content is going toward zero • Tons of big companies seeing significant decline in organic traffic (G2, Salesforce, Hubspot etc), SEO as a distribution channel is on its way down Sound familiar? B2C saw this category saturation a long time ago. There are some 500 protein bar brands. The only differentiation between Geico and Allstate? The gecko and Mayhem (the mascots). It's about distinction, not differentiation. News used to be about facts: what, where, when. Now it's about someone's opinion about what happened... because the market wants that. Fox News pioneered it, now they all do it. Look at social media networks - the top accounts are always personalities. The most popular late night hosts? Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon. People watch them because they LIKE them . Those guys (the mascots) have big behind-the-scenes production teams who do all the prep - writing jokes, inviting guests, distributing social clips, booking speaking gigs. The mascot shows up and is charming. So what does this mean for you? In content, the "what" stops mattering. The only thing that will influence things is "the who." The future of B2B content marketing is about personalities (the mascots), and their opinions. The difference between company Y and Z will be their visible executives. Companies need to build in-house celebrities, or they have to rent independent creators for distribution. The future of B2B content budgets will adjust accordingly. Significant portion of funds will go towards behind-the-scenes teams that do most everything, so the mascots can show up and be charming/knowledgeable. Companies that leave their executives hanging (it's up to them to go out and make content) will fall behind in distribution. It's gonna be about making in-house celebs who need to win on: • Likeability (market appeal) • Personality (uniqueness) • Expertise (trust) Your company doesn't need more content. It needs a face.