B2B Is Having A Moment

Our clients bring amazing things into the world. What fuels us as marketers—on top of our client's ingenuity—are the thinkers, practitioners and creators who are showing us a new way. In this space, every few weeks we share what is capturing our attention—big or small.

1. The Place To B2B

I was watching college football this weekend, and sandwiched between a car and a campaign ad was a commercial for something called "purple SaaS." Turns out it was a thirty second spot for LinkedIn. The campaign is fun, clearly has some spend behind it, and IMHO has a pretty great campaign line: The place to B(2B).

We've long been fans of the B2B Institute, which is LinkedIn's multi-year initiative to understand and guide more effective B2B marketing. One of their most consistent findings is around the importance of brand advertising--it's the biggest driver of long-term growth but gets only a fraction of the marketing spend it should. It's rewarding to see LinkedIn taking its own advice. They are putting big dollars behind the campaign (I've heard multiple placements on podcasts as well as TV), targeting it effectively (the game was on Peacock, so my assumption that I'm seeing the ad means they are taking advantage of targeting capabilities in OTT), and investing in creative that stands out. Beyond the ads, it's worth mentioning that LinkedIn played a big role in creating a B2B awards category at Cannes, produced a documentary about the importance of the B2B economy, and launched a new B2B Marketing Benchmark. PJA believes the best campaigns seek to elevate a category, not just promote a brand. Way to be (2B), LinkedIn!?

PJA Author: Michael O'Toole

2. Social Media And Video Are Transforming B2B Marketing Strategies

Demand for video content is on the rise, fueled by the growing influence of social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where audiences increasingly expect video. In response, B2B marketers around the globe are striving to meet this demand.

Both social media and video content have become essential strategic tools. According to an 2024 survey by 10Fold, 46% of B2B marketers aiming to expand their content distribution plan to increase their presence on social media, while 41% intend to boost their video content distribution. The report findings from 10Fold, titled “The Engagement Equation: How B2B Tech Marketers Are Creating and Delivering Content That Captivates in 2024,” surveyed 450 marketing decision-makers from B2B and B2B2C companies across five countries in EMEA and North America.

PJA Author: Greg Straface

3. You Are Cordially Invited To Be Hacked

We work for a lot of cybersecurity software companies. In a curious twist of client fate, one of our cybersecurity clients from 20 years ago, Arbor Networks, is now part of another client, NETSCOUT. They continue to be one of the smartest resources out there, especially for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, an (alleged) current favorite of our friends in Russia, China, and Iran.

Today, with Zero Day attacks proliferating like weeds, MTTI and MTTR (Mean Time to Identify and Mean Time to Resolution) are the coins of the realm. How quickly can you find and mitigate the threat, both to protect your enterprise and to not have to work in a war room all weekend?

IBM Business Resiliency Services recently took a page from the fantastic first season of Mr. Robot in its Every Second Counts campaign to dramatize this point. With hourly downtime rates pushing past $200,000, quick response is vital. And IBM software comes to the rescue before the U.S. business day launches.

Unlike so many overly wrought, synthetic-feeling campaigns in cybersecurity, Every Second Counts benefits from great acting, technical engineering input, CIO and Director of IT testing (remember when everyone tested creative), and slick production.

To IBM’s credit, the campaign was used at live events where they simulated cyberattacks, on their website and in digital media, backed up with infographics, white papers, and product demos.

A few of the stats:

·????? 4.8 million impressions

·????? 500,000 engagements

·????? 195,000 impressions organic impressions that yielded 2,872 clicks-to-site

·????? 17% engagement rate on the landing page

·????? 7,500 lead gen responses representing millions in pipeline opportunity

PJA Author: Hugh Kennedy