Level-Up with Lean Labs: The #1 B2B Marketing Mistake That's Killing Your Growth in 2025 ??

Almost every time I ask a brand what they’re looking to achieve with their marketing, I get the same answer:?

“We want more traffic and leads!”

But if you’re kicking off your marketing efforts thinking about traffic and leads alone, you’re setting yourself up for failure.?

?In this week’s Tactical Takeaway, I’m going to talk about why your marketing funnel might be upside down – and what to do about it.

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TACTICAL TAKEAWAY

Most B2B companies are burning cash chasing awareness. But that’s backwards. You should be focusing on reputation first, then building your way back to awareness after you have a foundation of proof points.?

?Here's how to flip your funnel right-side up:

1?? Start With Impact, Not Traffic: The most profitable marketing comes from your existing customers. Interview your customers about their buying journey, document their results, and turn these insights into powerful marketing assets.?

2?? Build Your Reputation Engine: Focus on retention, results, and referrals before pushing more traffic. A 10% increase in retention can generate $165k in additional revenue for a $2M company — more than enough to fund your next marketing push.

3?? Fix Conversion Before You Scale: Low traffic with high conversion beats high traffic with poor conversion every time. Test your messaging and offers with smaller audiences first. Only scale channels after you've proven profitability at a lower volume.?

4?? Track What Matters: Stop obsessing over traffic and lead counts. Focus on customer acquisition costs, opportunity win/loss reasons, and retention rates. Your marketing analytics should prioritize profitability over volume.

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In 2025, the companies winning at B2B marketing aren't the ones with the biggest ad budgets — they're the ones leveraging customer stories and proof points most effectively.?

If you can position yourself as a trusted, “sure thing” in your market, why would your ideal customer go anywhere else?

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SPEED-ROUND SUMMARY

??Pro Tip: Ask every satisfied customer for a five-star review live on a call! The "yes" rate is incredibly high when done in conversation.

?Quick Win: Write high-impact testimonials for your clients, then provide those testimonials to them, asking them to post if they agree. All they have to do is copy/paste/post, making it easy for them to share their wins… and easy for you to get reviews that matter.

??Bottom Line: He who can spend the most to acquire a customer ultimately wins – but you earn that position by maximizing customer value first, not by throwing money at traffic upfront.

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CONTENT CATCH-UP

Looking for more great — and free — material? Check out the latest and greatest from our podcast and blog!

The Best B2B Growth Marketing Strategy for 2025 [+ How To Implement] Looking to boost your growth in 2025? Explore our comprehensive guide on the best B2B growth marketing strategies and step-by-step implementation tips to succeed.

That’s all I have for this week! Keep an eye on your inbox for next week’s edition of helpful tips and tools.?

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Talk soon,

Kevin Barber

Head of Growth, Lean Labs

P.S. Need help setting up a bulletproof growth system? Our Growth Mapping Sessions will give you the exact plan — reach out now, and we’ll walk you through it.