Optimizing B2B Tech Websites for 2025 Traffic Trends

For 16+ years, I've run A/B tests comparing human behaviors. Starting today, there's a third variant to test: how AI agents interact with your site. Here's what changed. Adobe Analytics found traffic from AI sources surged 1300% during last holiday season. Yet those AI visitors were 23% less likely to convert than humans (Adobe Analytics, July 2025). The gap reveals something critical: ↳ Sites optimized for humans are failing AI agents. PwC's May 2025 survey shows 79% of companies already use AI agents. Adobe found 87% of shoppers turn to AI for complex purchases, and will only have those agents complete the purchase at a fast rising rate. Your perfectly optimized checkout might be invisible to these new users. Testing methodologies are evolving. Every test now needs to track three metrics: ↳ human conversion rate ↳ human user experience ↳ agent success rate Sometimes these align beautifully... clean navigation helps everyone, and clear product data benefits both. But often you face tradeoffs. Dynamic form fields that reduce human friction? Agents can't parse them. That trendy single page checkout? Humans love it. AI agents get stuck. The winners won't pick sides. They'll optimize for both. This is dual-mode optimization... CRO and AXO (Agent Experience Optimization). Each variant gets scored on human AND agent performance. Real winners excel at both. This isn't about replacing your current testing. It's adding a critical dimension. Your next A/B test needs to become an A/B/Agent test. The third user has arrived.

People don't search the way they used to. They're not opening 7 tabs anymore. They're asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude. Getting an answer. Asking a follow-up. Going deeper. And here's the thing: 95% of B2B buyers will use AI tools during their purchasing journey this year. AI is reshaping your brand story right now. The question isn't whether it's happening. It's whether you're guiding it, or letting AI make it up. Here’s what’s really happening: Research from Columbia University shows that leading AI models provide incorrect answers to over 60% of queries. If your site isn’t optimized for AI-driven search, you may not just be overlooked – you might be misrepresented entirely. But here’s the upside: visitors from AI-driven search are 4.4x to 23x more likely to convert than those from traditional SEO. The traffic volume is lower, but these visitors are incredibly qualified. Brands that act now will secure their position in AI search results. What can you do? 1. Prioritize content structure for AI Use clear heading hierarchies (H1, H2, H3). Provide direct, concise answers up front. Create topic clusters with one main piece supported by 5-10 related articles. 2. Focus on answering real questions Understand what your audience is asking. Address queries like “What is…?”, “How does…?”, or “Best tool for…”. Add detailed FAQs to your pages. 3. Get your technical setup in order Implement Schema markup (FAQ, Article, HowTo). Ensure your site loads quickly (under 2.5 seconds). Make sure AI crawlers are allowed in your robots.txt file. 4. Build authority in the right places Engage on platforms like Reddit, Quora, or LinkedIn. Publish original research. Include quotes from industry experts. Regularly update your content with timestamps to show relevance. 5. Test how AI sees your brand Search for your brand on tools like ChatGPT (in web browsing mode) and Perplexity. Review Google’s AI Overviews. Assess where your competitors show up in these spaces. Quick actions to take today: - Add FAQ schema to your key pages - Create an industry, persona specific pages - Start participating in niche conversations on Reddit or Quora - Refresh your top 5 pages with clear structure and updates - Display “Last Updated” dates on all content The landscape is shifting fast. And most of your competitors haven’t caught on yet. Every day you delay is another opportunity for machines to write your story – or worse, your competitor’s. What’s your biggest challenge with AI search right now? #AI #SEO #B2BMarketing #DigitalStrategy

I’ve been doing SEO since 1997. My approach today has evolved radically (and continues to adapt with each new Google or AI update). Here are 14 things you should focus on in 2025: 👇 1. 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗘𝗢 Make sure your brand has a clear, consistent entity description across the web. LLMs and Google both build their understanding from semantic consistency. 2. 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Backlinks still matter—but citations in ChatGPT and AI Overviews are the new trust signals. If you’re not being mentioned, you’re invisible. 3. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 LLMs weigh what’s said about you just as much as what you publish. Secure positive mentions across press, partners, and affiliates. 4. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 Mine support logs, reviews, and interviews. Real customer language is fuel for FAQs, FUQs, and product positioning. 5. 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 Think subject → object → predicate. Write so both humans and machines clearly understand relationships between entities. 6. 𝗙𝗨𝗤𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗔𝗤𝘀 Frequently Unasked Questions are the goldmine. Fill content gaps others ignore and LLMs will reward you with visibility. 7. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗟𝗠 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Track where your brand is showing up in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews. It’s the new rank tracking. 8. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Mention competitors on your own pages. Counterintuitive, but it lets you frame the narrative when AI scrapes comparisons. 9. 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗧𝗢𝗙𝗨, 𝗠𝗢𝗙𝗨, 𝗕𝗢𝗙𝗨 Don’t just optimize for conversions. Make sure your brand shows up across the whole buyer journey—from awareness to decision. Add value at each step. 10. 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, podcasts. AI pulls from all of it. If you’re not present, you don’t exist in the results. 11. 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 Stop chasing clicks. Focus on impressions, citations, and sentiment. They’re leading indicators of future growth. 12. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 From Wikidata to affiliates, make sure partners, profiles, and press use the same language to describe your brand. 13. 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 Don’t just chase head terms. Optimize for the 10–15 word “prompt-like” queries; these drive AI citations and conversions. 14. 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗵, 𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 Audit, identify gaps, optimize, and measure every 90 days. The fundamentals haven’t changed, only the platforms. SEO is evolving. So should your strategy. __ #LLMOptimization #SEO #growthmarketing

SEO isn't just about Google anymore. After 16 years of tracking algorithm changes, I'm seeing the biggest shift in search behavior since mobile-first indexing. Here's how to dominate search across ALL platforms in 2025: 1. Map the new search ecosystem Your customers aren't just using Google. They're searching on: - ChatGPT and Perplexity for research - YouTube for tutorials and reviews - TikTok for product recommendations - LinkedIn for B2B solutions - Reddit for genuine opinions Each platform requires a slightly different approach, but the fundamentals remain the same. 2. Target conversational queries Traditional keyword research misses how people actually talk to AI. Instead of "best CRM software," people ask "what's the most user-friendly CRM for a 50-person sales team?" Here's how to find these queries: - Check "People Also Ask" sections in Google - Use Google Search Console to find queries longer than 10 words - Study how Perplexity expands your seed keywords - Look at suggested queries in AI chat platforms 3. Build topic clusters across platforms Pick one core topic and go deep. If you're targeting "email marketing," create content around: - Email automation workflows - Deliverability best practices - Subject line optimization - List segmentation strategies - A/B testing methodologies Then distribute this content across: - Your website (pillar page + supporting articles) - YouTube (video tutorials) - LinkedIn (professional insights) - Industry forums and communities The key is maintaining consistent messaging while adapting format to each platform. 4. Signal authority to AI systems AI platforms don't just pull random content. They favor authoritative sources. Build authority signals through: - Consistent link building (AI systems favor sites that rank well in traditional search) - Third-party reviews and mentions - Citations from trusted industry sources - Brand mentions across the web The sites getting cited in ChatGPT responses? They typically have strong backlink profiles and established domain authority. Most businesses are still stuck in 2019 SEO tactics while their customers have moved to a multi-platform search world. The companies winning right now are treating search as an ecosystem, not just a Google problem.

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. The new State of Search report from Datos and SparkToro just dropped. Rand Fishkin walks through the data in a recent video, and honestly, it’s one of the clearest, most grounded views on where the search ecosystem is heading. Huge thanks to Rand and the team for giving structure to what so many of us have been sensing. Here’s what matters for the B2B folks: 1. 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. Desktop search dropped from 12% of all traffic in January 2024 to 11% in March 2025. That may sound small, but it’s a 10% relative drop — and it’s real. 2. 𝗔𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 “𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲” 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲. AI surfaces like Overviews and assistants have doubled in use, yes, but they’re not catching all of the fallout from classic search decline. That’s the trap: we assume users shift neatly. They don’t. 3. 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼-𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. Google searchers are doing more searches than before (up from 85 to nearly 100 per user), but sending less traffic. That’s the AI effect. The answer is shown, no click needed. 4. 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 ≠ 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻. If you’re a B2B brand and your visibility strategy still starts with “let’s write blog posts” or “let’s rank on X keyword,” you’re falling behind. This new data confirms what those of us running AI visibility audits already see in the field: Ranking ≠ citation, Presence ≠ visibility, Content ≠ trust The winners in AI search are cited sources, not content producers. Brands need to be reference-worthy. That means showing up in trusted third-party coverage, industry mentions, transcripts, source graphs — not just your own site. And here’s the part nobody wants to hear: 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳. Urgency level? Solid 𝟴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟬. You don’t need to panic. But you do need to pivot. Start auditing your visibility. Stop thinking in blue links. Start thinking in citations, trust layers, and platform footprints. Thank you again to Datos and Rand for putting this report out (full report in comments). If you haven’t read it yet, do it today. AI search is already shaping buyer journeys. The only question is whether your brand is in the answer.

If your site is slow, you’re leaving traffic and revenue on the table. Core Web Vitals are no longer optional. Google has made them a ranking factor, meaning publishers that ignore them risk losing visibility, traffic, and user trust. For those of us working in SEO and digital publishing, the message is clear: speed, stability, and responsiveness directly affect performance. Core Web Vitals focus on three measurable aspects of user experience: → Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How quickly the main content loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds. → First Input Delay (FID) / Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly the page responds when a user interacts. Target: under 200 milliseconds. → Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How visually stable a page is. Target: less than 0.1. These metrics are designed to capture the “real” experience of a visitor, not just what a developer or SEO sees on their end. Why publishers can't ignore CWV in 2025 1. SEO & Trust: Only ~47% of sites pass CWV assessments, presenting a competitive edge for publishers who optimize now. 2. Page performance pays off: A 1-second improvement can boost conversions by ~7% and reduce bounce rates—benefits seen across industries 3. User expectations have tightened: In 2025, anything slower than 3 seconds feels “slow” to most users—under 1 s is becoming the new gold standard, especially on mobile devices. 4. Real-world wins: a. Economic Times cut LCP by 80%, CLS by 250%, and slashed bounce rates by 43%. b. Agrofy improved LCP by 70%, and load abandonment fell from 3.8% to 0.9%. c. Yahoo! JAPAN saw session durations rise 13% and bounce rates drop after CLS fixes. Practical steps for improvement • Measure regularly: Use lab and field data to monitor Core Web Vitals across templates and devices. • Prioritize technical quick wins: Image compression, proper caching, and removing render-blocking scripts can deliver immediate improvements. • Stabilize layouts: Define media dimensions and manage ad slots to reduce layout shifts. • Invest in long-term fixes: Optimizing server response times and modernizing templates can help sustain improvements. Here are the key takeaways ✅ Core Web Vitals are measurable, actionable, and tied directly to SEO performance. ✅ Faster, more stable sites not only rank better but also improve engagement, ad revenue, and subscriptions. ✅ Publishers that treat Core Web Vitals as ongoing maintenance, not one-time fixes will see compounding benefits over time. Have you optimized your site for Core Web Vitals? Share your results and tips in the comments, your insights may help other publishers make meaningful improvements. #SEO #DigitalPublishing #CoreWebVitals #PageSpeed #UserExperience #SearchRanking

Content marketing isn’t what it was five years ago. It’s not even what it was last year. Here’s where things are headed and what actually matters moving forward: 🔹 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨. The algorithm favors personal accounts, and so do humans. If your content plan doesn’t include internal influencers (your CEO, your subject-matter experts, your loudest marketers), you’re making it 10x harder to reach anyone. 🔹 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰. If your traffic strategy is still clinging to “What is [insert industry term]?” posts, congrats - you’re feeding Google’s AI answers, not your audience. Time to shift focus to original insights, expert takes, and content that can’t be copy-pasted. 🔹 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. Nobody wants to fill out a form just to get a glorified sales pitch disguised as an e-book. Stop creating content traps and start creating content people actually want to consume. 🔹 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. Whether it’s a full-on production or a low-effort, high-impact clip filmed on a phone, video-first brands will win in 2025. If your team isn’t making video, fix that. 🔹 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. Stop looking for “influencers” when you could be turning your own employees into trusted voices. If your sales team, engineers, or leadership aren’t creating content, you’re leaving reach and credibility on the table. 🔹 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭. Half of B2B content is just noise. It’s fluff, filler, or lifeless corporate drivel. If your content doesn’t make someone pause, think, or laugh, it’s not working. 2025 is going to be messy. AI will create more content than ever. Attention will be harder to earn. And the brands that win will be the ones making content that actually matters. Are you ready for it?

Third-party data isn't just "declining", it’s becoming a liability. Between privacy shifts, cookie deprecation, and the rise of LLMs, the "old way" of buying intent lists is officially a race to the bottom. For years, we’ve been fed "black box" dashboards promising to show us which accounts are in-market. The result? -Stale lists. -Unreliable attribution. -Reps reaching out to prospects who have zero clue why they're being called. While most marketers are fighting over the same stale 3rd-party data, the winners have moved to Signal-Based Selling. In my latest interview with Oren Greenberg, we broke down why the industry is seeing a massive shift toward First-Party and Social Signal-Based Marketing. Here is the reality for B2B marketers and founders in 2025: 1. Third-Party is in Decline Privacy changes, cookie deprecation, and LLM-driven shifts in tracking have made external intent data less performant. Research shows that first-party data (data YOU own from your website and CRM) can increase lead-to-customer conversions by up to 50% compared to third-party insights. 2. The Rise of "Instantaneous Social Data" We are entering the era of "Signal-Based Selling." Instead of generic lists, the winners are scraping real-time signals from Reddit, LinkedIn, and community socials. The Goal: Spot a problem a prospect is having today and turn it into an outbound sequence tomorrow. 3. Context > Volume Generic "Hi {First_Name}" emails are noise. High-performance teams are now quoting things prospects have actually said in social threads or podcasts. This isn't just "personalization"—it’s relevance. Signal-based outbound is currently seeing 3-5x higher response rates than traditional cold outreach. 4. The New Stack Whether it’s Clay for orchestration or Common Room for community signals, the tools are changing. Marketers are no longer just "buying lists", they are buying context. The bottom line: If you aren't shifting your budget from "Black Box" vendors to first-party signal systems, you're paying to be ignored. Stop being a "dashboard marketer" and start being a "signal-driven" revenue generator. How are you evolving your tech stack to handle the shift to first-party data? Are you still relying on third-party intent providers? Let’s discuss in the comments. 👇 P.S. Watch the full interview with Oren to see exactly how to build a signal-based engine. Link in the comments! #B2BMarketing #GTM #GTMEngineering #DemandGen #SaaS

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 “𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲,” 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲. Teams that upgraded to account-level intelligence and outcome-based measurement saw an 81% lift in closed-won. Not from working harder—but from changing what they measure and how they activate it. Meet the new GTM: not a playbook, a Revenue Operating System (RevOS). 1. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Reveal Invisible Demand Your website is already telling you who’s buying. With identity stitching + enrichment, you can ID 70–75% of anonymous traffic. That becomes the fuel for everything else. 2. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰 — Merge Every Signal High-intent buyers don’t live in one channel. Search queries, G2, dark social, paid media, reviews, surges—each is a pixel. Woven together, they reveal the full picture. 3. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 — Real-Time Readiness AI blends behavior, firmographics, lifecycle, and history into a live score. No more static lead lists. Just dynamic account orchestration. 4. 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Precision Advertising Ads shouldn’t be campaigns—they should be programmable touch patterns. Sync audiences. Train algorithms. Control frequency. Relevance + repetition = revenue. 5. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Triggered Engagement When buying signals spike, AI routes hyper-contextual actions instantly. It’s not outreach—it’s commercial choreography. 6. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Revenue-Truth Attribution Modern attribution highlights the touchpoints that actually shift pipeline. (One team learned G2 influenced 35% of pipeline they never credited.) The Meta-Shift: Funnel → System The winners aren’t generating leads. They’re running a closed-loop revenue system where identity, intent, prioritization, activation, and proof compound. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗚𝗧𝗠. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀. 𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

Your 2021 marketing playbooks are burning money in 2025. Most folks haven't figured out yet what the best playbooks are for today. But there's a lot of tinkering and experimentation going on. I used Wynter to survey 50 B2B SaaS marketing leaders and asked them what they are doing *more* today compared to a few years ago to produce results. Here are the 5 playbooks that are working well: 1. LinkedIn thought leader ads Thought leader ads on LinkedIn is delivering results, especially when combined with founder-led marketing "We've seen a 70% increase in BOFU conversions when users are exposed to Thought Leaders Ads on LinkedIn compared to BOFU conversions who were not exposed to a TOFU ad." "LinkedIn thought leader ads have been incredible performers for us - generating 300x more reach and engagement for the same budget" "The one key point that I think has given us great success with this strategy is that we typically only boost our C-suite team and they are very active and well-known in their industry." 2. AI-ready search optimization SEO has evolved. LLM-optimized content and AIO gets a lot of attention, and also results. "In the past 3 months we have seen an explosion in traffic from LLM-based search. We paced down branded spend and saw a corresponding increase in non-paid organic deals." 3. Intimate in-person events (not old school tradeshows) "We find these particularly good to help speed up deal cycles and for prospects in an open opportunity to increase the close rate. Especially for something like a more intimate event (less than 20 people) versus something massive like a tradeshow." Small, high-touch gatherings accelerate sales in ways digital can't match. 4. Strategic webinars Owned webinars featuring customers as presenters are a part of the winning recipe. • "Most significant channels in terms of growth and ROI have been website and webinars. Webinars have wide reach and recyclability with little investment." • "The most significant growth we have seen over the past year is in the usage and development of webinar programming that appeals to our clients and potential customers." • "Webinars remain our most significant channel" 5. ABM campaigns, including direct mail ABM is becoming a much bigger part of the marketing mix. "Direct mail has delivered some great results. While well known, it's underutilized in the tech space." Here one specific suggestion on how to make it work: "Have a very unique offer and hyper-targeted list (that marketing worked with the sales team on refining). Make the gift very unique/personalized and 1:1 so you can have a better gift and really think through the strategy including timing, messaging, follow-up, coordination between marketing, SDR, and AEs." Effective marketing in 2025 isn't about being everywhere, but being focused, and making proven channels work harder.