Most B2B marketers know the feeling. The data looks great. Search and retargeting are converting. The CFO is happy. So you double down.
We did exactly that with one of our clients and it backfired.
What happened
The client’s primary goal was lead generation. Looking at platform data, bottom-funnel channels (paid search, remarketing) were clearly “winning”, with a majority of the leads, the lowest cost per lead and highest conversion rates. The logical move seemed obvious: shift more budget there and pull back on LinkedIn, display and broad YouTube activity.
The number of leads dropped.
Not immediately. But within a few months, the numbers that had looked so strong started declining. We’d cut off the supply chain feeding the bottom funnel without realising it.
When we reversed course and reinvested in upper-funnel channels, leads gradually recovered. Then grew.
Why this happens
Bottom-funnel channels are brilliant at capturing demand. But they can’t create it. Search works when someone is already looking. Retargeting works when someone already knows you exist.
When you starve top-of-funnel activity, you’re not saving budget. You’re borrowing against future pipeline.
The problem is that attribution systems make this invisible. Platform data credits the last click. So LinkedIn gets no credit for the person who saw your ad three months ago, mentioned it to a colleague and eventually converted via branded search. Google gets all of it.
This is what Les Binet and Peter Field call the “short-termism trap” and it’s particularly dangerous in B2B, where sales cycles are long and brand familiarity plays a huge role in who gets on the shortlist.
There’s also a cost dimension that’s easy to miss. As more companies compete for the same in-market buyers, the price of reaching them goes up. You end up paying more and more to reach fewer and fewer people. And without consistent brand-building, it becomes harder to differentiate and justify premium pricing when buyers do come knocking.
The 95/5 reality
Ehrenberg-Bass research suggests that at any given moment, roughly 95% of your market isn’t actively buying. Only 5% are. If your entire strategy targets that 5% in the bottom of the funnel, you’re not just missing the majority. You’re failing to build the preference that determines who they call when they are ready.
We’ve written more about this in The 95/5 Rule — Never Forget Tomorrow’s Customers.
Three practical takeaways
Don’t let platform attribution dictate channel mix. It systematically undervalues upper-funnel activity. Use it as one signal, not the whole picture.
Give upper-funnel changes time to work. The impact of cutting brand and awareness activity doesn’t show up in week one. It shows up in month three. By then, it’s easy to blame something else.
Watch leading indicators, not just conversions. Brand search volume, direct traffic trends, and content engagement can signal whether your pipeline is healthy before leads start dropping.
The most expensive mistake in B2B marketing isn’t overspending on awareness. It’s optimizing so hard for today’s leads that you quietly hollow out tomorrow’s.
If you want to discuss effective marketing, just reach out to me.
Joakim Ebstein
Head of Digital Marketing
+46 725 555 984
joakim.ebstein@sfinxagency.se
