Over the last 12+ years, our team at Milk & Cookies Studio has generated over thousands of B2B leads for ourselves and our clients in B2B SaaS, tech, and startups. 

B2B marketing is a unique challenge, with its long sales cycles, multiple decision-makers, and complex objections all mean that your demand generation strategies need to be carefully designed and highly effective.

As we look toward the second half of 2025, we want to share with you three powerful B2B marketing strategies that form the structurally sound base of any campaign that delivers the much needed results. 

Let’s start exploring the mindset you need to adopt to do well in B2B marketing, look into each strategy, and show you how to improve your approach to generate more qualified leads and guide prospects through the sales pipeline with tons of trust already built.

b2b demand gen

Adopting the mindset of a performant B2B marketer

Before we start talking about specific strategies, it’s uber important to understand the mindset that drives successful B2B marketers. One of the biggest challenges in B2B marketing is the length and complexity of the sales cycle. 

Unlike B2C, where the buyer is usually a single individual making a quick decision, B2B purchases often involve multiple stakeholders, each with their own concerns, objections, and motivations.

For example, we’ve worked with clients where the decision-making process involved convincing the end user, their direct manager, the manager’s manager, the procurement leadership and finally, the company’s C-level team. If even one of these people isn’t convinced, the sale often will not happen.

As marketers, our role together with the sales team is to handle these objections proactively through our marketing content and materials. We need to anticipate the questions and concerns of every stakeholder and craft messaging that resonates with the challenges each of them is facing. 

This means that every piece of content, every campaign, and every interaction needs to be designed with a clear understanding of who it’s targeting within the organizational hierarchy.

“We as marketers have a role to play in the entire sales process.”

Take Salesforce as an example. Their marketing team produces content customized to different industry verticals, different roles within companies, and different stages of the buying process. 

They have industry-specific pages like “Salesforce for Automotive” (https://www.salesforce.com/automotive/), which address concerns about whether their product is suitable for particular sectors. They publish content on their website aimed at C-suite executives, IT departments, and administrators. 

Our takeaway? It’s not enough anymore (2009 did not call to ask for its content strategy back) to just produce content for different people. The content must be compelling and directly address their unique objections and desires. 

For instance, a marketing manager might be excited about Milk & Cookies Studio after reading our content, but when they present the idea to their CEO, the manager could be skeptical because of previous bad experiences with agencies. Yup, it happened and we had to work twice as much and hard to convince them. The good news? We are still working together, the 4th year already.

We need marketing that not only excites the initial contact but also convinces the ultimate decision-maker that working with us is different and worthwhile.

To do this effectively, you must:

  • Understand the language and priorities of each decision-maker.
  • Anticipate the information they need to make a decision, such as case studies, free trials, or satisfaction guarantees.
  • Ensure your marketing materials translate well across the organizational hierarchy.

Strategy 1: Being really-trully-for real helpful through your content marketing

One of the most effective demand generation strategies in B2B is to be genuinely super-uber-helpful through content marketing. Yet, many businesses struggle with what to publish. 

b2b demand generation

They know content marketing is important but are unsure how to create content that sparks a feeling to their target audience. 

They also know they have to play a dual game with their content:

  • Feed the algorithms, especially now when everybody is talking about AI content and discoverability optimization
  • Generate value to the real people they want to talk with.

And the harsh reality is that most content produced for SEO purposes kind of suck. While the content produced for the real humans in front of their screens doesn’t always get indexed efficiently.

Content marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, but most times i.s #SadPandaEyes

The key is to identify who your target audience is and what information they need to get closer to their goals. In B2B, those goals often revolve around doing a better job at work, earning a promotion, or increasing company revenue.

For example, one of our clients sells their B2B patent infringement defence when they get sued in the US. The owners of the businesses getting sued aren’t necessarily patent legal defence experts, so the focus is on creating content that helps them understand the regulations and the process. 

This kind of content is highly relevant to their needs and builds trust by helping them perform better, take more informed decisions, and understand what are the clear steps that should happen when they’re getting sued. When they find our client’s content, they realize, “Wow, this is useful information,” and then discover that the company also offers the solution to their problem.

How to future-proof your content marketing

Content marketing is becoming increasingly competitive, especially with the rise of AI-generated content snippets like Google’s AI overviews, which answer basic questions directly in search results. However, this doesn’t make content marketing obsolete. In fact, ranking in AI overview panels can drive highly qualified traffic with commercial intent because users have already started their research in search results.

The secret to building a sustainable content strategy is to focus on EEAT: Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trust. These principles come straight from Google’s Search Quality Rater guidelines and define what quality content looks like.

  • Expertise: Show that you have deep knowledge in your field.
  • Experience: Share real-world experience to differentiate your content from generic advice.
  • Authoritativeness: Demonstrate your credentials and industry recognition.
  • Trust: Build confidence through transparent, accurate, and helpful content.

Many B2B companies falter by publishing generic content that lacks direct experience or trust or why not, both. To stand out, share your unique insights and back them up with credentials. 

For example, if you’re writing about med-tech, clearly show the qualifications and the author to build authority both for readers and search engines.

What Type of Content Should You Publish?

Deciding what type of content to create depends on your audience and the stage of the sales funnel you are targeting. 

Here are some considerations:

  • Website content optimized for search: Great for prospects who already know they have a problem and are searching for solutions.
  • Educational content for awareness: If your product or service solves a problem that customers don’t yet realize they have, you may need to raise awareness first. This can be done through thought leadership and digital PR.
  • Ebooks and white papers: Especially useful in industries with long sales cycles, where prospects need detailed information to share with others in their organization.
  • Videos and social media posts: Useful for engaging your audience on platforms where they spend time, humanizing your brand and building trust.

For example, we worked with a client selling B2G SaaS software that supports public bid teams cut hours of their research and improve their win rate for public contracts wins. A concept many companies weren’t aware they needed. 

We tackled this by:

  1. Publishing thought leadership content to educate the market.
  2. Creating definition content to explain the new concept of B2G sales.
  3. Running digital campaigns in B2G publications to generate awareness.

This comprehensive approach raised awareness and positioned our client as a dominant player in search results for relevant keywords, generating a steady stream of qualified leads.

demand generation traffic

Using paid traffic to amplify helpful content

Once you have valuable informational content, you can take your demand generation strategies to the next level by running paid ads to promote it. For example, a client selling a “Startup accelerator analytics” startup needed to help their audience understand how to follow what happens with the startups they invest in each cohort, a new challenge for many accelerators, especially after the 2020 pandemic shuffle. We created a guide that offered a ready-to-use template and ran ads to drive qualified traffic to that guide.

Though the guide itself didn’t generate direct revenue, the quality of the leads it attracted justified the ad spend. This strategy works because you’re paying to attract highly qualified prospects early in their journey, nurturing them until they’re ready to buy.

Choosing the right channels for your content

Publishing content on your website isn’t always the best approach for every business. Sometimes, platforms like YouTube or LinkedIn offer better reach or engagement with your audience. To find out which channels will yield the highest return, consider testing a lot. You have to kiss many frogs before you find the prince charming.

Another helpful tactic is to find an agency (like us, just to give you a “random” example) to assess your current marketing efforts, competitors, and audience. 

This can help you prioritize your efforts effectively, with market and industry expertise.

Strategy 2: Multi-channel content deployment and repurposing

Creating great content takes time and resources, especially when you limit the use of AI, while trying to maintain a presence across multiple channels like your website, LinkedIn, YouTube, email, and more. The good news is that you don’t need to create new content from scratch for every channel. Instead, you can repurpose one original piece of content in multiple formats tailored to different platforms.

For instance, last year we spoke at a B2B marketing event for first time SaaS founders. We had already created a blog post on the topic, which we converted into a LinkedIn short form content series and a Notion Guide. These formats then formed the basis of the talk. This approach allowed us to generate 3 qualified leads and 1 client for an audit & strategy design from the event without producing any new original content.

Here are some other examples of repurposing:

  • Transforming a successful direct mail campaign into a drip email sequence and a social media series.
  • Turning internal sales guides into blog posts or videos or demos.
  • Extracting key points from a high-performing email to create a video.

Repurposing lets you maximize the value of your content investments, reaching different audience segments on their preferred channels without multiplying your workload.

Repurposing for different decision-makers

Remember the importance of addressing multiple stakeholders within a company? You can apply repurposing here too. 

Take one core concept and adapt it into videos, white papers, or guides created for different organizational levels. 

Each version should speak the language, in the tone of voice, address the pain points, and highlight the desires of the specific audience segment, whether it’s the end user, middle management, or executives that don’t appear on Coldplay concert jumbotrones (yup, cheap joke, YOLO).

Strategy 3: A fresh approach to thought leadership

Thought leadership often conjures images of loud public speakers or flashy life coaches, but in B2B marketing, it’s much more nuanced and practical. True thought leadership means showing up where your audience seeks help, being genuinely helpful, and most importantly, being human.

People connect with individuals more than faceless corporations. That’s why putting a human face on your brand can be one of the most effective ways to build trust and authority. For example, our LinkedIn profile features me, Claudiu Jojatu, the co-founder and digital marketing strategist of Milk & Cookies Studio, sharing insights and practical advice that connect with our audience with purpose.

Let’s revisit the B2G SaaS client. We helped the founder build a personal brand around the company’s areas of expertise. By positioning him as a thought leader and expert in public procurement, we secured visibility in top-tier publications and podcasts. This exposure helped attract high-quality prospects who valued the founder’s real-world experience and stories rather than a generic company sales pitch.

Beware the thought leadership trap

In some industries, thought leadership has become synonymous with publishing white papers. While white papers can be valuable, they’re not always the best way to reach your audience. Many customers prefer short, personal communications like emails over lengthy documents. On top of this, whitepapers are so time consuming to create. 

Successful thought leadership strategies must be tailored to what your customers actually want, not what your ego or competitors dictate. Authenticity and relevance trump formality every time.

Levels of thought leadership

Thought leadership can range from niche experts with a small but highly engaged following to massive personalities with broad reach. Take Alex Boyd from RevenueZen, who has built a very cool presence on LinkedIn talking about his ethical social selling. While only a part of his community are potential customers, his personal brand recognition among industry players is immense. This kind of visibility can keep your company top of mind when prospects are ready to buy.

Leveraging multiple experts

Thought leadership doesn’t have to rest on one person’s shoulders. Different experts in your business can become thought leaders in their areas of expertise. However, it’s important to have people who are comfortable in front of cameras or microphones if you want to use video or podcasts. We often find that some experts are great in internal settings but shut down when faced with public-facing media. Supporting your team to become confident communicators can amplify your thought leadership efforts.

Using thought leadership for digital PR and SEO

Thought leadership can be a powerful tool for building backlinks and gaining digital PR coverage. Returning to our B2G client, the founder’s personal brand helped us secure articles, podcast invites, and features on prestigious sites. These placements generated valuable backlinks to their website, boosting their search engine rankings and helping them dominate their main target keyword for years.

Integrating the three strategies

Each of the three demand generation strategies, helpful content marketing, content repurposing, and thought leadership, can function effectively on its own, clearly. But when combined, they create a powerful, integrated approach that maximizes your reach and impact.

  • Start with helpful content: Create valuable, targeted content that addresses your audience’s needs and objections.
  • Repurpose that content: Adapt it for various formats and channels to reach different audience segments and decision-makers.
  • Build thought leadership: Use authentic personal branding to humanize your company, attract PR opportunities, and build authority.

By layering these strategies, you create a comprehensive demand generation engine that nurtures prospects through every stage of the sales funnel, across multiple touchpoints.

Conclusion

Demand generation strategies in B2B marketing require a thoughtful, multi-faceted approach. By adopting the right mindset and focusing on being genuinely helpful through content marketing, repurposing content smartly, and embracing authentic thought leadership, you can build a powerful engine for lead generation that works across the complex B2B buying journey.

These strategies have been proven through years of experience generating demand and leads to our clients. As you prepare your marketing plans for the second part of 2025, consider how you can implement these pillars to create a sustainable, effective, and future-proof demand generation strategy.

If you want to take the next step, consider requesting a free marketing audit from experts who can help you tailor these strategies to your unique business and audience. 

Start building your marketing plan today and watch your B2B leads grow.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is demand generation in B2B marketing?

Demand generation refers to the marketing strategies and tactics used to create awareness and interest in your products or services, ultimately driving qualified leads into your sales pipeline. It involves educating prospects, nurturing relationships, and aligning marketing efforts with the sales process.

Why are B2B sales cycles longer than B2C?

B2B sales cycles are typically longer because purchases often involve multiple stakeholders, higher costs, and more complex decision-making processes. Each person in the buying group may have different concerns and priorities, requiring more touchpoints and tailored messaging.

How can content marketing help in B2B demand generation?

Content marketing helps by providing valuable information that educates and nurtures prospects, addressing their pain points and objections. It builds trust and positions your brand as an expert, making prospects more likely to engage and convert.

What does repurposing content mean?

Repurposing content means taking one piece of original content and adapting it into different formats or for different channels. For example, turning a blog post into a video, podcast episode, or social media posts. This maximizes the value of your content and reaches more audience segments.

How is thought leadership different from traditional marketing?

Thought leadership focuses on building authority and trust by sharing expertise, insights, and authentic stories rather than direct sales messages. It often involves personal branding and showing the human side of your business to connect more deeply with your audience.

How do I know which content channels are best for my business?

The best channels depend on where your target audience spends time and how they prefer to consume information. Conducting a marketing audit or getting a professional review can help identify the most effective platforms for your specific business and goals.

Read about lead generation in 2025 right here: B2B Lead Generation Best Practices in 2025