What’s driving B2B marketing in 2025?
We talked to 64 B2B professionals, from CEOs to marketing specialists across industries, company sizes, and geographies to uncover how teams are allocating budgets, what tools and channels they trust, and how AI is transforming their day-to-day.
Here’s what we found.
1. Visibility is the biggest B2B growth challenge
When asked about their biggest obstacle in acquiring new customers, marketers didn’t point to tools, tactics, or trends. Instead, they highlighted something more foundational: visibility.
Specifically, the top three challenges were:
- Lack of brand awareness: 47%
- Competition in the market: 44%
- Difficulty reaching decision-makers: 42%
In other words, most B2B teams aren’t struggling because their marketing tactics are broken. They’re struggling because their message isn’t breaking through.
Buyers are overloaded with content, cautious with spending, and harder than ever to engage directly.
Budget constraints (31%) and limited internal resources (also 31%) were common too, underscoring that these visibility issues aren’t just strategic, they’re also practical.
Many teams know what they need to do but lack the time, tools, or bandwidth to do it consistently.
2. SEO leads the way as the most effective B2B channel
30% of B2B marketers ranked SEO as their most effective channel.
In fact, organic channels as a whole, including content marketing (13%) and socials (14%), collectively outperformed paid alternatives in perceived effectiveness.
This data reveals a clear pattern. B2B marketers are placing their bets on organic, inbound-driven strategies.
Why? Because the way B2B buyers make decisions has changed. Buyers are more self-reliant, more skeptical of ads, and more selective with their attention. They spend more time researching before ever reaching out to sales. And when they do, they come in more informed and more confident.
SEO isn’t just a visibility play, it’s a trust and timing play. Showing up with the right content at the right moment builds authority, nurtures awareness, and captures demand without relying on interruption.
For lean teams in particular, SEO offers something rare: scalability without constant spend.
Every optimized page, every helpful article, every SERP win makes future wins easier. That is especially powerful for B2B companies navigating long sales cycles or crowded categories.
And it is not just about traffic.
A well-executed SEO strategy connects every piece of content to intent, pulling prospects through the funnel with relevance and clarity. When done right, it becomes the backbone of a sustainable growth engine.
3. Budgets are rising, and spend is shifting toward long-term impact
48% of B2B marketers say their budget has increased in the past 12 months. 58% reported growth in the 10 to 20 percent range. This may seem modest, but it’s quite significant given the uncertain AI-centric environment.
Another 38% saw no change, and 14% experienced cuts.
This signals cautious optimism. Teams are getting more resources, but the gains are incremental, not sweeping.
So where is that additional budget going?
Paid advertising still commands the largest share. It’s often the default for quick wins and clear attribution, which keeps it at the top of many budget plans.
But spend alone doesn’t tell the full story. While paid ads top the budget list, they were not viewed as the most effective channel. SEO and content marketing ranked higher in terms of performance, and many teams are starting to adjust their budget plans accordingly.
Meanwhile, influencer marketing, events, and partnerships landed lower on both budget and effectiveness rankings, indicating they are used more selectively.
Marketers are no longer placing all their bets on a single tactic. Instead, they are spreading spend across a mix of short-term performance drivers and longer-term investments.
Most teams are balancing immediate acquisition with sustainable growth through owned channels and infrastructure.
4. AI is becoming a foundational layer of B2B marketing
AI has officially moved from experimentation to execution.
75% of B2B marketers are already using AI tools, with content creation leading the charge.
Respondents report using AI for a wide range of marketing functions.
The biggest perceived benefit? Efficiency.
Over 70% of marketers say AI has helped them produce more, faster, without necessarily expanding headcount.
Take Surfer AI, for example. With it, marketers can go from idea to article draft in under 20 minutes. The tool handles competitor and topic research, structures the content based on real-time SERP data, and generates SEO-friendly content in one go.
That’s not just faster, it’s strategic acceleration, especially for teams who need to scale content without sacrificing quality.
Still, AI adoption isn’t universal. Around 11% of respondents report no use of AI at all, suggesting that some teams are either cautious, resource-constrained, or still seeking clarity on where it fits best.
5. Lean teams are scaling with smarter systems
B2B marketing teams are running lean, but that hasn’t slowed their ambition.
More than four in five B2B marketers are either working solo or on a team of five or fewer.
Despite limited headcount, 56% of B2B marketers say their company is in a growth phase, with only 19% reporting decline.
This points to a critical insight: B2B growth today isn’t about team size, it’s about strategy, efficiency, and leverage.
That mindset shows up in how marketers think about the future.
The average optimism rating for the next 12 months was a grounded 6.5 out of 10. Not naive, not pessimistic—just focused and realistic.
It also shows up in how teams build their tech stacks.
Lean teams need to do more with less, and their tools reflect that. While AI content tools are dominating adoption, marketers still rely on a mix of platforms to manage SEO, analytics, CRM, and campaign execution.
AI isn’t replacing these tools, it’s enhancing them.
Today’s B2B marketers are layering AI into existing workflows to drive smarter, faster decisions. It’s not about chasing every new tool, it’s about building a system that scales output without scaling headcount.
6. B2B marketing isn’t defined by a single KPI
When it comes to evaluating marketing success, B2B teams continue to rely on familiar benchmarks.
Website traffic (61%) and ROI (53%) remain the most widely used performance indicators, unsurprising, given their role in tracking visibility and justifying investment.
But the data reveals a broader picture.
This mix signals a shift in mindset: performance is still the priority, but perception and pipeline matter too.
Marketers are being asked to deliver short-term results and long-term momentum. That means tracking not only what converts today, but what creates the conditions for conversion tomorrow.
Metrics like brand sentiment, engagement, and MQL volume suggest that many B2B teams are building programs with longer sales cycles in mind.
It’s no longer just about clicks and conversions, it’s about creating meaningful touchpoints across the buyer journey.
The future of B2B marketing is built on visibility
2025’s most successful B2B teams aren’t necessarily the biggest or the loudest—they’re the most strategic. They focus on visibility that compounds, content that builds trust, and tools that turn efficiency into an edge.
But visibility doesn’t happen by accident. It takes consistent execution, quality content, and optimization that aligns with buyer intent.
In a world where buyers self-educate and attention is earned, content is your most powerful growth lever. Surfer makes sure it works harder for you.
Ready to turn visibility into pipeline?
Explore how Surfer can help →
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