Media budgets are coming under increasing scrutiny. You’re expected to protect pipeline, improve efficiency, and still prove impact in an environment where buyers are harder to identify, and attribution is less reliable than it looks on a dashboard.
It sounds like an impossible challenge, but there is a way forward.
In our recent B2B Revenue Masters webinar, Stuart Toll, Head of Media at The Croc, shared how B2B media and demand generation have evolved, and what that means for teams trying to increase pipeline while cutting waste.
B2B Media has Expanded, but Buying is Harder
The list of places your audience exists online keeps growing. While multiplying platforms, publications, and ad formats create more opportunities, they bring additional complexity to the media landscape.
At the same time, the buying committee has expanded. Decision-making units are larger, influence is spread across more roles, and those roles behave differently. That means you can no longer assume that reaching a single job title equals reaching the people who shape the deal.
The implication is clear: even strong brands can lose to competitors if they show up too narrowly, too late, or only in the places they assume buyers “should” be.
“You have to be more conscious of who you’re trying to reach and where they’re going to be,” Stuart explained. “We need to think about the whole decision-making unit, as far as our media buying is concerned. But five years ago, you’d just target the CMO or VP of sales.”
Your ICP Needs to be More Behavioral
Stuart spent a lot of time talking about ideal customer profiles (ICPs), because it’s the foundation of spend efficiency.
Without an ICP, you may have a vague audience definition, which guarantees media waste. If your ICP is too narrow, you create a different kind of waste by pricing yourself out of reach.
“As the media environment becomes more complex, the tools and technology have improved to allow you to understand the audience, build out the ICP, and recognize where they are, and how to reach them,” Stuart said.
Your job is to use those improved tools to build an ICP that reflects how people actually research and buy, not just what an org chart says.
That means going beyond the obvious firmographics and asking questions such as: where does the wider buying group spend time, what content do they trust, and what signals show they are moving towards a decision?
Most of the Journey is Anonymous
A key insight from the webinar conversation was how much of the purchase journey now happens anonymously.
“Generally speaking, I think about 80% of that purchase journey is done effectively anonymously, whereas before, it might have been 50 of 60%,” Stuart revealed. “And by the time they get to 80% through that purchase journey, they’ve probably made at least a shortlist of vendors or are getting quite close to a decision.”
That’s why early visibility matters. It is also why programs that focus only on capturing “ready-to-buy” demand often struggle to create sustainable pipeline.
Stuart also referenced the familiar dynamic that only a small portion of your audience is in-market at a given moment, while the majority is out-of-market and will buy later.
If you only optimize for last-touch conversions, you miss the influence work that determines who gets shortlisted in the first place.
Redefine ICP Focusing on Outcomes
When you rethink your ICP to make it more behavioral, and consider the vast volume of anonymous research, it’s a good idea to start by thinking about the commercial outcome before choosing targeting tactics.
Intent data, firmographics, and ABM overlays can all be powerful, but they need to be applied in proportion to the economics of the deal.
He gave a useful framing: if you are selling a lower-value product with a shorter cycle, extremely narrow, high-cost targeting can work against you. If you are selling a high-value solution with a 12–18 month sales cycle, it can make sense to surround accounts, tailor creative, and invest in more precise orchestration.
For marketing leaders, the takeaway is not “go broad” or “go narrow”; it’s to build a strategy that can do both, at the right moments.
“It’s a difficult thing to do, but you need to use that time early on to get that right,” Stuart advised.
Broad at the top
The webinar discussed a common mistake that people make with their B2B media plans: spending too much too early on decision-makers because conversion reporting makes it look efficient.
In reality, the early stages are shaped by influencers. That might be practitioners, technical evaluators, or functional leads who do the research and define what “good” looks like. Those people may never fill out a form, but they will absolutely shape who makes the shortlist.
A more realistic approach is to influence the wider buying committee early, then narrow targeting as intent signals strengthen. That also gives you flexibility to respond to what the market is telling you during activation, rather than assuming the initial ICP definition is perfect.
“Make sure that you maintain a presence throughout, to reach that 95% that aren’t yet in market, so that you’re part of the conversation before they get to the decision stage, and before they’re in market,” Stuart said.
Measurement Needs to Match Funnel Stage
If you measure everything through the same lens, you will make the wrong optimization decisions.
Early-stage activity is designed to create awareness and influence. It should be evaluated using metrics that indicate whether you are reaching and engaging the right audience. Later-stage activity can be judged by conversion and pipeline contribution.
“Marketing mix modeling is a very good way to do that,” Stuart explained. “But it’s a long piece of work, it’s not a quick fix.”
If you are setting KPIs for your media spend, a simple way to pressure-test them is to ask: does this metric reflect what this stage is meant to achieve, or is it just easy to report?
Context and Creative Alignment is Essential
To avoid wasting media spend, it’s essential that you understand context. Buyers are the same people whether they are browsing an industry site at their desk or consuming content on consumer platforms outside working hours. But the difference is mindset, attention, and receptiveness.
In reality, this means that the channel mix can be right and the targeting can be right, but if the message is wrong for the moment, your budget is still wasted.
“There’s no harm in nudging them towards your brand when they are perhaps outside of business mode,” Stuard added. “It’s about getting that balance and getting the messaging right so that you align that with the environment that they’re going to be present in.”
This is also where paid and organic should reinforce each other, too. Stuart described the value of an always-on approach, supported by planned bursts around launches, events, or key moments, so that messaging remains consistent across touchpoints.
ABM can Extend Beyond Digital
Many teams still treat “media” as social + programmatic. Stuart made the case that out-of-home can play a role, particularly in account-based strategies where you can use geotargeting to display ads close to their office locations, for example.
For high-value deals, this kind of reinforcement can help build familiarity and trust, especially when combined with consistent digital messaging across mobile and desktop.
“Obviously there’s a fine line between good targeting and getting a bit too creepy with over-targeting,” Stuart warned. “It’s about getting that balance right.”
AI Can’t Fix a Weak Strategy
Stuart’s take on AI was pragmatic. When used well, it can accelerate research, help teams interpret large volumes of information, and support optimization workflows.
But the value of AI depends on prompts, inputs, and clear objectives. It’s not a replacement for strategy, and it still requires fact-checking and oversight.
It’s likely that automation will continue to increase, and that more of the mechanics of buying and optimization are likely to become increasingly automated over time.
“At a basic level, it can be a shortcut to get some extremely useful information…” Stuart said. “It’s just a case of using it in the in the right way and intelligently.”
Turn Anonymous Signals into Pipeline
When as much as 80% of the journey happens before buyers identify themselves, relying on forms alone means you are missing a large share of real demand.
Lead Forensics reveals the companies visiting your website, even when they do not convert. That gives your team earlier visibility into which accounts are researching, what they are interested in, and where intent is building, so you can prioritize outreach and accelerate pipeline.
Book a demo to see how Lead Forensics helps you act on buying signals earlier.
FAQs: Key Questions from the Webinar
1. How has B2B media evolved in recent years?
In recent years, B2B media has evolved and become more complex due to two major shifts: the growing number of platforms and publications available, and the increasing size of the buying committee. There are now more places to reach buyers, but also more stakeholders involved in decisions, which makes targeting and messaging more challenging.
2. Why is early-stage awareness more important than ever in B2B?
Around 80% of the purchase journey is completed before a buyer becomes identifiable. By that point, shortlists may already be formed. Furthermore, only a small percentage of your audience is in-market at any given time. That’s why early-stage interest is more important than ever in B2B: you need to maintain presence earlier in the journey to ensure your target accounts are aware of you once they’re ready to buy.
3. Should B2B media strategies focus only on decision-makers?
B2B media strategies shouldn’t just focus on decision makers. In the early stages of the funnel, influencers within the buying committee often shape recommendations before decisions are made. Focusing exclusively on decision-makers too early can limit influence and inflate costs. This means that your targeting should evolve as accounts move through the funnel.
4. How should B2B marketers measure media performance across the funnel?
Your B2B media measurement metrics must align with the purpose of each stage. Early-stage campaigns should be measured using reach and engagement indicators, while later-stage campaigns can be judged by conversion and pipeline metrics. You could use marketing mix modelling as a longer-term way to understand contribution, although it is not a quick fix.
5. What role will AI play in B2B media planning in 2026 and beyond?
AI and automation already play a big role in B2B media planning, particularly when it comes to audience analysis and optimization. It’s likely that automation will continue to increase over time, though it still requires human direction and clear objectives to be effective.
