Brand vs Demand: getting the balance right
In B2B technology, demand often wins the budget.
Because it feels safe.
It’s easy to measure: inputs and outputs are predictable.
You spend a million, you expect X leads, Y opportunities and Z revenue. Easy right?
Performance marketing gives a comforting sense of control. But it can be a false one.
The short-term fallacy
Demand generation works. It builds awareness of problems, educates buyers, and converts interest into action.
But most of that demand already exists. It’s short-term and in-market. Focused on the small proportion of buyers who are ready to buy now.
In fact, research from the LinkedIn B2B Institute shows that only 5% of potential buyers are in-market at any given time*.
Brand investment creates future demand.
It shapes perceptions long before buyers enter the funnel. It builds recognition, trust, and preference that demand activity can later convert.
Without brand, demand efficiency declines over time.
You keep fishing in the same pond, spending more to get less.
The right balance is simple: brand primes the market; demand activates it.
The evidence for balance
Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and LinkedIn’s B2B Institute shows that growth happens when brands outspend their share of the market in visibility.
It’s called Share of Voice (SOV). Your visibility versus your competitors.
When your SOV is higher than your Share of Market (SOM), you tend to grow.
This is known as Extra Share of Voice (ESOV), and it’s one of the strongest predictors of future market share growth.
Long-term, emotional, brand-led campaigns drive that visibility. Short-term, conversion-led campaigns harvest it. Both matter, but they work on different timelines.
Marketing-effectiveness research often cites a rule-of-thumb of approximately 60% of budget to brand building and 40% to sales activation. In the context of B2B tech, the exact ratio may vary by category, model and maturity.
Companies that get the balance right outperform peers on both growth and profitability.
Why brand matters most in B2B
In complex, high-value buying decisions, brand carries more weight than price or features.
Buyers choose brands they know and trust, even when they cost more.
Because in professional buying, confidence matters. When your reputation is on the line, you don’t pick the cheapest option, you pick the safest one.
Brand reduces perceived risk and increases the confidence to act.
It shortens evaluation, strengthens loyalty, and makes every conversion channel work harder.
The conclusion
It’s not brand or demand. It’s brand and demand.
Brand builds momentum; demand keeps it flowing.
The goal isn’t to choose between the two, but to connect them, so every short-term campaign builds on a long-term foundation.
In B2B tech, balance isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the performance multiplier that many companies overlook.
Because brand is what makes demand work.
This article is part of a series exploring how B2B technology companies can strengthen their brand and communications through a structured, productised system.
See the other blogs in the series
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