How to drive business growth by investing in B2B marketing

You want to grow your B2B business. You're likely already investing in sales, operations, talent, and product development to make that happen. But there's another critical growth lever that often gets overlooked: strategic marketing investment.

For many B2B companies, marketing is viewed as a cost center rather than a growth engine. It's the first budget to be cut when times get tight and the last to be restored when conditions improve. This short-term thinking comes at a long-term cost.

After working with hundreds of B2B companies over two decades, we've seen firsthand that companies that treat marketing as a strategic investment consistently outperform their peers. 

Consider one example: a manufacturing company we recently worked with generated $47 million in pipeline growth in just three years by aligning their team, technology, and advertising investments under a focused strategy.

In this article, we'll explore the three essential areas where B2B companies should invest to drive sustainable growth and how to approach each one for maximum impact.

The 3 smartest areas to invest in B2B marketing

Every successful B2B marketing program relies on three core investments: your team, your technology, and your advertising. The right balance across these areas depends on your company size, growth goals, and market position.

1. Build the right team: In-house, outsourced, or hybrid

Your marketing team is the engine behind your growth strategy—and for many B2B companies, that engine is underpowered. Even as average marketing spend rises up to 10% of revenue in 2025, many teams remain too lean to execute effectively. In fact, 71% of CMOs cite lack of internal resources as a top barrier to delivering growth.

The structure of your team, however, matters as much as its size. Depending on your company's scale and goals, you might build an in-house team, rely on external partners, or create a hybrid model that leverages both.

For many mid-sized B2B companies ($5-50M in revenue), a hybrid approach offers the best balance of control and execution capacity. This typically means:

• An internal marketing leader to drive strategy and alignment with business goals
• External specialists who bring expertise in specific growth engine components
• Clear processes for collaboration and measurement

One business services client illustrates this approach perfectly. They combined a lean in-house marketing coordinator with our agency's specialized expertise—allowing them to implement comprehensive growth marketing programs without the overhead of a full in-house team. This hybrid team structure became the foundation for their complete marketing execution strategy, which drove 400% top-line growth over eight years.

2. Invest in marketing technology that scales

Technology is no longer optional in B2B marketing—it's foundational. The right martech stack enables your team to work more efficiently, gather actionable insights, and deliver more personalized buyer experiences at scale.

Unfortunately, many companies treat technology as a silver bullet—buying platforms they never fully utilize or failing to integrate them with existing systems. The key is to invest in tools that align with your strategy and that your team can actually implement effectively.

At minimum, a growth-ready martech stack should include:

• A CRM system as your single source of truth for customer data
• Basic marketing automation to scale personalized outreach
• Analytics infrastructure for performance visibility
• Website and content management tools

When these systems are properly integrated and actively used, the ROI is clear. Companies leveraging advanced analytics report returns of 140–400% over three years.

3. Make strategic advertising investments

Today, digital channels—including paid search, social media, content marketing, and industry publications—account for 40–50% of the average B2B marketing budget. And high-growth companies are investing even more, especially in channels that deliver short- and mid-term pipeline results.

These advertising channels are currently delivering the strongest ROI for B2B marketers:

• In-person events (prioritized by 60% of marketers)
• Paid search campaigns targeting active buyers
• Industry publications and trusted directories
• LinkedIn and professional networks
• Targeted, segmented email campaigns

One professional services client focused 70% of their advertising investment on just two channels: paid search and industry publication placements. The result? A 9.5x increase in qualified leads in two years. Another client shifted budget away from general brand awareness to tightly targeted industry publication partnerships and search campaigns focused on specific buyer pain points—increasing qualified leads by 135%.

Smart B2B marketers are also reserving five to 10% of their media budgets to test emerging platforms and campaign formats—a strategic approach that keeps them ahead of changing buyer behaviors.

Investing in growth, not just marketing

The experiences of our most successful clients reveal a clear pattern: marketing delivers the strongest returns when treated as a strategic business investment, not just a departmental expense.

1. Aligned with clear business objectives: Tied directly to revenue goals and specific growth targets
2. Properly structured: With the right balance of team, technology, and advertising investments
3. Strategically focused: Concentrated on the 2-3 highest-potential growth opportunities rather than spread too thin
4. Consistently measured: With clear KPIs that connect marketing activities to business outcomes

Even in uncertain economic times, companies that maintain smart, strategic marketing investments emerge stronger than those who cut back. They capture market share while competitors go quiet, build momentum that compounds over time, and create sustainable growth engines that drive business value.

Need help optimizing your growth marketing budget or implementing a B2B growth engine? Contact us to discuss how we can help you drive measurable growth.