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These typical B2B ads don’t stop my scrolling.
Heavy text. Graphics from 2006 and very dense (especially for my middle-aged eyes).
Last year I asked why B2B companies use soooo much text in LinkedIn ads. I liked Nick Bennett’s answer:
“Part of it is the wrong success metric. A lot of B2B teams still optimize for form fills, not attention or engagement. So they cram every value prop into one frame, hoping it converts on the spot.”
Where the budget goes
The way B2B marketers allocate spend seems like one of the problems.
Primer’s new study looked at real spend data from 379 B2B advertisers. The typical company puts 84% of paid budget into demand capture campaigns (search, lead gen, conversions).
Only ~8% goes to awareness and engagement. 72 of the 379 spent nothing on it at all.
These are Primer customers, and the split is my own cut of Primer’s raw data. In all 16 buyer categories, the typical advertiser puts between 66% and 93% into capture.
Not sure this makes sense when you have a $50K+ ACV, 9-month sales process, and need to build demand with an ever-growing buying group.
It’s that old 95/5 rule. Only ~5% of B2B buyers are in market at any given time.
I’m not a B2B paid media expert, but I think the “best practices” could use a refresh.
The opportunity I see:
Less polish, more variation (Wispr Flow playbook)
Next-level targeting for “surround sound” effect (agents can help tons).
Less polish, more variation
Since Hector’s X post blew up, I’ve been thinking about if/how his concept could work in B2B.
What he shared looks VERY different than the typical B2B ads I’m scrolling past on LinkedIn and Meta.
He’s second marketer at Wispr Flow. His playbook is more akin to an ecomm/DTC brand than a SaaS brand. Running a creator → UGC → paid playbook that blew everyone’s mind last weekend. 1.9M views on his 15 min video.
This idea stood out in tech/SaaS marketing circles because it’s different. Commenters say it’s “basic” for DTC, but tech marketers are having their minds blown (including me). Every CEO and board member probably texted it to their CMO on Sunday like “can we hire this guy?!?!”
He says they’re launching 500 to 700 creator ads a month. Tons of variance, putting real people in the fold, aligned creator incentives.
But Wispr is prosumer, growing like crazy. Most B2B is different. More like $50K+ ACV, constrained TAM, long sales cycle.
Hector is running a performance program too. What I’d borrow is the creative variety and the way he works with creators.
Could it work? Here’s how I’d try it. I’d love to hear your take on this post thread.
1. ICP engagements as the metric
Pull the likers and commenters, match to your ICP target accounts. You can’t wait 9 months for a conversion, but you can know if you’re in front of the right accounts. Same filter for paid impressions.
Compare that to the form fill. Of every 100 website form fills in Primer’s data, about 31 could be traced to a company. Only 6.5 fit the advertiser’s own ICP.
2. Copy the creator culture
Hector says treat creators “like a sales team.” Careful selection, aligned incentives, weekly calls, perks. That works anywhere.
Kathleen Booth made a good point in the comments on my post: “in B2B creator posting works well when the creator is a user of the product and not just a hype person.” I’d start with practitioners who already use the product.
3. Retainer + incentives tied to ICP engagements
Hector’s “smart retainer” fits. The 7% of ad spend probably doesn’t.
The smart retainer is a $1,000 monthly floor for 25 videos. The 7% is each creator’s cut of the ad spend behind their videos. In B2B I’d keep the floor and pay the incentive on ICP engagements.
4. One new angle per ICP per day
Narrow TAM doesn’t need 600 ads/mo. But as Hector says, copies of keys “open up the same door over and over.” Think “surround sound” for target accounts.
5. Different channels
He’s doing this on Meta. Could also go LinkedIn, X, CTV, newsletters and mix the media formats. Look at how Wispr Flow sponsored Alex Lieberman (longer form text + photos).
Next-level targeting
With agents you can get real precision. Have Claude Code build any dream audience -- have the agent call Apify, Exa, ZoomInfo, Clay, Jev, etc to find & enrich like crazy. You don’t need to build a ton, the agent can do this soooo well now. From this you get better ICP matching (accounts and people), so much less work (uploading, refreshing, etc).
I have Claude Code writing audience refreshes nightly via Primer’s API. One starts with everyone who liked or commented on my LinkedIn posts in the last 90 days. This week that was 2,929 people. Drop the ones who already subscribe, anyone outside the US and Canada, and anyone outside my ICP, and 348 are left. Primer matched 259 of them.
And with zero engineering skills, you can build very targeted and thoughtful systems. I went deeper on that setup in How I’m building.
The best B2B marketing creates a “surround sound” effect within a clear ICP. You can end up with your buyers saying “they are everywhere” without needing to spend like crazy.
I first wrote about surround sound in 2024, after meeting a CMO who was anti MQL, anti spray and pray. His plan: “Instead of spending a little across a lot of accounts, spend a lot for a smaller number. Be everywhere for your top tier.” I still think this way today.
Worth trying?
Many of Hector’s ideas seem viable in B2B.
In B2B I’d judge it on ICP engagements first, then pipeline. Engagement alone wouldn’t earn a bigger budget.
Maybe it won’t work, but at least it’s creative, modern, and not the sea of sameness most B2B audiences get pounded with. And you can tell your CEO and board members you’re taking a swing toward the X post they love so much.
Hector’s 15-minute video is worth it.
Primer’s full state of paid media study:
Which B2B brand’s ads actually stop your scroll? I read all replies.
p.s. I appreciate Keith and the Primer team sponsoring Adam’s GTM Report. I’m a happy user of their tool (I never log in -- Claude controls it all via API which I love).