B2B marketing insights for
those targeting a niche
Insights, learnings and stories from the world of B2B marketing and communications, direct from Velo’s B2B agency team
B2B Audiences
Understanding the audience is where good B2B marketing starts. Marketers are often trying to solve for vague targeting, weak messaging and poor conversion caused by not knowing enough about buyers, buying groups, motivations and decision journeys. The challenge is turning audience knowledge into a sharper strategy and more relevant communications.
That means learning about segmentation, personas, buying units, audience research, intent signals, firmographics, psychographics, journey stages and the practical differences between who influences, specifies, approves and buys.
Our insight articles unpack how to understand B2B audiences more clearly, how to turn insight into action and how stronger audience thinking improves targeting, messaging, content and campaign performance.
B2B Audiences, B2B Campaigns, B2B Research, B2B Strategy
Can Reddit provide useful insights for B2B marketers?
Reddit conversations cover an enormous range of ground, from hobbies and politics to niche communities that have nothing to do with work. But only a narrow slice of that activity is useful for B2B planning. Reddit’s B2B activity is heavily concentrated. Analysis of 522 million Reddit mentions found that 67% of B2B recommendation activity happens […]
ABM, B2B Audiences, B2B GTM, B2B Marketing in manufacturing, B2B Marketing in Professional Services, B2B Strategy
How to build trust in your brand when targeting the defence sector
Most B2B marketing runs on proof: named customers, published outcomes, a case study for every objection. Defence marketing rarely gets that version of the game. Contracts stay classified. Customers stay unnamed. Case studies still exist, but they carry more weight when built to fit those limits rather than despite them, and the real competition usually starts before […]
B2B Advocacy, B2B Audiences, B2B Marketing in Professional Services, B2B Strategy
How do you influence buying decisions before they’re even being made?
There’s an uncomfortable truth sitting at the heart of most B2B marketing right now. Recommendation is the most influential driver of revenue, but it can only be indirectly influenced – and it’s even harder to measure. The channels you can measure are rarely where the real decision gets made. The channels where it does – the peer conversation, the internal Slack thread, the industry […]
B2B Advocacy, B2B Audiences, B2B Branding, B2B Campaigns, B2B Content, B2B Marketing in Technology
How Tech Marketers should prepare for 2026
Most B2B tech marketers are optimising for the wrong outcome. They’re chasing reach, perfecting attribution models, and testing endless variations of the same campaign. But when a prospect is ready to shortlist, when a customer is asked for a recommendation, when a board member needs a supplier, your brand either comes to mind, or it […]
B2B Advocacy, B2B Audiences, B2B Branding, B2B Campaigns, B2B Content, B2B Marketing in Professional Services
How Professional Services Marketers should start 2026
There is a hard truth. Nobody wakes up excited to hire a facilities management company. No finance director celebrates finding a new insurance broker. Building services, business services, B2B insurance – these aren’t impulse purchases. They’re considered decisions about who you’re going to trust with something important: your operations, your risk, your reputation. And when […]
B2B Advocacy, B2B Audiences, B2B Research
Customer recommendation is the main metric that matters in B2B marketing.
In B2B, there’s one signal that matters. Not your CTR. Not your MQL count. Not even your pipeline size. Just one thing – would your customer recommend you without being asked? If it’s no, the rest of the metrics don’t matter. You’ll have issues with retention and repeat business. Recommendation is the real signal of […]
ABM, B2B Audiences, B2B Campaigns, B2B Marketing in manufacturing, B2B Marketing in Technology, B2B Research
Targeting Health, Safety, Environment and Compliance Leaders – A B2B Marketing Persona Deep Dive
When safety, compliance and operational continuity are non-negotiable, Health, Safety, Environment and Compliance (HSEC) leaders aren’t just part of your audience — they’re your gatekeepers to trust and long-term business. They sit at the intersection of people, process and policy, with remits that stretch from PPE procurement to incident investigation. Their goal is simple but […]
ESG leaders are influencing your customers’ buying decisions. Who? What? How? Why? Your complete guide.
How do you reach ESG leaders as they are already influencing your customer’s buying decisions? Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations guide business strategy across many sectors. For B2B marketers, understanding ESG and who drives this within their target customers is becoming more important. They are a new player in the buying unit, whose influence […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Marketing in manufacturing
Need a B2B persona for targeting Facilities Managers or Buildings Managers?
Knowing your audience is the first step in constructing strong B2B marketing campaigns. You need to understand their motivations and pain points, but also how you can pragmatically reach them. This series of articles provides deep dives on the audiences we target most regularly here at Velo. Many sizable organisations manage their facilities themselves. These […]
Need a B2B persona for senior HR Leaders?
Knowing your audience is the first step in constructing strong B2B marketing campaigns. You need to understand their motivations and pain points, but also how you can pragmatically reach them. This series of articles provides deep dives on the audiences we target most regularly here at Velo. Senior leaders at large organisations who are responsible […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Marketing in manufacturing
Need a B2B persona for production managers in an industrial setting?
Knowing your audience is the first step in constructing strong B2B marketing campaigns. You need to understand their motivations and pain points, but also how you can pragmatically reach them. This series of articles provides deep dives on the audiences we target most regularly here at Velo. In most manufacturing and industrial plants, customers with […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Marketing in Professional Services, B2B Marketing in Technology
Need a B2B persona for targeting faculty at higher education institutions?
Knowing your audience is the first step in constructing strong B2B marketing campaigns. You need to understand their motivations and pain points, but also how you can pragmatically reach them. This series of articles provides deep dives on the audiences we target most regularly here at Velo. Faculty is an audience that is not well-known. […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Campaigns, B2B Content, B2B Marketing in Insurance, B2B Marketing in manufacturing, B2B Marketing in Professional Services, B2B Marketing in Technology, Customer Experience
Is there more to marketing effectively across EMEAR than just translating your marketing? Yes.
Is there a country called EMEAR? Has anyone ever said they live or work in EMEAR? Does everyone that lives in France have the same habits, preferences and challenges as people that live in Germany? Of course not. So why do so many B2B marketers treat EMEAR as if it is all one homogeneous zone? […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Campaigns, B2B Marketing in manufacturing, B2B Marketing in Technology, B2B Strategy
What are the lessons for B2B marketers trying to create a new market for their product? Lessons from the BSRIA briefing on Air Quality.
After attending BSRIA’s Briefing on Air Quality, I wanted to share the lessons I observed for marketers taking products to market in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) which apply to anyone bringing a product to a niche market. From HVAC to building services, many Velo clients — including BSRIA — are active in this space. And […]
How should marketers that target a niche adapt to Generation Z’s growing influence on B2B Buying?
Generation Z has not only entered the B2B workforce but is also shaping the landscape of B2B buying. It is essential that B2B marketers targeting niche markets, understand and adapt to the preferences and behaviours of this new generation. They’re here, and they’re making decisions that affect your marketing success. This article explores the habits […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Campaigns, B2B Marketing in Insurance, B2B Marketing in manufacturing, B2B Marketing in Professional Services, B2B Marketing in Technology, B2B Strategy
Why should you target the 95% of your audience that are not in the market?
Over the years, there have been many B2B marketing studies that changed the industry’s thinking. You’ll be familiar with their headline results but often keen to know more, and to review the original source. This series of articles provides an overview of the research and how they apply for B2B marketers targeting a niche. Not […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Research, B2B Strategy
The cost of living crisis: implications for B2B marketing
The implications for B2B marketers and B2B marketing of recessions and the cost of living crisis. There’s no doubt that the economy in the UK and Europe is in the grip of another challenging crunch right now. The Office of National Statistics reported the following in June 2022: Household Cost Indices (HCIs) saw similar inflation […]
B2B Audiences, Customer Experience
How to effectively plan customer experience touchpoints using user story mapping
Our agency formula for ‘B2B marketing to be proud of’ consists of three core components: Customer Experience, Integrated Marketing and Brand Communications. We believe these elements working together ensure that your audience connects with your brand, your customers are nurtured towards an ultimate sales goal, and you turn engagement into long-term customer loyalty. If any […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Content, B2B Research
All You Wanted To Know About Research-Led Marketing
Not sure how to implement research into marketing campaigns? We have everything you need to get started. Part 2 of our podcast with Peter Cohen of HolistiCyber and Matt Lewis of NCCGroup is now live. In Part – An into to research-led marketing – we discussed what makes for compelling research-based marketing and provided examples of thegood, the bad, and the factually incorrect. But […]
B2B Audiences, B2B Campaigns, B2B Content
Localising your B2B campaign for local markets: how to make it work
Localising your global campaigns provides an opportunity to increase market engagement and lift your ROI. That seems pretty obvious, but why then do so many companies fail to make their content relevant, engaging, and easy for their potential international audiences to consume? Well written and easy-to-understand messaging in a native language makes readers feel more […]
Looking for your new
agency partner?
