Paula Simpson

There's a mass exodus happening in B2B marketing, and it's not just people fleeing yet another meeting that could have been an email.

Between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, B2B companies increased their LinkedIn ad budgets by 31.7% while Google ad spending limped along with a measly 6% growth. That's five times the difference in growth rates. This isn't a test. This isn't a trend. This is a serious pivot at the executive level. 

If you're still allocating your marketing budget like it's 2024, it’s time to have a serious chat. It’s not me, it’s you. Something needs to change.

The traditional channels are crashing out

What worked ten years ago doesn’t work today. What worked five years ago doesn’t work today. Increasingly, what worked one year ago doesn’t work today. The world is changing, and you’re sitting there, watching it spin on by, sipping your matcha latte and falling further behind.

We surveyed 125+ US-focused marketing leaders, and analysed data from 100+ B2B companies. Our LinkedIn Benchmarks Report gives intriguing insights into modern marketing, what works, and what is swiftly failing.

Organic traffic is tanking

While the aggregate numbers show a modest 1.7% growth in organic traffic, dig deeper, and you'll find the median organization actually experienced a -1.25% decline. Companies with 50K+ monthly traffic saw 67% of them losing ground.

Google's 2024-2025 algorithm updates basically carpet-bombed enterprise sites relying on historical domain authority. If you'd been coasting along as an established website, you're probably feeling the pain right now.

Paid search is having a full-blown meltdown

The paid search numbers are rough:

• Median paid search traffic change: -39%
• Aggregate conversion rate change: -8%
• Median CPC increase: 24%
• Companies with declining conversion rates: 65%

You're paying more, for less traffic, that converts at lower rates. That's a channel in crisis. According to our analysis of over 100 B2B companies, paid search is suffering on all fronts. Higher competition and more automated bidding and LLM’s impact on buyer behaviour are eating away at effectiveness and increasing costs.

Gated content is closing its gates (on you)

Gated content was the best strategy for the longest time; high-quality leads liked the valuable resources and the ROI was outstanding. But like newspapers in the time of social media, the relevance and impact is waning.

• Webinar registrations are down 12.7%
• eBook downloads among established programs have dropped by 5%
• Report downloads have fallen 26.3%

Now that B2B buyers can just ask ChatGPT for cliffnotes, your long and detailed gated whitepaper suddenly looks a lot less appealing. It sucks, we know.

The only demand gen action showing resilience? Demo requests, up 9.5%. But according to Forrester, 81% of buyers have a preferred vendor at first contact, and 85% have already established purchase requirements before reaching out. That demo request is a tick-boxing exercise because all the research is already done.

The great budget migration: Where the budget's actually going

LinkedIn's share of the digital marketing budget jumped from 31.3% to 37.6% in just one year. Google's share? Dropped from 68.7% to 62.4%. That's a 6.3 percentage point swing. In marketing budget terms, that's a massive shift.

68.3% of companies increased their overall digital marketing budgets, but they're specifically pouring that new money into LinkedIn at a rate 5X higher than Google. This isn't incremental optimization. This is systematic reallocation based on proven ROI. 

But wait, there's more: The brand awareness revolution

Here's where things get really interesting. CMOs aren't just shifting budgets to LinkedIn. They're fundamentally changing how they advertise on the platform.

Campaign objectives focused on brand awareness or engagement jumped from 17.5% to 31.3% of LinkedIn spend. Meanwhile, lead generation objectives plummeted from 53.9% to 39.4%.

But wait, aren't we all supposed to be focused on leads and pipeline?

Here's why this change makes perfect sense: when 92% of buyers start their journey with a vendor already in mind, the battle is won or lost during the brand awareness phase. HubSpot's 2025 State of Marketing Report found that 92% of all marketers plan to maintain or increase their investments in brand awareness in 2025. The smart money knows that direct response lead gen on LinkedIn increasingly captures only in-market buyers who've already formed their preferences.

The real strategic leverage? Top-of-funnel brand investment. Because if you aren’t on that preferred vendor list, your goose is cooked, and you’ve missed out. 

The ROI case that makes CFOs actually happy

Traditional channels are failing and everyone's moving to LinkedIn (like rats deserting a sinking ship). But does LinkedIn actually work?

Here are some numbers that’ll make your CFO's eyes light up.

LinkedIn vs. Google: The head-to-head showdown

Based on analysis of our Factors.ai customer data:

• Median ROAS: LinkedIn 1.8x vs. Google 1.25x (44% advantage for LinkedIn)
• Cost per ICP account engaged: LinkedIn $257 vs. Google $560 (LinkedIn wins at half the cost)
• Cost per qualified meeting: LinkedIn has a 23% cost advantage
• Average Contract Value: LinkedIn-sourced deals close at 28.6% higher ACV

Read that last one again. Not only are you paying less to acquire customers on LinkedIn, but those customers are worth 28.6% more. It’s like ordering a single-scoop ice cream and getting a double-scoop for free, because you know the guy behind the counter. 

The multiplicative effect: LinkedIn makes everything else better

Every cook knows how to make meals taste better. The multiplicative effect in the kitchen is butter. The addition of butter makes everything better. Burnt? Scrape it off and add butter. Flavourless? Stir through some butter. Tastes too healthy? Butter.

LinkedIn is like butter. It takes everything to the next level.

• ICP accounts that saw LinkedIn ads convert from paid search at 46% higher rates (up to 69% higher in top-performing campaigns)
• 43% improvement in meeting-to-deal conversion for SDR outbound when accounts saw LinkedIn ads first
• 112% lift in conversion rates from website content pages for accounts exposed to LinkedIn ads

Think about what this means: LinkedIn isn't just driving direct conversions. It's making your entire marketing stack more effective. Your paid search? Better. Your content marketing? Better. Your SDR team's cold outreach? Suddenly, not so cold anymore. Toasty warm, really.

LinkedIn is not just a brand awareness platform. It’s your full-stack marketing butter. 

The quality advantage: Not all leads are created equal

Let's talk about something that traditional metrics miss: lead quality.

71.9% of B2B marketers agree that leads from LinkedIn ads align more closely with their ICP and are more likely to be senior-level decision-makers compared to other channels. When you can target the actual CFO, VP of IT, and Director of Marketing (not just cross your fingers and hope that your ad reaches them) you fundamentally change the game.

LinkedIn's professional graph gives you access to real buying committees. And with 13 stakeholders involved in the average B2B deal, you need to influence the entire committee, not just your champion. LinkedIn makes that possible at scale.

How to make the shift (without screwing it up)

If you’re ready to take the plunge on LinkedIn, how do you do it? Here's how you can actually execute this budget reallocation without looking like you're panic-pivoting:

1. Start with the brand, not the leads

I know this feels counterintuitive, but trust the data. The top performers are allocating 31.3% of their LinkedIn spend to brand awareness and engagement. This is because 81% of buyers have a preferred vendor before formal evaluation even begins. 

You can't capture demand you didn't create awareness for. Build mental availability with the 95% of your market that's out of market right now, and you'll be on the shortlist when they're ready to buy.

2. Diversify your creative formats

Here's what the smart marketers are doing:

• Video ads: Up from 11.9% to 16.6% of spend (+4.7pp). LinkedIn's platform data shows video gets five times the engagement compared to static posts.
• Document ads: Up from 6.4% to 10.7% of spend (+4.3pp). These enable native content consumption without requiring landing page visits.
• Connected TV: Exploded from 0.5% to 6.3% of spend, a massive 12.6X increase.

Stop putting all your eggs in the single-image ad basket. Diversification is the key.

3. Embrace automated bidding (yes, really)

Automated bidding adoption jumped from 27.6% to 37.5% among bottom-of-funnel campaigns. This signals something important: LinkedIn's algorithms have gotten smart enough that you can trust them.

But here's the critical part: automated bidding only works if you're feeding it quality conversion signals. LinkedIn's Conversions API (CAPI) customers see a 20% reduction in cost per acquisition and a 31% increase in attributed conversions. Set this up before you scale your spend.

4. Think beyond the LinkedIn feed

The best marketers are expanding their LinkedIn presence across multiple touchpoints:

• Offsite delivery: Up from 12.9% to 16.7% of spend
• Connected TV partnerships with Paramount, Roku, and NBCUniversal
• Thought Leader Ads to amplify executive content.

Your buyers aren't just on LinkedIn during work hours. They're at home streaming TV, reading articles, and consuming content across the web. Meet them there with consistent messaging.

5. Measure what actually matters

Stop obsessing over click-through rates and start tracking:

• Cost per ICP account engaged
• Multi-touch attribution across your entire funnel
• Pipeline contribution by channel
• Revenue attribution (not just lead attribution)

In-platform metrics like CTR and CPC don't tell the full story. Funnel benchmarks provide a clearer picture of how LinkedIn ads drive pipeline creation and revenue generation.

The bottom line: Adapt or get left behind

Here's what it comes down to: 56.4% of B2B marketers plan to increase their LinkedIn budgets by more than 10% in 2026. It’s the great migration.

The buyers have changed how they research and purchase. Traditional channels are under pressure. And LinkedIn has evolved from "that place where recruiters and Bitcoin bros spam you" to a sophisticated B2B marketing machine that delivers measurable ROI.

The companies winning in B2B today aren't the ones with the best funnel optimization or the trickiest growth hacks. They're the ones who recognized that the buyer's journey is no longer linear, that brand awareness drives vendor shortlisting, and that being present where decision-makers actually spend their time is worth more than clever conversion rate optimization.

So the question isn't whether you should shift your budget to LinkedIn. The question is: are you going to lead this shift, or are you going to lag while your competitors capture the market?

If you're still allocating less than 30% of your digital budget to LinkedIn while your competitors are at 40%+, you've got work to do. Factors.ai can help. 

B2B buying committees have undergone a generational reset. Who influences decisions, how they research, and what they expect from vendors has shifted, and marketing strategies need to catch up.

According to Forrester's State of Business Buying 2024 Report, the typical B2B buying committee for enterprise deals now involves 13 stakeholders, and that number is growing. While size matters, the transformation is more than just a numbers game. The generational makeup of these committees changes entirely how purchasing decisions are made, what criteria matter most, and where trust is established.

Millennials and Gen Z now account for 64-71% of B2B buyers, according to Forrester. In deals worth more than $1 million, 67% of buyers come from these two cohorts. This demographic transition matters because these generations have very different expectations of vendors and conduct research in ways no previous generation has.

So how do you build authentic trust with a committee of 13 stakeholders spanning multiple generations, each with distinct values, research behaviors, and decision criteria? The answer is LinkedIn.

Gen Z and Millennials want the real deal

Trust has always mattered in B2B relationships, but for Millennials and Gen Z, it's become the defining, decisive factor. These generations don't just evaluate vendors on product features and pricing; they also assess alignment with their personal and professional values.

The data reveals a striking pattern: 86% of Gen Z are more likely to buy from a company that supports social causes. A national survey by BBMG and GlobeScan found that Gen Z does not trust businesses to act in the best interests of society. 

This skepticism extends directly into B2B purchasing. Research shows that 63% of Gen Z consumers would abandon a brand they felt was not authentic or trustworthy, compared to 53-59% of older age groups. The message is clear: authenticity and trustworthiness drive loyalty for younger buyers.

For Millennials, the emphasis shifts slightly but remains values-driven. Research comparing shopping preferences shows that Millennials prioritize brand reputation more strongly than Gen Z, and they place significantly higher importance on sustainability considerations. As one study notes, Millennials approach shopping, valuing transparency, sustainability, and reliability.

These aren't superficial preferences. They change everything about how purchasing decisions are made. Corporate platitudes? Hard pass. Millennials and Gen Z have grown up in an apocalyptic, burning world, and want the world to be better. 

How modern buyers form preferences

Understanding when and how buying committees form their vendor preferences is vital in order to build real, genuine trust. The data reveals an uncomfortable reality for traditional B2B marketing, though: by the time vendors enter formal consideration, the decision is already made. If you’re not the chosen one (before you even know they were looking), you’re cooked.

According to Forrester's 2024 Buyers' Journey Survey, 92% of B2B buyers start their journey with at least one vendor in mind. Even more striking: 81% already have a preferred vendor when they first make contact, and 85% have defined their requirements before raising their hand. And scarier still, according to Hubspot’s 2025 State of Sales Report, 71% of buyers prefer independent research over talking to sales.

This means the critical trust-building phase happens during the dark funnel. This is not when Darth Vader does the research, rather it’s independent research, consulting peers, and forming opinions without consulting the actual vendor. 

Those kids out there on their newfangled LLMs, ‘doing their own research’, and making decisions based entirely on information accessible online and vibes.

The research phase has also evolved beyond what you want potential clients to see on your website. 67.4% of Gen Z rely on online reviews when researching a product, and 66% will avoid a product if reviews are outdated or insufficient. 80% of Gen Z trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, making those case studies ineffective if your online reviews are less than glowing.

For B2B marketers, this creates a quandary. You have to get your peeps to trust you before they signal buying intent. Luckily, there's a platform where professional buyers conduct research, evaluate vendors, and form preferences. That platform is LinkedIn.

Why LinkedIn solves the multi-stakeholder issue

LinkedIn's evolution from professional-networking-and-Bitcoin-bro to the place where all professionals hang out makes it the ideal platform for building trust with today's complex buying committees.

1. It hooks you up with real, actual, people

LinkedIn provides access to actual decision-makers by role, function, and seniority. Unlike account-based marketing that targets companies broadly, LinkedIn enables precise engagement with the CFO concerned about ROI, the VP of IT evaluating integration complexity, and the Director of Marketing assessing user adoption. And, it does this all at the same time, with messaging tailored to everyone’s specific concerns.

According to our analysis of over 100 B2B companies, 71.9% of marketers agree that leads from LinkedIn ads align more closely with their ideal customer profile and are more likely to be senior-level decision-makers compared to other channels. When you're trying to influence a 13-person buying committee, this precision becomes essential.

2. Building trust from and to every level

Younger buyers trust authentic voices over corporate messaging. Research shows that Gen Z and Millennials trust influencers and peers more than traditional advertisements. They seek unfiltered experiences and genuine expertise. In B2B contexts, this translates to executive thought leadership (but you can’t call it that, because that’s corporate-speak).

Data from our benchmark analysis shows that 53% of B2B marketers now amplify organic posts with Thought Leader Ads, recognizing that perspectives from real people like founders, executives, and subject matter experts build credibility that branded content cannot.

These ads showcase posts from individuals rather than companies, creating the authentic, human connection that younger buyers demand. And this can happen across the entire workforce; while the CEO connects with other CEOs, all staff can be ambassadors for their employer. Everyone from the receptionist through to the CFO is important to create genuine, positive, and authentic connections.

3. The multiplicative effect: LinkedIn makes everything better

LinkedIn's power extends beyond direct engagement on the platform itself. Our analysis of cross-channel attribution reveals that accounts exposed to LinkedIn ads demonstrate remarkably higher conversion rates across all marketing channels:

• 46% higher paid search conversion rates (up to 69% in top-performing campaigns)
• 43% improvement in meeting-to-deal conversion for SDR outbound when accounts saw LinkedIn ads first
• 112% lift in conversion rates from website content pages for accounts exposed to LinkedIn ads

This multiplicative effect is because brand recognition and trust built on LinkedIn make every subsequent touchpoint more effective. When a Gen Z procurement manager sees your paid search ad after engaging with your executive's thought leadership on LinkedIn, they're not encountering a stranger. They already feel like they know you, and more importantly, they trust you. 

4. The 95-5 rule: You don’t know most of your future customers exist

The LinkedIn B2B Institute's research established a critical insight: only 5% of your target market is actively in-market at any given time. The other 95% are out-of-market but will eventually (hopefully) buy. For complex enterprise deals with 13-person committees, the buying window might be 12-18 months away.

But we know that for many buyers, the first you’ll know about their interest in your product is when they request a demo. If you’re waiting for a bat signal sent to your desk, you’ve already missed out. Instead, you must build what behavioral scientists call "mental availability": you’ve already got to be in their minds when they enter the market.

LinkedIn enables you to do these two important things:

1. Broad-reach content that builds mental availability with the 95% through brand awareness campaigns, executive thought leadership, and educational content. Basically, putting you on their radar
2. Precision targeting to capture the 5% showing intent through retargeting, account-based campaigns, and lead generation

This Swiss-army-knife platform solves all the issues that CMOs lose sleep over: building long-term brand equity while hitting short-term pipeline targets (no more crying over pipeline targets).

How to make LinkedIn work for you

For B2B organizations navigating the complexity of modern buying committees, several principles should guide your LinkedIn strategy.

• Invest in authentic voices. Corporate content alone isn’t going to build the trust that buyers want. Empower executives and subject matter experts to share genuine perspectives. It’s also OK if the perspectives acknowledge industry challenges or go against a more traditional narrative. Be authentic. Be brave. 
• With 13 stakeholders involved in average enterprise deals, your LinkedIn strategy must reach and influence multiple people. 
• Prioritize brand building over lead capture. When 81% of buyers have a preferred vendor before formal evaluation, the leverage point is mental availability. The data shows top performers are allocating 31.3% of LinkedIn spend to brand awareness and engagement.
• Embrace format diversity. Single image ads declined from 61.2% to 53.3% of spend while video ads (+4.7pp), Document Ads (+4.3pp), and Connected TV (12.6X growth) captured budget. Millennials and Gen Z acknowledge we all learn in different ways; not everyone likes long-form blogs, or TikTok videos, so there has to be a mix.
• Measure trust indicators, not just conversion metrics. Cost-per-lead optimization misses the strategic value of trust-building. Track metrics like cost per ICP account engaged, cross-channel lift effects, and customer lifetime value to understand the full impact of trust-first marketing.

Trust and authenticity hit different

The expansion of buying committees to 13 stakeholders, combined with the generational shift toward values-driven decision-making, has changed the B2B landscape. Trust and authenticity are vital if you want to build trust.

LinkedIn is the platform where professional buyers research, evaluate, and form preferences. This makes it indispensable for trust-building at scale. As one marketing leader observed, B2B marketers surveyed indicate that 56.4% will increase their LinkedIn budgets by more than 10% in 2026. Whatever is going on, it’s working for them.

Have you got rizz? Is your business keeping it real? Or are you letting your competitors take your customers while you are still stuck on AdWords?

If you love stats and information that’ll bring you revenue, you should download the Benchmark Report, now.