From campaigns to credibility: how brands build authority that lasts

Think before you speak. It’s simple advice, but it endures for a reason. The most compelling arguments and the sharpest insights are rarely improvised; they are shaped, challenged and refined before they are put into the world.

The same principle applies in B2B marketing. Volume is not what cuts through. Clarity is. And the difference between the two comes down to strategy.

That idea sat at the heart of a recent FT Longitude CMO panel, part of Leading Edge, our community for senior marketing, brand and communications leaders to exchange perspectives, challenge thinking and share what is working. Hosted at the FT’s London HQ by FT CMO Finola McDonnell, the discussion brought together Kate Martin, CMO at GateOne; Leisl Smith, SVP Marketing and Communications at FreedomPay; and David Keene, Co-founder of Agentive.

What followed was a conversation rooted firmly upstream, focused on ideas, positioning and strategic intent rather than outputs alone. In this blog, we summarise the main CMO insights from the panel, exploring how leading marketers are building B2B brand authority.

What does it take to resonate with B2B audiences today?

Clarity over complexity

Kate Martin
“We need a clear message and to avoid random acts of content. I have a significant mushroom problem where content pops up from all corners of the organisation. And as a small marketing team, getting our hands around that and trying to shepherd everything into the right form is important. We need to kill a few things off along the way too.”

“And as we look to take the business to the next level, and how we’re going to get increased visibility and awareness, we need to decide where we want to play at a flagship level.”

Distinctive thinking travels further than budget

Liesl Smith
“Younger brands have a challenge – how are they going to break through when they don’t have a 20-year legacy? Look at cool brands like Nvidia – they haven’t been around that long but everyone in this room has heard of them. They break the mold. How? They are finding a good core message built around the pain points of customers. They then turn this into content and rinse and repeat over time.”

“There are three core elements which make a great idea: First is reach – so how many lives is this message touching? Second is relevance – is there a curiosity element to your idea that resonates with your customer? Finally it’s about emotion. Does this grab a human? Does it pull on the heartstrings? Does it make them sad, or even angry? This is especially important in B2B – it needs to grab their attention and their curiosity.”

Making an emotional connection

David Keene
“We’re all storytellers. And with a young brand, we tell a different story now. When we go and talk to people, we look at their needs and wants, their pain points. The pain points now are not enough pipeline, less headcount, and less budget, so you have to do more with less.”

“So you find a way of telling stories and providing supporting infrastructure so that you get a moment that matters and that resonates. Those stories might be built around thought leadership, for example.”

“It’s about crafting a story that isn’t dull and that people can tag that kind of emotion to, that human connection.”

How do you turn messaging into measurable commercial impact?

Earn credibility with commercial teams

Liesl Smith
“The way to get noticed is to bring in leads that drive revenue and then show that ROI. I have a strong relationship with the CFO and sales leadership and we speak on a weekly basis. That’s how you get extra budget and how you get noticed.”

Build alignment early, not after the fact

Liesl Smith
“Once we did a campaign where we took over a city which was hosting a trade show – we did a lot of airport and out-of-home, paid marketing and so on. We went deep all around a certain product we were launching.”

“But we didn’t allow enough to work with the sales team. We only allowed a month, and they weren’t clear on the whole proposition and there ended up with a misalignment of understanding. We didn’t get the results we were hoping for. So one of the major lessons I learned was to work with the sales team sooner – maybe even about 6 months out.”

How can you make sure your message stands out in the AI world?

Don’t rely on AI for content generation

David Keene
“It’s all about doing something human. We’ve done a lot of AB testing on this – if you have an AI-generated image on a LinkedIn post, its reach is maybe a third of the reach you’d get if you have just text and a human story. It’s all about avoiding the slop.”

Build your B2B brand authority

For more CMO perspectives on building B2B brand authority, register for the webinar version of The work before the words.