If you’re only capturing demand, you’re already behind

The pressure to hit pipeline targets this quarter is real. But so is the fact that 81% of buyers already have a preferred vendor before a conversation even starts. If your marketing only activates when someone is ready to buy, you are invisible for most of the journey that actually matters.

In this episode of The Outreach Fix, Kit Smith is joined by Beth Crowe, Growth Director, and Ellie Wraith, Content Lead, from Digitaloft, Sopro’s SEO and digital PR partner. They dig into one of the most persistent tensions in B2B growth: how to keep hitting short-term targets without sacrificing the market development that drives long-term revenue.

What you’ll learn:

• Why buyers are typically 70% through their journey before they ever speak to sales
• Why over-focusing on in-market buyers leaves most of your TAM untouched
• What happens to pipeline when brand investment is consistently deprioritised
• How outbound can support both demand creation and demand capture at the same time
• How to show stakeholders progress and build confidence before deals close

Key takeaways:

Chasing only the 5% of in-market buyers is not a growth strategy. The other 95% will be ready eventually. The brands already familiar when that moment arrives win more often.

84% of people are more likely to respond to outreach from a brand they have previously encountered. Being known before the conversation starts is not a nice-to-have. It’s a measurable conversion advantage.

Short-term and long-term do not have to conflict. Outbound set up correctly serves both demand capture and demand creation. Both compound over time and neither works well in isolation.

Cutting brand investment under pressure is the mistake that shows up 12 months later. The brands that maintain visibility during difficult periods consistently outperform the ones that went quiet.

Strategy transfers. Industry does not. The strongest case studies show how an approach solved a problem, not just that you have worked in the same sector before.