Five predictions for B2B Businesses in 2025

Five predictions for B2B Businesses in 2025

Recently, someone on LinkedIn said that we shouldn’t do prediction articles. They thought we were better served by doing recaps with lessons learned for the year.

Of course, as a marketer, we are always thinking of ways to share “lessons” we have learned.

I still think there is a place for predictions. I’m not afraid to be wrong. So with that, I am giving you 5 B2B Business predictions for 2025 (and beyond). I may be wrong. Some of these may take longer to happen. 

1. Building a brand will be much more important. Search engines are changing to the AI search era.

In this LinkedIn post, Shama Hyder breaks down exactly why having a developed brand will matter in the era of AI search engines. I really like her trip down memory lane as I remember them well. We went from big box retail to Google as the digital Walmart. 

She explains that AI search engines will show options you want more than endless options like the SERPs do. 

She says, “soon, humans won’t discover your brand through exploration – AI will either present it or filter it out completely.”

She follows with:

“the time to build brand recognition is shrinking dramatically. legacy brands that already have it? They’re about to be worth their weight in gold.”

In this regard, we aren’t racing against competitors to be visible in AI search engines, but against time as that window closes.

As an example, I asked ChatGPT, “what kind of tools can I use to manage multiple WordPress websites?”

The answer it gave me was pretty good and included several brands, including MainWP.

In its conclusion, ChatGPT recommended MainWP as an affordable and customizable option.

MainWP has a well-developed brand and that will be important moving forward in an era of AI search engines.

2. Connecting with our target audience will happen differently. 

Businesses will have to think outside the performative marketing box. 

Online communities have existed for as long as the internet has existed. Do you remember in the early years when you found that forum about your favorite team? Or some other interest.

Most of us started our career in digital marketing that way. But for some reason, many businesses haven’t picked up on using community as a way forward. 

In fact, as businesses become more performance-driven, they focused almost exclusively on bringing customers in the front door, but they forgot they had a back door. Failing to create engaging environments, failing to use good customer service, and failing to support customers have led to a lot of churns. 

So what is the answer?

The answer in many cases is to create superfans. After all, that was the original idea of inbound marketing, but somewhere, we lost our way.

“The entire ideology of the flywheel is based on the fact that happy customers create more customers. This emphasizes the third part of the flywheel: Delight, and how the flywheel is able to efficiently maintain energy or, in this case, a flow of customers. ” History of Inbound Marketing

Large companies have outsourced support and customer service, saving money, and cutting corners and watching customers walk out the door. 

I think we will see a shift where businesses will embrace building communities that strengthen their customers’ loyalty and help create superfans (see the book by Brittany Hodak).

Mark Schaefer believed this so strongly that he wrote the book “Belonging to the Brand: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy” in late 2023.

A good example is building a community is MainWP. We actively engage users in a Facebook Group started by loyal user Ivica Delic. We also have a Discord server where you can get more information on using our product and communicate directly with the staff.

OutSystems has a community that connects various developers who are building online applications and software. It is a very robust community that includes a job board, mentorship, training a newsletter and much more.

There are various ways to create and engage a community. Many in WordPress use platforms such as Slack and other WordPress tools such as BuddyBoss. 

An online community is a great place to include your help desk documents. 

3. The focus of content changes more to the customers and less about “optimization.”

If you haven’t noticed, Google is making updates all the time. Another one rolled out in December.

And moving forward, we can expect them more often. How nice!

Honestly, it’s exhausting. As a writer, we should just focus on writing good content for customers and our audience. I often call the challenges we have with algorithms on Google and the social media platforms the Algo-gods. 

The Algo-Gods never cease.

I believe companies will start emphasizing content differently, content that is remembered, challenges people to make a chance, and builds brand awareness.

Companies that emphasize these things will do better and be less stressed by the Algo-gods. Bottom line? Make content that is remembered and shared. 

I foresee, and hope, that we see creativity re-emerge in the business of content creation. Put the creativity back in content creation.

4. The Information age has peaked; we need better interpretation.

We have a problem with information overload. There is more information than a human can consume. People will start craving ways to make sense of the info (data).

There is just too much information to sort through. The sheer volume of information is staggering.

So how do we navigate the information and make decisions? We become overwhelmed when researching solutions. That leads to the need to better evaluate and assess information and make good decisions. That skill will be in demand. 

Insights and interpretation of information will be a premium skill in 2025 and beyond. 

5. People are craving community. 

People are craving community and authenticity. 

Almost every morning, when I leave the house to go to work, I go to the coffee shop.

Round Mountain Coffee is like a community to me. The baristas, the regulars, and others give me a sense of belonging. For those of us who are self-employed, it’s imperative we find community somewhere. 

I am witnessing people coalescing around smaller platforms such as Bluesky, Substack, BeeHive, Mighty Networks, Circle, etc. 

Companies would do well to consider moving their communities elsewhere, as people aren’t as distracted by all the social media hubbub.

The results may be promising, as it was for a recent business owner.

Wrapping it up

As we look towards 2025, these predictions aren’t about crystal ball gazing. They’re about understanding the real shifts happening in B2B marketing right now.

The Algo-gods will keep changing, businesses will keep evolving, and we’ll keep adapting. But the core of what matters hasn’t changed: connecting with people, telling genuine stories, and building something that actually means something.

For those of us in marketing, it’s not about finding the perfect hack or gaming the system. It’s about creating value that cuts through the noise. About building communities that actually matter. About being real in a world, that’s increasingly artificial.

The future belongs to those brave enough to be authentic, creative, and human.

Are you ready?