The 95:5 Rule: Why B2B Growth Starts Long Before the Purchase

The conventional wisdom of B2B marketing often hinges on capturing immediate demand: the right message, the right time, the right lead.

However, research shows we may be placing our focus in the wrong place.  

Professor John Dawes, of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, is challenging the status quo with the simple yet transformative idea that 95% of your potential buyers aren’t in the market right now.

This concept, dubbed the 95:5 Rule, elucidates that only about 5% of your target customers are actively looking to buy at any given time. The remaining 95%, while present, are not yet ready to buy. 

Consequently, a marketing strategy solely focused on immediate demand risks overlooking the growth opportunities inherent in this larger, yet dormant, segment. 

In this article, we’ll break down all the takeaways from John’s discussion on the Attributed Podcast. 

Watch the entire conversation here. 

The problem: The “now” obsession in B2B marketing

Marketing teams are under constant pressure to generate leads that immediately convert. 

This environment fosters an over-reliance on bottom-funnel tactics (paid search, retargeting, and aggressive sales outreach), all directed at the limited 5% of buyers currently in-market.

This 'now' obsession presents a significant challenge: if you only market to buyers when they’re ready to purchase, you’re competing in an uphill battle. 

Every competitor is fighting for the same limited pool of prospects, driving up acquisition costs and reducing differentiation. Worse, if a potential buyer has never heard of your brand before their buying process begins, your chances of making a sale are slim to none.

The solution: Build brand memory before the buying window opens

The solution to navigating this is proactively building brand memory before the window of active purchasing opens. 

According to John, B2B brands should invest in reaching all potential buyers long before they enter the market. Instead of focusing solely on capturing demand, companies should create it by building familiarity, trust, and top-of-mind awareness among that crucial 95%.

How to market for the 95%

So, how do you apply the 95:5 Rule in practice? Here are four ways: 

1. Stop measuring marketing by immediate sales results

One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is judging their ad spend by how much revenue it generates in the short term. 

But as John points out, that’s fundamentally flawed. If only 5% of buyers are actively looking, then 95% of your marketing efforts will have a delayed impact. 

If sales can’t be the only metric for evaluating marketing effectiveness, then what should B2B marketers measure? According to John, brand awareness and mental availability are critical indicators of future sales growth.

If there are potential buyers out there who basically know nothing about us they have almost zero chance of buying from us.

Brand health metrics such as unaided brand recall, category entry points, and distinctive brand assets should be continuously monitored.

Additionally, tracking the percentage of total potential buyers reached over time gives insight into whether your marketing is setting you up for future success.

2. Prioritize reach over repetition

Many B2B marketers operate under the assumption that high ad frequency is good because B2B sales cycles are long and complex. 

But according to John, that’s not the most efficient approach. 

Instead of hitting the same audience over and over, it’s better to expose more potential buyers to your brand, even if only once. 

John goes as far as to say the first ad exposure is the most impactful, subsequent ones have diminishing returns.

When someone has never heard of your company, a single well-placed ad can make a significant impact on their memory. In contrast, repeating the same message to someone who already recognizes your brand can have diminishing returns.

3. Focus on new customers 

One of the biggest misconceptions in B2B marketing is that growth can come primarily from increasing sales to existing customers.

John challenges this, explaining that even in well-established companies, most revenue growth comes from new customer acquisition.

Your current customers already have a natural limit on how much they’ll buy from you. Spending too much effort trying to extract more revenue from them often leads to diminishing returns.

Instead, successful brands focus on expanding their reach to new potential buyers, ensuring that when they enter the market, they already have positive associations with the brand.

4. Leverage your distinctive brand assets 

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute has long emphasized the importance of distinctive brand assets such as logos, colors, slogans, and unique ad styles that make your brand instantly recognizable. 

If your competitors are all running generic “We help you grow revenue” messaging, you need to stand out with creative, unmistakable branding that buyers will recall when it matters most.

John also cautions against changing the brand identity too often. New marketing leaders frequently want to make their mark by refreshing logos, colors, and messaging. However, according to John, this can be a damaging move.

You've spent maybe 20 years educating people that this brand and this advertising that looks like this is for this brand, and then you throw that away by changing the brand assets… You have to start all over again.

Instead, brands should focus on reinforcing and strengthening existing distinctive brand assets rather than overhauling them.

A final word

The 95:5 Rule offers a crucial shift in perspective, that most of your potential buyers aren’t in-market yet, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. 

Rather than chasing only the 5% ready to purchase, brands that invest in long-term brand awareness, broad audience reach, and distinctive brand assets position themselves for sustained growth. 

By building familiarity and trust before the buying window opens, companies can ensure they’re the first choice when prospects are finally ready to make a decision. 

About the speaker

John Dawes is a Professor of Marketing and a Senior Researcher at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, one of the world's leading authorities on evidence-based marketing. With over 25 years of marketing research experience, his areas of expertise are brand metrics and the effects of price promotions, as well as understanding survey-based metrics such as customer satisfaction and willingness to recommend.