If you’ve ever run a B2B campaign that brought in clicks but not customers, you’re not alone. Many companies pour budget into lead generation efforts like paid ads, webinars, and gated content, only to discover that most of those “leads” never convert into opportunities.
It’s not because your product isn’t good or your sales team isn’t trying hard enough. The truth is: most of your audience isn’t ready to buy right now.
That’s exactly what the 95/5 Rule explains, and why understanding it is the difference between a marketing engine that stalls and one that consistently drives the pipeline. As an experienced B2B marketing agency, we’ve seen firsthand how applying this principle transforms lead generation from random activity into a structured, reliable growth strategy.
The 95/5 Rule in Simple Terms
The 95/5 Rule comes from research by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. While it’s not an absolute and accurate statistic, it’s still a useful principle to go by. 95/5 essentially boils down to this:
- At any given moment, only 5% of your potential B2B buyers are “in-market”. This means they’re actively considering solutions and may be ready to speak to sales.
- The other 95% are “out-of-market”. They’re not buying today. But they could be in six months, a year, or two years down the road.
In B2B, where buying cycles are long and purchases are infrequent, this actually makes perfect sense. For instance, a procurement manager doesn’t shop for a new ERP system every month. A CTO doesn’t review cybersecurity vendors every quarter. Most potential clients will spend far more time not buying than buying.
Understanding this is critical. Because if you only chase the 5% who are ready to make a purchase, you’re ignoring the much larger future pipeline that drives long-term growth.
Why Navigating the 95/5 Rule Matters More Than Ever in 2025
In 2025, B2B buyers are more empowered and more selective. With AI-driven research tools, peer review platforms, and industry communities at their fingertips, they can self-educate long before they ever engage with a vendor directly. By the time they land on your website or fill out a form, many already have a shortlist in mind.
That reality creates two major challenges for marketers:
- The 5% in-market buyers are further along in their decision-making. They’ve compared vendors, read case studies, spoken to peers, and possibly even trialled solutions. If you only start marketing to them at this stage, you’re already competing from behind.
- The 95% out-of-market buyers are still forming impressions, albeit quietly. They’re consuming content, noticing brands on LinkedIn, attending webinars, or seeing who sponsors industry events. These touchpoints may feel small, but together they shape who feels trustworthy and credible when it’s finally time to buy.
Moreover, the decision process itself has grown more complex. It’s no longer just the CIO or procurement officer. Finance, IT, operations, sustainability officers, and even end users often weigh in on vendor selection. That means brand perception has to resonate across multiple roles, not just one decision-maker.
This is why early, consistent brand presence is essential. If you’re not visible to the 95%, building familiarity and trust over time, you risk being completely absent from consideration when they transition into the buying 5%.
In other words, the groundwork you lay with the 95% today directly determines the opportunities you’ll have tomorrow.
Common Pitfalls: How Companies Misapply the 95/5 Rule
Most B2B marketers have heard of the 95/5 Rule, and many agree with it in principle. But when it comes to execution, that’s where the cracks show. In practice, companies tend to fall into a few predictable traps:
- Over-focusing on in-market buyers.
It feels logical to chase the people ready to buy now, so teams double down on bottom-of-funnel tactics like retargeting ads, demo offers, free trials, or competitor comparison campaigns. These can deliver quick results, but they only capture a minuscule slice of your potential market. And once that 5% has made a decision, you’re left with nothing new entering the funnel.
- Neglecting brand-building.
Brand marketing is often dismissed as “fluff” because it doesn’t generate immediate leads you can hand to sales. But without consistent brand activity, you’re invisible to the 95% who are not buying today. When they do enter the market later, they’ll gravitate toward the vendors they already recognise. And if you weren’t present, you won’t even make their shortlist.
- Chasing quick wins.
Quarterly sales pressure or aggressive KPIs often push marketing teams to optimise for short-term lead volume rather than long-term pipeline health. This creates bursts of activity; lots of leads in one quarter, then a dry spell the next. Instead of steady growth, the pipeline swings between feast and famine.
The outcome is a marketing machine that looks productive on dashboards, boasting clicks, downloads, and impressions, but doesn’t translate into predictable, compounding demand. We’ve seen companies caught in this cycle, frustrated that marketing seems busy but not impactful.
However, once they rebalanced their efforts by actively investing in the 95% too, pipeline health improved dramatically. Consistent brand-building created a warmer, more aware audience, while targeted campaigns converted the ready-to-buy segment. The result: steadier, more scalable growth that didn’t vanish when the quarter ended.
How to Apply the 95/5 Rule to Your Marketing Strategy
So how do you actually use this principle to drive results? It comes down to balancing demand capture (for the 5%) and demand creation (for the 95%).
For the 5% in-market buyers:
This is where you focus on being present when buyers are actively searching and evaluating vendors. The goal is to remove friction and help them choose you over the competition.
- High-intent campaigns: Paid search, competitor comparison ads, retargeting campaigns, and account-based targeting work well here.
- Conversion-focused content: Case studies, ROI calculators, pricing guides, and product demos speak directly to buyers who want proof and validation.
- Ease of engagement: Clear CTAs, fast response times, and simple demo booking processes ensure you don’t lose them to a competitor who makes it easier.
For the 95% out-of-market buyers:
Here, the objective is not immediate conversion. Instead, it’s to earn trust, build familiarity, and position your brand as the obvious choice when they do enter the market.
- Brand-building and thought leadership: Articles, whitepapers, podcasts, LinkedIn posts, and industry event presence establish credibility and authority over time.
- Always-on campaigns: Instead of one-off bursts, maintain steady visibility through social campaigns, video storytelling, or display ads that reinforce your message consistently.
- Nurturing programs: Email newsletters, educational webinars, or even private communities create touchpoints that keep your brand top-of-mind. When these prospects move into the 5%, they’ll already feel like they know and trust you.
The magic happens when these two layers work in sync. At our B2B marketing agency, we call this pipeline compounding: capturing today’s demand without starving tomorrow’s. Every in-market buyer you win today is a result of past brand-building, and every impression you make on the 95% today sets up your sales team for smoother, warmer conversations in the future.
Metrics That Actually Prove It Works
One of the biggest mistakes companies make when applying the 95/5 Rule is looking at the wrong scorecard. If you only track form fills, MQLs, or webinar sign-ups, you’ll miss the bigger picture of how your efforts are influencing both the 5% and the 95%.
To measure success properly, you need a two-lens approach:
- Long-term indicators (for the 95%): These tell you whether your brand-building is working. Metrics like:
- brand recall
- share of voice in your category
- branded search growth
- engagement with educational content
are all leading signals that future buyers are aware of and interested in your brand. They may not convert today, but these are the early signs of tomorrow’s pipeline.
- Short-term indicators (for the 5%): These show whether you’re effectively capturing in-market demand. Metrics like:
- pipeline velocity
- conversion rates from opportunity to closed deal
- quality of leads generated
Will reveal if your bottom-funnel campaigns are bringing in the right buyers and not just more names in a database.
Looking Ahead: Lead Generation in 2025 and Beyond
Technology is evolving at breakneck speed. AI will make targeting sharper, predictive analytics will get better at forecasting intent, and data platforms will give marketers unprecedented visibility into buyer behaviour. These are exciting developments, but none of them change the fundamental truth: 95% of your buyers are still not in-market today.
The companies that win in 2025 won’t be those chasing the latest tool for a quick edge. They’ll be the ones that build a marketing system grounded in timeless buyer psychology, then use modern tools to execute it smarter and faster.
Specifically, leaders in B2B marketing will know how to:
- Balance short-term demand capture with long-term brand building. They won’t sacrifice tomorrow’s pipeline for today’s lead count; instead, they’ll build both in tandem.
- Build trust before buyers are ready. They’ll invest in thought leadership, education, and brand presence so that when the buying moment arrives, they’re already seen as the safe, credible choice.
- Show up consistently, not sporadically. They’ll create always-on touchpoints, such as social, email, events, and content, so their brand feels familiar and reliable to stakeholders across the buying committee.
This is the blueprint for sustainable growth in an era of noise and choice. At our B2B marketing agency, we help clients do exactly this: translate principles like the 95/5 Rule into modern, measurable strategies that deliver real results.
Turning Insight Into Action
If you’re ready to build a lead generation strategy that doesn’t just chase the now but compounds into the future, we can help. As an experienced B2B marketing agency in Singapore, we’ve built the frameworks, tested the strategies, and seen the results.
Let’s talk about how to apply the 95/5 Rule to your business, and make 2025 the year your marketing stops spinning wheels and starts accelerating growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a B2B marketing agency help me apply the 95/5 Rule?
A specialist B2B marketing agency like Brew Interactive can help you design campaigns that capture immediate demand from in-market buyers while simultaneously nurturing out-of-market buyers. This includes creating thought leadership content, managing always-on campaigns, measuring long-term brand impact, and aligning sales and marketing metrics.
What types of services do you offer for companies looking to improve their B2B lead generation?
We offer a full suite of B2B marketing services, including account-based marketing (ABM), content strategy, paid media campaigns, SEO, and always-on brand programs. All are built to work together under the 95/5 framework to drive sustainable pipeline growth.
Can I just handle B2B campaigns in-house?
Most in-house teams are under pressure to deliver immediate leads. Our agency brings external expertise, fresh creativity, and proven frameworks to rebalance your strategy, so you’re not just chasing short-term wins but compounding growth over time.
Can you work with companies outside Singapore?
Yes. While we’re a B2B marketing agency based in Singapore, we work with regional and global clients across APAC and beyond. Our frameworks adapt to different markets, ensuring consistency and scalability of your campaigns.
Do you offer audits or strategy workshops before starting?
Absolutely. We start with an in-depth audit of your current marketing and sales funnel, then run a strategy workshop with your team to map where you’re over-investing in the 5% and under-investing in the 95%. This sets the foundation for a balanced plan.
