I think we can all agree: marketing in the B2B world isn’t getting any easier. Traditional SEO has become less predictable (was it ever?) with AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google. And conversational search in tools like Bing Copilot, Perplexity, and ChatGPT are inspiring a whole new set of buyer behaviors.
Meanwhile, paid media is under pressure: research from Nielsen shows over half (54%) of global respondents said they were planning to cut ad spending in 2025. LinkedIn reports that 95% of B2B buyers are out-of-market at any given time, and even those in-market are researching in stealth mode across multiple channels.
Along with greater uncertainty and complexity, content fatigue is real. Generative AI has made it easier to produce content, but most of what’s being created is forgettable. According to analysis from JKR, only 15% of branded content assets are truly distinctive. And System1’s research underscores that emotional and creative impact is a key predictor of long-term effectiveness. Yet most B2B content is optimized for clicks, not connection.
Clearly there’s no shortage of content. No lack of data. No end to martech, tools, or AI-inspired shortcuts. And yet, a lot of what’s out there in B2B marketing is simply…boring.
As I’ve said for years:
“In B2B marketing, it’s no longer enough to inform. Our content must make them feel.”
What is Best Answer Marketing?
Zero click search experiences are here to stay, effectively using publisher content to interpret and deliver answers without direct referred traffic benefit. Searchers are also chatting with AI agents to find solutions, in many cases as an alternative or at least an augmentation to how they use search.
We know that buyers of B2B solutions trust and are influenced by peers, industry experts and key opinion leaders. They discover content in a variety channels including social feeds, podcasts, communities, and email. If we want to build B2B brands that buyers remember and trust, now and when they’re ready to buy, we need a framework that works.
Best Answer Marketing is about being the best answer wherever customers are looking. It focuses on:
Irrefutable Credibility – through original research and partnerships with trusted experts, creators, and industry influencers
Clarity, Community, and Continuity – with a clear brand position communicated consistently across channels
Content Experience – through creative formats that are memorable, emotional, and easy to consume
Full-Funnel Strategy – integrating research, derivative content, influencer collaboration, and episodic formats
Continuous Optimization – using AI-powered insights to unify performance data and drive improvements
This approach isn’t just a tactical mix. It’s strategic and rooted in part on behavioral science. That’s where the Laws of B2B Attraction come in. Here’s what I mean:
How the Laws of B2B Attraction Connect to Best Answer Marketing
1. Law of Credible Connection
Psychological Principle: Authority and Social Proof
People are more likely to trust and follow voices they perceive as credible. In B2B, that means industry experts, analysts, and credible practitioners that are either influencers or creators or increasingly, both.
How Best Answer Marketing Activates It: We build irrefutable credibility by conducting original research and integrating influencers, subject matter experts, and creators into data-informed content. Not only does partnering with the most trusted voices in your industry help humanize the brand, it anchors the brand’s marketing message in authority with the added benefit of amplifying that message across trusted networks.
2. Law of Emotional Resonance
Psychological Principle: Affect Heuristic
The Affect Heuristic describes how emotional responses influence decision-making. Messages that evoke emotion are more easily remembered and more persuasive. While rational content informs, emotional content inspires action.
How Best Answer Marketing Activates It: We use storytelling formats like audio podcasts, video podcasts, influencer-led videos, and narrative research reports that go beyond transferring facts to create content experiences that are more meaningful and less mechanical. Emotional resonance helps brands stand out and be remembered when it matters most – especially as they emerge from the 95% that are out-market to being in that 5% position to buy.
3. Law of Consistency Across Touchpoints
Psychological Principle: Mere Exposure Effect
The more people are exposed to a message, the more familiar and trustworthy it becomes. But that only works if the message is consistent.
How Best Answer Marketing Activates It: We ensure clarity and consistency across all touchpoints from organic search to social to influencer partnerships to earned media. Brands become recognizable and trusted when the message, tone, and values are aligned everywhere buyers look.
4. Law of Visual Distinctiveness
Psychological Principle: Salience and Novelty Bias
The human brain is wired to notice what stands out. Distinctive visual design cuts through cognitive clutter and captures attention.
How Best Answer Marketing Activates It: We break pattern blindness with custom-designed research reports, visually bold social graphics, interactive content, immersive event assets and especially video. Distinctiveness isn’t just about the aesthetic, it’s a signal of substance.
5. Law of Cognitive Ease
Psychological Principle: Fluency Effect
Information that’s easy to understand feels more accurate and trustworthy. Structure, clarity, and simplicity matter.
How Best Answer Marketing Activates It: We create content in formats optimized for buyer preferences for information. That means content (like this blog post) that is skimmable, structured, and useful. Whether that’s in the form of checklists, explainer videos, or interactive tools, content formats need to align with buyer expectations, intent and experience. Not only does easier processing lead to greater engagement and trust, it’s also good for AI powered search visibility.
Practical Use Cases of Best Answer Marketing
Industry: B2B SaaS
Pain Point / Objective: Standing out in a saturated space and building trust in a high-consideration sales process.
Use Case: Launch a credibility-first content campaign centered on proprietary research that uncovers key buyer pain points. Amplify it through interviews with industry influencers, developer advocates, and analysts to provide layered perspectives.
Best Answer Marketing Mix:
- Branded research report with original data
- Short-form influencer-led videos on LinkedIn
- Podcast miniseries featuring customers and product experts
- SEO and AI search-optimized landing pages
- Interactive assessment or checklist tool
- Social teaser graphics with visual distinctiveness
- Continuous performance analysis via dashboard to guide iteration
Industry: Enterprise Technology Vendors
Pain Point / Objective: Aligning and engaging multi-stakeholder buying committees across long sales cycles.
Use Case: Create a full-funnel content experience that aligns each piece of content to a stakeholder’s needs and stage in the journey. Use episodic storytelling and expert-driven narratives to bridge gaps between awareness and decision.
Best Answer Marketing Mix:
- Strategic thought leadership hub
- Episodic video/podcast series on transformational trends
- Influencer-authored blog posts tailored to different buyer personas
- Case studies mapped to vertical-specific pain points
- Webinars with Q&A and roundtable recaps
- Consistent brand design and voice across all assets
- Funnel analytics to surface insights and optimize continuously
Industry: Mid-Market Professional Services
Pain Point / Objective: Limited internal resources and difficulty competing on brand reach.
Use Case: Use a modular content framework built around a quarterly research asset that can be repurposed into multiple high-impact, low-lift content formats across the funnel.
Best Answer Marketing Mix:
- Anchor research report or guide
- LinkedIn carousels and infographic snapshots
- Email nurturing sequences with personalized insights
- Explainer videos and interactive calculators
- Influencer co-marketing for expanded reach
- Unified dashboard to measure engagement by channel and persona
Industry: B2B Fintech / Financial Services
Pain Point / Objective: Establishing credibility while navigating compliance-heavy constraints.
Use Case: Build a credibility engine that integrates trusted experts, client testimonials, and benchmark data to reassure buyers and simplify complex concepts.
Best Answer Marketing Mix:
- SME and analyst-led explainers on regulatory topics
- Customer voice via testimonial videos and co-authored articles
- Benchmarking reports with downloadable ROI models
- Webinar series focused on compliance education and innovation trends
- Optimized FAQ content for AI search and chat assistants
- Performance tracking with content audit for regulatory adherence
At TopRank Marketing, we believe the future of B2B marketing isn’t about choosing between human creativity and AI-powered optimization. It’s about combining the two. A Best Answer Marketing strategy is our framework for doing just that-by helping B2B brands create content experiences that are credible, creative, connected, and continuously improving.
To see how we’re evolving to meet the moment, read more in our TopRank Marketing 2.0 vision or contact us to find out more about how Best Answer Content can help elevate your B2B marketing performance.
About the author
Lee Odden has been recognized as a top B2B Marketing professional by Forbes, The Economist and the Wall Street Journal. For over 20 years he’s worked with his team at TopRank Marketing to help elevate the B2B marketing industry through creative marketing programs that deliver more authentic, experiential and inclusive content for brands like LinkedIn, Dell and Adobe. Lee is the author of Optimize and has published over 1.4 million words on his agency’s B2B marketing blog. As a trusted marketing thought leader, he has given nearly 300 presentations in 20 different countries on B2B content, search and influencer marketing. When not marketing, Lee is probably running, cooking or traveling.
