As someone who sits firmly on the edge of the Myers-Briggs Introvert-Extrovert line, that statement gives me great personal pause. Thankfully I’m not a brand that needs to be eternally ‘on.’ I can choose to step away. Your brand can’t.

Our recent Fide B2B marketing study on the state of buyer understanding confirms this insight.

54% of buyers search independently online.

When we asked B2B buyers in the US and UK what actions they take when they don’t have enough information to understand a potential vendor’s product or service, the most common one was independent online research – and that was even over asking the supplier to clarify.

That means your brand could be brought into a conversation at any moment in time. And you may have no idea what state of mind your potential buyer is in. No idea what they’re thinking, what challenges they’re facing, how long their attention span is, or what they’re looking to glean, achieve, or take away.

Picture your brand networking at a cocktail party.  

Unlike me, who has the luxury of taking a recharging break, your brand must do the opposite and create multiple versions of itself to engage multiple people at once.  

In one part of the room it might be reengaging with an old client and reminding them of your capabilities. Simultaneously, steps away, it might be meeting a new prospect for the very first time, fielding a list of frequently asked questions by the bar, walking through the room while a client pulls it aside to introduce a potential new client. It might be handing out PDFs like canapés, replaying an old podcast by the lounge, and holding court in the centre of the room, telling a successful client story and hoping that the punchline/result lands - all the while greeting newcomers at the door with a splashy campaign banner.

As a person, it sounds exhausting. As a brand, it’s the necessary norm. And every one of those interactions needs to be done well. There are no ‘off days.’  

Your brand is performing different tasks simultaneously.

In the current market, there’s no getting away from the fact that a brand needs to play different roles at the same time. It doesn’t mean that you’re always selling. Sometimes you’re answering questions or offering insight. But it does mean that the brand needs to be the best representation of itself – in all these circumstances. So, the question is: is every version of your brand ready for the conversation it might be about to have?

First impressions are being made when you aren’t even aware.

That is the nature of the sales journey and how buyers are interacting with your brand. Your first impression may not be the great brand campaign that you just launched - that’s still vital and needs to be done well, but it could also be a case study, how-to video, or article, and those also need to be done well. This means that all of your content, especially your evergreen content, should be valuable and engaging. You’re in first impression mode everywhere, always. You never get to the comfortable-enough-to-wear-sweatpants mode.

Bad experiences could be your brand’s first and last impression.

As buyers do their own research, there’s a chance that the first impression might be your brand’s last. According to a recent Gartner abstract, 76% of B2B buyers said that a bad website experience would make them avoid working with a supplier.

On the flip side, there are key pieces, like thought leadership, that attract buyers.

High-quality and insightful content should be the goal.

A 2025 report from Edelman and LinkedIn speaks to the importance of thought leadership and ensuring that you’re putting content out that is useful for buyers and prospective buyers. In fact, 55% of hidden buyers shared that they use thought leadership as part of their evaluation process.

You can’t control the introduction.

In summary, your brand is an extrovert, and buyers will be using various sources, without your knowledge, to better understand your offering. And while you don’t know where the first impression will come from, you can control much of the impression you leave with the quality of your content.

So what can you do?

As part of our study, with each insight, we outline a number of recommendations. In this case, we suggest diversifying and optimizing your content and reach:

  • Ensure your site architecture is simple and clear to follow. Wherever someone may land, make it easy for them to connect to more related content and continue learning.
  • Don’t gate everything. Sure, it’s okay to gate some things. But don’t leave those doing their initial research without any access to your high-value content.
  • Build your content around your buyers’ questions. Demonstrate how your product can help them with their challenges and make getting answers easy.
  • Don’t forget about third-party sites. Self-service research is not limited to your website. Potential buyers will look at testimonials and review sites.

Want more insights from our State of B2B Understanding Study? Download it here.