--- title: The Marketing Conversion Gap description: Discover how industrial marketing must evolve to meet changing customer behaviors and the importance of keeping the conversation going to drive conversions. --- [Skip to content](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/the-marketing-conversion-gap#main-content) [![GA_Web+Logo-01](https://www.growth-arc.com/hubfs/GA_Web+Logo-01.png)](https://www.growth-arc.com) - [Home](https://www.growth-arc.com) - Consulting - [Sales & Marketing](https://www.growth-arc.com/commercial-excellence) - [Innovation](https://www.growth-arc.com/innovation) - [Strategy](https://www.growth-arc.com/strategy) - [Case Studies](https://www.growth-arc.com/cases) - Executive Coaching - 1 on 1 Coaching - [Group Mastermind](https://www.growth-arc.com/breakthrough) - [Exec Roundtable](https://www.growth-arc.com/roundtable) - [Articles](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/executive-development) - About - [Results](https://www.growth-arc.com/clients-results) - [Case Studies](https://www.growth-arc.com/cases) - [Our Firm](https://www.growth-arc.com/about) - [Contact](https://www.growth-arc.com/contact-us) - Newsletter - [Subscribe](https://www.growth-arc.com/subscribe) - [Business Growth](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/business-growth) - [Exec Career](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/tag/executive-development) - [Roundtable](https://www.growth-arc.com/roundtable) Search Growth Arc - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # The Marketing Conversion Gap [Kendall Justiniano](https://www.growth-arc.com/articles/author/kendall-justiniano) 02 April Discover how industrial marketing must evolve to meet changing customer behaviors and the importance of keeping the conversation going to drive conversions. ### How industrial Marketing has not kept up with customer buying behavior - ### **A Different Sale Today** Two things we know: - Customers do the majority of their research before ever contacting a rep, and reps are being brought in later and later in the sale. - When customers do reach out, they already have a shortlist. 95% of the time, they buy from someone already on it. **Implication:** You need to be on the shortlist before your customers ever talk to your reps. Your marketing has to do the heavy lifting to get you there, because by the time the customer arrives, it's too late. That's a significant shift. Marketing used to be about getting the word out: "Did you know we exist?" "Here's who we are." Awareness was enough and customers would reach out for more. Everything else was sales enablement: brochures, selection guides, and the like. ### The Awareness Gap The problem is that many Industrial B2B marketers are still operating that way. When we audit client content, we consistently find it overindexed on awareness — a sure sign that conversion isn't happening. The other telltale: there's rarely any mechanism to keep the dialogue going. We act as though the conversation continued, when in reality, it didn't. ![Awareness Marketing graphic](https://www.growth-arc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Awareness%20Marketing%20graphic.png?width=400&height=400&name=Awareness%20Marketing%20graphic.png) Getting from awareness to the shortlist is not trivial. Much of the research customers do has nothing to do with your value case. Before they evaluate any solution, they're trying to understand their own problem and the options available to them. When we look for that kind of content in client stacks, we almost always come up empty. Most industrial B2B companies avoid talking about the *other* options their customers are weighing, which means they're opting out of shaping how buyers frame the problem early on. We also look for content that helps internal champions build the case to the rest of their buying group, and yet this step is often critical to getting shortlisted. ### **Actioning the Insight** Marketers need to think in entirely different content categories than they traditionally have, and they need a deeper understanding of how their customers actually make decisions. But before getting there, start with what you have. - **Evaluate your content stack.** Understand the full picture: What are you producing? How much falls into each category? What's your tempo, and do you have any way to know whether your content is actually converting? - **Care about conversion.** Before overhauling your content, build devices that keep the conversation going. Customers rarely jump from "Did you know we offer X?" to "Request a sample." The decision process takes time, and without mechanisms that work over time and ways to measure how well your content is performing, new content won't matter. Consider a newsletter. Setting one up will force you to ask exactly the right questions about what your customers are doing when they research these decisions. Until next week, Kendall - [![secta.ai_005 keyhole](https://www.growth-arc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/secta.ai_005%20keyhole.png?width=120&height=120&name=secta.ai_005%20keyhole.png)](https://www.growth-arc.com/bios) [Find me on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendalljustiniano/) or [Book a 1:1 call](https://www.growth-arc.com/meetings/kendall-justiniano) Not a subscriber yet? [Subscribe here](https://www.growth-arc.com/subscribe) [![Need to drive growth? Growth Arc Advisors is a consultancy focused on Materials industries (chemicals, plastics, oil & gas, biomaterials). Led by former industry execs with a single client emphasis: Growth.   We focus on the 3 capabilities that drive growth: Sales & Marketing  Innovation Strategy & Transformation Use us in 3 ways to accelerate your growth: Do For You: Assess or build your strategic options for growth Do With You: Facilitate your internal teams' growth initiatives Build Capability: Help build your organization's systems and skills All engagements are customized to your organizational needs and requirements. 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