Summary

The myth says pouring budget into conversion delivers faster growth. In reality, it falters: pipelines spike then stall, and price pressure mounts. What endures is a 60/40 split with 60% into brand building—turning thin awareness into memory‑fuelled demand and steadier, higher‑quality revenue.

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Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Hidden Drag

When budgets lean hard into conversion, the immediate pipeline can look lively while the fundamentals quietly erode. The brand is underfed, pricing power weakens, and sales cycles stretch as buyers ask for reassurance you’ve not invested in building. The result is volatility: short surges followed by thinner quarters, as the pool of in-market prospects is worked and reworked rather than renewed.

This isn’t a creative preference; it’s a system issue. Demand-only tactics harvest the same few fields. Brand-led investment plants the next crop. If you separate the two, you end up paying more for the same outcomes and negotiating on price because memory, trust, and distinctiveness haven’t been built upstream.

Why 60/40 Works

The 60/40 split is less a rule than a recognition of how markets buy. Brand building creates mental availability and primes future consideration; performance captures it efficiently when buyers are ready. Without the former, the latter grows brittle. In other words, the cheapest lead is the one that already knows you and believes you.

The evidence backs this sequencing: the LinkedIn B2B Institute reports that the best performers channel roughly 60% of budget into brand and thought leadership, and 40% into lower-funnel messaging. The ratio sustains growth by compounding memory while maintaining conversion discipline.

Signals To Rebalance

There are clear markers that the mix has drifted too far toward the short term. Look for these patterns:

• Pipeline spikes that quickly flatten, while average deal size and win rates soften.
• Rising customer acquisition costs, despite similar or higher media spend.
• More discounting pressure and longer evaluation cycles, even with strong last-click metrics.

We often see leadership teams read these as “we need more leads,” when the real diagnosis is “we need more brand.”

How To Invest

Shifting to 60/40 isn’t about spending more; it’s about spending differently, with clear jobs for brand and demand:

• Codify a sharp positioning and narrative, then express it through distinctive assets buyers can recall in seconds.
• Invest in thought leadership that frames the problem space and builds authority, supported by credible proof across channels.
• Set measurement that links leading indicators (reach, recall, share of search) to lagging outcomes (pipeline quality, price realisation).

Keep performance media on, but let it harvest what brand is seeding. That cadence is where efficiency lives.

Leadership Consequences

When the mix is right, teams align around one promise and one proof set. Sales gets warmer rooms. Product strategy benefits from clearer market feedback. Finance sees steadier quarters. Most importantly, you earn options: room to hold price, room to choose customers, room to time entry into new segments.

Treat 60/40 as a governance choice rather than a campaign tweak; it’s how you turn brand from an expense line into a compounding asset that cushions shocks and opens the next chapter.

Sources:

Further Resources

1. Building Brand Awareness While Driving Revenue Growth
2. Building Brand Trust: Aligning Product Extensions for Growth
3. Building Brand Memory with Consistent Messaging

No two brand journeys are the same — connect with us if you’d like to test where your next step might lead. Let’s talk.

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