A few days ago, a B2B client said to us: “What we want is to create buzz.” Silence.
When you ask him why, he hesitates. No real business objective behind it. No funnel. No offer ready. Just a vague conviction that “creating a buzz” might boost the brand, trigger something. What? Nobody really knows.
It has become a reflex. A reflex fed by LinkedIn newspeak, by likes, by impressions, by “we need people to talk about us”. But in 9 cases out of 10, that reflex generates nothing. No customers. No sales. No strategy.
The truth is that visibility without conversion is called noise. And in a B2B environment, noise is expensive. Very expensive.
The mirage of buzz: exposure without consequence
Buzz is a performative illusion. It gives the impression of movement, of impact, of success. But it is only an empty signal, disconnected from commercial reality.
At best, it attracts attention. But in most cases, that attention is:
- poorly targeted (not the right audience),
- poorly directed (not towards the right offers),
- poorly converted (because no journey exists behind it).
A spike in visibility with no acquisition architecture is like filling a leaky bucket. It overflows… then it disappears.
The symptoms of a strategy running out of steam
Companies chasing the buzz quickly pick up toxic habits:
- producing ever shorter, more sensationalist, more superficial content;
- over-investing in social networks with no link to their real audience;
- drifting their editorial line towards “getting a reaction” rather than convincing.
The worst part? It damages the brand image more than it lifts it. And above all, it distracts marketing teams from the deeper work: building a solid acquisition strategy.
What a durable acquisition strategy builds
Unlike event-driven content, lasting acquisition rests on three simple principles:
- producing useful content, indexed, aligned with the offering,
- putting clear funnels in place to guide the prospect,
- measuring results that have a real business impact.
Example: a company that publishes SEO content targeting “outsourced CFO French-speaking Switzerland”, built into a landing page and linked to a clear form, gives itself a genuine chance of attracting concrete enquiries. Not in three days. But steadily, over twelve months.
📊 What the studies say
- A study by Cairn.info (2023) shows that buzz marketing operations improve awareness in the short term, but have no significant impact on conversions if no acquisition journey is planned behind them.
- Apps Explorer (2022) notes that 71% of viral B2B campaigns generate fewer than 5% genuinely usable leads, for want of integration into a CRM or SEO strategy.
- According to Content Marketing Institute, evergreen content generates 3 to 4 times more ROI at 12 months than “one-off splash” campaigns that are not tied to a funnel.
What to do instead
This is not about demonising all visibility. It is about asking one single question before every campaign, every post, every piece of content:
And then what? What happens once you have been seen?
If there is no logical follow-up, no link to an offer, no next step… then the buzz is useless.
A good B2B strategy is not trying to impress the algorithm. It is trying to convince a real person, with a real need, at a precise moment.
| ❌ What does not work | ✅ What works |
|---|---|
| Going viral with no objective | Creating useful, targeted content |
| Isolated viral campaign | A structured acquisition funnel |
| Posts that chase likes | Pages aimed at conversion |
| Talking to everyone | Addressing a precise target |
| Traffic peak with no retargeting | Evergreen SEO with nurturing |
| Fashionable strategy | Strategy aligned with the offering |
| Focused on the ego (metrics) | Focused on the business (leads, MRR) |
What matters is what you build
Buzz gives a false impression of success. But making noise does not mean creating value.
A mature company will always choose to build a solid base:
- content that lasts,
- messages aligned with their offer,
- a clear funnel between attention and decision.
The rest? It is hot air. And we have all heard that hot air: loud, fast, spectacular. Like those hit songs everyone has in mind without ever remembering the name of the band.
This is what is called a one-hit wonder: a fleeting success, with no follow-up and no structure. In marketing as in music, a dazzling appearance is not enough. What counts is what remains after the echo.
🎧 A touch of nostalgia → 20 “one-hit wonder” tracks we have all forgotten… except the melody
