Part 1 of 2
How leading companies navigate digital transformation
- Article series
- Trend Report
B2B is being reshaped faster than ever. To stay competitive, companies need more than technology—they need strategies that turn digital investments into real business growth. In this Q3 2025 Trend Report, we highlight the shifts redefining the B2B landscape: from AI and CX to digital sustainability and smart technology choices like CMS platforms. Our goal: to give you insights and tools to not just keep up, but get ahead. Because in today’s market, 91% of B2B marketers are already leveraging content marketing—are you keeping pace?
11 minutes
The B2B landscape is changing faster than ever. AI, CX, and digital sustainability are no longer buzzwords – they’re critical for growth. In our Q3 2025 Trend Report, we share the shifts and strategic choices that can determine whether your company merely survives – or grows.
Digital investments have long been justified by efficiency and cost savings. Today, the perspective is broader: digitalization is increasingly seen as a growth engine. Yes, it can deliver initial savings, but its real power lies in unlocking new revenue streams and business opportunities. This requires a strategic approach where digital initiatives are integrated into the overall business strategy. Successful companies identify and invest in the initiatives with the greatest growth potential—for example by developing new digital products and services, expanding into new online markets, or implementing advanced data analytics to optimize marketing and sales.
According to McKinsey [#], companies that effectively leverage digital technologies to drive growth can achieve up to 20% higher revenues and 30% greater profitability.
👉 Companies that prioritize investments in new digital products, services, or markets strengthen both growth and profitability.
Reviewing your digital platform and assessing how it can be streamlined is not only a path to lower costs—it’s a way to uncover hidden opportunities. Automating manual processes, smoothing workflows, and using resources more effectively frees up both time and capital that can be reinvested in innovation and growth.
The most successful companies therefore view savings as a starting point, not the end goal. Every freed-up resource can be used to explore new digital products, services, or markets that create long-term business value.
An effective approach is to use Opportunity Mapping to identify where the biggest efficiency gains are. Combined with AI, you can quickly pinpoint where technology will have the greatest impact—and use those insights as a springboard for the next growth initiative.
At the same time, the role and actual cost of technology must be weighed. Transformation often involves an intensive transition phase, and ongoing operations can also be resource-intensive. The key is balancing efficiency with strategic investments to create lasting business value.
To maximize return on digital investments (ROI), it’s crucial that the CMO, CRO, and CIO work in symbiosis. When marketing, business/revenue, and technology pull in the same direction, the result is not only more efficient processes—but also stronger competitiveness.
The CMO brings understanding of customer needs and the marketing landscape; the CRO brings a focus on revenue and business impact; and the CIO provides technical expertise. By combining these perspectives, companies can create solutions that are customer-centric, revenue-driving, and technically robust.
This collaboration is key to driving innovation and ensuring digital initiatives deliver measurable results. One example is when the CMO, CRO, and CIO jointly develop a personalization strategy: the CMO defines audience and messaging, the CRO ties it to business goals and revenue outcomes, and the CIO ensures the infrastructure is in place to collect data, generate insights, and deliver personalized content.
When functions work together, digital solutions can meet customer needs, create new revenue streams, and remain technically sustainable and scalable. Studies also show that companies with strong CMO–CIO collaboration achieve significantly higher ROI on their digital investments [#1, #2]. We see an ongoing shift where sales, marketing, and development are gradually collaborating more on digital initiatives—but the pace is slow, and too often the opposite still occurs.
Define the three most important business goals for the coming year and clarify how marketing, revenue, and technology jointly contribute to achieving them.
Identify where in the customer journey the organization is currently losing the most value and highlight which touchpoints require collaboration to improve the overall experience.
Establish which KPIs can be shared across teams, instead of being locked within each silo.
Ensure that digital initiatives are evaluated on their ability to drive measurable revenue, not just generate activity.
Build structures and forums that encourage different roles and departments to work together across traditional boundaries.
Revisit goals, KPIs, and customer journey insights regularly to stay aligned and adjust as conditions change.
Measuring the impact of digital investments is critical—but just as important is following up and turning insights into action. Only then can savings be converted into growth, and cross-functional collaboration gain real significance.
Define clear KPIs directly tied to business objectives—for example conversion rate, customer satisfaction, ROI, and customer lifetime value. For an e-commerce platform, think number of transactions, average order value, and repeat purchase rate; for a content-led campaign, downloads, leads generated, and lead-to-customer conversion rate.
Because we operate in an increasingly complex and interconnected digital world, AI and advanced analytics open new possibilities. Predictive KPIs make it possible not only to understand what has happened, but also what is likely to happen—enabling companies to act proactively rather than reactively.
In a connected environment, measurement can also span the entire customer journey—from first touch to long-term loyalty—providing a more holistic view of business impact. Looking ahead, sustainability metrics and social KPIs will become a natural part of decision-making, such as carbon footprint or user trust. This becomes especially relevant as Digital Product Passports (DPP) become reality.
To succeed, functions must work in concert: marketing, revenue, and technology need to align on which KPIs truly matter. Savings can then be used as leverage for investment in innovation, and follow-up becomes a tool to ensure all digital initiatives create measurable value for the entire company.
👉 Use Analytics, CRM, and ERP/ODP to collect data; complement with A/B testing—but above all, make sure follow-up leads to action.
AI plays an increasingly important role in data-driven decision-making. By analyzing large datasets, AI can identify patterns and trends that humans might miss, enabling more insight-led decisions rather than intuition. Predictive analytics also makes it possible to act proactively and plan strategically.
But success requires more than technical solutions. Implementation must be carefully planned and start from clearly defined business problems. It’s about choosing the right tools and techniques—and building trust. Companies that are transparent about how they use AI and take responsibility for data management will stand stronger at a time when data integrity and ethics are central concerns.
👉 AI is therefore not just a technical solution—it’s a strategic tool for creating measurable results and long-term trust.
AI has quickly become a cornerstone of data-driven decision-making. By examining large volumes of data, the technology can surface patterns and trends people easily miss. This enables decisions based on facts and insights rather than intuition.
A key application is predictive analytics, where AI is used to anticipate behaviors and needs. For example, a company can identify subscribers at risk of churning and proactively offer relevant incentives to increase loyalty. Similarly, AI can forecast future sales and optimize inventory, reducing costs and minimizing stockouts.
👉 By combining analytics with proactive action, AI helps companies move from reaction to strategy—strengthening both profitability and customer relationships. Use AI to signal external shifts and use automation to route the right information to the right person, inside and outside the organization.
AI takes personalization and automation in B2B marketing to a new level. By analyzing customer data, companies can create tailored messages and offers that increase engagement and conversion. At the same time, automating repetitive tasks frees marketers to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives.
That 60% of B2B buyers make their final decisions based on digital content [#] underscores the importance of relevance and timing. With AI, companies can build dynamic landing pages that adapt to each visitor’s needs, or automate email flows that deliver the right message at the right moment in the customer journey.
Companies implementing AI-powered solutions for personalization and automation—such as those offered by Salesforce—not only gain efficiency but also improve business outcomes through more relevant customer experiences.
👉 The result is marketing that’s not just smarter—but more value-creating.
Trust, Transparency, and Ethics as Competitive Advantages
As AI becomes more embedded in B2B processes, demands for transparency and ethics increase. Companies that openly communicate how they use AI and prioritize responsible data management build stronger trust—and trust can be a decisive competitive edge when data integrity is top of mind. For example, how and where data is stored is a hot topic. One provider we are happy to recommend and collaborate with is Berget AI, built for developers with a clear European focus and AI sovereignty (where data is stored and which services are used).
Clear guidelines are required for how AI may be used, along with guarantees that systems do not discriminate or infringe on privacy. Transparency around data collection and usage is as important as the technology itself. By being open and honest about AI practices, companies can build long-term relationships and increase customer loyalty.
Practical steps include publishing an AI ethics policy on your website or giving customers the option to opt out of personalized advertising. Tech leaders like Microsoft and Google have already moved in this direction by establishing ethical frameworks and investing in research on responsible AI.
👉 Those who combine technical innovation with transparency and accountability will win not only trust—but also business value.
In a world where 80% of B2B interactions already happen digitally, customer experience (CX) is the decisive competitive advantage. Customers meet your brand through digital touchpoints—from websites to campaigns—and expect simplicity, relevance, and an emotional connection.
Authenticity and storytelling are therefore increasingly important in B2B. Companies that dare to showcase their people, values, and culture build stronger relationships than those focused solely on product and price. In this context, UX is more than design—it’s a direct reflection of the brand. A smooth, consistent experience reinforces the brand promise and builds loyalty. We’re also seeing a channel shift, as B2B begins to use platforms traditionally associated with B2C, like TikTok. 87% of B2B marketers say they will increase investment in video communication during 2025.
👉 Companies that combine CX, UX, and authentic communication are best positioned to build long-term loyalty.
The future of B2B branding is about building long-term relationships, not just individual transactions. Companies need to create genuine connections with customers by offering personal and engaging experiences. This requires a shift from product-centric to customer-centric thinking. Statistics also show that 80% of B2B sales interactions will be digital in 2025 [#], further emphasizing the importance of digital customer experience. CRM systems and marketing automation platforms can personalize communication and build stronger relationships. Examples include loyalty programs and exclusive benefits for your most valuable customers. We have also long advocated building customer portals—a platform for more personal dialogue and smoother collaboration.
User experience (UX) plays a decisive role in brand building. An intuitive and user-friendly digital platform creates a positive experience for customers and strengthens the brand. By investing in UX, companies can differentiate themselves from competitors and build stronger customer relationships.
Good UX design can improve conversion rates, reduce churn, and increase customer satisfaction. For example, companies can use user testing to identify and fix usability issues on their website. Investing in UX is an investment in both brand and relationships.
Authenticity is one of the strongest building blocks for trust in B2B. By telling honest stories about people, culture, and values, companies can humanize their brand and engage customers more deeply.
Video is central here. AI is changing the game, making production faster, easier, and more accessible—but also more competitive. When everyone can produce video, images, and text, the quality, relevance, and brand alignment of the content become decisive. Success is not just about creating, but what you create and how it reflects the brand.
Examples of Authenticity & Storytelling in B2B
Example Next Steps
Next Steps
Digital transformation in B2B continues to accelerate, and Q3 2025 marks a pivotal moment for companies to adapt and thrive. AI, CX, digital sustainability, and strategic investments are key factors for driving growth in the digital landscape. By embracing these trends and integrating them into a holistic strategy, companies can generate measurable results and build stronger brands. Choosing the right technology platforms – such as Optimizely, Sanity, or Webflow – is a critical part of this transformation.
We, as strategists and business developers, are dedicated to helping our clients navigate this complex landscape and grow their businesses. The next step is to evaluate your current digital strategy and identify areas where these insights can be applied.
Right now, we are documenting the work we have already done in recent years, which has now gained a name: AI-first. Perhaps this is a concept you’ve also encountered. Let’s discuss which aspects of this are valuable, and which might still benefit from remaining Human-First.
👉 Want to explore how your business can grow through AI, CX, and digital strategy? Contact us and let’s take the next step together.
👉 Or maybe you just want to explore creative AI experiments? (And no, we don’t yet have a merch room like this—but wouldn’t that be fun?)
Stay ahead of the curve. Our quarterly trend reports analyze the key shifts in B2B marketing, digital strategy, and technology. With a focus on AI, customer experience, and sustainable growth, we show how successful companies take the next step in their digital journey.