Here we are in Q4 and most marketing budgets are being wasted, as we stupidly continue to chase people who have zero intention in buying this quarter.
Professor John Dawes from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute put numbers to this back in 2021, which has now become known as the 95:5 rule:
Only around 5% of B2B buyers are actually looking to buy at the time they see our messaging. The other ±95% aren't in market and may not buy for weeks, months, or even years into the future.
Yet most businesses continue to throw everything they've got at converting that 5%, leaving the 95% with pretty much nothing.
We keep optimizing for the 5% because it shows up in this quarter's forecast. Meanwhile the 95% (i.e. the people determining whether we're still relevant next year) get stuck with whatever's left over.