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Faisal Siddiqui

I went quiet for two years. Here’s what I built while I was gone.

Published about 1 month ago • 1 min read

I went quiet for two years.

Here’s what I built while I was gone.

A while back, I put out Big Brand, Small Budget.

The idea was simple. Most B2B companies were spending everything on the slice of the market that was actively buying and ignoring everyone else. I showed you how to reach the other 95% without a Fortune 500 budget.
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A lot of you found me through that. Some of you shared it with your team and put the ideas to work.

Then I went quiet.

Not because I ran out of things to say. But because I started asking a harder question.

What actually happens if you don't build a brand at all? What does it cost you?

The answer became Day 1 or Die.

Here's the number that started it all:

7 out of 10 B2B deals go to a brand already on the buyer's shortlist. That is, before the buying process even begins.

🎯

80%

of B2B buyers already have vendors in mind before they do any research

Harvard Business Review

🔒

90%

will choose from that initial shortlist. Once its set, it almost never changes.

Harvard Business Review

⚠️

5%

your odds of winning if you're discovered only after the search starts.

I wrote a 25-page whitepaper on why this matters more right now and what senior marketing leaders need to do about it.

Most CMOs already know brand matters. The hard part is proving it to the people who control the budget.

That's what this series is for.

Over the next few weeks, I'll walk through the full argument, one concept at a time.

Faisal Siddiqui

Founder & Strategist, Creative Business Co.

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Faisal Siddiqui

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