Why Ignorance is No Longer Acceptable in B2B Digital Advertising

In this episode of the 'Trust & Influence in B2B' podcast, host Joel Harrison speaks with Paul Collier, CMO of Funnel Fuel, and Preeti Saini, Global Marketing Leader at IFS, about the critical need for transparency and accountability in B2B digital advertising. The conversation, recorded live at Marketing Ignite, explores the widespread lack of visibility into where digital advertising budgets actually go and how much reaches target audiences. Paul shares his personal journey from ignorance to awareness after experiencing a costly digital advertising failure, while Preeti discusses IFS's approach to taking control of their digital destiny. Together, they examine why the traditional B2C-focused digital advertising model doesn't work for B2B, the importance of challenging agency relationships, and practical steps marketers can take to regain control of their digital spend. Join them as they advocate for a fundamental shift from blind trust to informed scrutiny in digital marketing.

Takeaways:

🔍 Challenge what you've been doing and why - question your current digital advertising approach

💰 Understand where your advertising dollars actually go in the supply chain

📊 Demand transparency from agencies beyond impression data and eyeball metrics

🎯 Start with inclusion lists rather than exclusion lists when targeting audiences

🧪 Test small, learn fast, and scale successful campaigns gradually

🤝 Take back control of your digital destiny rather than outsourcing blindly

📈 Focus on conversion into your funnel, not just media conversion metrics

🔄 Use multiple data sources to piece together the complete customer journey

💡 Fail faster to identify where to place confident bets with your budget

⚖️ Balance agency expertise with internal control and oversight

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction and Setting the Stage

01:50 - Guest Introductions: Preeti Saini and Paul Collier

03:20 - The Problem: Inefficiencies in Digital Advertising Spend

04:56 - Paul's Journey: From Ignorance to Awareness

08:12 - Preeti's Perspective: Moving Beyond Tick-Box Marketing

11:09 - The Industry Structure Problem: B2C Models Applied to

B2B 15:19 - Taking Back Control: Agency vs In-House Approaches

18:40 - Q&A: Making Data Meaningful in Digital Advertising

23:40 - Preeti's Practical Approach: Breaking Down the Elephant

26:23 - Q&A: Showing Value in Programmatic Advertising

28:22 - Final Thoughts: Challenge Yourself and Fail Faster

Resources Mentioned:

🔍 Gartner CMO Survey - Latest research on digital marketing spend priorities 📊 Funnel Fuel - funnelfuel.com 🏢 IFS - ifs.com

Follow the Guests:

Follow Paul Collier https://linkedin.com/in/paul-collier-cmo/ Funnel Fuel - funnelfuel.com

Follow Preeti Saini https://linkedin.com/in/preeti-saini/ IFS - ifs.com

Follow Joel Harrison https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/

B2B Marketing - https://linkedin.com/company/b2b-marketing/