top of page

Baltic B2B Leaders Name 5 Trends Shaping the Industry in 2025

During a recent Marketing Parrot mastermind session, we discussed the challenges and opportunities facing businesses in the region in 2025, covering topics such as the cookie-less world, segmentation, and using AI tools for more efficient content generation as well as personalisation.


This session complements a recent article by Joel Harrison, founder and editor-at-large of B2B Marketing, which analysed entries for the 2024 B2B Marketing Awards. Although the article primarily focuses on trends in the UK, it provides valuable context to the local challenges discussed below.


Participants in this conversation included:




Personalisation at Scale


As the AI revolution continues, Baltic B2B leaders are embracing new tools while also acknowledging their limitations.


Laura Briviba-Dzenuska from Visma emphasised the increasing demand for advanced personalisation: “We have gotten used to marketing automation systems that personalise emails, but we need to go to the next level. While we can’t use as many personalised emails due to data protection, companies still expect that marketing content is personalised to their industry, company size, or particular need. How to do that on a larger scale is the challenge.”


Several participants also recognised the growing importance of AI tools to support more effective engagement. Laura added, “In 2025, I would certainly want to learn more about how to use AI tools to enrich data.”


Segmentation: The Art of Relevance


We would like to improve effectiveness in terms of recruiting the right kind of leads, because we tend to attract a lot of little fish and it kind of clogs the system.

Audience segmentation is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’—it’s a necessity. For Andres Kangur (Thermory), the challenge lies in targeting the right customers within a complex ecosystem. “We have an interesting triangle between architects, property developers and private individuals. We would like to improve effectiveness in terms of recruiting the right kind of leads, because we tend to attract a lot of little fish and it kind of clogs the system.”


Zane Lasmane (Zabbix) also echoed the need for differentiating audiences: “Traditional marketing challenges still persist—how to tailor our approach for different clients or prospects.”


Laura, who has been experimenting with AI to better identify prospects, noting, “We see that even in a small market like Latvia it is very important to differentiate our audience. We are trying various AI plugins that somehow indicate that a company is in need of our product.”


Content: How to Stand Out?


Differentiating content in a crowded market remains a challenge for many B2B companies, particularly in the legal field, as Ilze Augstkalne (COBALT) noted: “The key challenge is that, from a top legal firm’s perspective, the market is quite crowded, and from the client's view, we all look similar. The goal is finding a way to differentiate.”


Ilze added that content will be a key focus in 2025: “This year’s topic for us is content—how to be precise with the message, how to ensure it stands out, and how to align it with changing algorithms.”


Andres agreed, adding, “Differentiating content so it attracts the right audience and comes across as relevant and knowledgeable is crucial. The challenge is doing that effectively.” Krister Rekkaro (ADM Interactive) resonated with this need for efficiency, saying, “How do we take more out of the content we’re creating and do it more efficiently with the help of AI?”


If we could get help from AI in leveraging the same piece across different formats and channels, it would be perfect.

Ilze further noted the importance of leveraging content across multiple formats: “Sometimes we lack the time to extract all the benefits from a single piece or activity. If we could get help from AI in leveraging the same piece across different formats and channels, it would be perfect.”


The Cookie-less Future


As the cookie-less world approaches, businesses must rethink how they collect and use data. For Vita Zaliauskiene (Swedbank), privacy restrictions are a growing concern: “The challenge is to make campaigns as efficient as possible with limited data. Analytics are becoming less trustworthy, and we can’t rely on data like we did before. AI helps, but instead of relying on one tool, as we did before, we need to have a full toolbox.”


Zane shared concerns regarding compliance with international standards: “One of our challenges this year is security and accessibility compliance. We’re working globally, and regulations like the NIS 2 Directive affect all European countries.”


Ilze agreed, noting that new regulations bring more work for law firms: “The challenges Zane and Vita mentioned add more work for us. Our task is to understand which regulations are top priorities because we can’t specialise in all of them.”


Budgeting: Striking the Right Balance


As the digitalisation accelerates, one of the challenges is determining how to allocate budgets effectively and find the right balance between long-term brand building and short-term lead generation.


Zane highlights a pressing issue many face: "How much should I devote to demand generation and how much to lead generation? Demand generation or brand awareness overall is a “hard sell” for the management."


Krister touches on a related concern: the need to make strategic decisions about marketing priorities. "In my opinion, I see that the market is slow, and my challenge is to make the right guess. Can I affect the buying decision with marketing at the moment, or not? If I can, then I should focus on the CTAs. If I cannot, then I should focus on educating the customer, playing the longer game."


2025—A Year of Transformation and Balance


To round up, Hando (Marketing Parrot) perfectly summarised the sentiment around the table, stating, “All old problems remain, and the new challenges will be added on top.”


Looking ahead to 2025, it’s clear that Baltic B2B leaders are preparing for a year of transformation and adaptation. While technological advances will continue to reshape the industry, one thing remains certain: success in the coming year will depend not just on the tools we use, but on the ability to maintain a human touch in a rapidly evolving landscape. The latter will be elaborated on in the second edition published next week.


Ann-Kristin Kruuk, edit by Hando Sinisalu






About  
 

Marketing Parrot is your destination for quality B2B content & events. Previously known as Best of Global Digital Marketing, we've now set our focus on the challenging world of business-to-business. 

Contact
 

Hando Sinisalu, Founder 

hando@marketingparrot.com

Ann-Kristin Kruuk, Partner 

ann@marketingparrot.com

  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook Basic Black

© 2024 Marketing Parrot OÜ. All rights reserved.

bottom of page