In this second edition covering a recent mastermind session with six Baltic B2B leaders, we switch to a more hands-on approach in order to determine the practices that still drive results—email marketing, LinkedIn strategies, community-driven approaches, and more.
Participants in this conversation included:
Vita Zaliauskiene, Corporate Marketing Lead at Swedbank Lithuania
Andres Kangur, Chief Marketing Officer at Thermory Group (Estonia)
Krister Rekkaro, Chief Business Development Officer at ADM Interactive (Estonia)
Zane Lasmane, Head of Marketing at Zabbix (Latvia)
Ilze Augstkalne, Head of Baltic Brand and Marketing at COBALT (Latvia)
Laura Briviba-Dzenuska, Customer Success Director at Visma (Latvia)
Email Alone Isn’t Enough
Email marketing continues to hold strong, but as attention spans shorten, the key to success lies in striking a balance between relevance and brevity whilst not forgetting about content quality and segmentation.
As Vita Zaliauskiene (Swedbank Lithuania) noted, “Emails do not work in silos. You have to make all marketing channels work simultaneously and support each other through all the phases of the funnel. In my experience, you have to use at least five channels internally and externally just to keep up with the attention span.”
Many marketers continue to rely on mass communication, but AI offers new opportunities to refine targeting and deliver content that resonates with smaller, more specific audiences. Despite the dominance of digital communication, some businesses are revisiting direct mail as a way to cut through the noise.
Krister Rekkaro (ADM Interactive) shared his perspective: “Emails are a crucial part of our marketing and they do work, but they do not work alone. They work as a warm-up for personal connection via calls. If we do just emails, 100 emails will result in one to three feedbacks. If we follow up with a call, we get 30-40 actual conversations.”
This combination of digital and human contact is echoed across the session. Direct mail, though seemingly out of place in today’s sustainability context, continues to thrive in some markets, such as Germany, where Krister observes that “responses to emails sometimes come in paper form.”
Ilze Augstkalne (COBALT) pointed out, “At COBALT, we have cut back on physical mail and focus instead on more meaningful gestures, like donating to charities.”
However, this doesn’t mean that physical items have been entirely phased out. In fact, some companies still find value in personalised presents for special occasions. As Laura Briviba-Dzenuska (Visma) explains, “We have gone back to traditional presents because we see that customers appreciate that.”
In-Person Events Make a Comeback
The good old way of doing things shouldn’t be forgotten—maybe with a bit of tweaking, the vintage approach might work wonders.
Industry events remain a cornerstone of B2B marketing, but as the landscape continues to evolve, companies are rethinking how to best leverage these opportunities.
The pandemic saw a surge in digital events, with webinars becoming a primary mode of engagement. While webinars are still effective for many, their ability to facilitate meaningful networking has been called into question.
Ilze reflected on this shift: “We’ve been doing a lot of webinars, but are now slowly returning to on-site events. The good old way of doing things shouldn’t be forgotten—maybe with a bit of tweaking, the vintage approach might work wonders.”
Despite the decline in webinar participation, some businesses are finding ways to repurpose them as digital content. Zane Lasmane (Zabbix) shared, “During the pandemic, webinars were growing. Now, the interest has decreased so we’ve also introduced on-site events in addition to doing a lot of ‘old school’ marketing—heading to exhibitions and organising our own events. But webinars still serve their purpose because the content can be repurposed into videos, case studies, and sales materials.”
As restrictions have lifted, there’s been a noticeable shift back toward in-person events. While webinars provide convenience, they often lack the dynamic networking opportunities. Laura commented, “We (people living in the Baltics) think that we are quite reserved and don’t like to interact, but I think people are realising the value of connections more and more.”
Finding the Needle in a Haystack
When discussing lead generation, the group emphasised integrating data-driven techniques with a human-centred approach, especially when trying to uncover the most valuable prospects.
Laura highlighted aligning sales and marketing insights early in the process: “When we define our marketing personas, a salesperson is always involved. Testing messaging on sales teams before launching campaigns ensures relevance and impact.”
AI can be used in refining ICPs, enabling marketers to predict which prospects are most likely to convert. However, as Andres Kangur (Thermory) pointed out, understanding the nuances of your audience remains essential: “We have prioritised architects as the main audience for us in terms of communication and outreach because if we don’t do that ourselves, then probably our distributors won’t do it either. They have more contact with builders and property developers.”
Andres and his team blend digital and physical strategies to build relationships with key prospects. “At Parrot, the concept of dark funnel was mentioned—you see what the conversion point is when the customer comes to you, but you don’t know what’s actually influenced their decision or bias before that,” Andres explained. “I guess one good way is to ask, to interview the customers on their experience.”
Despite the effectiveness of this approach, finding the right leads within a large market is still a challenge. Andres added, “We’ve been trying a couple of things, including the ABM (Account-Based Marketing) approach. Together with our partners, we identify the companies and the individuals we would ideally work with and start targeting them. It has actually proven to be quite effective.”
Krister of ADM Interactive, who operates in both local and international markets, offered his perspective: “In Estonia, it’s easy because of the size of the market. However, in foreign markets, I have found it quite futile to go directly to my end users, because people buy from people regardless of the market.”
By focusing on building personal relationships and working with trusted partners, Krister’s team is able to generate quality leads without the need for a massive customer base. “In our business, it always comes down to building up the personal relationship. Keeping it, expanding it. We don’t need hundreds of customers, 10 is just fine.”
First they want to make sure that I, as a person, am trustworthy. And then everything else is possible.
For Krister, breaking into foreign markets has often involved building trust through face-to-face interactions, saying, “I usually meet them either at fairs or get-togethers organised by the embassies. And how do I break the ice? I usually take them sailing. That helps.” In Krister’s experience, success in international markets depends on building relationships and trust before any business transactions take place. “In foreign markets, when it comes to partners, regardless of what market it is, my experience has always been the same: first they want to make sure that I, as a person, am trustworthy. And then everything else is possible.”
Sales and Marketing: A Persistent Disconnect
Achieving alignment between marketing and sales remains a significant challenge for many organisations, yet some have found effective ways to bridge the gap. The key seems to be involving both departments in each other's processes and using content strategically to support sales efforts.
At Visma, Laura shared the company's approach: “We don’t separate marketing and sales—they operate under a joint department with shared leadership and goals.” This structure ensures that both teams are working towards the same objectives and are involved in key decisions, from defining target audiences to testing messaging.
Zane highlighted how they involve sales in marketing campaigns to improve engagement with prospects. “We ask sales teams for lists of potential prospects, reach out with invitations to contribute to webinars, and offer incentives. This approach has strengthened engagement and provided sales teams with warmer leads.” By involving sales in the process early on, Zabbix has seen increased collaboration and better results in reaching potential customers.
The real use case is always better than a theory.
Zane further emphasised the importance of real customer stories in content creation. “We know that they're using Zabbix, but are not paying customers. With the incentive, we’ve managed to get users on board and are now planning events together.” Zabbix is finding success by leveraging content built around real use cases, which resonate more effectively with prospects than theoretical messaging. "The real use case is always better than a theory," Zane said.
Laura also noted that aligning marketing and sales requires continuous effort. As a result, they organised additional meetings between marketing and sales, particularly focusing on follow-ups with leads who have gone silent. “We figured that each month, marketing should create some content to use as an excuse to contact the leads that have disappeared.”
Content Creation and the Overload Problem
As content saturation reaches new heights, B2B marketers face a significant challenge: how to balance depth and simplicity. Gen Z audiences demand fast, clear messages, while B2B buyers still appreciate content with substance.
Vita highlighted the importance of providing unique insights: “Content is only worthwhile if it provides something your audience can’t get anywhere else.” Frequency, she warned, should not come at the expense of quality. "If you focus on frequency, then you will lose the quality and then you will lose your followers."
She also pointed out the importance of top-tier content targeted with precision. “In B2B marketing, we usually don't try to tailor our messages throughout the industries of our customers. We have this brilliant insight and then we try to push it to the whole market, regardless of what they’re actually interested in. AI helps us determine interest points of those smaller segments and then tailor the messages accordingly.”
Krister, who has tested AI-generated content, shared his experience: "We built our personal AI bot when ChatGPT came out and ran it for a year. The verdict: excellent space filler, but not enough real interaction with the reader. So we went back to human input.”
As attention spans decrease, moving images tend to capture attention more effectively. “Reading has become exhausting. Moving images capture attention more effectively,” Krister noted.
Ilze explained how their LinkedIn strategy evolved to improve engagement. “We used to post a lot on LinkedIn, and for us, the challenge was not reaching frequency, but posting too much. We saw that we didn’t get enough engagement per post, so I started to dig into the algorithms.” By focusing on engagement rather than frequency, COBALT was able to significantly improve their reach. “We also made a lot of internal efforts to educate our colleagues on how to engage with our content. There are those little things, tips and tricks, you need to know to use the algorithm to your advantage.”
This shift in strategy reflected a broader consensus among participants: while it’s essential to understand algorithms and tailor content to them, there’s no substitute for crafting messages that resonate with the target audience.
Community-Driven Marketing: Engaging Through Recognition
Community-driven marketing has proven to be an effective way to engage customers and prospects while reinforcing brand authority. Not every initiative needs a direct ROI—community-driven marketing also builds goodwill, loyalty, and an engaged audience.
Andres shared the success of their Thermory Design Awards, which celebrates exceptional wood architecture. "Each year, we invite architects to submit projects, and a professional jury selects the winners. This competition not only generates valuable content but also positions us as an opinion leader in the industry." Through this initiative, Thermory has not only recognised great architectural achievements but also created a platform that promotes their brand’s association with design excellence.
Krister’s company, ADM Interactive, has run a band competition for 20 years, providing a platform for young, non-established bands to gain exposure. While the direct business impact remains unclear, Krister points to the intangible benefits of community engagement: “The vibe is very good, and both the employees and customers enjoy it. So we just keep doing it. Good vibes matter!”
Ilze from COBALT discussed a similar initiative, the Baltic Best Sustainability Manager Award. “Competitions create opportunities for meaningful interactions, even with those who aren’t yet customers.” This approach positions COBALT as an advocate for sustainability and an influencer within the ESG space.
Adapting to the B2B Landscape in 2025
As the B2B market evolves in 2025, leaders must balance technology and human connection. While personalisation and AI offer powerful tools for targeted communication, the key to success lies in blending these with community-driven marketing and genuine customer engagement. In a world of shorter attention spans, content creation must be both engaging and substantial, balancing clarity with depth. The future will belong to those who combine innovation and authenticity.
Ann-Kristin Kruuk, edit by Hando Sinisalu