The Future of ABM & AI in B2B Marketing: Trends Shaping 2025

As we move further into 2025, B2B marketers face increasing pressure to drive revenue efficiently. CROs and CEOs are demanding immediate lead generation while budgets remain stagnant or even shrink. Beyond lead gen, many organizations are also tackling brand refreshes, product realignments, and evolving messaging strategies.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are at the center of these shifts. The companies that succeed will be the ones that refine their strategies and align them with the new digital landscape. Below, we explore the key areas shaping B2B marketing in the coming year.

ABM: Evolving Beyond Lead Generation

Many businesses still see ABM as just a lead-generation tool. However, its real value extends far beyond that—it impacts brand awareness, content strategy, and customer engagement. To maximize ABM’s effectiveness, businesses must shift toward a broader, more integrated approach.

Measuring ABM Success

Traditional campaign metrics don’t always translate to ABM success, as shown in case studies for two of our clients—both of which integrated ABM components into their broader strategies. Establishing a unified measurement framework will help demonstrate ABM’s superior performance compared to conventional marketing campaigns.

For our global fintech client, the ABM approach powered the company’s entry into the U.S. market. Yes& Beacon executed eight targeted ABM campaigns aimed at enterprise and mid-market retailers across fashion, beauty, and activewear. These campaigns blended brand and demand tactics—direct mail, influencer partnerships, full-funnel paid campaigns, and events. With over 3,400 content downloads, 15% landing page conversion rates, and massive earned reach, the client didn’t just generate leads—they built brand equity in a crowded space.

Our cybersecurity client used ABM to launch an entirely new business unit within 120 days. With a dual focus on brand awareness and revenue generation, the strategy included audience segmentation, campaign asset development, and automation setup—while also delivering new branding and a fully integrated website. The ABM campaigns drove lead gen across target accounts and helped establish the Advisory business as a distinct entity, ultimately contributing to its acquisition by a larger company in the field.

At a recent Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Marketing & Growth Community event, one common takeaway was that traditional paid channels are becoming more competitive and more expensive—many marketers are struggling to generate a 2x or 3x return. This represents a clear shift in strategy. ABM offers a path forward by bundling brand-building with lead generation, making investments more defensible and outcomes more holistic.

To evaluate ABM success, marketers need to look beyond CPC and CTR. Metrics like content engagement, conversion quality, account progression, and brand lift within target segments give a clearer picture of impact. A well-executed ABM strategy doesn’t just generate leads—it aligns GTM teams, sharpens positioning, and builds influence where it matters most.

AI in Search: The New Reality for B2B Marketers

AI-driven search is reshaping how businesses and decision-makers find information, and many B2B companies are unprepared for the impact of AI Overviews and zero-click search results. As search engines increasingly provide instant answers, businesses must rethink their approach to visibility, engagement, and lead capture to ensure they remain competitive.

Traffic Declines

AI Overviews could significantly reduce website visits as search engines increasingly provide direct answers within the search results page. According to a study by Seer Interactive, organic click-through rates (CTR) dropped by more than 50% for queries displaying AI Overviews—falling from 1.41% to 0.64%. 

Paid search CTRs also declined by over 25%, from 8.76% to 6.56%. These declines indicate a fundamental shift in how users interact with search results, making it crucial for businesses to rethink their digital strategies.

Shifting Search Intent

Decision-makers are increasingly relying on AI-powered tools instead of traditional search engines. This shift alters how businesses appear in search and forces marketers to rethink their approach to visibility and engagement. AI search assistants prioritize synthesized, direct responses, making it harder for brands to attract clicks through conventional SEO tactics.

New Search Behaviors

With AI-powered search assistants like Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews shaping how users consume information, businesses must consider whether these tools should be treated as new search personas. Instead of focusing purely on ranking in search results, brands should explore how to be featured within AI-generated responses and summaries. Additionally, understanding the nuances of different AI search tools and their underlying indexes is crucial for marketers looking to optimize visibility in this evolving search environment.

Key AI Search Tools and Their Index Sources

• Google AI Overviews – Uses Google's own search index and ranking algorithms to generate AI-driven summaries.
• Perplexity AI – Primarily uses its own search index and does not rely on Bing directly; while it may access data about Bing's ranking signals through APIs to inform its own search results, it primarily crawls and indexes websites using its own bots vs Bing's index crawler.
• Microsoft Copilot (Bing AI) – Powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 this assistant pulls from Bing’s search index while incorporating real-time data where available.
• ChatGPT (OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo with browsing) – Uses Bing search for real-time information retrieval, supplementing OpenAI’s trained dataset.
• You.com https://about.you.com/– A privacy-focused search assistant that integrates AI-generated responses with results from multiple indexes, including Google and Bing.
• NeevaAI – Built for an ad-free AI-powered search experience, it utilizes its own search index while incorporating real-time web sources.
• Brave Search AI – An independent search engine that leverages its own index while integrating AI-powered summarization.
• Andi Search – Designed to provide direct answers rather than ranked links, using a combination of AI and structured web sources.
  Marketers should assess where their content appears in these AI-driven tools and consider strategies for increasing visibility in AI-generated responses.

Marketers should assess where their content appears in these AI-driven tools and consider strategies for increasing visibility in AI-generated responses.

The Disappearance of Traditional Funnels

AI-driven search is altering the customer journey by eliminating the need for traditional top-of-funnel content. Since AI-generated responses often deliver synthesized answers, users bypass standard discovery and research stages. Marketers must adapt by creating high-value content that AI tools recognize as authoritative while diversifying traffic sources beyond search alone.

Recommendations

• Reinforce SEO Best Practices: Before pivoting to AI search strategies, brands must ensure their foundational SEO is strong.
• Optimize for Zero-Click Searches: Using long-tail keywords and compelling CTAs can encourage action rather than passive information consumption.
• Track AI Search Tool Adoption: Understanding how AI-driven search engines impact behavior will be key to developing long-term strategies.
• Develop AI Persona Insights: Marketers should research and adapt to the ways AI-driven platforms influence B2B buyers.
• Prioritize Selective AI Optimization: Not every piece of content needs AI-focused SEO—marketers should be strategic about what they optimize.

For a deeper breakdown of how to optimize content for zero-click environments and drive engagement even when users don't land directly on your site, read our Zero-Click Marketing Strategies for Search Engagement blog post. It covers practical tactics and strategic shifts that align with the new AI-driven search experience.

Turning Insights into Action

The intersection of AI and ABM is redefining B2B marketing, and businesses that embrace these changes will set themselves apart. Marketers must refine their strategies, align their teams, and leverage AI-powered tools to remain visible and drive meaningful engagement in an evolving digital space.

Now is the time to evaluate current approaches, optimize for AI-driven search, and ensure that ABM strategies are backed by data-driven insights. Companies that take proactive steps today will gain a competitive advantage in 2025 and beyond.