Stop Pushing, Start Pulling

Cold calls, cold emails, cold anything: buyers have ice in their veins for it today. The short version is simple: technology let buyers take control. They research on their own, compare options on their own, and only invite sellers in when they’re already warm. Gartner’s latest buying research underscores the shift: 61% of B2B buyers now prefer an overall rep-free buying experience, and much of the journey happens in digital channels. In other words, your future customers would rather find you than be found by you. (Gartner, Demand Gen Report)

So what replaces the old playbook? A “super new” approach that’s really the best of an idea that’s been maturing for two decades: inbound. You offer genuine value up front (tools, guides, templates, communities, education), and the right people self-select into your world. Seth Godin put the philosophy crisply years ago:

“Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.” (Seth's Blog)

If that sounds like common sense, good. It is. It also happens to be where the results are.

This season keeps showing us that cold outreach is fading down. And inbound is beginning to win. These are a few forces that matter in 2025:

• Buyers want control. They prefer doing their own homework and avoiding generic outreach. That 61% rep-free preference is a loud signal. (Gartner)
• Digital-first journeys. Gartner has long projected the majority of B2B interactions shifting into digital channels; the upshot for marketers is clear: be useful where buyers look, not intrusive where they aren’t.
• Trust 'beats' interruption. “Markets are conversations,” as The Cluetrain Manifesto famously argued—people respond to helpful dialogue, not megaphones. (Uber Eye)

Let me note that inbound isn’t about soft marketing. It’s about meeting buyers at the moment of intent with something so useful it earns attention. Jay Baer calls this Youtility: “Make your marketing so useful people would pay for it.”

Think of inbound in 2025 as five simple building blocks:

1. A flagship helpful asset (free tool, deep guide, course, template library).
2. Discovery rails (SEO, partner distribution, communities, social, YouTube).
3. A low-friction opt-in (clear promise, transparent value, easy unsubscribe).
4. A nurturing layer (emails that teach, short videos, product tips: no spam).
5. Product-led paths (free plan, reverse trial, or demo that shows value fast).

This model isn’t theory, it’s how some of the most effective growth engines are built today.

Concrete examples you can steal (responsibly, of course)

1) The free tool that fills your pipeline: HubSpot’s Website Grader

HubSpot’s classic Website Grader invited anyone to plug in a URL and get a performance and marketing score with recommendations. The payoff for the user? Genuine value in minutes. The payoff for HubSpot? A steady stream of warm, self-selected prospects who’ve already raised a hand. Over the years, the tool has analyzed millions of websites; HubSpot has even described it internally as one of their most successful lead-gen assets.

What to copy: Package your expertise as something interactive (grader, calculator, risk check, ROI model). Deliver instant utility; ask for only the minimum data in return.

2) SEO at the moment of use: Zapier’s “integration” pages

Zapier didn’t chase generic keywords. They built programmatic SEO around what users actually want to do: connect App A with App B. The result is a lattice of high-intent landing pages (for each app, every app-to-app combo, and even multi-step workflows) that attracts buyers at the exact moment of need. Case studies show this programmatic strategy has delivered massive organic visibility and growth.

What to copy: Map real tasks your customer searches for, then create structured pages or templates that solve those tasks at scale, but with quality.

3) Product-led content at scale: Ahrefs’ $100M ARR engine

Ahrefs, the SEO platform, is a case study in content-first growth. Rather than a big sales force, they invested in deep, product-led education (blog, guides, YouTube) that shows exactly how to solve SEO problems, often using Ahrefs in the walkthrough. Interviews and third-party reports indicate the company surpassed $100M in ARR while relying heavily on content and community over classic outbound.

What to copy: Teach the job, not just the tool. Create best-on-internet resources that incidentally (but clearly) feature your product doing the job well.

Do the economics check out?

Short answer: yes, especially over a multi-quarter horizon. Classic research found inbound/content marketing can generate ~3x more leads at ~60% lower cost than traditional outbound. While those benchmark studies are older, the directional story has held up as budgets shifted toward owned content and organic discovery.

And it matches how people actually buy. As Brian Halligan (HubSpot co-founder) put it: “People shop and learn in a whole new way… so marketers need to adapt or risk extinction.”

I think you will like these quotes, they are something to keep in your pocket:

• Peter Drucker: “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” If you internalize that, you’ll design value that attracts the right buyers on its own. rlaexp.com
• Seth Godin: “Permission marketing is the privilege… to people who actually want to get [your messages].” Inbound works because it’s invited, not imposed. Seth's Blog
• Jay Baer: “Make your marketing so useful people would pay for it.” If your content/tool feels like a product, you’re doing it right. slideshare.net
• Cluetrain Manifesto: “Markets are conversations.” Treat your program like an ongoing, two-way dialogue. Uber Eye

Okay, now, kick your shoes off, sketch this on a napkin, and you’ll be ahead of most teams by the time you’re back at your desk:

1. Pick one burning customer job. What’s the problem your best customers always bring up in reviews, sales calls, or support tickets? Choose something tight and practical.
2. Ship a “signature helpful thing.”
   • B2B SaaS: an ROI calculator, integration comparison, or readiness checklist.
   • Services: a self-assessment plus a short action plan PDF.
   • E-commerce: a fit/usage guide or quiz that maps to products.
     Commit to truly useful “I’d save this to my desktop” quality. (Remember Baer’s test.)
3. Design the lightest opt-in you can. Promise a clear benefit for subscribing (updates to the tool, monthly “how-to” digest, access to templates). Make unsubscribing one click. (That’s how you earn Godin-style permission.)
4. Lay down discovery rails.
   • Search: Build an SEO page for each real task or question (see Zapier’s playbook for inspiration).
   • Partners & creators: Offer your asset to complementary tools and communities; be useful to their audience and yours grows.
   • YouTube/Shorts: Turn your asset into simple “show, don’t tell” walkthroughs.
5. Nurture like a helpful friend. A monthly note that teaches one thing + a short video + a relevant template beats drip campaigns that nag. (Ahrefs’ content cadence is a good model.)
6. Connect to product moments. Add soft CTAs: “Try this with your data,” “See this live in the product,” or a reverse trial that lets people experience premium features for a limited time: no hard gate, no pushy sales. (Many product-led teams use this to turn warm interest into usage.)
7. Track the few numbers that matter. Don’t chase vanity metrics. Watch: qualified opt-ins from the flagship asset, activation in product (if SaaS), assisted pipeline, and time-to-first value. Even Ahrefs argues content ROI is messy, so focus on a handful of leading indicators, not everything.

Common pitfalls to dodge

• Gating too early. Earn permission first; capture later. You’ll grow faster with open access to your best work.
• Making “content” the goal. The goal is usefulness. If it wouldn’t pass Baer’s “pay for it” test, keep editing.
• Ignoring buyer behavior shifts. If your funnel still assumes buyers want to talk to sales first, you will miss the 61% who don’t.

In 2025, the winning lead-gen motion is less about finding people and more about being findable, with assets so practical that prospects warm themselves up. You won’t abandon outbound entirely (there’s still a place for targeted outreach). But the center of gravity moves to value that attracts: permission-based, conversation-driven, and product-led. Or, as Drucker framed it long before we had AI landing pages and integration hubs:

"Aim to understand the customer so well that your offering sells itself."