How to build a scalable pipeline

Welcome to Edition 20 of B2B Marketing Simplified

A launch isn’t a single moment… It’s the engine that fuels lead generation.

Think beyond the one-off announcement. A strong launch is designed to keep working for you: building awareness, filling the pipeline, and creating momentum that lasts.

In this issue of B2B Marketing Simplified, we’ll cover how to design launches that keep delivering, how to focus on the right leads (not the time-wasters), and why PR and reputation are now central to your visibility in an AI-driven search world.

Why launch matters more than you think

A launch is often seen as a single moment… A press release, a LinkedIn post, maybe an ad. Then it’s back to business as usual.

But that view sells launch short. In reality, launch is the spark that kicks off a longer process: getting your offer in front of the right people, staying visible, building trust, and steadily turning interest into qualified sales.

Done well, a launch doesn’t just make noise for a week. It connects your business vision to real marketing momentum. It becomes a repeatable system that fuels your lead generation, again and again.

The companies that scale don’t treat launch as a one-off.

Here’s what a successful launch requires:

1. Get alignment first

If your sales and marketing leadership team isn’t on the same page about goals, no campaign will save you. If one side is chasing brand awareness while the other pushes for a flood of leads, it only leaves you juggling too many priorities and making little progress on any of them.

2. Know your buyers

Build clear personas. What do they care about? What pains are they trying to solve? Talk to that in your marketing, not just your product’s features.

3. Set measurable goals

Only 23% of marketers feel confident they’re tracking the right KPIs. (Harvard Business School Online). Decide what early and long-term success looks like for a campaign: traffic, engagement, conversions, then track it.

4. Mix your channels

Think of paid, owned, and earned as three legs of a stool. Take one away, and it wobbles and falls over. You can read Score’s quick media guide to learn more. In short, paid = fast reach (Google Ads, LinkedIn), owned = what you control (website, newsletters) and earned = credibility (PR, reviews, referrals).

5. Measure and adapt

If people are clicking but not converting, don’t double down; instead, fix the landing page and refine the message.

Leads: Not all created equal

It’s easy to treat every lead like they’re ready to buy. But in reality, some are merely curious, while others are much closer to making a decision.

MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): Interested, but not yet ready. Maybe they’ve downloaded a guide or joined a webinar.
SQL (Sales Qualified Lead): Intent is clear. They’ve asked for pricing, booked a call, or requested a demo.

Mix those up and you risk either pushing too soon (and turning people off) or waiting too long (and missing the moment). That’s why lead scoring matters. Simple signals in your CRM, like page visits, job title, or form fills, can help your sales team focus on the leads most likely to convert.

Why PR is now core to Launch

AI has changed how people find brands. Tools like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Perplexity don’t just crawl your website; they look for signals of authority and trust across the web, such as mentions, reviews, and thought-leadership content.

ChatGPT reached 400M weekly users in Feb 2025 (Search Engine Land).
61% of AI reputation signals come from editorial media sources (Hard Numbers).
Around 60% of Google searches are now “zero-click” (Semrush).

If you’re not visible in respected places, AI won’t “know” you exist.

Case Study: PKB Civils, from Founder-led to Marketing-led in 90 days

PKB Civils, a UK civil engineering firm, had a familiar challenge: most leads came through the directors. No system. No clear marketing plan.

After a discovery call and a strategy workshop, we mapped out a 90-day launch plan:

Sharper website positioning
SEO quick wins
Paid Google Ads for instant traction
A new CRM to track and prioritise leads
A LinkedIn newsletter that grew to 800+ subscribers in three editions

The result? Within three months, marketing, not the directors, was generating most of the leads. Freeing leadership to focus on delivery and growth.

Want to read the full case study?

Quick-wins checklist: 7 things you can do this week

You don’t need a massive budget to strengthen your launch process.

Try these:

Re-set your goals. 30-minute leadership huddle: agree on revenue targets and personas.
Audit your funnel. Figure out where leads are dropping off. Awareness? Consideration? Conversion?
Define MQL/SQL. Document what behaviours qualify each.
Set up lead scoring. Even a simple points system in your Customer Relationship Management system helps.
Optimise one owned asset. Update your main landing page with proof, clarity, and a clear Call-to-action.
Run a paid test. We recommend getting started with £500 on a tightly targeted Google or LinkedIn ad, using your persona research as a great starting point.
Reach out to one journalist for PR. Start building relationships now; it pays off later.

🎁 Bonus asset: 90-day lead generation playbook (Free to download)

We’ve created a simple step-by-step playbook you can share with your team.

Inside, you’ll discover:

How to position your business so the right clients find you
How to run launches that keep generating leads, not just short-term noise
Ways to spot which leads are worth your time (and which aren’t)
The key numbers to track so you can see progress with confidence

👉 Download the Playbook here

Final takeaway…

Launch isn’t about noise. It’s about clarity, consistency, and credibility.

When you align on vision, use a smart mix of channels. Score and nurture leads properly. And build a reputation with PR; you don’t just launch. You build momentum. And momentum is what grows a scalable, marketing-led business.

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Have a great month.