Brand. Demand. Expand. The new B2B growth model on the block.

Yesterday, I saw this post from Megan at Refine Labs. As a brand-first marketer, it got me excited. We’re finally seeing more and more big names wake up to what’s been obvious, but underestimated all along: brand isn’t just “nice to have” – it’s the lever. The differentiator. The thing that makes the rest of your go-to-market work better.

I wholeheartedly agree with this framework, and that this is what works right now.

If you’re serious about sustainable growth, this is the lens you need.

So I figured it’s the perfect topic to write about today.

B2B’s old playbook is broken

2020-2022 was all about demand gen at scale. The VC money was flowing. Growth at any cost wasn’t just tolerated – it was the norm. Spray content everywhere. Launch campaigns with zero differentiation. Treat “book a demo” as the only CTA worth measuring.

Then the market took a turn. Budgets tightened. CAC spiked. And buyers? They got smarter. They started ignoring cookie-cutter content and vaporware messaging. Suddenly, the B2B playbook everyone was following just stopped working.

This isn’t about a “new trend.” It’s a structural shift in how B2B growth happens.

Refine Labs captured it perfectly with their Brand. Demand. Expand. model. It’s not revolutionary. It’s reality. It aligns with how buyers actually buy, how revenue is actually made, and how companies actually scale without burning out their GTM teams or their bank accounts.

Here’s how the model works – and why if you’re not thinking this way, you’re falling behind.

Part 1: Brand – the trust multiplier most companies ignore

Most B2B companies treat brand like an afterthought. A design exercise. A color palette and a vibe. They confuse brand with visual identity and storytelling. That’s surface-level branding.

Real brand? It’s positioning and perception. It’s the answer to the question: “Why should anyone give a shit about your company in the first place?”

In this model, brand is not a vanity metric. It’s your long-term growth insurance. It’s what makes your company top-of-mind when your buyer enters a buying cycle.

Why it matters now more than ever:

• B2B buying cycles are getting longer and more complex
• Buyers research anonymously. They engage late
• Purchase committees are growing. Buying consensus is harder

If you’re not already in the buyer’s brain when they start shortlisting vendors, you’ve already lost.

Good brand = built-in trust. It means your prospects already believe you’re a credible option – before they ever talk to sales.

Leading indicators of strong brand:

• Branded search volume (trending up)
• Direct traffic growth
• Organic social mentions
• Self-reported attribution saying “heard about you on LinkedIn” or “saw your CEO speak”

Part 2: Demand – not just leads, but qualified pipeline

This is where most B2B marketers camp out. Demand gen is the drug of choice because it’s easier to measure. Launch an ad, see a click. Run a webinar, count the leads.

But without brand, your demand engine is just noise. You try to shove people into demos before they even understand what you do. That’s not marketing – that’s lead harvesting.

This model reframes demand:
It’s not about MQLs. It’s not about ebook downloads. It’s about turning high-intent interest into high-quality pipeline.

Key signals:

• % of target accounts actively engaging
• Inbound demo requests from your ICP
• Actual pipeline growth tied to marketing efforts
• Shorter sales cycles due to informed buyers

You know your demand engine works when sales says, “These leads are fire. Let’s go.” Not when marketing says, “We hit our MQL target, sorry they didn’t convert.”

What modern demand looks like:

• Dark social content that builds mental availability (LinkedIn, Slack groups, podcasts)
• Zero-click content (educating within the feed, not behind a gate)
• Paid social as a channel for education, not just retargeting
• Ungated case studies, product overviews, pricing – because your buyer’s trying to self-serve

Part 3: Expand – the revenue most B2B teams leave on the table

This is the part too few people talk about. Which is wild – because it’s where sustainable, capital-efficient growth lives.

If you close a deal and then ignore the customer until renewal time, you’re not just doing bad customer success. You’re doing bad business.

Expand is about maximizing LTV:

• Expansion revenue
• Product adoption
• Account penetration
• Reducing churn

Why this is gold:

• It’s easier to sell to someone who already trusts you
• No CAC required
• Expansion revenue is more predictable and scalable

But most orgs focus 90% of energy on acquisition. Why? Because that’s where the ego is. Logos. Awards. Growth headlines.

The smart GTM teams look at the full lifecycle. They ask:

• How do we make our customers more successful?
• How do we introduce new products/features that add value?
• How do we turn one team’s success into a company-wide rollout?

The flywheel effect – why all three must work together

This isn’t a funnel. It’s a system. Brand feeds demand. Demand converts interest into revenue. Expand multiplies that revenue and reinforces the brand.

It’s a compounding cycle:

• Strong brand → More efficient demand gen
• Efficient demand gen → Faster sales cycles
• Customer expansion → Lower CAC, higher LTV
• Higher LTV → More budget to reinvest in brand

Break any link, and it all falls apart.

If you skip brand, your demand gen feels like spam.
If your demand gen sucks, your sales team has no fuel.

If you ignore expansion, you’re constantly replacing churned revenue.

Common mistakes that kill this model

Chasing leads over quality
You collect 1,000 leads. Only 5 matter. That’s not efficient – that’s waste.

Under-investing in brand
You spend 6 figures on paid search but nothing on POV or subject-matter-expert (building thought leadership) content.

Ignoring post-sale
You treat customer success like a cost center. Your customers feel it – and leave.

Measuring the wrong things
If your KPI is “form fills,” not revenue, your incentives are misaligned.

Siloed teams
Brand, demand, and customer success don’t talk. That’s not a strategy – that’s a mess.

How to operationalize it

You don’t need a reorg. You just need alignment.

Step 1: Unify your KPIs across the funnel

• Brand: track direct traffic, branded search, self-reported attribution
• Demand: measure pipeline velocity, deal quality, win rates
• Expand: look at expansion revenue, NRR, product usage

Step 2: Build feedback loops

• What are prospects saying before they convert? Feed that into brand.
• What are customers struggling with post-sale? Feed that into product.
• What assets are shortening sales cycles? Double down.

Step 3: Get out of the MQL trap

• Focus on quality, not volume
• Kill any KPI that doesn’t link to revenue

Final thoughts – build a growth system, not a campaign calendar

Campaigns have a start and end date. Systems compound over time.

If you want predictable, scalable growth, stop optimizing in isolation. Stop seeing brand as optional. Stop ignoring post-sale. Build a strategy that actually mirrors how your buyers think.

Brand. Demand. Expand.
It’s not a buzzword framework. It’s the blueprint for modern B2B growth.

If you’re not going to do this, you won’t just fall behind – you’ll become irrelevant.