[Latest 2026] Marketing Strategies Practiced by Top-of-Mind Companies: Why Proprietary Data Dissemination Is Key to Avoiding Price Competition and Staying Chosen

PRIZMA Inc. (https://www.prizma-link.com/) conducted a survey on "Marketing strategies practiced by top-of-mind companies in the B2B industry" targeting 1,010 marketing personnel, corporate planning executives, and business owners from B2B companies that believe they have achieved top-of-mind status or have quality and capability but not top-of-mind recognition.

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In B2B marketing, whether a company can be the first name that comes to mind (top-of-mind) when customers consider products or services is a crucial factor that affects subsequent closing rates and sales difficulty.

Many tier-2 or tier-3 companies that are confident in their capabilities and quality but lack awareness often lose out in competitions to industry leaders, and struggle to convert leads into business meetings.

Therefore, PRIZMA conducted this survey. The white paper covering all 10 questions can be downloaded for free below.

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Survey overview: Survey on "Marketing strategies practiced by top-of-mind companies in the B2B industry"

Survey period: June 2 (Tue) - June 3 (Wed), 2026
Survey method: Internet survey using PRIZMA's survey PR "PRIZMA"
Number of respondents: 1,010
Survey target: Monitors who responded as marketing personnel, corporate planning executives, or business owners from B2B companies that believe they have achieved top-of-mind status or have quality and capability but not top-of-mind recognition.
Survey conduct: PRIZMA Inc. (https://www.prizma-link.com/press)

Monitor provider: Sakurisa

Over 80% of both groups regard top-of-mind as an important issue

First, we asked whether being top-of-mind for customers is an important management or marketing issue.

In this survey, responses were collected from two perspectives: companies that already feel they have achieved top-of-mind status and those that feel they have not.

Over 90% of companies that feel they have achieved top-of-mind status, and about 80% of those that have not, answered that it is an important issue.

It appears that many B2B professionals and executives commonly recognize the importance of being the first company that comes to mind for customers.

The benefit of being top-of-mind for business is 'conversion from leads to business meetings'!

So what specific business benefits arise from achieving top-of-mind status?

Companies that already feel they have achieved top-of-mind status were asked about
'experienced benefits', while those that have not were asked about 'expected benefits', each allowing up to two choices.

The top answer for both groups was 'improved conversion rate from lead acquisition to business meeting/appointment acquisition'.

Even if leads are gathered through web ads or exhibitions, lack of brand awareness often prevents appointments. However, if a company is top-of-mind, customer trust is already high, allowing smoother progression to business meetings. Many respondents either experience or expect this benefit.

Among companies that have not achieved top-of-mind status, the second highest expectation was 'improved win rate in competitive bids (36.4%)', indicating a strong desire to overcome the frustration of losing deals.

When do companies without top-of-mind status feel the barrier of not being chosen?

Next, we asked companies that feel they have not achieved top-of-mind status about specific situations in daily sales and marketing where they keenly realize their company is not being chosen (not top-of-mind).

'Proposals always become price competitions (42.6%)' was the most common, followed by 'Customers ask about differences from other companies (33.0%)'. Even though they are confident in product quality, they often get dragged into price wars and struggle to clearly explain differentiators during negotiations.

The marketing strategy practiced by top-of-mind companies is 'dissemination of proprietary survey data'!

What marketing strategies do top-of-mind companies invest budget and resources in? We asked companies that feel they have achieved top-of-mind status to select up to three strategies they focus on for awareness and lead generation.

'Dissemination of proprietary survey data and industry reports (42.8%)' surpassed the conventional 'web ads (41.0%)' to rank first.

Simply running ads may be insufficient to be chosen as an industry-leading, trustworthy company. Regularly publishing statistical reports summarizing real market voices and proprietary survey data (first-party information) can build recognition and deep trust, increasing the likelihood of being the first name mentioned.

[Summary] Why 'proprietary data dissemination' is necessary to avoid price competition and stay chosen

This survey revealed the real struggles of companies that have not achieved top-of-mind status. Despite daily efforts in lead generation and awareness, they often cannot clearly articulate differentiators in actual negotiations, ultimately falling into price competition.

To solve these issues and achieve top-of-mind status where customers name you first, approaches that build deep customer trust are needed, not just advertising. An effective tool is a comprehensive 'industry white paper (yearbook/report)' that analyzes trends and future predictions.

While typical whitepapers offer solutions to specific problems for short-term lead generation, a 'research white paper' involving large-scale cross-tabulation of about 30 questions and multi-angle correlation analysis provides thick, first-party information that serves as an industry benchmark.

Positioning the company as a thought leader in the field, this approach contributes to solving previous marketing challenges through the following:

● Building overwhelming 'authority'