Australian B2B marketers are being urged to put younger decision-makers at the centre of their marketing strategies, with new LinkedIn research finding 88% believe future business growth depends on their ability to influence Gen Z and Millennial buyers.
The findings come as younger generations increasingly move into leadership positions across Australian businesses, with LinkedIn platform data showing Millennials and Gen Z now account for 48 per cent of Australian leadership roles.
That figure has risen from 35 per cent in 2016, suggesting younger decision-makers are no longer an emerging audience for B2B marketers but an increasingly significant part of the existing buying landscape.
The shift is even more pronounced among Australia’s largest enterprises, where Millennials and Gen Z hold 50.2 per cent of leadership positions, up 14.2 percentage points since 2016.
LinkedIn’s data also shows the trend extends beyond technology companies, with younger generations holding 48.7 per cent of leadership roles in non-tech industries, compared with 44.2 per cent in tech.
For marketers, the research points to a growing need to rethink how B2B brands build credibility with younger buyers, particularly as traditional brand messaging competes with recommendations from peers, experts and creators.
Short-form and immersive video is the format Australian B2B marketers believe is most likely to engage Gen Z buyers, cited by 49 per cent of respondents, followed by content from trusted voices at 44 per cent.
Andrea Rule, director of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, said Gen Z had “raised the bar” for what earns their trust.
“Today’s buyers look to their community of peers and experts to help them make decisions, and that’s why focusing on just visibility without credibility in your marketing strategies falls short,” Rule said.
“Right now, there is no more valuable currency in the world than trust. The brands that win will show up creatively, through the people and channels their audiences trust most.”
LinkedIn said adoption of its Thought Leader Ads has grown nearly 40 per cent year-on-year, with the format delivering up to twice the click-through rate of comparable single-image ads.
Lindsay Bennett, communications and content lead at Ideally, said people surrounding a brand were becoming as influential as the brand itself.
“Younger buyers are looking for expertise, perspective and proof, which means executives, employees, customers and creators are becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing mix,” Bennett said.
“The brands that do this well will embrace a diversity of voices and perspectives, rather than simply asking people to amplify the company line.”
The research suggests expert voices are playing a role beyond generating awareness, with 74 per cent of B2B marketers who currently work with expert voices saying the content is more effective than traditional campaign types at moving audiences from awareness into consideration.
Meanwhile, 33 per cent said campaigns using expert voices have their greatest impact at the consideration stage, compared with 17 per cent who said their biggest impact comes at awareness.
Professional networks and recommendations are also becoming an important part of how younger buyers assess brands. Eighty-eight per cent of Australian marketers believe Gen Z buyers are more likely to consider a brand when it has been validated by someone in their professional community.
The focus on credibility comes as marketers grapple with AI changing how buyers discover and evaluate brands.
Globally, 75 per cent of marketers surveyed agree brand credibility is becoming more important than visibility, while 76 per cent say brands need to appear in trusted professional networks to build that credibility.
Investment is also expected to follow the shift. Over the next 12 months, 46 per cent of CMOs expect their organisations to increase investment in AI search optimisation, while 45 per cent expect to increase investment in content from expert voices.
