Nine Years in Business: Bite IT Marketing’s Journey to (Almost) a Decade
9 years. No wayyy!
Happy 9th birthday to Bite! As we step into our 10th year in business, I’ve been reflecting on the wild, wonderful ride that is B2B technology marketing and the role Bite IT Marketing has played in it.
This reflection has been nudged along by the lovely messages from clients, colleagues and friends that have landed in my inbox as we hit this milestone. You know who you are, thank you. You’re the reason we get to do what we do.
When I founded Bite in 2017, the mission was simple: help technology companies navigate the complex world of B2B marketing and drive sustainable growth. We started with a tiny team and a handful of brave early clients, and we’ve grown into a specialist agency that’s survived multiple tech hype cycles, a pandemic, AI disruption, and more acronyms than I care to remember.
And through all of that, a few things have stayed constant.
What’s never changed (and won’t):
1. A genuinely client‑centric approach
We’ve always believed technology marketing is not, and never will be, a one‑size‑fits‑all endeavour. Your markets are complex, your sales cycles are long, and your stakeholders are many. Our job is to decode that complexity, not add to it.
Our Marketing Blueprint remains one of my favourite parts of the job – these are the sessions where we dig into your goals, aspirations and internal politics (yes, we said it) until everyone around the table is actually aligned again.
That “we treat your business like our own” thing isn’t a slogan for us; it’s how we work. We care what success looks like to you – and we measure ourselves against that, not just vanity metrics.
Interestingly, this focus on deeper alignment is exactly where high‑performing B2B teams are leaning. Gartner’s latest B2B buying research shows that 75% of B2B buyers now prefer a rep‑free, self‑service experience – but those deals are also more likely to result in regret if buyers aren’t guided properly. That’s where strong, consultative marketing partners come in. And where a strong channel model can thrive.
2. Continuous learning (because the ground keeps moving)
When we wrote our 7th‑year-in-business blog back in 2024, AI was already everywhere. Two years on, it’s gone from “hot topic” to “basic hygiene.” You can’t open LinkedIn without seeing agentic AI, multi‑agent systems or new marketing copilots.
The good news: we’ve never been afraid of learning curves.
Our team keeps upgrading their skills – from AI‑assisted analytics to new ad formats to the latest on privacy and data ethics. Gartner calls out AI and data literacy as core competencies for modern marketing teams, and we’ve taken that to heart.
We’re not here to be dazzled by tools; we’re here to apply them intelligently to get you results. That’s why this year we’ve updated our slogan to Turbocharging Technology Business Growth. Precision Marketing. Proven by Performance. Guided by Human Intelligence.
3. Data‑driven, human‑first
“Data‑driven” has been overused to the point of meaning nothing, so let’s be clear about what it means at Bite.
We still start by building robust personas – for end users, partners, buying committees – and really digging into their motivations, objections and decision paths. We combine that with your CRM, campaign data and, increasingly, intent and review signals to make smarter decisions about where to focus.
But the human bit still matters most.
Almost every serious B2B buying decision now includes peer reviews, with 98% of software buyers saying they read reviews before purchasing and 92% placing most trust in reviews written within the last year. That means your story has to be grounded in real‑world proof – case studies, communities, reviews – not just messaging frameworks.
How we’ve evolved since 2017
1. From “digital marketing” to “digital‑first buying.”
What used to be “digital campaigns” is now just… buying. Gartner predicted that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers would occur in digital channels – and that’s exactly what we’re seeing in our clients’ worlds.
Buyers spend only about 17% of their buying time with potential suppliers. So when your marketing finally gets a sliver of their attention, it has to work extremely hard.
That’s why we’ve doubled down on:
- Better content journeys instead of isolated assets
- Stronger first‑party data strategies (more on that later)
- Joined‑up sales and marketing enablement, not just “leads over the wall.”
2. From campaigns to revenue‑aligned engines
CMOs have been under budget and performance pressure for years now. Gartner’s 2025 CMO Spend Survey found marketing budgets flatlining at about 7.7% of company revenue for a second year in a row, and 59% of CMOs saying they don’t have enough budget to execute their strategy fully.
That’s forced marketers to get smarter about where every pound goes – and we’ve taken the same approach at Bite.
We’ve:
- Shifted more spend to measurable, high‑intent channels
- Built more sophisticated nurture and lifecycle programmes, not just lead gen bursts
- Used AI and data to optimise creative and targeting faster than humans alone ever could
We’ve also invested heavily in our paid media capabilities – from Performance Max and smart bidding to multi‑channel attribution – and that part of our business has flourished as clients look for accountable, scalable growth.
3. From “trying new things” to structuring innovation
Today’s innovation challenges look different: agentic AI assistants in the buying journey, AI‑mediated search results, zero‑click content, and increasingly blurred lines between B2B and B2C experiences.
We’ve put more structure around innovation: testing frameworks, AI pilots, and clear criteria for when a “shiny thing” becomes part of our standard playbook.
The Bite DNA: still the same (just with more humans, a splash of AI and more dogs)
People describe us as caring, curious, and commercially sharp, a combination that’s rare in B2B tech.
We’re still the agency that will ask the awkward questions, rework your elevator pitch so it doesn’t sound like a datasheet, and gently push you to use more faces and fewer product screenshots. People buy from people – especially in complex tech.
We’ve been told our strategy sessions feel “therapeutic.” I’ll take that. B2B marketers are under pressure – many report feeling “panicked and pressured” and worrying that their skills aren’t keeping up with expectations. Our job is to decode the complexity and give you a clear plan.
And yes, we’re still dog people. That hasn’t changed either.
Looking ahead: Bite in 2026 and beyond.
So what does the next stretch look like, as we head towards a full decade in business?
Here are a few themes we’re leaning into, for ourselves and our clients:
1. AI‑powered, human‑led marketing
Generative AI and AI agents are no longer “coming”; they’re embedded in how work gets done. By 2027, Gartner expects AI proficiency to be part of 75% of hiring processes, with AI agents and GenAI driving a $58 billion shift in productivity tools.
In B2B specifically, AI agents are expected to mediate the vast majority of B2B buying – Gartner predicts around 90% of B2B buying will be mediated by AI agents by 2028.
Our view? AI will increasingly handle:
- Research and summarisation
- Drafting and versioning content
- Pattern spotting in campaign performance
- Dynamic optimisation of media and journeys
But humans still win on:
- Insight
- Judgement
- Creativity
- Ethics
- Authenticity
We’re investing in both: upskilling our team in practical AI skills and building smart partnerships with technology providers and platforms to deliver on this AI‑powered future without losing our humanity.
2. Sustainability, ESG and meaningful stories
ESG is no longer a tick‑box exercise. For technology buyers and investors alike, sustainability, responsible AI and social impact are moving from “nice‑to‑have” to real decision factors.
We’re working with more clients who want to tell these stories authentically – not as greenwashing, but grounded in data, proof and honest trade‑offs. That’s where good content strategy and thoughtful creativity really matter.
3. Immersive and interactive experiences
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and more interactive digital formats are finally finding practical, B2B‑friendly applications, from product visualisation to virtual labs and demos.
We don’t believe every brand needs a metaverse strategy (thankfully), but we do believe that the days of static PDFs as your primary “experience” asset are numbered.
4. Deeper personalisation, without creeping people out
Personalisation in B2B has matured from “Hi {First Name}” to using intent data, behaviour and AI to tailor journeys, content and offers.
But with cookies disappearing and privacy expectations rising, brands are having to earn first‑party data by offering real value – better content, tools, communities and experiences, in exchange for information.
We’re helping clients:
- Build stronger email and owned audience strategies
- Design smarter forms, lead magnets and nurture flows
- Use consent‑based, transparent data practices that actually build trust, not erode it
A big thank you – and what’s next
If there’s one thing I’m proudest of over these nine years, it’s not a single campaign or award. It’s the fact that our clients stay with us, grow with us and trust us to adapt alongside them.
As we move through our 10th year in business, we’re more committed than ever to:
- Staying obsessively close to your buyers
- Using data and AI intelligently, not blindly
- Keeping your marketing rooted in what makes your business genuinely different
- And making the work enjoyable along the way
On to the next chapter. Want to be part of it? Get in touch!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Vanessa Cardwell is the Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director at Bite IT Marketing, where she leads innovative marketing strategies, champions the integration of AI in content management, and helps businesses gain the industry recognition they deserve.
