B2B Brands Keep Renting Attention. Breaker Says It's Time to Own the Audience Relationship

Breaker argues that the real value of a newsletter lies in direct audience access, not subscriber volume alone. Direct access gives companies a recurring channel to educate buyers, shape their point of view and stay visible throughout long sales cycles.

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Most business-to-business (B2B) marketers continue to depend on platforms they do not control to reach prospective customers. A 2025 survey from the Content Marketing Institute found that 84% of B2B marketers use paid distribution channels. Among them, 73% use social media advertising or promoted posts. Those channels can deliver reach, but the visibility ends with the campaign. Unless paid distribution converts prospects into subscribers or customers, brands must keep paying to reach them again.

"If you are running ads on a social platform or sponsoring somebody else's newsletter, you are renting someone else's audience," said Ben Billups, founder and CEO of Breaker, a newsletter platform focused on B2B audience growth and targeting. "When you build an audience around your own brand and media properties, you control how that relationship develops."

Paid Reach Should Build Something That Lasts

Paid media remains an important part of customer acquisition, but it rarely creates a durable communication channel. Brands can buy impressions, clicks, and temporary visibility, but the platform determines how and when the audience is reached. A branded newsletter creates a different type of access because subscribers have chosen to hear directly from the company.

Major brands are also rethinking how paid and owned media work together. In a year when the Hershey Company launched ambitious paid media ventures with the Olympics and Hollywood producers, it also reinforced the value of a tried-and-true "PESO" approach to connect content and messaging across Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media. This shift reflects the importance of maintaining direct audience channels that reverberates across several audience touchpoints. In a recent interview with AdExchanger, Hershey's VP of consumer connection Vinny Rinaldi noted, "not everything is about paid media."

Billups points out that the same playbook works on a smaller scale, "Developing a branded newsletter does not mean paid media should disappear," Billups said. "Advertising should help companies build lasting audience assets rather than become the only way they can reach prospective buyers."

Buying an Audience Saves Time. Building One Creates Control.

For larger companies, an alternative to repeatedly pay for audience access is to acquire the media property itself. When HubSpot closed the deal on business newsletter and media company The Hustle in 2021, it gained a daily newsletter that then reached more than 1.5 million readers. By 2026, HubSpot said its broader media network, which includes The Hustle, was generating more than 50 million engagements and tens of thousands of leads each month.

"Buying is faster, while building gives you more control," Billups said. "A large company can acquire an established audience. A smaller B2B company can develop one over time and shape the brand, growth sources and readership from the beginning."

The Right 1,000 Readers Can Outperform the Wrong Million

A large newsletter may generate impressive delivery figures without creating meaningful business opportunities. Another, read by 1,000 commercial real estate executives, for example, could be highly valuable to a company selling high-value property management or professional services. With targeted email audiences, the value comes not from subscriber count alone, but from the relevance of the audience and the business opportunities that access can create.

"The market tends to treat audience size as the main measure of value," Billups said. "But in B2B, the more important question is whether the right people are paying attention."

Long Sales Cycles Require Recurring Contact

Email newsletters are already widely used, with 71% of B2B marketers reporting that they distribute content through them, according to 2025 research from the Content Marketing Institute. But the larger shift is that businesses are treating newsletters as media properties with strategic value.

A strong newsletter gives a company a recurring place to educate the market, explain its point of view, nurture future buyers and remain visible throughout long sales cycles. Unlike a one-time campaign, its value can compound as the subscriber base, editorial identity, and reader relationship develop.

The newsletter does not replace a website, advertising, or sales outreach. It connects those activities by giving interested prospects a reason to continue hearing from the company between buying moments. "Newsletters are about the long tail," Billups said. "They let a company stay in front of someone for six months or longer so that when the project, budget and timing line up, the brand is already top of mind."

About Breaker
Breaker is the only email platform that sends your newsletter and grows your list with high-value B2B prospects—on autopilot. Powered by advanced targeting, AI enrichment, and proprietary deliverability systems, Breaker ensures every email reaches the inbox while generating verified, sales-ready subscribers for as little as $1.50 each. Seamless CRM integrations, white-glove migration, and built-in analytics make it easy for marketers to scale outreach and convert engagement into pipeline. Built by marketers, for marketers. For more information, visit joinbreaker.ai.

References:

• Stahl, S. (2024, October 9). B2B content marketing benchmarks, budgets, and trends: Outlook for 2025. Content Marketing Institute. contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research-2025
• Hercher, J. (2026, January 21). Hershey's undergoes a brand update as it rethinks paid, earned and owned media. AdExchanger. adexchanger.com/commerce/hersheys-undergoes-a-brand-update-as-it-rethinks-paid-earned-and-owned-media/
• HubSpot. (2021, February 16). HubSpot signs agreement to acquire The Hustle, adding content to help scaling companies grow better. ir.hubspot.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hubspot-signs-agreement-acquire-hustle-adding-content-help
• HubSpot. (2026, February 24). What we're building with Starter Story. HubSpot. blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hubspot-starter-story-acquisition

Media Inquiries:
Karla Jo Helms
JOTO PR™ 
727-777-4629

SOURCE Breaker