05/04/2025
In the past, business in oil and gas ran on personal relationships and handshake deals. Today, however, buyer behavior is changing rapidly. Research shows that modern B2B buyers prefer to do their own research online and engage salespeople later in the process.
To help you further understand this trend , this Marketing Guide for Mid-Market Oil & Gas CEOs explores how digital transformation is reshaping the way industry players sell, market, and connect with customers.
In fact, by 2025 an estimated 80% of B2B sales interactions will occur via digital channels, and over 70% of decision-makers now favor digital self-service or remote human contact over face-to-face meetings. This trend is true even in heavy industries like oil and gas – one survey found more than 70% of oil and gas professionals use social media for work purposes.
The up-and-coming generation of industry managers (now often in their 30s and 40s) are “digital natives” who expect an Amazon-like buying experience – quick online information, self-service tools, peer reviews, and speedy delivery. They are far more likely to research solutions on Google or LinkedIn than to cold-call a vendor early on.
Large oilfield service providers have responded to this digital shift, setting new expectations for the entire sector. For example, Schlumberger (now SLB) launched an e-commerce portal called Oilfield Marketplace to let customers order drilling products. This kind of seamless online buying option was unheard of in the industry a decade ago.
By giving “digital purchasing power” to customers and freeing up sales reps for technical consultations, major players have signaled that digital convenience is the new normal. Overall, oil and gas buyers are acting more like typical B2B consumers: they demand on-demand information, quick comparisons, and online purchasing options.
Mid-market firms that stick to only traditional sales channels risk falling behind as clients gravitate toward suppliers who meet them on digital platforms. The key takeaway is that your buyers have gone digital – and your marketing and sales strategy must follow suit.
Key Trends Shaping the North American Oil & Gas Market (2024–2025)
Staying competitive requires awareness of the broader market landscape. Several major trends in North America’s oil and gas sector are creating both challenges and opportunities for mid-sized companies:
1.Market Rebound and Consolidation
After a volatile past decade, the industry is in a period of relative strength. Oilfield services firms just notched their best performance in over 30 years, and upstream oil & gas companies have increased capital spending by 53% over the last four years.
With higher profits, we are also seeing a wave of mergers and acquisitions, especially in key regions like the Permian Basin. Nearly US$136 billion in upstream deals have been announced since 2023. A fragmented sector is quickly consolidating: “There will be more business but with fewer clients,” as one industry outlook put it.
For mid-market suppliers, this means some of your small independent customers might get absorbed by larger firms. The implication is that competition to serve the remaining big clients will intensify.
It’s no longer enough to rely on a few loyal relationships – you may need to stand out to new decision-makers at larger consolidated operators. This makes strong marketing even more critical to get on the radar of the industry’s new heavyweights.
2.Trade Policy and Tariffs Creating Local Opportunities
The geopolitical climate is shifting toward trade protectionism, and energy is not immune. The administration in 2025 has signaled plans for sweeping import tariffs aimed at boosting domestic industries. Tariffs – essentially taxes on foreign goods – are intended to protect home-grown manufacturers by raising the price of imports.
For North American oil and gas companies, these “impending tariffs” could create a tailwind. If imported oilfield equipment, steel, or components become 10–25% more expensive due to new tariffs, local suppliers suddenly gain a price advantage.
Mid-market equipment manufacturers and service firms can seize this opportunity by emphasizing their North American supply chain and shorter lead times.
In other words, protectionist trade policies may funnel more business to domestic players as operators look closer to home for parts and services.
CEOs should monitor these policy changes closely – while tariffs might raise some input costs, they also present a chance to capture market share from foreign competitors. (As an aside, any company benefiting from this trend should be ready to broadcast that advantage in its marketing – e.g. “Made in USA” or “locally sourced” can become selling points if tariffs drive buyers to prioritize domestic sourcing.)
3.Technology and Energy Transition Trends
Another important trend is the industry’s pivot toward technology and lower-carbon solutions. Large oilfield service companies are increasingly branding themselves as “energy technology” firms, investing in digital platforms, AI, and even clean energy projects.
They are leveraging digital tools to improve efficiency and offer new services – for example, deploying remote sensors, data analytics, and automation to cut costs for customers.
There’s also a push for solutions like carbon capture, hydrogen, and electrified equipment in response to sustainability pressures. For mid-market companies, this trend means you may find new niches in the value chain (e.g. supporting renewables or emissions reduction), but it also means traditional offerings need a modern twist.
Emphasizing technology adoption in your marketing can signal to clients that you’re aligned with where the industry is headed. On the customer side, operators are focusing on customer-centric, tech-enabled service providers as they too embrace digital operations.
Simply put, a mid-market firm that markets itself as innovative and forward-looking may have an edge in attracting business from forward-thinking operators.
4.Regulatory and Economic Uncertainty
Lastly, it’s worth noting the backdrop of policy and economic uncertainty. Energy policies can swing with elections – for instance, the new U.S. administration has re-opened federal lands for drilling and eased certain regulations (“Unleashing American Energy”), even as long-term climate initiatives continue globally.
Oil prices and interest rates also fluctuate, influencing project economics. While these factors are largely out of a mid-market CEO’s control, they reinforce the need for agility. Being visible and well-positioned in the market when an opportunity arises is crucial.
If, say, an import tariff suddenly makes your product the cost-effective choice, your company must already be on buyers’ radar to capitalize. If a competitor exits due to consolidation, your firm should be known as a ready alternative.
Strategic marketing ensures that when the winds shift, your company’s name is front-of-mind for customers seeking new partners.
In summary, the North American oil & gas sector is growing and evolving – with consolidation concentrating the customer base, trade shifts favoring local providers, and a drive toward tech-enabled efficiency.
These trends all point to one conclusion for mid-market firms: differentiation and visibility are key. The pie might be getting bigger (more demand), but it’s being divided differently – and proactive marketing is how you make sure you get your slice.
Winning Market Share with Modern Marketing Strategies
So, what does effective marketing look like for a mid-market oil and gas firm? It’s not about Super Bowl commercials or splashy billboards – it’s about targeted, digital-focused strategies that align with how today’s B2B customers find and vet suppliers.
Let’s break down four key marketing services and how mid-market oil & gas companies and promethean-energy are using them to capture market share. For each, we’ll cover what it involves, the business goals it serves, how quickly you might expect results, and a real example to illustrate the impact.
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Building Inbound Visibility
What it is: SEO means improving your website so that it ranks higher on search engines (mainly Google) for keywords relevant to your business.
In practical terms, this involves optimizing your site’s content, technical structure, and credibility (through backlinks) so that when someone searches for, say, “Houston drilling fluids supplier” or “oilfield emissions monitoring equipment,” your company appears near the top of the results.
Goals it addresses: The primary goal of SEO is to drive organic (unpaid) traffic to your website – specifically, traffic from high-potential prospects. This increases your visibility among people who may never have heard of your company but have a need you can fulfill.
SEO is crucial for lead generation: if your site is the one that provides a clear answer or solution when a prospect searches a problem, you have a chance to capture that lead. It also builds credibility; in the eyes of many buyers, companies that rank well on Google are perceived as more legitimate and authoritative (much like being featured in a trade publication).
Budgetary Consideration: For mid-market firms with limited marketing budgets, SEO offers a cost-effective way to attract leads continuously. Unlike paid ads, once your content ranks well, it can keep bringing in visitors without ongoing spend.
SEO also supports brand authority – for example, SLB’s famous Oilfield Glossary is an SEO play that drives traffic by providing valuable industry information, positioning SLB as a knowledge leader.
Time to see results: SEO is a long game. It does not produce an overnight surge in sales – and any agency promising instant SEO success is selling snake oil. Typically, a B2B company needs at least 6 to 12 months of consistent SEO effort to see significant results.
Real-world example: GDS Corp – a Texas-based manufacturer of gas detection systems (widely used in refineries and offshore platforms) – decided to invest in SEO a few years ago. They were a classic mid-market industrial firm that had relied on distributors and word-of-mouth.
By partnering with a digital agency to overhaul their website and create optimized content, the results over 3 years were remarkable: organic website sessions increased by 850% and organic lead inquiries (goal completions) jumped by 130%.
Key Takeaway: For a CEO, the takeaway is that SEO can deliver a strong ROI over time. It builds an asset (your website’s authority) that yields leads even while you sleep. If you commit to it and set realistic timelines, SEO can become a major growth engine for your company in this digital age.
2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Gaining Instant Visibility with Paid Search
What it is: Search Engine Marketing refers to paid advertising on search engines – most commonly Google Ads (formerly AdWords). Unlike SEO, which is about earning placement in search results, SEM lets you bid for ad placement in search results for specific keywords.
These are typically the text ads you see at the top of Google with a small “Ad” label. In the oil and gas context, you might run ads for queries like “mud pump for sale” or “pipeline inspection services.”
Goals it addresses: The primary goal of SEM is immediate lead generation and visibility. It’s the fastest way to get in front of potential customers who are searching for your product/service categories.
For example, a mid-market drilling tools supplier could run Google Ads such that whenever someone searches “buy drill bits Houston,” their ad appears at the top – even if their site’s SEO is new or weak. This can start driving relevant traffic within days of launching a campaign.
Another goal SEM serves is testing and market insight: by seeing which ad messages or keywords get clicks and leads, you gain quick feedback on what your audience cares about, which can inform other marketing efforts.
Additionally, SEM offers geotargeting, so if your service area is, say, Western Canada, you can show ads only to searchers in that region. This ensures your budget is spent on the right eyeballs. In summary, SEM is about speed and precision – you pay for the visibility, but in return you get instant presence in the market and control over who sees your message.
Budgetary Consideration: SEM Costs on a per click basis. It is based on real time bidding but as a rule of thumb you can see cost per click in the range of $5 to $15; with around 2% clicks converting into leads. You can scale the campaign as per your budget.
Time to see results: One huge advantage of SEM is speed. Properly set up, pay-per-click ads can generate results immediately – literally the same week you launch. If tomorrow a CEO tells his marketing agency to start a Google Ads campaign for “offshore engineering services,” by next week the company can be appearing in searches and getting clicks.
This quick impact is valuable when you need leads fast or want to capitalize on a timely opportunity (for instance, with new tariffs, you might run ads touting “100% American-made equipment available now”).
Real-world example: Let’s revisit the experience of GDS Corp, the gas detector manufacturer mentioned earlier. In addition to SEO, they ran targeted Google Ads (SEM) campaigns. The results? Their pay-per-click efforts drove around 120 goal conversions (leads) per month on average.
3. Content Marketing and Inbound/Email – Educating and Nurturing the Customer
What it involves: Content marketing is about creating and sharing valuable content (articles, videos, white papers, infographics, webinars, etc.) to attract and engage your target audience.
Inbound marketing is a related philosophy where you use content to draw people in (as opposed to pushing out cold ads) and then nurture those people into customers.
Email marketing often plays a supporting role in inbound campaigns – for example, you might offer a white paper on “Improving Pump Efficiency” that prospects download after filling out a form (content offer), then follow up via email with additional insights or case studies (nurture sequence).
In essence, this approach turns your marketing into a two-way dialogue: you put out useful information that addresses your buyers’ challenges, they come to you (via searches, social shares, etc.), and you gradually build a relationship and guide them toward a solution (your product or service).
For an oil & gas company, that might mean content like “10 Safety Tips for Gas Plant Operators” or a case study on how you helped a client reduce drilling costs by 15%. By being a source of insight, you establish trust and thought leadership that keeps prospects coming back.
Goals it addresses: Content and inbound marketing serve several strategic goals: brand awareness, demand generation, and lead nurturing are chief among them. First, putting out quality content increases your visibility and credibility.
Content is vital for nurturing and shortening long sales cycles. In oil and gas B2B, deals can take months or years. Regularly touching prospects with helpful emails or inviting them to webinars keeps your company top-of-mind and gradually builds conviction that you’re the right choice.
Another goal addressed is educating the customer at scale. This makes your sales process more efficient – by the time a prospect engages with your sales team, they may already be 70% educated by your content (often called “warm” leads).
Budgetary Consideration: Content marketing is typically costed upon how many personas do you want to target; think about all the different designations involved in each of your sales, procurement, safety manager, well manager. Secondly, it also depends on how many pieces of content you will produce.
Typically, it will cost a mid-market oil and gas company anything between $7K to $25K per month based on goals that the company is trying to achieve; think just targeting Permian basin companies vs Nation wide.
Time to see results: Inbound and content marketing is typically not a quick win – it’s more of a gradual burn that yields compounding returns. Many companies start to see measurable traction in about 6 to 9 months of consistent content efforts.
By traction, we mean increases in website traffic, more inbound inquiries, and a growing email list or social following. One study found about 84% of companies saw increased web traffic and lead generation within 7 months of starting inbound marketing.
The good news is, like SEO, content has longevity. A single excellent technical blog post can keep pulling in traffic and leads for years after it’s published.
4. LinkedIn and Social Media Marketing – Leveraging Professional Networks
What it involves: LinkedIn Marketing for oil and gas companies can take a few forms. On one hand, it means organically using LinkedIn: sharing company updates, industry news, and thought leadership posts from your executives, and actively growing your network of industry contacts.
On the other hand, it includes LinkedIn’s paid advertising capabilities, which allow targeted B2B ads (you can target by job title, company, industry, seniority, etc., which is perfect for niche oil & gas audiences). Many mid-market firms also encourage their sales and leadership teams to be active on LinkedIn – commenting on relevant discussions, posting insights from conferences, etc. – to increase visibility.
It’s a way to digitally knock on the door of decision-makers that you might otherwise meet only at trade shows – except now you can do it year-round. With LiProspect; you can automate the outreach of your company taking minimal time away from your expensive sales resource. Centric provides a fully managed service to help setup and run campaigns using your LinkedIn.
Goals it addresses: The goals of LinkedIn/social media marketing are brand awareness, engagement, and lead generation – particularly at the top of the funnel. A CEO of a midstream company might not be searching for your services on Google, but if he keeps seeing your insightful posts in her feed, your company will be on her radar.
This builds brand familiarity and credibility. Second, using LiProspect automate direct engagement with potential clients. For example, a VP Operations might for upstream companies is the key decision maker for your offering.
Over time, these digital interactions foster relationships similar to old-school networking, but at scale. Third, as a lead gen tool, LinkedIn’s effectiveness is well-documented: it accounts for over 80% of B2B marketing leads from social media and is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook for B2B companies
Time to see results: Social media can sometimes surprise you with quick wins – one viral post or a well-placed share by an industry influencer can generate a flurry of interest in days.
However, generally organic LinkedIn efforts are like planting seeds: you might spend a few months growing your connections and posting content before you see a tangible payoff (like a prospect reaching out or a noticeable bump in site traffic). Give it 3-6 months of consistent activity to judge impact.
Conclusion: Simple, Strategic Marketing for an Analytical Audience
In today’s digitally driven business landscape, standing still is the fastest way to fall behind. For executives in energy, the shift is not just coming - it’s already here. This Marketing Guide for Mid-Market Oil & Gas CEOs offers a clear takeaway: your buyers have changed, and your strategy must evolve with them.
The traditional model of relying solely on handshakes, personal networks, and trade shows can no longer carry a mid-market oil and gas company through its next phase of growth. Buyers are younger, more digitally fluent, and more selective.
They expect the same digital ease and speed in their professional decisions that they get in their personal lives. Whether it’s researching a vendor, comparing solutions, or requesting a quote, they now start the journey online - and often finish it before ever picking up the phone.
So, where does that leave you?
It means that your company’s website is now its front door. Your LinkedIn presence is your handshake. Your search visibility is your first impression. And your content is your voice at the table - long before your salesperson ever enters the room.
Digital marketing isn’t a trend or a luxury. It’s a competitive requirement. And it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or expensive. In fact, as shown throughout this Marketing Guide for Mid-Market Oil & Gas CEOs, smart strategies like SEO, SEM, content marketing, and LinkedIn outreach allow companies of your size to punch above their weight. You don’t need to outspend the giants - you just need to outsmart them.
Let’s recap what matters most:
- SEO helps you get found by people who are actively looking for your solutions. It brings buyers to your digital doorstep without you chasing them down.
- SEM gives you instant visibility at critical moments—helping you win urgent business or test new markets.
- Content marketing earns trust by educating your prospects. It makes you the company that explains the problem, not just sells the product.
- LinkedIn marketing connects your leadership and sales team with real buyers, building awareness and relationships that lead to deals.
These tools work best when they work together. A well-planned marketing strategy uses all four - aligned to your business goals, your audience, and your growth plans.
What does success look like? It means buyers find you without cold calls. It means sales cycles shorten because leads already know and trust your brand. It means that in a tight bidding race, your reputation tips the scale in your favor.
The CEOs who win the next decade in oil and gas won’t just be the ones with the best service or product. They’ll be the ones who know how to reach the right people, at the right time, with the right message - online.
That’s what modern marketing makes possible.
This Marketing Guide for Mid-Market Oil & Gas CEOs isn’t just a strategy playbook. It’s a leadership tool. A way to make your business visible, valuable, and future-ready. In an industry that’s consolidating and digitizing fast, your marketing is no longer separate from your growth—it is your growth.
Want to build a smarter marketing engine for your oil & gas business?
Let Centric DXB help you stand out, scale up, and stay competitive. Book your free consultation today at CentricDXB.com – and lead your market forward with confidence.
