Should Manufacturers Stop Using B2B Portals? Not Necessarily.
The useful question is not whether portals are “good” or “bad.” It is whether the channel produces commercially relevant opportunities at a sensible cost and whether the business has enough alternatives to avoid dependence.
Do not stop using a B2B portal simply because you want more direct enquiries. Keep it when it produces worthwhile opportunities, improve qualification where needed and build owned search, website and account-based channels alongside it. Reduce spend only when the data shows the channel is no longer commercially useful.
Judge the portal by business outcome
A portal may produce many enquiries, a few excellent opportunities or mostly irrelevant requests. The answer can differ by product category, location, competition and even by the way the listing is maintained.
Review sales progression, not only lead count. If the channel creates profitable business, there is no strategic reason to remove it simply to make the growth mix look more “owned.”
Separate a bad channel from a bad setup
Poor results can come from the wrong product categories, weak response time, generic listing copy, broad geography or no qualification process. Before abandoning the channel, determine whether the underlying demand is poor or whether the company is handling it badly.
The same discipline should be applied to search campaigns, LinkedIn or any other source.
Build alternatives before cutting dependence
If a portal currently supplies a large portion of opportunity, switching it off before direct channels are mature can create a sales gap. A safer strategy is to build stronger company pages, search visibility, direct campaigns and account-focused activity in parallel.
As direct opportunity grows, the business can decide how much portal dependence is still comfortable.
Keep the channel portfolio intentional
Every source should have a role. A marketplace may capture active product demand. Search may create direct discovery. Account-based work may support large targets. Referrals may deliver high trust.
The business is strongest when management understands what each channel contributes and can move investment based on opportunity quality.
What to do next
Keep useful demand while you build more control around the parts of the growth system you own.
Questions businesses usually ask
How do we know whether a B2B portal is worth the cost?
Track relevant enquiries, opportunities, orders, gross value or margin where practical, and the sales time required to qualify the channel.
What if most portal leads are irrelevant?
Review category, geography, listing language and qualification. If the mismatch remains high after sensible changes, shift investment toward better-performing sources.
Should direct search replace portals completely?
Not necessarily. Direct and marketplace demand can coexist and serve different buyer behaviours.