Velo launches the 6Rs framework, a new form of B2B marketing creating peer-to-peer recommendations in dark channels

Velo launch "Recommendation Marketing" to give B2B marketers a structured way to earn advocacy in the private conversations where buying decisions form.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, September 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Velo, the B2B marketing agency that is built on recommendations, has published the 6Rs framework. It is a model for planning, running and measuring marketing across the dark channels where B2B buyers make most of their decisions.

The framework is set out in Velo's Recommendation Marketing Playbook. It applies account-based marketing (ABM) principles to the peer networks, internal champions and communities that influence target accounts.

The framework responds to a change in how B2B buyers choose suppliers. B2B buyers are typically 61% of the way through their buying journey before they first contact a vendor, according to 6sense.¹ Research by Bain & Company and Google finds that 90% of buyers end up buying from the shortlist they started with.² Much of that journey happens in dark channels: private messages, internal chats, peer communities and generative AI tools. None of them show up in attribution reports. Forrester finds buyers trust their colleagues (82%) and industry peers (72%) well ahead of vendor sales reps (58%).³

Conventional ABM targets named accounts with vendor messaging. Velo's peer-to-peer approach focuses on the people buyers already trust. It maps who influences a decision inside and around an account, then gives those people credible material they want to share.

The 6Rs are:

• REVEAL: map the decision-makers, champions, blockers and outside influencers shaping each account.

• RESONATE: create messages designed to be shared between peers, which stand up to scrutiny when forwarded internally.

• REINFORCE: build credibility through customer testimonials, analyst relationships, reviews and employee advocacy.

• REACH: give internal champions ready-to-use materials and join the communities where buyers discuss vendors.

• RELATIONSHIPS: turn awareness into lasting advocacy by keeping in touch well beyond the sale.

• REVIEW: track influence through recommendation rate, feedback from the sales team and share of voice.

Recommendation rate is a new KPI introduced in the playbook. It measures the share of pipeline that comes from advocacy, referral or peer recommendation, as opposed to outbound campaigns.

The framework also covers generative engine optimisation (GEO). Forrester reports that 89% of B2B buyers have adopted generative AI as one of their top sources of self-guided information.⁴ These tools cite brands based on reviews, citations and credible mentions, so brands that earn peer recommendations are more likely to appear in AI-generated shortlists.

Paul Crabtree, founder and Managing Director of Velo, said: "B2B decisions are reputational as well as rational. When someone puts their name to a purchase, they want a recommendation from people they trust. Recommendation isn't a channel; it's the outcome of doing everything else right. The 6Rs give marketers a way to plan for those conversations, support the people having them and measure the effect honestly, even when most of it will never appear in an attribution model."

The Recommendation Marketing Playbook is available to download at velo-b2b.com.

Media contact
Paul Crabtree
info@velo-b2b.com

Notes to editors: sources

1. 6sense, The 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report, November 2025. https://6sense.com/science-of-b2b/buyer-experience-report-2025/
2. Bain & Company and Google, reported in "What B2Bs Need to Know About Their Buyers", Harvard Business Review, September 2022. https://hbr.org/2022/09/what-b2bs-need-to-know-about-their-buyers
3. Forrester, The State of Global Business Buyer Trust in 2023, reported by Digital Commerce 360, 12 January 2024. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/01/12/forrester-survey-how-most-trusted-suppliers-attract-b2b-buyers/
4. Forrester, Data Overview Report: B2B Buyer Adoption of Generative AI, 20 November 2024. https://www.forrester.com/report/b2b-buyer-adoption-of-generative-ai/RES181769
5. The 6Rs framework, the recommendation rate KPI and the approach to GEO: Velo, The Recommendation Marketing Playbook, July 2026. https://www.velo-b2b.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/The-Recommendation-Marketing-Playbook.pdf

Paul Crabtree
Velo B2B
+44 20 8144 1574
Paul.Crabtree@velomarketing.co.uk
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