Velo launches 6Rs framework for B2B recommendation marketing

Velo has published a new 6Rs framework to help B2B marketers win peer-to-peer advocacy in the private channels where buying decisions are shaped. The playbook adds a recommendation-rate KPI and links peer trust, dark channels and generative AI visibility to account-based marketing.

Why it matters: - B2B buyers are often deep into their journey before they talk to a vendor, which makes peer influence and private conversations more important than traditional outbound marketing. - The framework is designed to help marketers earn advocacy inside the channels that do not show up in attribution reports. - Velo is positioning recommendation marketing as a structured alternative to conventional ABM that focuses on vendor messaging.

What happened: - Velo published the 6Rs framework in its Recommendation Marketing Playbook. - The framework is aimed at planning, running and measuring B2B marketing across dark channels where buying decisions form. - Velo is based in London and describes itself as a B2B marketing agency built on recommendations. - Paul Crabtree, founder and Managing Director of Velo, said the 6Rs give marketers a way to support trusted conversations and measure their effect more honestly.

The details: - The 6Rs are Reveal, Resonate, Reinforce, Reach, Relationships and Review. - Reveal means mapping decision-makers, champions, blockers and outside influencers around an account. - Resonate means creating messages peers will share and forward internally without losing credibility. - Reinforce means using customer testimonials, analyst relationships, reviews and employee advocacy to build credibility. - Reach means equipping internal champions with materials and joining the communities where buyers discuss vendors. - Relationships means staying in touch after the sale to turn awareness into lasting advocacy. - Review means tracking influence through recommendation rate, sales feedback and share of voice. - Recommendation rate is a new KPI in the playbook. - The KPI measures the share of pipeline that comes from advocacy, referral or peer recommendation instead of outbound campaigns. - The playbook also addresses generative engine optimisation, or GEO. - Velo says brands that earn peer recommendations are more likely to surface in AI-generated shortlists because those tools rely on reviews, citations and credible mentions. - The playbook is available to download at the company’s announcement.

Between the lines: - The framework reflects a broader shift in B2B buying, where trust in colleagues and industry peers outranks trust in vendor sales reps. - It also shows how marketers are trying to adapt to self-guided research and generative AI discovery, not just direct sales conversations. - The emphasis on dark channels suggests a growing gap between what drives pipeline and what standard attribution can measure.

What's next: - Velo is pushing marketers to plan campaigns around the people who influence target accounts, not just the accounts themselves. - The recommendation-rate metric could give teams a way to compare advocacy-driven pipeline with traditional outbound performance. - The playbook positions peer trust as a lasting signal for both buying committees and AI tools that summarize vendor options.