Most B2B marketing teams underperform because they lack audience validation. We build campaigns on untested assumptions: that buyers are in an active cycle, that they want our content or that 12 emails in six weeks will generate MQLs. We publish, promote and then stare at dashboards and ask, “Why didn’t this land?” Open rates dip. …
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Most marketing assumes recognized pain points. Customers know they have issues, so they search for solutions. Your job as a marketer is to position your product as the best answer. But what happens when your innovation solves a problem audiences haven’t recognized yet? When customers are satisfied with the status quo, even though better alternatives …
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The ground is shifting beneath your feet again. We know the feeling. Just when you thought you’ve mastered the latest algorithm update, things seem to change entirely. It’s exhausting to feel like the goalposts are constantly moving, especially when your leadership team is looking to you for a definitive roadmap through the AI fog. Traditional …
AI has made publishing faster and easier than ever. And the result is saturation. As AI lowers the barrier to production, the web is filling with content that is technically sound, reasonably optimized and increasingly indistinguishable. When everything looks polished and competent, standing out becomes harder. AI has changed content output, but users still arrive …
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Did you know technical debt costs global enterprises approximately $400 million annually? It’s a staggering amount of money, and that debt arises from — among other things — a cultural resistance to change or budgetary limitations, which lead organizations to add new applications rather than replacing outdated systems. Technical debt can accumulate practically anywhere in …
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This article was co-authored with Lucas Walshe, digital analytics consultant at fifty-five. Privacy is becoming increasingly important in the U.S. With more than 20 states now enforcing privacy laws, companies face a patchwork of regulatory requirements, further complicated by limited case law and formal guidance. However, the state leading the way — California — has …
Read more “GPC compliance must be a legal priority for U.S. marketers”
Marketing organizations have never had more visibility into performance. Dashboards track campaigns in real time, attribution models connect touchpoints to revenue and project management systems quantify output, timelines and cost efficiency with precision. Yet when it comes to creative work, measurement often narrows instead of expands. Creative teams are typically evaluated by throughput — how …
Eighty-three percent of marketers say customers expect two-way conversations. Yet 69% admit they struggle to respond quickly to inquiries. That gap may be the most critical signal in Salesforce’s latest State of Marketing report. The AI revolution in marketing is already operational. Nearly 4,500 marketers surveyed globally confirm that expectations are rising faster than most …
Read more “Customers want dialogue, and marketers cannot keep up”
Are empathy, sympathy and humanity bad now? That’s what I hear from some thought leaders and government officials who say we can’t afford to be so soft anymore. I couldn’t disagree more, and I urge my fellow marketers not to abandon these values. The COVID-19 pandemic showed us how important they are. With the turmoil …
Read more “We need more humanity in email, especially at unsubscribe”
The most significant advertising moment of 2026 happened on the second Sunday in February. It wasn’t the most popular Super Bowl spot or the most cinematic brand anthem. It was a pointed message embedded in one of the game’s most self-aware ads. In attempting to position itself against a rival, Claude revealed a line the …
Read more “Advertising in AI is a trust experiment marketers can’t ignore”