October 2, 2025 • 29 mins
B2B Trends for 2026
As we head into Q4, the pace of change in B2B marketing isn’t slowing down. From shifting buyer expectations to new digital tactics, we’re looking at the trends and challenges shaping the end of the year and where the biggest opportunities lie for 2026
Harvest Moon
This cocktail comes from Food Network and was created by Guy Fieri. It’s built around all the seasonal fall flavors you’d want in a drink: apple, pumpkin spice, and a graham cracker rim.
Ingredients:
Crushed graham crackers, for the rim
2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. Granny Smith apple juice
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 oz. pumpkin beer, or more as necessary
Directions:
Put some simple syrup in one saucer and some crushed graham crackers in another. Dip the rim of a martini glass into the simple syrup and then into the crushed graham crackers. Set aside.
Add ice to a cocktail shaker. Add the vodka, apple juice, pumpkin spice and 1/2 ounce simple syrup; shake well. Strain into the prepped martini glass. Top off with the pumpkin beer to just below the graham cracker rim.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Hey Zach.
Hello, Rich.
Sorry, that was a big sigh.
Uh so I have a question for you.
What B2B trends should companiesbe paying the most attention to
as we get out of 2025 and into2026?
SPEAKER_00 (00:22):
We're gonna cover that all in today's episode.
I'm super excited to get intoit.
There's a lot of good trends.
We kind of talked about it alittle bit last week.
I definitely spoiled one of minelast week.
SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
You did the rose.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
But I go deeper into it this time.
So it should be a lot of fun.
unknown (00:39):
All right.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Well, that's good.
So as we head into 2026, um, thechange and pace in B2B marketing
isn't gonna slow down.
And I think all of our examplesshow that.
Um buyer expectations are on themove and shifting around left
and right.
There's new digital tactics thatare out there.
Um, we're gonna look at sometrends and challenges that'll
shape the end of the year andwhere some of your biggest
(01:01):
opportunities might lie for2026.
So if any of these are asurprise to you, they're all
Googleable.
You can learn more about them.
You can also feel free to hit usup.
Um just go to our website andyou can schedule a meeting, and
I'm happy to just chat with youfor free about any of these for
a little bit.
So that's it.
It's gonna be a good episode, Ithink.
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
And it's gonna be a good episode with a good
cocktail.
So this week's cocktail is aharvest moon.
Yes, um again, I said we'regonna do seasonal cocktails this
quarter.
So this is as seasonal as itgets.
Uh, this cocktail is from theFood Network.
Usually I pull from liquor.com,punch.
Uh I'm a little more picky withwhat cocktails we choose, but
(01:45):
I'm all in for the fun uh thisepisode.
So uh it's built around reallygood fall seasonal flavors,
apple, pumpkin spice.
It has a graham cracker rim, ithas some pumpkin beer in it.
So we're really hitting all ofthe fall flavors.
I know, I know you were gonnamake that face.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
Yeah, it was like, you know my beer face, like it's
coming.
SPEAKER_00 (02:09):
But uh yeah, how do you how do you make it, Rich?
SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
Sure.
So and I did look this up.
It's Daniel Yoon from the uhfood network, is the one who
invented this, I believe if it'sthe one I think.
Um no, this is slightlydifferent than his.
Interesting.
I wonder if they've got a coupleof them called the Harvest Moon.
Anyway, he's got one withbourbon, with whiskey.
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Oh, maybe I'm gonna have been better.
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Maybe he uh maybe he modified it.
I think it's the same, it's justwhiskey instead of vodka.
Um so crushed graham crackersfor the rim.
You've got to get some grahamcrackers, crush them, put them
in a food processor, whatever,make graham cracker powder.
Um, and then for the recipe, youneed two ounces of vodka, one
and a half ounces of GrannySmith apple juice, and use the
juice.
Don't use like an apple liqueur,like you're not gonna get the
(02:53):
same flavor from an appleliqueur.
Um, an eighth of a teaspoon ofpumpkin spice.
That yep, that is your powderedpumpkin spice from your pantry.
And a half ounce, okay, just ahalf ounce of pumpkin beer.
Um, you can do more ifnecessary.
I mean, honestly, people knowthe way I make drinks.
You can do more vodka if youwant to, like, you know, a
little bit more beer, whatever.
Um, okay, so simple syrup goesin one saucer and some crushed
(03:18):
ground crackers in another.
You dip the rim your martiniglass in the syrup, and then in
the crushed ground crackers.
I think hopefully everybodyknows how to rim a glass.
If not, just Google rim a glassfor a cocktail.
I would use all of those words,though, uh, to make sure your
search doesn't go uh off in adirection you don't want it to.
Uh add ice to your cocktailshaker and then vodka, apple
juice, pumpkin spice, and a halfounce of the simple syrup also
(03:40):
go in there.
So shake it, shake it likecrazy, and then strain it into
your martini glass and top offwith the pumpkin beer, uh, just
below until it gets right up toabout the cracker rim.
So that's why you can use alittle more if you need to.
Uh, because remember, fizzystuff doesn't go in your shaker,
folks.
That just creates a giant messwhen you open it up.
Uh, it also kills the fizz inwhatever you're putting in.
(04:03):
So I think this is a great one.
I would do this.
The beer, like it's a pumpkinbeer, so okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:09):
And there's some good pumpkin beers that aren't
like as beery, you know, like alot more pumpkin forward
flavors.
I know that there's like apumpkin spice latte ale that
I've had before.
That might be okay.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
But uh Yeah, and I do like a good ale.
Oh, okay.
So this version is Guy Fieri's.
So that's why there's vodka init.
Um okay, got it.
I just had to look that up realquick.
So if you see me like lookingoff, I'm looking at my other
screen.
But um, yeah, so Guy Fieri, um,nice job.
(04:42):
All right.
Um I wish we could just go makea couple of these and then come
back, but we don't have time.
So we'll be back in a minute.
All right, we are back with umB2B trends for 2026.
So what do you think you need todo in 2026?
(05:05):
So before we get into that,let's talk a little bit about
just the B2B landscape as we'rekind of rounding out 2025 and
where things are expected to goin 2026.
Um, so Zach, you want to kick usoff?
You got a nice stat for us?
SPEAKER_00 (05:19):
Sure, yeah.
61% of B2B marketers say theirbiggest challenge going into
2026 is creating content thatactually stands out.
And I think that's reallyindicative of just how much how
much you're competing forpeople's attention.
I mean, we've really like talkedabout this a lot lately, but the
whole attention economy conceptis huge.
(05:41):
Like you really need to catchpeople's attention in that
moment because if they have toclick off, if they have to watch
your ad for more than 15 secondsnow, it's it's tough.
Like it's gonna be tough tocompete.
And so I can definitely seewhere that percentage is coming
from.
SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Yeah, that'll be an interesting one with one of my
main points.
I have a content one, believe itor not.
So that'll be we'll get to thatin a minute.
Stick a pen in it.
Um, so I think along with that,um, over half of buyers are
expecting a personalized contentjourney at every single stage.
Um, and that is rough whenyou're trying to figure out
content, especially as largeorganizations.
(06:20):
Um those can be pretty tough.
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
My next stat too is only 29% of B2P buyers say they
trust vendor content, but 71%trust peer reviews and c and uh
like online communities, whichthat makes a lot of sense to me.
I think uh a lot of people aretired of being sold to.
Everywhere you look, we're beingsold to.
So authentic content that speaksdirectly to you as a human being
(06:48):
and not to you as a number orcustomer, always gonna do way
better than that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (06:55):
So yeah, I think going along with this, um, so
B2B space, B2B, not B2C.
Like I had to double and triplecheck this.
What percent of buyers say theyprefer a rep less sales
experience?
They want to be able to do thewhole experience themselves
online with no rep everinteracting with them.
SPEAKER_00 (07:13):
Ooh, that's a good question.
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
What do you think?
SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
Oh my gosh.
I feel like I saw this stat whenI was looking around.
Oh but I don't remember.
Is it like 60%, 70%?
SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
75%, yeah.
70%.
Yeah.
So three-fourths of people don'twant to talk to a rep when
buying in a B2B space.
Like that is huge.
And it goes right along withyour content, right?
Because your content has to beable to bring them on the
journey because they don't wantto talk to anybody.
Um right along with that, wetalk about e-commerce and
(07:45):
everybody thinks B2C.
B2B e-commerce is supposed togrow about 15% next year, and
that puts it at a$36 billionindustry.
Just e-commerce and B2B.
And when you put those twotogether, or three, like all of
that together, like content isdifficult.
People want better content, butthey really trust peer-reviewed
(08:08):
content.
E-commerce and self-serve aregrowing at a huge rate and more
people prefer it.
B2B is going to have a big shiftnext year.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
Oh, yeah, 100%.
And I think a lot of what we'regoing to be talking about and
seeing is stuff that you as thelistener will probably already
know.
You just don't maybe know why orlike where it's going, you know
what I mean?
Because everyone knows thatcontent is struggling right now,
but do they understand why it'sthe content is struggling or not
(08:38):
where they need to make thosechanges?
So I think um, yeah, I thinkthat's gonna be important to uh
think about as we go throughsome of these.
So uh we can get into my mainpoint first.
Um as I said last week, if youdidn't listen to listen last
week, um in B2B, much like TheBachelor, whoever makes the
strongest early impression firstoften wins.
(09:01):
And so what that means is youneed to make memorable content,
memorable ads.
You need to I'm sorry, Mac isbarking.
SPEAKER_01 (09:11):
It's okay.
You got a dog, it's uh we're adog agency, it's all good.
SPEAKER_00 (09:14):
But uh yeah, you need to make memorable ads that
really stand out from the pack.
82% of BDB buyers start with aday one list of brands, and 92%
of purchases come from thatlist.
SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
So their day one list is when they first start
thinking about it, they grab abunch of brands that they think
can can help them with.
Is that what that is?
Like before they even get toofar down the research road.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
Mm-hmm.
And so you need to be you needto be their first, one of their
first like people they consider.
Because if you're they don'tthey're not changing that list.
They might add like one or twopeople, but it's like you really
need to make a strong firstimpression.
And the reason they compare thisto the bachelor is because for
those that know, there's a firstimpression rose, and there's a
(09:58):
large percentage of people whoget the first percentage rose,
contestants, that end up beingin the finale, and there's an
even it's still like a decentpercentage of you winning just
from getting a first firstimpression rose.
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
So there's that there's that bond at the first
moment, right?
It's the I mean it's sort of thelove at first sight, it's not
really love, but it'sfamiliarity.
Um, and I think also just kindof like, you know, you've you've
committed to this group or thisperson is kind of your favorite.
So people have to knock themoff, right?
If you initially think this ismy greatest first impression,
(10:33):
somebody else is gonna have toimpress you more or do something
different or better in order toknock them off of that list.
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
Um that's just that just goes back to having good
brand awareness campaigns.
So if we think about like wherecontent is headed, right?
It needs to be memorable, short,to the point.
Think about the uh YouTubepre-roll ads or the even the ads
like that are mid-roll.
You know what I mean?
All those ads have 15 seconds tomake an impression on you.
(11:06):
And all of the ones that I'vebeen seeing lately and where the
industry is going have somethingmemorable about them.
Something weird, like what did Ijust watch?
And so, like, I think that'ssomething that's gonna be huge
in 2026, is because theattention economy is so
competitive, you need to figureout ways to differentiate
(11:27):
yourself because there's so manyboring B2B brands, there's so
many boring B2B like ads andcontent.
Don't be afraid to go outside ofyour comfort zone a little.
It's we I would highly recommendbeing as memorable as possible.
SPEAKER_01 (11:42):
So in the B2C space, this is so weird, but I saw it
was like a laundry detergent ora dishwash.
It was some sort of soap, somesort of a cleaner.
I don't remember which one.
But essentially they had ashort, it was on YouTube or or
um Instagram or somewhere.
It was one of those video shortspaces.
And they basically did a dickjoke.
(12:02):
Like in it, like it was a subtleone, it wasn't gross, but it was
like, it was like, oh, and thenthey tied it like it was very
fast.
It was like a 10-second hit.
They tied it back into theirbrand and then they were out.
Um sadly, I don't remember thebrand.
Um, but I do remember thinking,like, whoa, that is an
interesting attempt to getpeople's attention.
SPEAKER_00 (12:23):
And you remembered it too.
And so you do remember, I justdon't remember the brand.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
So that's the problem.
So it's it's really that likewhat's appropriate for you
outside of your custom comfortzone?
Because you don't want to go toofar because you're just gonna
lose everybody.
But how can you push that limitor push a little bit further?
And you will miss.
You will absolutely miss.
Ideally, it won't result in likea boycott or something like
(12:48):
that.
Don't miss hard.
Like have people review it.
But you'll have stuff that justdoesn't land, and that's fine.
It's like comedians testing outjokes, right?
They some don't land and theyget rid of them and they try the
ones that do, and they buildthis bigger group of jokes that
land.
SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Um I think another piece to this, if I get
interrupt, another piece to thisfrom a content standpoint, um,
you want to be giving out goodresources to help build trust as
well.
So I know as does B2B marketerslike to gate things to, you
know, gather first party data,but uh a lot of content is
(13:25):
moving away from that.
And a lot of the content that'sperforming well now is ungated
and provides value in themoment.
So not only do you need to bememorable, uh, you also want to
be the that like thought leaderto those potential leads, right?
So if you're providing themreally good resources and you're
not really gating them or takingany of their information,
(13:47):
they're gonna remember thingslike that.
You're building trust.
And there's opportunities likefor say, like a webinar to throw
in links, to throw in differentways to still get engaged with
you and connect with you andgather that first party data.
But I think it's just importantto remember not everything has
to be gated.
Sometimes it's just important tobuild the trust.
SPEAKER_01 (14:07):
Yep.
Yeah.
And I think that having that umthat value in it, right?
Like your goal is that yourinformation is valuable enough
that they're gonna want to meetwith you.
They want the sales call, theywant to talk to the rep.
I think one of the other thingswe have to talk about here is
getting included in that day onelist.
Um, you know, your Google SEOhas to be good, but more and
more, um, yeah, I think it wasby 2027 or 2028, uh ChatGPT will
(14:31):
overtake Google as the topsearch engine.
So your AEO, which is AI engineoptimization, new term kind of
coming out there, is alsoimportant.
And guess what?
That ties back to your contentand how your content is
structured.
So it's got to feel good for ahuman, but there's got to be
substance there so that AI getsthe context as well.
(14:52):
Um, so I really think thatpeople who are optimizing
content for AI are gonna have abetter shot at being on that day
one list because people aregonna go to Chat GPT and say,
you know, what are the bestmid-range HubSpot marketing
agencies on price who specializein Service Hub?
Like that's gonna be a searchand it's gonna kick back five or
(15:15):
10 or 20 of those.
And boom, that's my day onelist.
Like, that's all I need to do toget a day one list.
Um, I might also like ask peopleon LinkedIn, refer me, that kind
of thing to add a few to it.
But I would wager to bet thatmost people are gonna start with
um with ChatGPT or with AI.
SPEAKER_00 (15:35):
I mean, ChatGPT can already search the web, so it's
it's already happening.
And it's definitely somethingthat you need to implement now,
sooner rather than later.
SPEAKER_01 (15:44):
Yep.
All right.
So uh moving into somethingcompletely more boring than
roses.
Um this is one that people haveheard.
I know they've heard it, I knowthey've played with it, a lot of
companies have dabbled with it.
Um, but most people aren't goingat it like as hard as they
could.
So I'm talking aboutaccount-based marketing or ABM.
Um, so for those who don't know,ABM is choosing which companies
(16:07):
fit your ideal customer profile,learning as much as you can
about them, and then pursuingthem.
So you create it's sort of theflip of your customer creating a
day one list.
You create your hit list ofcompanies you want to work with.
I have a friend who's got anagency in San Diego, and they
have uh in their break room,they always had, well, they've
got multiple locations now.
So I don't know if they stillhave this everywhere.
(16:29):
But in their office, they hadlike one foot by one foot tiles
like hanging on a wall on likewires, almost like artwork.
And on one side were the logosof companies they want to work
with.
It wasn't their currentcompanies they do work with,
it's their prospects.
And then they could flip it soit was just art on the other
side.
So if somebody was coming in,like a current client or
(16:50):
somebody from one of those, likethey would turn it around.
But the idea is that thosecompanies that you want to go
after are front and center allthe time with you.
So um, so why do I think this isgonna take off?
Um, ABM tools have been aroundfor a really long time and
they've typically beenridiculously expensive.
So looking at you, next role.
(17:11):
Um, but there are tools now thatcan get you an ABM list and um
and focus on things and providesimple enrichment for key
elements you need, like address,job title, phone number.
Um, so if you've got a companyname, um a smart CRM and AI can
actually go out to all kinds ofdata sources and pull in
(17:33):
information about that company.
They can pull in who theirdirector of marketing is, who
their director of sales is, whotheir operations person is, all
of those things.
And then once you have an emailfor that person or a LinkedIn
profile, it can pull in moreinfo for them.
Um, so that gives you a lot ofwhat you need.
And then um, you can do outreachif you want to.
(17:54):
Uh, you could send them a gift,like a high prospect gift,
because right, these are yourideal customers.
But what's also cool is you canuse Lee Gen with that as well.
So you tie your ABM list in witha smart CRM like HubSpot, and
HubSpot does have some ABM toolsuh built in there.
You can get alerted when one ofyour prospects engages with your
(18:14):
brand.
And um that gives you a realopportunity to know more about
them, um, know what they'redoing, keep things very
personalized, and then really beready to act when that prospect
is.
Um, so that's one of the thingsthat I just think is um I think
with AI and with the research itcan do, and with these tools
(18:37):
becoming more commoditized andless like this premium you must
spend$10,000 a month to have theaccess to these tools.
Um, ABM is gonna make a lot ofsense.
Um and I think it simplifiesthings like content, right?
Because you you know these arethe 20 companies and people I'm
making content for.
SPEAKER_00 (18:55):
And it's gonna be highly tailored to that, those
people.
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (18:59):
Yeah, it cuts through some of the clutter and
the crap.
SPEAKER_00 (19:03):
Like that's I mean, you're making yeah, you're
making content for such a smalltargeted subset of companies
that you know what they like andyou're gonna you're gonna get
like right in front of them.
So wow, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01 (19:18):
Yeah, it's a super neat one.
I I'm like an ABM nerd, but I'vebeen trying to make it happen
with people for a long time, andI think that now it actually
can.
You just have to know a lotabout your business and who you
want to work with, whichhonestly, a lot of companies
struggle with that.
I we consult with people who arelike, I don't really know my
sales funnel.
(19:38):
I don't really know what peoplewant at each stage.
And it's like, okay, let's stepback and do a little strategy
work and figure this out.
SPEAKER_00 (19:45):
Yeah, I agree.
There's so many tools now thatthat's definitely a possibility
for a lot of people.
So my next one is first partydata is a new currency in B2B
marketing.
So with cookies disappearing,first party data is now the most
reliable way to understand andreach B2B buyers.
The global consumer dataplatform market is projected to
(20:07):
more than double from 2.1billion in 2023 to 5.1 billion
by 2028.
So we're definitely on thatupward trajectory.
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
People selling our data.
People selling our data is whatyou're talking about.
Creepy and bad for individuals,amazing for marketers.
SPEAKER_00 (20:24):
Mm-hmm.
But they're saying like datathat's collected by us as
companies now is going to bemore valuable than you know
buying third-party data.
So, so yeah, I think that'sinteresting to me.
Like I think that's always beenkind of true in B2B marketing,
(20:45):
right?
You you've always tried to likegate content behind specific
parameters so you're able togain actual like information on
people that are interested inwhat you're like the content
you're putting out in thebusiness that you're trying to
sell them, the service.
But um yeah, it's becomingbecoming way more prevalent now.
And I think I think it's likekind of taking me back to the
(21:09):
account-based marketing thing,right?
Like data like from like likehow do I say this?
First party data is going tobecome more valuable than third
party data, and collecting it isgonna be more important than
ever.
So your content really needs tobe in line with that and how it
can collect leads, but at thesame time, like you don't want
(21:33):
to like encroach upon likegating too many things either.
SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
Yeah, I think part of what you're what you're
getting at, um, one, it's sortof like almost like these were
planned to all go together,which is kind of neat since you
know it's an episode.
But um, one of the things Ithink you're looking at is like
the third-party data can get youstarted.
So that enrichment data that youbring in um can get you started.
But too many people rely on thatas the end all be all, and this
is all I know about thatcustomer.
But things that you gather forthem are going to be way more
(22:03):
important.
So, I mean, their behavior,their activities as it relates
to your company, your website,your content, your materials,
um, what their universe is, um,you know, gathering and looking
for, where they're at, whatthey're consuming, those kinds
of things.
Um, that's gonna make yousmarter than somebody else.
Because everybody can go buy thesame third-party data, right?
(22:24):
It's just a budget thing, it'sjust a price thing.
Um, but understanding howthey've behaved with you is
going to be where like thatvalue really lives.
The thing that I love about thatas well is that information
isn't necessarily valuable toanother company because they'll
have different opportunities toengage, different opportunities
(22:46):
to dive in.
Now, can you learn from yourcompetitors?
100%.
Absolutely.
But just them like gettingaccess to your first party data
doesn't do a lot for them.
Um, especially in B2B.
In B2C, maybe a little bit, butin B2B, it really, really does.
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
Well, and it's like you said, right?
Like the whole like tailoringyour targeting, your marketing
to your specific targetaudiences and like getting
really into the nitty-gritty ofpersonalization, having the data
to enable you to do that so thatyou understand what they do and
do not like, what they'relooking for out of your
services, is going to be superimportant.
(23:24):
And that's how you're going tomake the day one list and get
the first impression, Rose.
SPEAKER_01 (23:28):
So way to try to bring it back around there.
Bring it back around.
Um, what's interesting, we had apromotion a while ago, and I
think it's still a campaign inHubSpot, probably way, way down
the list.
But it was um like let us buyyou a drink, was it was the
premise.
I don't remember what we calledit.
We had some clever name for it.
But the idea was um, this waspre-pandemic, um, and then we
(23:51):
shifted it to uh virtual thingduring the pandemic.
But um the idea was just fillout this form.
All we want to know is yourname, your company, your um
well, email address, becausewe've got to get in touch with
you.
It was name, company, title,email address, and then a
marketing issue you want todiscuss, which is similar to our
contact form now.
(24:11):
But then we added the questionof you know, preferred cocktail
or non-alcoholic beverage.
And so they could put in icedtea, they could put in vodka
soda, whatever.
And so when we would have thosemeetings, we'd have their
favorite drink there.
SPEAKER_00 (24:26):
Um that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (24:28):
Yeah, what's we only did like two, so it didn't
really take off.
I think it would actuallyprobably go better now.
SPEAKER_00 (24:34):
But it's too ahead of its time.
SPEAKER_01 (24:36):
It was, I think it was.
But think about that with likethis podcast, Cocktail Sands and
Answers, right?
So if you were my prospect and Iknew your favorite drink and I
knew what you needed to hear inlike a topic, I could ensure
like it'd be like, hey, Zach,we're gonna make this drink for
this one because this target ofours, high value target, needs
(24:57):
to hear about this topic andthis is their favorite drink.
So that gives me an in to sendthem the episode and say, Hey,
it was just thinking you when wedid this, happened to be your
favorite drink, even though weengineered it.
Um, so that depth of first partydata isn't what everybody's
gonna have.
You're not gonna know theirfavorite drink or their favorite
animal or things like that.
But, you know, clocking whetherthey're a dog person or not.
(25:20):
You know, you we heard Misabarking there for a little bit.
Like, yeah, that happens.
My dogs will come in and outsometimes.
Um, and that happened to us on aum a discovery call the other
day.
The woman, like toward the end,said, Hey, you know, it's really
great to see like I've seen dogscome in and out of a couple of
your like frames, even thoughit's blurred, I can tell it's a
(25:40):
dog.
And she's like, I've got a dog.
And she's like, I just feel likethe dog people are good people.
So it made her like feel betterabout us as this humans.
Um, so it was interesting.
Uh all right, one more.
Sure.
What do you got?
So this one ties into yours aswell.
Uh, content will be king.
(26:01):
And I know we've heard that foryears.
But B2B marketing has to getbetter at content and heavier
into it.
B2C has kind of figured this outand is doing a whole lot better.
But um, with B2B, what's reallyinteresting is video and audio
content um is going to be hugeas well.
(26:22):
Um, long form and short form,Zach.
Really weird as I was doing theresearch.
Um this is gonna put a lot ofpressure on people, right?
Because creating content takestime.
Um, you'll need a strongin-house and or agency-driven
content engine.
Um, you can use AIappropriately, but AI is not
(26:43):
gonna create the content foryou.
Generative AI is not there yet.
It can help, it can augment.
It can operate.
SPEAKER_00 (26:49):
People are looking for people are trying to find
real content.
Like they're gonna spot AIcontent.
It's just a fact.
SPEAKER_01 (26:56):
Yeah, but one of the good examples for AI, right?
You shoot a three-minute videoabout your product, about your
service, about whatever, andthen use an AI agent in one of
the content tools to cut it downinto a few five to 10 seconds
snippets for social to drivepeople back to the main one.
Um but with long form contentmaking a comeback, there's a
huge opportunity there.
(27:17):
You do have to structure it forhumans to be able to scan it.
It's got to be scannable,digestible, but it gives you a
real opportunity for AI to gaincontext and substance around
your brand and to understandthings.
Um, AI can ingest long-formcontent extremely fast and use
that for context.
And there are ways to formatthat, which we're going through
(27:37):
right now with our content plan,I know for next year and for
clients, to ensure that, again,you get in that day one list
because if they're asking AI,they've seen your content and
it's pulling in uh where itneeds to be.
We'll probably have to do awhole other episode with Riley
at some point on like optimizingfor AI because I know he'll I
know he'll want to do that.
He'll actually be really excitedabout it.
(27:59):
100%.
So content will be king.
And we've it but differently,very different than the way it
has been in the past.
SPEAKER_00 (28:06):
It has been and it always, I mean, not maybe
always, but it definitely hasbeen for a long while.
And it can continue will to itwill continue to be in the near
future.
SPEAKER_01 (28:16):
Well, we consume stories, right?
That's a human existence.
We consume stories andexperiences, and we want to hear
about those from others.
Um but yeah.
All right.
So I think um some really greatstuff in here.
So we've got uh your day onelist matters, that Bachelor Rose
(28:37):
effect.
Um, account-based marketing isgonna take off.
Um, first party data is your newcurrency and probably one of the
most valuable things you canhave.
Uh, and then content is gonna beking, and you've got to really
figure that out.
And if you put all four of thosetogether, it's actually a really
strong strategy for going into2026.
SPEAKER_00 (28:57):
Um I was gonna say you might want to steal this uh
semi-campaign that we basicallygive it.
SPEAKER_01 (29:04):
It really is your overarching kind of strategy of
how you need to execute for thenext year.
So it's all good.
SPEAKER_00 (29:11):
Yeah.
And you know, thank you forlistening.
Uh, as always, you can find ouragency at antidote71.com.
All of our socials are there aswell.
If you have a question you'dlike to send our way, hit the
CTA podcast.live to shoot us anemail.
Or even better, leave us a voicemessage on our hotline at
402-718-9971.
Your question will absolutelymake it into an episode of a
(29:33):
podcast.
And uh yeah, we'll see you nextweek for another great episode.
Hey Zach.
Hello, Rich.
Sorry, that was a big sigh.
Uh so I have a question for you.
What B2B trends should companiesbe paying the most attention to
as we get out of 2025 and into2026?
SPEAKER_00 (00:22):
We're gonna cover that all in today's episode.
I'm super excited to get intoit.
There's a lot of good trends.
We kind of talked about it alittle bit last week.
I definitely spoiled one of minelast week.
SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
You did the rose.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
But I go deeper into it this time.
So it should be a lot of fun.
unknown (00:39):
All right.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Well, that's good.
So as we head into 2026, um, thechange and pace in B2B marketing
isn't gonna slow down.
And I think all of our examplesshow that.
Um buyer expectations are on themove and shifting around left
and right.
There's new digital tactics thatare out there.
Um, we're gonna look at sometrends and challenges that'll
shape the end of the year andwhere some of your biggest
(01:01):
opportunities might lie for2026.
So if any of these are asurprise to you, they're all
Googleable.
You can learn more about them.
You can also feel free to hit usup.
Um just go to our website andyou can schedule a meeting, and
I'm happy to just chat with youfor free about any of these for
a little bit.
So that's it.
It's gonna be a good episode, Ithink.
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
And it's gonna be a good episode with a good
cocktail.
So this week's cocktail is aharvest moon.
Yes, um again, I said we'regonna do seasonal cocktails this
quarter.
So this is as seasonal as itgets.
Uh, this cocktail is from theFood Network.
Usually I pull from liquor.com,punch.
Uh I'm a little more picky withwhat cocktails we choose, but
(01:45):
I'm all in for the fun uh thisepisode.
So uh it's built around reallygood fall seasonal flavors,
apple, pumpkin spice.
It has a graham cracker rim, ithas some pumpkin beer in it.
So we're really hitting all ofthe fall flavors.
I know, I know you were gonnamake that face.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
Yeah, it was like, you know my beer face, like it's
coming.
SPEAKER_00 (02:09):
But uh yeah, how do you how do you make it, Rich?
SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
Sure.
So and I did look this up.
It's Daniel Yoon from the uhfood network, is the one who
invented this, I believe if it'sthe one I think.
Um no, this is slightlydifferent than his.
Interesting.
I wonder if they've got a coupleof them called the Harvest Moon.
Anyway, he's got one withbourbon, with whiskey.
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Oh, maybe I'm gonna have been better.
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Maybe he uh maybe he modified it.
I think it's the same, it's justwhiskey instead of vodka.
Um so crushed graham crackersfor the rim.
You've got to get some grahamcrackers, crush them, put them
in a food processor, whatever,make graham cracker powder.
Um, and then for the recipe, youneed two ounces of vodka, one
and a half ounces of GrannySmith apple juice, and use the
juice.
Don't use like an apple liqueur,like you're not gonna get the
(02:53):
same flavor from an appleliqueur.
Um, an eighth of a teaspoon ofpumpkin spice.
That yep, that is your powderedpumpkin spice from your pantry.
And a half ounce, okay, just ahalf ounce of pumpkin beer.
Um, you can do more ifnecessary.
I mean, honestly, people knowthe way I make drinks.
You can do more vodka if youwant to, like, you know, a
little bit more beer, whatever.
Um, okay, so simple syrup goesin one saucer and some crushed
(03:18):
ground crackers in another.
You dip the rim your martiniglass in the syrup, and then in
the crushed ground crackers.
I think hopefully everybodyknows how to rim a glass.
If not, just Google rim a glassfor a cocktail.
I would use all of those words,though, uh, to make sure your
search doesn't go uh off in adirection you don't want it to.
Uh add ice to your cocktailshaker and then vodka, apple
juice, pumpkin spice, and a halfounce of the simple syrup also
(03:40):
go in there.
So shake it, shake it likecrazy, and then strain it into
your martini glass and top offwith the pumpkin beer, uh, just
below until it gets right up toabout the cracker rim.
So that's why you can use alittle more if you need to.
Uh, because remember, fizzystuff doesn't go in your shaker,
folks.
That just creates a giant messwhen you open it up.
Uh, it also kills the fizz inwhatever you're putting in.
(04:03):
So I think this is a great one.
I would do this.
The beer, like it's a pumpkinbeer, so okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:09):
And there's some good pumpkin beers that aren't
like as beery, you know, like alot more pumpkin forward
flavors.
I know that there's like apumpkin spice latte ale that
I've had before.
That might be okay.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
But uh Yeah, and I do like a good ale.
Oh, okay.
So this version is Guy Fieri's.
So that's why there's vodka init.
Um okay, got it.
I just had to look that up realquick.
So if you see me like lookingoff, I'm looking at my other
screen.
But um, yeah, so Guy Fieri, um,nice job.
(04:42):
All right.
Um I wish we could just go makea couple of these and then come
back, but we don't have time.
So we'll be back in a minute.
All right, we are back with umB2B trends for 2026.
So what do you think you need todo in 2026?
(05:05):
So before we get into that,let's talk a little bit about
just the B2B landscape as we'rekind of rounding out 2025 and
where things are expected to goin 2026.
Um, so Zach, you want to kick usoff?
You got a nice stat for us?
SPEAKER_00 (05:19):
Sure, yeah.
61% of B2B marketers say theirbiggest challenge going into
2026 is creating content thatactually stands out.
And I think that's reallyindicative of just how much how
much you're competing forpeople's attention.
I mean, we've really like talkedabout this a lot lately, but the
whole attention economy conceptis huge.
(05:41):
Like you really need to catchpeople's attention in that
moment because if they have toclick off, if they have to watch
your ad for more than 15 secondsnow, it's it's tough.
Like it's gonna be tough tocompete.
And so I can definitely seewhere that percentage is coming
from.
SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Yeah, that'll be an interesting one with one of my
main points.
I have a content one, believe itor not.
So that'll be we'll get to thatin a minute.
Stick a pen in it.
Um, so I think along with that,um, over half of buyers are
expecting a personalized contentjourney at every single stage.
Um, and that is rough whenyou're trying to figure out
content, especially as largeorganizations.
(06:20):
Um those can be pretty tough.
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
My next stat too is only 29% of B2P buyers say they
trust vendor content, but 71%trust peer reviews and c and uh
like online communities, whichthat makes a lot of sense to me.
I think uh a lot of people aretired of being sold to.
Everywhere you look, we're beingsold to.
So authentic content that speaksdirectly to you as a human being
(06:48):
and not to you as a number orcustomer, always gonna do way
better than that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (06:55):
So yeah, I think going along with this, um, so
B2B space, B2B, not B2C.
Like I had to double and triplecheck this.
What percent of buyers say theyprefer a rep less sales
experience?
They want to be able to do thewhole experience themselves
online with no rep everinteracting with them.
SPEAKER_00 (07:13):
Ooh, that's a good question.
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
What do you think?
SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
Oh my gosh.
I feel like I saw this stat whenI was looking around.
Oh but I don't remember.
Is it like 60%, 70%?
SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
75%, yeah.
70%.
Yeah.
So three-fourths of people don'twant to talk to a rep when
buying in a B2B space.
Like that is huge.
And it goes right along withyour content, right?
Because your content has to beable to bring them on the
journey because they don't wantto talk to anybody.
Um right along with that, wetalk about e-commerce and
(07:45):
everybody thinks B2C.
B2B e-commerce is supposed togrow about 15% next year, and
that puts it at a$36 billionindustry.
Just e-commerce and B2B.
And when you put those twotogether, or three, like all of
that together, like content isdifficult.
People want better content, butthey really trust peer-reviewed
(08:08):
content.
E-commerce and self-serve aregrowing at a huge rate and more
people prefer it.
B2B is going to have a big shiftnext year.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
Oh, yeah, 100%.
And I think a lot of what we'regoing to be talking about and
seeing is stuff that you as thelistener will probably already
know.
You just don't maybe know why orlike where it's going, you know
what I mean?
Because everyone knows thatcontent is struggling right now,
but do they understand why it'sthe content is struggling or not
(08:38):
where they need to make thosechanges?
So I think um, yeah, I thinkthat's gonna be important to uh
think about as we go throughsome of these.
So uh we can get into my mainpoint first.
Um as I said last week, if youdidn't listen to listen last
week, um in B2B, much like TheBachelor, whoever makes the
strongest early impression firstoften wins.
(09:01):
And so what that means is youneed to make memorable content,
memorable ads.
You need to I'm sorry, Mac isbarking.
SPEAKER_01 (09:11):
It's okay.
You got a dog, it's uh we're adog agency, it's all good.
SPEAKER_00 (09:14):
But uh yeah, you need to make memorable ads that
really stand out from the pack.
82% of BDB buyers start with aday one list of brands, and 92%
of purchases come from thatlist.
SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
So their day one list is when they first start
thinking about it, they grab abunch of brands that they think
can can help them with.
Is that what that is?
Like before they even get toofar down the research road.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
Mm-hmm.
And so you need to be you needto be their first, one of their
first like people they consider.
Because if you're they don'tthey're not changing that list.
They might add like one or twopeople, but it's like you really
need to make a strong firstimpression.
And the reason they compare thisto the bachelor is because for
those that know, there's a firstimpression rose, and there's a
(09:58):
large percentage of people whoget the first percentage rose,
contestants, that end up beingin the finale, and there's an
even it's still like a decentpercentage of you winning just
from getting a first firstimpression rose.
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
So there's that there's that bond at the first
moment, right?
It's the I mean it's sort of thelove at first sight, it's not
really love, but it'sfamiliarity.
Um, and I think also just kindof like, you know, you've you've
committed to this group or thisperson is kind of your favorite.
So people have to knock themoff, right?
If you initially think this ismy greatest first impression,
(10:33):
somebody else is gonna have toimpress you more or do something
different or better in order toknock them off of that list.
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
Um that's just that just goes back to having good
brand awareness campaigns.
So if we think about like wherecontent is headed, right?
It needs to be memorable, short,to the point.
Think about the uh YouTubepre-roll ads or the even the ads
like that are mid-roll.
You know what I mean?
All those ads have 15 seconds tomake an impression on you.
(11:06):
And all of the ones that I'vebeen seeing lately and where the
industry is going have somethingmemorable about them.
Something weird, like what did Ijust watch?
And so, like, I think that'ssomething that's gonna be huge
in 2026, is because theattention economy is so
competitive, you need to figureout ways to differentiate
(11:27):
yourself because there's so manyboring B2B brands, there's so
many boring B2B like ads andcontent.
Don't be afraid to go outside ofyour comfort zone a little.
It's we I would highly recommendbeing as memorable as possible.
SPEAKER_01 (11:42):
So in the B2C space, this is so weird, but I saw it
was like a laundry detergent ora dishwash.
It was some sort of soap, somesort of a cleaner.
I don't remember which one.
But essentially they had ashort, it was on YouTube or or
um Instagram or somewhere.
It was one of those video shortspaces.
And they basically did a dickjoke.
(12:02):
Like in it, like it was a subtleone, it wasn't gross, but it was
like, it was like, oh, and thenthey tied it like it was very
fast.
It was like a 10-second hit.
They tied it back into theirbrand and then they were out.
Um sadly, I don't remember thebrand.
Um, but I do remember thinking,like, whoa, that is an
interesting attempt to getpeople's attention.
SPEAKER_00 (12:23):
And you remembered it too.
And so you do remember, I justdon't remember the brand.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
So that's the problem.
So it's it's really that likewhat's appropriate for you
outside of your custom comfortzone?
Because you don't want to go toofar because you're just gonna
lose everybody.
But how can you push that limitor push a little bit further?
And you will miss.
You will absolutely miss.
Ideally, it won't result in likea boycott or something like
(12:48):
that.
Don't miss hard.
Like have people review it.
But you'll have stuff that justdoesn't land, and that's fine.
It's like comedians testing outjokes, right?
They some don't land and theyget rid of them and they try the
ones that do, and they buildthis bigger group of jokes that
land.
SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Um I think another piece to this, if I get
interrupt, another piece to thisfrom a content standpoint, um,
you want to be giving out goodresources to help build trust as
well.
So I know as does B2B marketerslike to gate things to, you
know, gather first party data,but uh a lot of content is
(13:25):
moving away from that.
And a lot of the content that'sperforming well now is ungated
and provides value in themoment.
So not only do you need to bememorable, uh, you also want to
be the that like thought leaderto those potential leads, right?
So if you're providing themreally good resources and you're
not really gating them or takingany of their information,
(13:47):
they're gonna remember thingslike that.
You're building trust.
And there's opportunities likefor say, like a webinar to throw
in links, to throw in differentways to still get engaged with
you and connect with you andgather that first party data.
But I think it's just importantto remember not everything has
to be gated.
Sometimes it's just important tobuild the trust.
SPEAKER_01 (14:07):
Yep.
Yeah.
And I think that having that umthat value in it, right?
Like your goal is that yourinformation is valuable enough
that they're gonna want to meetwith you.
They want the sales call, theywant to talk to the rep.
I think one of the other thingswe have to talk about here is
getting included in that day onelist.
Um, you know, your Google SEOhas to be good, but more and
more, um, yeah, I think it wasby 2027 or 2028, uh ChatGPT will
(14:31):
overtake Google as the topsearch engine.
So your AEO, which is AI engineoptimization, new term kind of
coming out there, is alsoimportant.
And guess what?
That ties back to your contentand how your content is
structured.
So it's got to feel good for ahuman, but there's got to be
substance there so that AI getsthe context as well.
(14:52):
Um, so I really think thatpeople who are optimizing
content for AI are gonna have abetter shot at being on that day
one list because people aregonna go to Chat GPT and say,
you know, what are the bestmid-range HubSpot marketing
agencies on price who specializein Service Hub?
Like that's gonna be a searchand it's gonna kick back five or
(15:15):
10 or 20 of those.
And boom, that's my day onelist.
Like, that's all I need to do toget a day one list.
Um, I might also like ask peopleon LinkedIn, refer me, that kind
of thing to add a few to it.
But I would wager to bet thatmost people are gonna start with
um with ChatGPT or with AI.
SPEAKER_00 (15:35):
I mean, ChatGPT can already search the web, so it's
it's already happening.
And it's definitely somethingthat you need to implement now,
sooner rather than later.
SPEAKER_01 (15:44):
Yep.
All right.
So uh moving into somethingcompletely more boring than
roses.
Um this is one that people haveheard.
I know they've heard it, I knowthey've played with it, a lot of
companies have dabbled with it.
Um, but most people aren't goingat it like as hard as they
could.
So I'm talking aboutaccount-based marketing or ABM.
Um, so for those who don't know,ABM is choosing which companies
(16:07):
fit your ideal customer profile,learning as much as you can
about them, and then pursuingthem.
So you create it's sort of theflip of your customer creating a
day one list.
You create your hit list ofcompanies you want to work with.
I have a friend who's got anagency in San Diego, and they
have uh in their break room,they always had, well, they've
got multiple locations now.
So I don't know if they stillhave this everywhere.
(16:29):
But in their office, they hadlike one foot by one foot tiles
like hanging on a wall on likewires, almost like artwork.
And on one side were the logosof companies they want to work
with.
It wasn't their currentcompanies they do work with,
it's their prospects.
And then they could flip it soit was just art on the other
side.
So if somebody was coming in,like a current client or
(16:50):
somebody from one of those, likethey would turn it around.
But the idea is that thosecompanies that you want to go
after are front and center allthe time with you.
So um, so why do I think this isgonna take off?
Um, ABM tools have been aroundfor a really long time and
they've typically beenridiculously expensive.
So looking at you, next role.
(17:11):
Um, but there are tools now thatcan get you an ABM list and um
and focus on things and providesimple enrichment for key
elements you need, like address,job title, phone number.
Um, so if you've got a companyname, um a smart CRM and AI can
actually go out to all kinds ofdata sources and pull in
(17:33):
information about that company.
They can pull in who theirdirector of marketing is, who
their director of sales is, whotheir operations person is, all
of those things.
And then once you have an emailfor that person or a LinkedIn
profile, it can pull in moreinfo for them.
Um, so that gives you a lot ofwhat you need.
And then um, you can do outreachif you want to.
(17:54):
Uh, you could send them a gift,like a high prospect gift,
because right, these are yourideal customers.
But what's also cool is you canuse Lee Gen with that as well.
So you tie your ABM list in witha smart CRM like HubSpot, and
HubSpot does have some ABM toolsuh built in there.
You can get alerted when one ofyour prospects engages with your
(18:14):
brand.
And um that gives you a realopportunity to know more about
them, um, know what they'redoing, keep things very
personalized, and then really beready to act when that prospect
is.
Um, so that's one of the thingsthat I just think is um I think
with AI and with the research itcan do, and with these tools
(18:37):
becoming more commoditized andless like this premium you must
spend$10,000 a month to have theaccess to these tools.
Um, ABM is gonna make a lot ofsense.
Um and I think it simplifiesthings like content, right?
Because you you know these arethe 20 companies and people I'm
making content for.
SPEAKER_00 (18:55):
And it's gonna be highly tailored to that, those
people.
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (18:59):
Yeah, it cuts through some of the clutter and
the crap.
SPEAKER_00 (19:03):
Like that's I mean, you're making yeah, you're
making content for such a smalltargeted subset of companies
that you know what they like andyou're gonna you're gonna get
like right in front of them.
So wow, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01 (19:18):
Yeah, it's a super neat one.
I I'm like an ABM nerd, but I'vebeen trying to make it happen
with people for a long time, andI think that now it actually
can.
You just have to know a lotabout your business and who you
want to work with, whichhonestly, a lot of companies
struggle with that.
I we consult with people who arelike, I don't really know my
sales funnel.
(19:38):
I don't really know what peoplewant at each stage.
And it's like, okay, let's stepback and do a little strategy
work and figure this out.
SPEAKER_00 (19:45):
Yeah, I agree.
There's so many tools now thatthat's definitely a possibility
for a lot of people.
So my next one is first partydata is a new currency in B2B
marketing.
So with cookies disappearing,first party data is now the most
reliable way to understand andreach B2B buyers.
The global consumer dataplatform market is projected to
(20:07):
more than double from 2.1billion in 2023 to 5.1 billion
by 2028.
So we're definitely on thatupward trajectory.
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
People selling our data.
People selling our data is whatyou're talking about.
Creepy and bad for individuals,amazing for marketers.
SPEAKER_00 (20:24):
Mm-hmm.
But they're saying like datathat's collected by us as
companies now is going to bemore valuable than you know
buying third-party data.
So, so yeah, I think that'sinteresting to me.
Like I think that's always beenkind of true in B2B marketing,
(20:45):
right?
You you've always tried to likegate content behind specific
parameters so you're able togain actual like information on
people that are interested inwhat you're like the content
you're putting out in thebusiness that you're trying to
sell them, the service.
But um yeah, it's becomingbecoming way more prevalent now.
And I think I think it's likekind of taking me back to the
(21:09):
account-based marketing thing,right?
Like data like from like likehow do I say this?
First party data is going tobecome more valuable than third
party data, and collecting it isgonna be more important than
ever.
So your content really needs tobe in line with that and how it
can collect leads, but at thesame time, like you don't want
(21:33):
to like encroach upon likegating too many things either.
SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
Yeah, I think part of what you're what you're
getting at, um, one, it's sortof like almost like these were
planned to all go together,which is kind of neat since you
know it's an episode.
But um, one of the things Ithink you're looking at is like
the third-party data can get youstarted.
So that enrichment data that youbring in um can get you started.
But too many people rely on thatas the end all be all, and this
is all I know about thatcustomer.
But things that you gather forthem are going to be way more
(22:03):
important.
So, I mean, their behavior,their activities as it relates
to your company, your website,your content, your materials,
um, what their universe is, um,you know, gathering and looking
for, where they're at, whatthey're consuming, those kinds
of things.
Um, that's gonna make yousmarter than somebody else.
Because everybody can go buy thesame third-party data, right?
(22:24):
It's just a budget thing, it'sjust a price thing.
Um, but understanding howthey've behaved with you is
going to be where like thatvalue really lives.
The thing that I love about thatas well is that information
isn't necessarily valuable toanother company because they'll
have different opportunities toengage, different opportunities
(22:46):
to dive in.
Now, can you learn from yourcompetitors?
100%.
Absolutely.
But just them like gettingaccess to your first party data
doesn't do a lot for them.
Um, especially in B2B.
In B2C, maybe a little bit, butin B2B, it really, really does.
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
Well, and it's like you said, right?
Like the whole like tailoringyour targeting, your marketing
to your specific targetaudiences and like getting
really into the nitty-gritty ofpersonalization, having the data
to enable you to do that so thatyou understand what they do and
do not like, what they'relooking for out of your
services, is going to be superimportant.
(23:24):
And that's how you're going tomake the day one list and get
the first impression, Rose.
SPEAKER_01 (23:28):
So way to try to bring it back around there.
Bring it back around.
Um, what's interesting, we had apromotion a while ago, and I
think it's still a campaign inHubSpot, probably way, way down
the list.
But it was um like let us buyyou a drink, was it was the
premise.
I don't remember what we calledit.
We had some clever name for it.
But the idea was um, this waspre-pandemic, um, and then we
(23:51):
shifted it to uh virtual thingduring the pandemic.
But um the idea was just fillout this form.
All we want to know is yourname, your company, your um
well, email address, becausewe've got to get in touch with
you.
It was name, company, title,email address, and then a
marketing issue you want todiscuss, which is similar to our
contact form now.
(24:11):
But then we added the questionof you know, preferred cocktail
or non-alcoholic beverage.
And so they could put in icedtea, they could put in vodka
soda, whatever.
And so when we would have thosemeetings, we'd have their
favorite drink there.
SPEAKER_00 (24:26):
Um that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (24:28):
Yeah, what's we only did like two, so it didn't
really take off.
I think it would actuallyprobably go better now.
SPEAKER_00 (24:34):
But it's too ahead of its time.
SPEAKER_01 (24:36):
It was, I think it was.
But think about that with likethis podcast, Cocktail Sands and
Answers, right?
So if you were my prospect and Iknew your favorite drink and I
knew what you needed to hear inlike a topic, I could ensure
like it'd be like, hey, Zach,we're gonna make this drink for
this one because this target ofours, high value target, needs
(24:57):
to hear about this topic andthis is their favorite drink.
So that gives me an in to sendthem the episode and say, Hey,
it was just thinking you when wedid this, happened to be your
favorite drink, even though weengineered it.
Um, so that depth of first partydata isn't what everybody's
gonna have.
You're not gonna know theirfavorite drink or their favorite
animal or things like that.
But, you know, clocking whetherthey're a dog person or not.
(25:20):
You know, you we heard Misabarking there for a little bit.
Like, yeah, that happens.
My dogs will come in and outsometimes.
Um, and that happened to us on aum a discovery call the other
day.
The woman, like toward the end,said, Hey, you know, it's really
great to see like I've seen dogscome in and out of a couple of
your like frames, even thoughit's blurred, I can tell it's a
(25:40):
dog.
And she's like, I've got a dog.
And she's like, I just feel likethe dog people are good people.
So it made her like feel betterabout us as this humans.
Um, so it was interesting.
Uh all right, one more.
Sure.
What do you got?
So this one ties into yours aswell.
Uh, content will be king.
(26:01):
And I know we've heard that foryears.
But B2B marketing has to getbetter at content and heavier
into it.
B2C has kind of figured this outand is doing a whole lot better.
But um, with B2B, what's reallyinteresting is video and audio
content um is going to be hugeas well.
(26:22):
Um, long form and short form,Zach.
Really weird as I was doing theresearch.
Um this is gonna put a lot ofpressure on people, right?
Because creating content takestime.
Um, you'll need a strongin-house and or agency-driven
content engine.
Um, you can use AIappropriately, but AI is not
(26:43):
gonna create the content foryou.
Generative AI is not there yet.
It can help, it can augment.
It can operate.
SPEAKER_00 (26:49):
People are looking for people are trying to find
real content.
Like they're gonna spot AIcontent.
It's just a fact.
SPEAKER_01 (26:56):
Yeah, but one of the good examples for AI, right?
You shoot a three-minute videoabout your product, about your
service, about whatever, andthen use an AI agent in one of
the content tools to cut it downinto a few five to 10 seconds
snippets for social to drivepeople back to the main one.
Um but with long form contentmaking a comeback, there's a
huge opportunity there.
(27:17):
You do have to structure it forhumans to be able to scan it.
It's got to be scannable,digestible, but it gives you a
real opportunity for AI to gaincontext and substance around
your brand and to understandthings.
Um, AI can ingest long-formcontent extremely fast and use
that for context.
And there are ways to formatthat, which we're going through
(27:37):
right now with our content plan,I know for next year and for
clients, to ensure that, again,you get in that day one list
because if they're asking AI,they've seen your content and
it's pulling in uh where itneeds to be.
We'll probably have to do awhole other episode with Riley
at some point on like optimizingfor AI because I know he'll I
know he'll want to do that.
He'll actually be really excitedabout it.
(27:59):
100%.
So content will be king.
And we've it but differently,very different than the way it
has been in the past.
SPEAKER_00 (28:06):
It has been and it always, I mean, not maybe
always, but it definitely hasbeen for a long while.
And it can continue will to itwill continue to be in the near
future.
SPEAKER_01 (28:16):
Well, we consume stories, right?
That's a human existence.
We consume stories andexperiences, and we want to hear
about those from others.
Um but yeah.
All right.
So I think um some really greatstuff in here.
So we've got uh your day onelist matters, that Bachelor Rose
(28:37):
effect.
Um, account-based marketing isgonna take off.
Um, first party data is your newcurrency and probably one of the
most valuable things you canhave.
Uh, and then content is gonna beking, and you've got to really
figure that out.
And if you put all four of thosetogether, it's actually a really
strong strategy for going into2026.
SPEAKER_00 (28:57):
Um I was gonna say you might want to steal this uh
semi-campaign that we basicallygive it.
SPEAKER_01 (29:04):
It really is your overarching kind of strategy of
how you need to execute for thenext year.
So it's all good.
SPEAKER_00 (29:11):
Yeah.
And you know, thank you forlistening.
Uh, as always, you can find ouragency at antidote71.com.
All of our socials are there aswell.
If you have a question you'dlike to send our way, hit the
CTA podcast.live to shoot us anemail.
Or even better, leave us a voicemessage on our hotline at
402-718-9971.
Your question will absolutelymake it into an episode of a
(29:33):
podcast.
And uh yeah, we'll see you nextweek for another great episode.
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