B2B Reads: Human Buyers, Pipeline Timing, and AI’s Prove-It Moment

Summary

Some of our favorite B2B sales and marketing posts from around the web this week.

Every Saturday morning we share some of our favorite B2B sales & marketing posts from around the web from the last week (so it’s fresh!). We’ll miss a ton of great stuff, so if you found something you think is worth sharing please let us know.

Don’t Let the Age of AI Make You Forget the B2B Buyer Is Human by Linda Boff, Fast Company
Former GE CMO Linda Boff takes on three B2B myths, including the idea that AI makes brand storytelling matter less. Buyers are still people, and emotional campaigns still drive the biggest long-term business results.

Why Knowing Your TAM Still Won’t Fill Your Pipeline by Samuel Darwin, Forbes
A big TAM tells you how large the market is, not who’s ready to buy. Tighten your ICP, then watch for timing signals like leadership changes, new hires, or tool swaps before you spend sales effort.

The New Growth Mandate: A Conversation With LinkedIn CMO Jessica Jensen by Dianne Esber, McKinsey & Company
LinkedIn’s CMO says AI has hit its “prove it” phase for marketing leaders. Her math: transformation is about 80% people and 20% technology, and the payoff starts with connecting sales and marketing data.

B2B Brands Turn to Creator Video to Fight AI Slop and Aid AI Search by Constantine von Hoffman, MarTech
B2B use of creator video jumped 55% in a year. Real practitioners showing demos and honest tradeoffs stand out from AI slop and help you show up when buyers research with AI.

The Data Quality Strategies That Separate ROI From Excuses by James Hickey, Demand Gen Report
Most teams buy AI and measurement tools before fixing their data, then wonder why nobody trusts the numbers. Get the order right: data integrity first, then workflows, measurement, and AI.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for reading! If you have B2B news sources you rely on we’d love to hear about them. Please share them with us.