Let’s cut to the chase: If you’re still gating content, obsessing over MQL-to-SQL handoffs, and A/B testing button colors, you’re marketing like it’s 2019. And frankly, your buyers have moved on.

We recently sponsored an incredible Exit5 webinar featuring Dave Gerhart alongside three marketing leaders who are actually doing the work—Lindsay O’Brien from Predictive, Tom Wentworth from Incident IO, and Aditya from Iterable. And the insights? They were a wake-up call for anyone still clinging to traditional B2B marketing tactics.

You can watch the full webinar here (and trust us, you’ll want to).

But if you need the TL;DR version first, buckle up. We’re about to break down exactly how AI is reshaping B2B marketing—and what you need to do about it.

The Big Shift: Marketing Now Owns the Buyer Journey (Until Demo Request)

Here’s something wild: At Iterable, sales doesn’t touch a lead until they’ve explicitly filled out a demo form.

Read that again.

No more “they downloaded a whitepaper, let’s have a BDR call them.” No more lead scoring gymnastics to determine who’s “sales-ready.” Marketing owns the entire journey until the prospect literally raises their hand and says, “I’m ready to see a demo.”

Why? Because buyers are doing 80%+ of their research independently using AI tools before they ever talk to sales. They’re asking ChatGPT to compare your solution to competitors, they’re using Perplexity to dig into your product capabilities, and they’re making shortlists before they ever visit your website.

The old lead-gen-to-sales handoff model? It’s dead. And good riddance.

Stop Pretending Your Competitors Don’t Exist

Let’s talk about something most B2B marketers are still terrified to do: acknowledge their competition.

Lindsay O’Brien from Predictive put it perfectly: “We’ve moved way past the point of pretending like our competitors don’t exist.”

Here’s the reality: AI tools are surfacing competitive information whether you like it or not. If you’re not transparent about how you stack up against alternatives, you’re just making it harder for AI to represent your positioning accurately.

Your messaging needs to be crystal clear about:

• Who you are
• What you do
• Who you’re for
• Who you compete against

Because there’s no guarantee prospects are coming to your website anymore. They’re getting their information from AI-generated summaries. And if your competitive positioning isn’t clear and well-distributed across the internet, you simply won’t show up in those summaries.

Distribution Trumps Creation (And It’s Not Even Close)

Here’s a quote that should be tattooed on every content marketer’s forehead:

“AI literally only gives a shit about where it shows up and how many places it shows up and who’s talking about it. Your authority has gone out the window.” —Aditya, Iterable

Translation? Having a blog post on your site means nothing if no one shares it, links to it, or talks about it.

At Iterable, they’re “completely obsessed with distribution.” Before they create anything, they ask: Who will share this? Where will it be distributed?

Here’s their playbook:

1. Build a network of 15+ “friendly” prospects/customers for content validation
2. Every blog post needs a partner or practitioner quote
3. Every piece of content must have 3+ distribution channels identified before creation begins

Because in the AI era, distribution determines discoverability. And discoverability determines whether you exist in your buyer’s world.

The “Taste Squared” Formula: Why Design Matters More Than Ever

Tom Wentworth from Incident IO shared possibly the most provocative insight of the entire session:

“Marketing success is dictated by AI adoption times taste squared.”

Let us unpack this.

Yes, you need to adopt AI. Yes, you need to use it to create more content faster. But here’s the thing: eventually, everyone will have the same AI tools. Everyone will have similar prompts. Everyone will be able to pump out content at scale.

So what’s the differentiator? Taste.

Creative taste. Design excellence. Unscalable craft. The stuff that makes people stop scrolling and think, “Wow, that’s actually good.”This is the future of B2B marketing: fewer people, but better people, specialists with taste rather than generalist executors.

What’s Dead (And You Need to Let It Go)

1. Gated Content for Lead Gen

Tom didn’t mince words: “It’s the fucking dumbest thing… Like it’s just a throwback to like I need to show the VP of sales I hit my lead commit target this month.”

Buyers won’t tolerate friction when they can find similar information ungated elsewhere. Period.

2. A/B Testing Website Copy & Button Colors

We’re going to run a number of experiments and find the best shade of blue that’s gonna give our landing page the best conversion was the dumbest thing.”

Tom Wentworth

Why? B2B doesn’t have enough conversion volume for statistical significance. The lift isn’t worth the investment. Focus on creating something that actually resonates rather than incrementally optimizing something mediocre.

3. Traditional Marketing Funnels

Aditya summed it up: “I think there’s a funnel, but there isn’t.”

Buyers don’t follow linear paths anymore. They jump between awareness, consideration, and decision stages. They circle back. They talk to peers. They use AI to research.

Stop thinking in funnel stages (awareness, consideration, decision). Start thinking in journey stages (discovering, engaging, learning, decision-ready).

How to Actually Measure Success in the AI Era

Here’s what matters now:

1. Search rankings (even if they don’t click, AI sees you)
2. Distribution reach (how many channels/partners shared your content)
3. Engagement across formats (not just on your site)
4. Revenue (the ultimate scoreboard)
5. Team morale (often overlooked but critical)

Notice what’s not on this list? Form fills, MQLs, SQLs, lead scoring, and funnel conversion rates.

Aditya shared how he justifies content budget: “Rankings matter more than traffic because 60% of searches don’t end up in a click. The rankings matter more because that’s what the referenceability for the AI comes from.”

If you’re ranking, you’re visible to AI tools. And visibility to AI tools means visibility to buyers.

The AI Tools That Are Actually Working

Let’s get tactical. Here’s what these marketing leaders are actually using:

Working:

• ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini for content ideation and drafting
• Notebook LM as a sales enablement content repository
• Clay + Zapier for research automation
• Qualified (AI BDR) for automated inbound follow-up
• Gong + AI agents for automatic Salesforce updates and competitor tracking

Not Working:

• Sora/AI video for brand content (too obviously fake, breaks trust)
• AI-generated images for brand work (lacks quality/taste)
• Pure AI content without human editing (doesn’t rank, lacks distribution)

The pattern? AI is incredible for automation, research, and drafting. But the human touch—the taste, the editing, the distribution strategy—is what makes it work.

What This Means for Your Interactive Demos

If buyers complete 80%+ of their journey before they get on a call, they need access to your product sooner. Not a video. Not a screenshot. Not a generic tour. A real, interactive experience with your product.

This is precisely why interactive demos matter more than ever:

• They’re shareable at any point in the buyer journey (no sales involvement required)
• They’re personalizable so each prospect sees exactly what matters to them
• They’re discoverable by AI tools crawling the web for product information
• They provide data on what resonates with prospects

When Lindsay from Predictive mentioned that “there’s no guarantee they’re coming to our website,” it hit home. Your interactive demo can’t just live behind a form on your site. It needs to be discoverable, shareable, and valuable at every stage of the journey.

Your Action Plan: What to Do This Quarter

Immediate actions:

1. Stop gating content (unless it’s genuinely high-value and unique)
2. Build a validation network of 15+ friendly prospects/customers
3. Audit for AI discoverability: Is your competitive positioning clear? Are you avoiding competitors in your content?
4. Review your sales handoff process: Are you sending leads too early?

Strategic shifts (next 6 months):

1. Assess your team for taste: Do you have people who create work that stands out?
2. Implement AI workflow automation: Start with call transcript analysis
3. Shift from creation to distribution: Every piece needs 3+ distribution channels identified before creation
4. Create a knowledge base for AI: Brand voice, positioning, messaging, competitors for consistent AI output

Future-focused:

1. Invest in designers and brand builders: This is where differentiation comes from
2. Conduct “AI Impact Assessments”: How will your customer’s role change in 12-18 months?

Build for the journey, not the funnel: Map content to buyer stages

The Bottom Line

B2B marketing is fundamentally changing. The companies that win will be the ones that:

• Give buyers what they want (product access) when they want it (before the demo call)
• Focus on distribution and discoverability, not just content creation
• Invest in taste and craft, not just AI-generated volume
• Measure what matters (rankings, reach, revenue) instead of vanity metrics

The old playbook is obsolete. The new playbook is still being written. But one thing is clear: the future belongs to marketers who embrace transparency, prioritize the buyer experience, and understand that in the AI era, being visible matters more than being perfect.

Want to see these principles in action? Watch the full Exit5 webinar with Lindsay, Tom, Aditya, and Dave. It’s an hour well spent.

And if you’re ready to give your buyers the product access they’re craving (without burning out your sales team), let’s talk about how Walnut can help you create interactive demos that work at every stage of the buyer journey.

Because in a world where buyers do most of their research without you, the best thing you can do is give them something worth discovering.

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