Welcome to What We're Reading, a weekly rundown of news stories, marketing columns, and specific B2B industry news that caught our eye.

The importance of B2B relationship building

It can be easy to overlook customer relationship building, but strong relationships and communication can lead to more upselling, better customer retention, and less churn, as CRM Buyer explains.

4 easy ways to keep employees happy

Employee satisfaction isn’t as simple as popping a ping-pong table in the common room or holding the occasional pizza party. Inc.com says the key to getting employees to love their work is to create a sense of value and belonging and to make work, well, fun.

The explosion of 7-second ads, and why they work

You’ve probably noticed there are two types of YouTube ads: a longer ad that becomes skippable after a certain amount of time, and a shorter un-skippable ad that usually lasts 7–15 seconds. The Drum explains how these short ads can pack a powerful punch when used properly.

How a Middle Eastern agency advertised on an ad-free platform

There are a few benefits to coughing up $9.99 per month for Spotify Premium: you can play and download any song you want, and you no longer have to listen to those pesky ads. So how did a Dubai ad agency find a way to advertise KFC’s new Kentucky Burger to Premium listeners? See the creative campaign at Ads of The World.