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

Don’t fall for these AI traps

When it comes to automation, look before you leap. Demand Gen Report highlights some common AI traps, such as the cost of hallucinations, backlash to robotic-sounding outreach, and personalization failures.

Our take: We get it, AI is everywhere. But after a year of fast-paced AI adoption, it’s clear that rampant scaling can do more harm than good. Now is a great time to slow down and evaluate where AI really fits into your B2B marketing strategy — and where it doesn’t.

Is your B2B content adding to the noise?

This opinion piece in The Drum has something a lot of modern B2B content lacks: a clear perspective. It’s all about how content production has become industrialized, flooding audiences with copy to the point that they tune out entirely.

Our take: Look, we love B2B content as much as the next marketer, but we’re glad to see the “quality over quantity” trend growing stronger. After all, what buyers want is help clarifying decisions or finding information that makes their job easier. What they don’t want is more stuff to read.

Why buyer behaviours aren’t always straightforward

B2B buyer decisions are traditionally mapped out as a linear path, but MarketingProfs says the reality is more nuanced. Buyers often have a mix of professional and personal factors shaping their decisions, and their competing priorities aren’t always visible in the rigid rubric of a buyer persona.

Our take: Buying new running shoes? That's personal. Buying a B2B solution? Now that's complicated. Keep your branding efforts bold and consistent, because recognition and trust can help steer non-linear buyers back on a path to your brand.

Create content with purpose

Creating content that adds value to your B2B buyer's journey requires a carefully crafted content marketing strategy — one that takes your broader business goals into account. For help piecing together all these moving parts, contact our marketing experts. We'll help you focus on what's important to your readers.