AI Gets Smarter, Social Gets Slower, Storytelling Gets Stronger

Good morning, ! This week we’re tracking how B2B marketers are refining precision and trust in 2025. From AI moving beyond automation to content built on data, storytelling, and restraint — performance is being redefined.

We look at why director-level readers click on clarity and numbers, how email is shifting toward lifecycle value, and why visual storytelling and smarter, slower social are driving better ROI. With both consumers and marketers embracing AI’s potential, one theme unites it all: clarity, empathy, and disciplined testing now define great marketing.

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AUDIENCE DATA DIVE

What Directors in the Consumer Industry Are Really Clicking On

Consumer leaders aren’t just skimming headlines, they’re scanning for signals that matter. Our latest engagement analysis reveals that directors and decision-makers open stories grounded in data, brand scale, and measurable behavior. Headlines mentioning specific dollar figures or well-known consumer brands see open rates up to 30% higher than average. The takeaway? Executives want clarity, credibility, and context, not noise.

From Temu’s $83B BNPL wave to the $250M loyalty reset, performance spikes when content connects financial reality with evolving digital habits. This is where storytelling meets strategy: insight-driven narratives that decode how consumers spend, react, and evolve.

For advertisers and brand leaders, this isn’t just newsletter data, it’s a roadmap to relevance. (More)

AD INTEL

Lifecycle Marketing Leads 2025 Email Strategy

Email remains a cornerstone of customer engagement in 2025, with brands shifting focus from one-off promotions to relationship-driven communication. According to Litmus – The State of Email 2025, 63% of marketers send customer engagement emails—making them the top email type—followed closely by promotional (58%) and newsletter emails (58%).

The trend underscores a growing investment in lifecycle and customer marketing, as brands aim to educate, inform, and build long-term loyalty. Event-related emails (55%) and re-engagement campaigns (49%) are also gaining traction as marketers look to keep audiences active throughout the customer journey.

Notably, nearly 1 in 5 marketers report the highest ROI from customer engagement emails, signaling that authentic, informative content is outperforming hard-sell messaging.

For B2B advertisers, these patterns suggest reallocating spend toward personalized lifecycle campaigns that nurture relationships—and revenue—beyond the initial conversion. (More)

THE FUNNEL REPORT

Visual Storytelling Rises as B2B Marketers Chase Engagement

In 2025, visual and insight-rich content is taking center stage in B2B marketing. New data shows that video (16%) and visual formats like infographics and data visualizations (15%) are the most effective tools for meeting marketing goals. Close behind are thought leadership blog posts (14%) and case studies (14%), signaling a balance between creativity and credibility.

What’s striking is the absence of a clear winner—marketers are spreading bets across formats, tailoring content to different stages of the funnel. While videos capture attention at the top, blogs and case studies help move prospects deeper toward conversion.

Interestingly, directors and managers—not CMOs—are leading the charge in adopting these formats, reflecting a shift toward practitioner-driven content strategies. In 2025, effective funnels aren’t built on volume but on visual clarity and thought leadership that educate and engage. (More)

BUDGET SHIFTS

AI Investments Mature: From Automation to Optimization

Marketers are no longer experimenting with AI—they’re operationalizing it. According to recent data, 31% of teams now use AI-driven content creation tools, while 29% invest in ad targeting, chatbots, and automation platforms. These numbers reflect a clear shift: AI is moving from novelty to necessity.

The adoption mix also tells a story about where marketing dollars are flowing. Predictive analytics (28%) and social listening tools (24%) show strong traction as brands chase personalization and audience intelligence. Yet, nearly one in five marketers (18%) report using none of these tools, revealing a lingering gap between AI ambition and execution.

For CMOs, this year’s takeaway is strategic: AI budgets are consolidating around impact, not experimentation. The winners will be the teams that treat AI as infrastructure — not an add-on — to drive creative scale, media efficiency, and smarter decision-making. (More)

BUYER’S ROOM

Consumers and Marketers Are on the Same Page About GenAI

Generative AI isn’t just a marketing tool anymore—it’s becoming a shared language between brands and buyers. According to new data from Kantar, 75% of senior marketers and 68% of consumers now view genAI’s possibilities in a positive light, up sharply from last year. The message is clear: optimism is rising on both sides of the screen.

Behind that optimism, though, is a behavioral shift. Nearly one in five active genAI users (18%) already rely on it as their go-to source for purchase recommendations, according to Accenture. And among younger buyers, genAI is practically second nature—45% of Gen Z adults use it weekly or daily, per data from The Walton Family Foundation, GSV Ventures, and Gallup.

The takeaway? As trust in AI grows, consumers are ready to reward brands that explain how AI makes their experiences better—from faster service to smarter recommendations. For marketers, that means moving beyond hype to show how genAI actually delivers value. In 2025, expect more brands to highlight AI-driven benefits directly in their messaging, turning awareness into adoption and interest into loyalty. (More)

CREATIVE THAT CONVERTS

Finding the B2B Social Media Rhythm: Less Is Often More

A new trend is reshaping how B2B marketers approach social media in 2025 — and it’s not about posting more. According to our latest data, 61% of marketers plan to post only a few times a week, while just 13% post daily. The shift signals a clear mindset change: quality now beats quantity.

Instead of flooding feeds to chase algorithms, brands are focusing on fewer, better-crafted posts — ones that educate, engage, and build credibility. Thoughtful storytelling, authentic visuals, and relevance to audience pain points are outperforming high-volume, low-impact posting.

This “slow content” approach aligns with the modern B2B buyer journey: decision-makers are looking for insight, not noise. For creative teams, the takeaway is clear — the most effective social strategy in 2025 isn’t about showing up constantly, but showing up meaningfully. (More)

CASE STUDY

How Oura Turned Science Into Story and Boosted Sales 42%

In a category crowded with wearables promising better sleep, recovery, and wellness, Oura Ring set out to do something different: make its complex science feel intuitive, human, and beautiful. The brand’s new website, winner of Gold in Consumer Tech at The Drum Awards for Marketing, was designed around one idea: show, don’t tell.

Partnering with its creative team, Oura built a user-centric digital experience that combined progressive storytelling, data visualization, and seamless navigation. By layering content through progressive disclosure, the site let visitors explore Oura’s sophisticated technology at their own pace, offering clarity without overload.

The approach paid off. Within a month of launch, Oura saw a 42% increase in daily sales, 130% jump in mobile performance, and a 3% lift in funnel progression. Behind the numbers was a design philosophy grounded in empathy and iteration: the team tested with real consumers, wore the product themselves, and worked side by side with Oura’s scientists to ensure every interaction felt purposeful.

For marketers, Oura’s success is a masterclass in translating complexity into curiosity and proving that storytelling, when grounded in user insight, still sells science.(More)

INTERESTING ARTICLES

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

Colin Powell