B2B Marketing Podcast

Referral marketing is often associated with consumer brands, but could it be one of B2B’s most underused growth opportunities? In this episode of the B2B Marketing Podcast, Kavita Singh sits down with Kirsty Sharman, CEO and Founder of Referral Factory, to explore the role referrals can play in B2B growth. They discuss why referrals matter in complex buying journeys, what makes a successful referral program, and how marketers can turn customer relationships into a measurable acquisition channel. In addition to this episode, you can get 50% of Referral Factory if you use our code B2B50OFF.

B2B buyers haven't stopped buying. They've just moved somewhere marketers can't follow. 90 to 94% of business buyers now use AI to research products and services. As research shifts into ChatGPT, Claude and other LLMs, the traditional funnel has gone dark, leaving marketing leaders to defend budgets to CFOs without the attribution they've relied on. “The darkness is more in the measurement and attribution side. It's definitely not in the buying committee or buying behavior - that is still really active.” In this episode, Geoffrey Sidari, Chief Innovation Officer at Marketbridge, explains why the buying journey now looks more like a wave, with buyers moving between LLMs, owned channels and earned media. He sets out where to start: baseline your brand's visibility in LLMs, write for machines as well as humans, and invest in influencers and key opinion leaders to build preference. He also makes the case for moving now, before catching up gets expensive.

In this week’s episode of the B2B Marketing Podcast, Kavita Singh sits down with ‘UK Agency of the Year’ and foodservice marketing agency, Omne, to explore what’s reshaping B2B marketing. Featuring Emma Halewood, Ellie Mitchell and Chris Davies, the conversation looks at the trends defining 2026 and what they could mean for marketers heading into 2027. Drawing on hundreds of entries from the 2025 and 2026 B2B Marketing Awards, the discussion explores how AI is changing the way buyers research and shortlist suppliers, why brand and credible proof are becoming more important than ever, and how marketers can keep pace with evolving buyer needs. The group also looks at the move away from siloed campaigns towards connected go-to-market systems, and what it takes to build stronger agency-client partnerships grounded in trust, access, shared accountability and the freedom to challenge each other. And speaking of the work shaping the future of B2B, the B2B Marketing Awards celebrate the brands, agencies and individuals pushing the industry forward. Want to find out who takes home the top honors in 2026? Join us on 25 November for the ceremony and celebrate the people raising the bar for B2B marketing. Secure your seat at the most coveted B2B Marketing Awards ceremony: https://events.b2bmarketing.net/b2bawards/ceremony

In this episode, host Kavita Singh, Head of Growth Solutions Content at B2B Marketing, is joined by Gabriella Sellers, leader of EY's Global Marketing Excellence for Accounts team. Ahead of her keynote at the Global ABM Conference on 4 November, she shares the philosophy, the frameworks, and the hard-won lessons behind ABM that actually moves the needle. The conversation covers the growing tension between AI-driven efficiency and the human judgment that still defines great account-based marketing. Gabriella is candid about where AI is genuinely transforming her team's workflows, including a client-specific messaging agent her team has already deployed, and equally clear about where it falls short. If you're navigating how to stay commercially relevant as AI reshapes the function, this episode gives you a grounded, practical perspective from someone doing it at global scale. Listeners to the podcast can save 20% on their ticket to the Global ABM Conference – simply enter the discount code PODCAST when prompted at check out: https://events.b2bmarketing.net/abmconference/booktickets

The 2026 B2B Marketing Awards shortlist is out, and it's telling a bigger story about where B2B is headed. In this episode, Kavita Singh is joined by Sapio, Radish and FunnelFuel to unpack what this year's entries reveal about the state of B2B marketing, from the campaigns that made the cut to the trends shaping what "good" looks like right now. From AI-powered marketing transformation and hyper-personalized ABM to the resurgence of human, humorous, B2C-style creative in traditionally "serious" B2B sectors, the panel explores how the best shortlisted campaigns are blending bold ideas with hard commercial outcomes. They also look ahead: what truly meaningful use of AI looks like (beyond efficiency), what separates real omnichannel from "lots of channels," and which new award categories the panel would like to see emerge, from talent pipelines and sales-marketing collaboration to proprietary data and AI search. If you want to understand what's really working in B2B right now and what will be winning awards in the next few years, this B2B Marketing Awards shortlist debrief is your cheat sheet.

In this episode of Bare-Knuckle B2B, our hosts Kavita Singh and Matt Hicks sit down with Fujitsu’s Andrea Clatworthy to ask a blunt question: have we hit peak martech? With 15,000+ vendors, low adoption, and only a fraction of functionality actually used, they dig into why marketers keep getting dazzled by shiny platforms, how to stop treating tech as a crutch for weak strategy, and why clicks, impressions, and other vanity metrics are quietly devaluing marketing in the boardroom. Andrea shares how Fujitsu has deliberately avoided the “mega ABM platform” route, instead using a lean spine of CRM, automation, intent data, and smart agency partnerships to get the outcomes without the bloated stack. They also explore how AI is amplifying both the promise and the problems of martech—from cheap, fractional tools creeping into teams to leaders overestimating cost savings and underestimating the adoption effort. Andrea warns that without a clear strategy, strong skills, and a shared view of what good looks like, AI and martech risk becoming expensive comfort blankets rather than genuine growth drivers especially when marketers are still rewarded for vanity metrics instead of meaningful business impact. If you like this episode, check out our first Bare-Knuckle B2B episode with Harry Davies here: https://www.b2bmarketing.net/podcasts/bare-knuckle-b2b-client-agency-relationship/

In this episode, Kavita Singh sat down with James Farmer, Co-Founder, B2B Marketing & Propolis, to unpack the findings from The B2B Nation Series, Volume One: United Kingdom. James explained why nearly half of UK output is already B2B, why consumer metrics are misleading our understanding of national performance, and how the UK’s true strength lies in exporting trust, expertise, systems, and standards. Together, they explored what this means for B2B marketers operating in an AI-enabled, geopolitically volatile world. You’ll hear why marketing must move from lead generation to strategic intelligence, how AI will make trusted brands more valuable, and why the future CMO will look more like a chief growth strategist than a campaigns lead. If you want to understand where the UK’s real competitive advantage lies, this episode is a must-listen. We also recommend checking out the full report here: https://www.b2bmarketing.net/reports/the-b2b-nations-uk-report/

In a world where AI can churn out content at scale, have B2B marketing teams forgotten how to truly create? In this episode, Wolters Kluwer Health’s Director of Marketing Content Experience, Karen Cooper, joins David Rowlands to unpack what happens when high-velocity marketing crushes creative space. She shares what she’s seen across agencies, in-house teams, and multiple industries when goals keep rising, work keeps piling up, and leaders quietly expect AI to “solve it all.” Karen explains why AI should be treated as a research and efficiency partner—not the author of your brand—and how the real competitive edge still lies in human storytelling, judgement, and collaboration. From the hidden costs of burnt-out creative teams to practical ways leaders can design processes, governance, and culture that protect originality, this conversation is a blueprint for marketers who want to move fast without becoming generic. In addition, B2B Ignite takes place on 1 July in London. Listeners to the podcast can save 20% on their ticket to B2B Ignite 2026 – simply enter the discount code PODCAST when prompted at check out.https://events.b2bmarketing.net/b2bignite

As AI takes over more intelligence tasks in B2B marketing, the real competitive advantage is shifting to something deeply human: judgment. In this week's episode of the B2B Marketing Podcast, Richard O'Connor, CEO of B2B Marketing, is joined by two keynote speakers from our upcoming B2B Ignite conference: Fiona McKenzie, President Europe at Marketbridge, and Nick Mason, CEO of Turtl. Together, they explore the shift from a knowledge economy to a judgment economy, and what it means for B2B marketers. The conversation examines how AI can help teams execute at scale while elevating the importance of human qualities such as instinct, taste, and strategic decision-making across content, buying groups, and complex go-to-market motions. The discussion also tackles the realities of "perfect-fit" marketing, why attribution will never be an exact science (and why that's okay), and how CMOs can build the trust needed to secure investment in brand and thought leadership. If you're looking to take ownership of the growth agenda and thrive in what could be a golden age for B2B marketing, this episode offers a practical roadmap. B2B Ignite takes place on 1 July in London. Listeners to the podcast can save 20% on their ticket to B2B Ignite 2026 – simply enter the discount code PODCAST when prompted at check out.https://events.b2bmarketing.net/b2bignite

In this episode of the B2B Marketing Podcast, Kavita Singh sat down with Adam Bertelsen, AI Workforce Transformation Lead, Baringa to unpack how agentic AI is reshaping the way work gets done and what it really means for B2B marketers. Adam shares cross-industry lessons from sectors like law, financial services, media, and government, revealing the patterns in which tasks AI absorbs first and why creative judgment, brand instinct, and relationship-building still sit firmly in the human camp. Together, they explore the five “human-native” capabilities that matter more as AI matures: translation and judgment, accountability and trust, embodied presence, taste and provenance, and relationship-building. Adam and Kavita also dig into why so many organizations are failing to see real productivity gains from AI, how to move from experiments to strategic value, and why the smartest leaders are treating AI as an operating model shift rather than a tool rollout. If you’re under pressure to prove ROI from AI without sacrificing distinctiveness, this episode is a must-listen. In addition, B2B Ignite will be taking place on 1 July in London. Listeners to the podcast can save 20% on their ticket to B2B Ignite 2026 – simply enter the discount code PODCAST when prompted at check out.https://events.b2bmarketing.net/b2bignite