Emotion is not a vibe. Not an add-on. But the most underused performance lever in B2B today. Time to stop pretending buyers are robots.
—Jay & Adam
💼➡️💥
💥 MARKET MOVES: Forecasting stability in an unstable world: Inside Thomson Reuters’ mission-driven strategy
In a week when most companies are bracing for impact, Thomson Reuters calmly reaffirmed its 2025 and 2026 growth forecasts.
No guidance cuts. No panic pivots. Just quiet confidence and 6% (!) organic growth.
That kind of steadiness is rare right now — and it’s not accidental.
Thomson Reuters isn’t trying to be buzzy. It’s trying to be foundational. Their mission — to inform the way forward — doesn’t just live on their website. It shapes what they build, what they acquire, and how they grow.
Recent moves like the acquisition of SafeSend (tax automation), Casetext (AI for legal research), and Pagero (e-invoicing and compliance) aren’t flashy — they’re mission-aligned bets on infrastructure-level tools for professionals navigating complexity.
👉 Takeaway:
While others react, Thomson Reuters is constructing a B2B ecosystem that gets more useful — and more trusted — the messier the world gets.
When the future feels chaotic, brands with a clear purpose don’t just survive. They lead.
🤝 B2B’s real growth lever in the hellscape of 2025? A clear mission.
Most B2B companies obsess over leads and funnel metrics. But in a crowded, commoditized market, those tactics only take you so far.
The real differentiator is mission-aligned messaging. When buyers understand why you exist — not just what you sell — they choose you over cheaper, louder alternatives.
If your brand isn’t rooted in clarity, it’s probably just adding noise.
Want to find out where you stand?
🌋 DEMAND & GROWTH: How Top B2B Teams Are Growing—Even in a Downturn
According to the 2025 State of B2B Pipeline Growth report by Pipeline360, high-performing B2B marketing teams are widening the gap — not with more tools, but with smarter execution.
Compared to low performers, they are:
6x better at using data
6x more likely to have streamlined tech stacks
7x stronger at lead nurturing
3x more confident in content quality
2x more aligned with sales
Nearly 70% of all marketers now prefer actionable insights over more software — and 74% report longer sales cycles, often by 2–6 months.
👉 Takeaway:
In 2025, pipeline growth isn’t about stacking tools. It’s about sales and marketing alignment, high quality content that converts, and the endurance to stay relevant through a longer, harder funnel.
✍️ THE MESSAGING LAB: Spreadbeats: What Spotify’s Sexy Spreadsheet Can Teach B2B
Let’s be honest — spreadsheets aren’t sexy. But Spotify is. Even when they show their B2B side.
Through what looks like a truly arduous creative process, Spotify Advertising turned a spreadsheet into a music video, it looked like pure brand theater. But behind the flash was a smart, buyer-centered messaging move.
Here’s how:
Took the dullest part of the media process — the spreadsheet
Translated it into Spotify’s native language: sound, rhythm, motion
Delivered a product message in disguise: this platform is creative, flexible, and built for people like you
It wasn’t a campaign about product features. It was the product — dramatized.
Why it works:
It started with a pain point
Media plans are tedious. Spotify didn’t avoid that, it owned it.It embodied the solution
They didn’t say, “we make ad planning better.” They showed it through sound and storytelling.It aligned brand with buyer reality
It was tuned to the audience’s — marketers — creative instincts.
👉 Takeaway:
In B2B, we tend to polish the pitch deck and ignore the tools, docs, or processes buyers actually interact with. That’s a miss.
Your most boring touchpoint might be your most powerful brand moment — if you’re clear on how it’s different.
📊 DATA & INSIGHTS: CTR down 30%. Zero-click is eating the funnel
If you're counting on SEO alone to drive demand, we have some bad news. According to Bain, click-through rates in B2B categories like software have dropped by up to 30% since Google introduced (often hilariously wrong and sometimes dangerous) AI-generated summaries. Why? Because users are getting answers directly on the results page — and never clicking through.
This is what’s called a zero-click search, and it’s quickly becoming the norm.
That’s a problem for B2B marketers because 85% of buyers purchase from vendors already on their “day one” list — the shortlist they build before they even search.
So if you’re not already on the day one list, it’s becoming even harder to earn consideration.
👉 Takeaway:
Zero-click search means you can’t rely on SEO alone to earn buyer attention.
To combat this, B2B marketers need to shift upstream—investing in brand awareness, thought leadership, and trust-building long before someone types a query.
🤝 SEO that starts before the search?
If you’re not on the buyer’s radar before they type, you’re invisible.
That’s why our SEO partner focuses on brand visibility and thought leadership, not just rankings. Their intent-first strategy helps you earn your place on the “day one list”—so when the search happens, you’re already the answer.
Want to get ahead of the query?
🔥 FAMOUS TAKE: The biggest lie in B2B is that it’s rational. It’s not.
Your buyers aren’t just choosing software or services. They’re choosing what to bet their reputation on. Their bonus. Their promotion. Their team’s trust.
A message that doesn’t connect doesn’t convert.
Emotion isn’t a B2C trick. It’s a B2B edge.
—Adam
B2BOOM! is written and compiled by Jay Dingwall and Adam MacLean, principals at FamousFolks. We started this newsletter to share the ideas, insights, and strategies that actually move the needle for modern B2B leaders in a digestible format that respects your time.
Thanks for reading. You could be spending your time anywhere—we’re glad you’re here. 💥
—Jay & Adam
Heads Up: In each issue of B2BOOM!, we highlight services from our crew at FamousFolks or friends we trust. When you see the 🤝, it means we’re sharing something we genuinely back. We only shout out things we believe are truly valuable for your business—no shady promos, just stuff we stand behind.