The B2B Marketing and PR podcast
This podcast covers B2B marketing, PR, communications and social media. We look at studies and data to find what's working and what isn't to help you stay ahead of the competition.
Episode 148: How long does it take for B2B tech to close a deal – from first touch to deal-closed?
Text version of this episode: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/05/b2b-tech-close-a-deal/
Episode 147: The delay between gated content download and consumption
Text version of this post with links to the underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/04/gated-content-consumption/
Episode 146: What journalists say about PR follow-up pitches
Text version of this post, with links to the cited resoruces: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/04/follow-up-pr-pitches/
Episode 145: Survey of reporters: 9 in 10 journalists say they delete these PR pitches
Text version of this post with links to underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/04/journalists-pr-pitches/
Episode 144: The economic outlook for marketing from the latest CMO survey
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/04/economic-outlook-marketing/
Episode 143: Signal AI acquires Memo for readership data [PR tech sum no. 64]
Text version of this post - with links to cited resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/03/signal-ai-acquires-memo/
Episode 142: AI-generated content performs poorly in organic search [study]
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/03/ai-generated-content/
Episode 141: 10 things PR teams need from clients to do good work
Text verison of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/03/good-pr-work/
Episode 140: 5 takes on Gartner’s new optimism for public relations in the age of artificial intelligence
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/03/gartner-earned-media-ai/
Episode 139: There’s little tolerance for mistakes in business, which is also a mistake
Text version of this post can be found here: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/03/business-mistake/
Episode 138: Cliff notes to 3 different “State of PR” survey reports
Text version of this post with links to these cited reports can be found here: Easy cliff notes for busy PR professionals from the State of PR Report by Meltwater, State of AI in PR by Muck Rack, and the State of Digital PR by BuzzStream
Episode 137: The end of self-aggrandizing listicles in search and AI
Here's the text version of this episode with links to the underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/02/listicle-search/
Episode 136: When sales makes it's own "shadow" enablement tools, it slows the B2B buying cycle
The written version of this post, along with links to the cited resources, can be found here: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/02/shadow-sales-enablement/
Episode 135: The top public relations priorities, challenges and opportunities in 2026 [survey]
Here's the text version of this post with links to the cited resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/02/top-pr-priorities/
Episode 134: AI might get you on the short list, but it still takes people to move sales deals forward
Here's the text version of this episode, with links to the cited resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/01/ai-short-list/
Episode 133: Study quantifies the value of reputation
Here's a link to the text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/01/value-business-reputation/
And here's a link to the previous survey of financial analysts that see brand as a top measure of value, mentioned in this episode: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2023/11/marketing-is-an-investment-not-a-cost-2/
Episode 132: Top objective: B2B marketers want media coverage at events
Here's the text version of this post with links to the resoruces mentioned: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/01/media-coverage-b2b-events/
Episode 131: 7 non-negotiable digital trust signals PR must use in this era of distrust
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2026/01/trust-signals-pr/
Episode 130: Corp comms in the era of distrust
Text version of this post (on LinkedIn) and here are the year-end summary posts I mention in this episode.
10 PR blog posts that summarize the state of comms in 2025
The top B2B marketing blog posts that sum up trends from 2025
An easy-to-read review of 17 B2B marketing studies summarizing 2025
Episode 129: Generative AI makes PR a key business priority in 2026: 35 PR and marketing predictions
Text version of this post with the links to the underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/12/predictions-generative-ai-makes-pr-a-priority/
Episode 128: PR software vendors race to add AI features to comms tools [PR Tech Sum No. 63]
Full text and links to the underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/12/ai-comms-tools/
Episode 127: Summary findings: 5 surveys hint at where B2B marketing plans to spend money in 2026
Full text of this episode with links to charts and underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/12/b2b-marketing-spend/
Episode 126: How PR and marketing pros are monitoring AI visibility for clients and brands
Full text with links to the resources, tools and people cited: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/11/monitoring-ai-visibility/
Episode 125: The next PR measurement conundrum: How do you measure AI visibility?
Text version of this post with links to the underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/11/pr-measurement-ai-visibility/
Episode 124: 10 Fundamentals for Successful Media Interviews
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2017/08/b2b-media-interviews/
Episode 123: AI-generated PR copy: Reporters want editorial integrity and due diligence
Text version with links to underlying resources: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/editorial-integrity-pr-ai/
Episode 122: Does long form content still have a place in the era of generative AI?
Text version of this post with links to cited studies: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/purposeful-browsing-generative-ai/
Episode 121: Exclusive: PR software startups Propel, Signal AI announce “strategic partnership”
Text version of this post with screnshot and links: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/propel-signal-ai-partnership/
Episode 120: Public relations and editorial written blogs are well positioned in the AI era
Text version of this episode with links to the cited resoruces: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/pr-blogs-ai-visibility/
Episode 119: Media pitching: Adding perspective to Michael Smart’s FAQs for Muck Rack
Text version of this post with links to the underlying resoruces: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/media-pitching/
Episode 118: B2B says public relations drives revenue but struggle to prove it
Text version of this post with links to all of the stats and facts cited: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/b2b-public-relations-revenue/
Episode 117: People are not taking government surveys; businesses have the same problem
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/people-are-not-taking-surveys/
Episode 116: Data: How many touches does it take to attract and turn B2B prospects into customers?
Text version of this post -- with links to the underlying studies: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/touches-b2b-prospects/
Episode 115: What PR should do about the waning influence of traditional media
Text version of this piece: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/influence-media-waning/
Episode 114: Being different is THE best practice in marketing
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2017/03/best-practice-marketing-different/
Episode 113: Essential customizations PR should make to their generative AI tools
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/generative-ai-customizations/
Episode 112: B2B prospects form preferences earlier and avoid sales conversations later, analysts say
Text version: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/b2b-preferences/
Episode 111: 12 ways to extend the investment marketing makes in webinars
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2016/12/b2b-webinars-leverage-existing/
Episode 110: Hiding pricing info may leave B2B tech companies off the short list
Text version of this post: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/b2b-pricing/
Episode 109: 9 Little Stories from a One Time Public Relations Gig with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Full text: https://www.swordandthescript.com/2017/05/pr-ringling-bros-barnum-bailey-circus/
