There's a lot of talk in the marketing world right now about AI — what it means, where it's headed, and whether agencies are ready for it. At 10|20, we stopped talking about it a while ago. We started building.

In many B2B organizations, there is a well-intentioned belief that sales teams should be self-sufficient. Reps know their accounts best. They are closest to the conversations. They should be able to create their own decks, write their own follow-ups, source their own content, and tailor their own outreach.

Testing is one of the most widely used words in B2B marketing, and one of the most misunderstood. Nearly every organization claims to value experimentation. Budgets are framed as tests. Campaigns are launched cautiously. Expectations are set around learning rather than performance.

Most B2B organizations create content. Blog posts get written. Case studies are produced. Videos are recorded. Social posts go live.

There is a moment in many B2B sales conversations that determines the tone of everything that follows. It often happens before a word is spoken, when the buyer looks at the company name on a calendar invite or in an email signature and thinks, even briefly, “I don’t recognize this.”

Sales teams are often hired with high expectations. New territories are assigned. Quotas are set. Outreach begins quickly. On paper, everything is in place to drive growth.

In B2B, events often feel like peaks. Months of planning lead to a few intense days of meetings, conversations, and activity. Booths are staffed. Calendars are full. Energy is high.

There is a phrase that sounds harmless in most organizations. It usually comes at the end of a meeting or in a quick follow-up message, and it almost always comes with good intentions.

Geo-targeting often gets lumped into the category of clever digital tactics. Something useful for retail promotions, local offers, or driving foot traffic. In B2B conversations, it is sometimes dismissed as too tactical or too consumer-oriented to matter.

In many B2B organizations, growth begins with a familiar move. Salespeople are hired, territories are expanded, and outbound activity ramps up. Marketing is often planned for later, once revenue starts to justify the investment.

There is a quiet frustration that sits beneath many B2B marketing conversations. A campaign launches. Content goes live. Ads run. And then the inevitable question surfaces: why didn’t this move faster?

One of the most common frustrations in B2B marketing is the feeling of constant motion without meaningful progress. Campaigns are launched, new tools are introduced, channels are added, and calendars fill quickly. Yet despite the activity, growth often feels slower and harder than it should.