Your audience is everywhere. Your buyers are nervous. And your story might be the only thing that gets you across the line. From IoT-powered moments and “defensible” decisions to AI that mirrors your audience and narrative that actually converts, this issue is packed with ways to show up smarter—and win more often.
Let’s dive in.
Why “Buyability” (and Defensibility) is the Key to B2B Sales
You’ve likely been there: there’s no question your product is the best—but you still lose the deal (and it’s not just price-related). The truth is you often lose out because your buyer can’t defend picking you. That’s the insight behind “buyability”—a smarter way to think about B2B marketing that shifts the focus from features to fear (specifically, “fear of messing up”).
Most deals stall not because of competition, but because the buying groups involved can’t align. So your champion isn’t the only audience that matters—and probably never was.
What should you do about it?
- De-risk everything. Lead with proof, not promises. Show outcomes, not options. Make saying “yes” feel like the safest career move in the room.
- Market beyond the champion. Finance, Legal, Procurement—aka the deal-killers—need to know and trust you before they show up.
- Make your case for them. Equip buyers with ammo they can use internally: ROI stories, peer validation, and “this worked for companies like yours” evidence.
- Turn customers into closers. Peer advocacy isn’t fluff—it’s your final-stage advantage. Invest accordingly.
- Signal cultural fit. Buyers choose vendors who feel like them. Speak their language, mirror their world.
Like it or not,the best product doesn’t always win—the safest choice does. Flynn has found that if you build for that, you’ll close more deals without changing a single feature.
🔗Read more right here on LinkedIn
IoT: Where Real Life Meets a Real Media Opportunity
While most of us weren’t looking, IoT (aka the Internet of Things) quietly became a very big thing when it comes to a media channel. That’s your car, that device on your wrist, smart homes, and more. It’s all part of the connected digital ecosystem that now surrounds consumers all day long, generating behavioral data and unlocking new, hyper-contextual ad moments. In fact, connected cars alone will reach 179.1 million US drivers in 2026, while nearly half of American homes already have a smart device. So how can marketers plug in?
- Start with the car. The scale is massive and the audience is literally captive. Prioritize in-car audio (Spotify, CarPlay, Android Auto) and explore AI-powered navigation placements that recommend real-world destinations in real time.
- Design for moments, not screens. IoT is all about context—commutes, workouts, cooking dinner. Build messaging that fits the moment instead of forcing traditional display ads into places they don’t belong.
- Lean into voice commerce early. Smart speakers are evolving into AI shopping assistants. Test conversational ad experiences and optimize product data for how people talk, not how they type.
- Use wearables for intelligence, not interruption. Smartwatches aren’t billboard space—they’re data goldmines. Tap into payment, activity, and notification data to sharpen targeting and attribution.
- Get your first-party data strategy tight. IoT generates high-signal behavioral data (location, habits, preferences). As identifiers disappear, this becomes a competitive edge.
- Build for fragmentation. Apple, Google, Amazon, automakers—they all play by different rules. Flexibility beats platform loyalty.
Bottom line: IoT isn’t a channel—it’s a layer across life. The brands that win won’t just show up. They’ll show up at the right moment, in the right context—without being annoying about it.
How to Turn Your Story Into Your Strongest Growth Tool
You can obsess over execution, but if your story flops, so will your market momentum. Think of your narrative as your ultimate growth engine: the thing that turns complexity into clarity, skeptics into believers, and features into motivations. How do you make that happen?
- Start with tension. If you haven’t named the villain, no one cares about your solution. Frame the pain in a way that feels urgent and unavoidable.
- Map the transformation. Use a clear “from/to” arc that lets buyers see both the problem and the promised land—and feel the gap.
- Make your customer the hero. You’re not the star of the story—you’re just the helpful guide.
- Make it portable. If your story can’t be repeated in a sentence (or remembered after one), it won’t scale.
- Anchor it in something real. Values, proof, and authenticity turn a good story into a believable one.
- Design for amplification. Analysts, investors, and media don’t share features—they share narratives. Give them something worth repeating.
At the end of the day, your story isn’t just marketing—it’s your operating system. And in a crowded market, the brands that win aren’t just better. They’re better at being understood.
🔗Get the full story at MarketingProfs
🚨 New Podcast Alert!
AI that thinks like your audience? Yes, really. In this episode, Flynn Director of CX & Research Michelle Furibondo breaks down “synthetic audiences”—what they are, how they predict real human reactions, and why they’re changing the speed (and stakes) of creative testing. From five-minute feedback loops to brutally honest critiques, you’ll learn how to pressure-test ideas smarter and faster (and without replacing real humans). How close can AI get?
