Get in Front: How B2B Teams Are Really Using AI and Analytics

At Get in Front Milwaukee, we skipped the hype and got real. B2B marketers, analysts, and product leaders opened up about what it actually takes to modernize data—and why the path to transformation isn’t always smooth. The takeaway? AI and analytics are reshaping how teams operate, but long-term success depends on strong data, steady prospecting, and the discipline to tune out weekly noise and stay focused on what works.

Data is the Real Backbone—Especially for Small Teams

One of the most resonant themes: even the smallest marketing and product groups are doubling down on data quality.

Participants shared examples of systematic product and merchandising data refreshes—treating item enrichment as an “assembly line,” starting from supplier data and rebuilding structured, governed product information. The outcomes speak for themselves:

• ~10% lift the following year
• 10–20% faster growth compared to lines without this refresh
• Stronger catalog and digital performance driven by cleaner data

Yet, even with proven impact, these investments are harder to fund amid 2025’s tighter budgets. Everyone agreed: data comes first, but securing support for it is another story.

Patience vs. Immediacy: Managing Weekly Whiplash

Teams are feeling heightened pressure from leadership for rapid optimization—especially around PPC, media pacing, and weekly performance calls.

But B2B doesn’t work that way.

The group emphasized three realities:

1. Algorithms need learning windows
2. B2B buying cycles span months, not days
3. Overreacting too early undermines performance

Several leaders noted they’re actively coaching executives (and themselves) to hold the line and resist reflexive toggling. The consensus: discipline beats thrash.

Full-Funnel Discipline: Don’t Starve the Top

Every marketer in the room nodded to a shared truth:
When prospecting pauses, the pipeline doesn’t collapse right away—it collapses 1–3 months later.

Teams reported that consistent top-of-funnel investment remains the clearest predictor of sustainable acquisition. Catalog, email, and digital prospecting all still work—as long as they stay on.

Spiky bursts? Not so much.

From Product-Centric to Customer-Centric

Organizations are shifting from category-driven messaging to role-, site-, and needs-based programs. Instead of pushing product features, teams are:

• Tailoring creative to job roles
• Using site-level context to guide communication
• Moving beyond account-level views to contact- and location-level insights

This customer-centric evolution is helping organizations speak more directly to decision-makers and influencers across distributed buying groups.

Looking ahead to 2026, many teams are prioritizing house file health—segmenting new, retained, and lapsed contacts and designing lifecycle programs aimed at each stage.

What Teams Are Actually Doing

The discussion went deep into on-the-ground strategies teams are rolling out today.

Merch & Content Operations

• Rebuilding product data with consistent definitions and governance
• Shortening review cycles and reducing internal friction
• Deploying workflow tools (e.g., Aprimo) even when onboarding creates temporary slowdown
  
  

Channel Mix & Cadence

• Catalog remains a powerful awareness and acquisition driver
• Email and digital continue to scale retention and cross-sell
• Teams finding that steady beats spiky across every channel
  
  

Prospecting Wins

Participants shared wins that are shaping their 2026 prospecting strategies:

• Adjacent-market expansion delivered highly profitable matchback results—even with catalog-only trials
• Counter-seasonal marketing coupled with adjacent-market expansion is delivering profitable revenue at traditionally soft intervals
• Site-level targeting is unlocking new opportunities where top-level accounts buy, but individual sites don’t
• Creative is shifting from product pushes to value and retention narratives

Shared Challenges

Across the room, leaders echoed the same pressure points:

• Making the case for long-horizon data cleanup and full-funnel media in a short-term performance environment
• Budget re-baselining as legacy prospecting performance softens
• Avoiding “reactive thrash” caused by too-frequent pivots

Many teams are now training leadership (and sometimes boards) to understand algorithm learning curves and longer buying cycles.

Practical Takeaways for 2025–2026

Build a Two-Track Plan

A durable roadmap includes:

• Track 1: Data and merchandise refresh with governance
• Track 2: Always-on prospecting into adjacent markets + ongoing house file health programs

Set Guardrails to Reduce Overreaction

• Establish minimum learning windows
• Conduct attribution reads quarterly, not weekly
• Use data to manage expectation-setting upward
  
  

Report at the Site and Contact Level

This helps bring customer-centricity to life—and closes the gap between strategy and execution.

• Start Small in New Verticals
• Run a single-channel test (catalog or email)
• Prove signal
• Then layer channels to scale
  
  

The Bottom Line

AI and analytics are transforming B2B marketing, but their power depends on strong data foundations, steady prospecting, and disciplined decision-making. Teams that balance long-term data maturity with short-term performance realities will be the ones who win in 2026.