If AI Can't Find You, Neither Can Your Customers: How AI Is Changing the Rules of Brand Discovery

If AI Can't Find You, Neither Can Your Customers: How AI Is Changing the Rules of Brand Discovery

If you lead marketing, public relations, or communications at a startup or growth-stage company, your biggest digital risk right now isn't declining website traffic, stale social engagement, or Google's latest algorithm change.

It's total AI invisibility.

We've entered a new phase of online discovery: AI-driven tools are rapidly replacing traditional search.

And although many marketers are still focused on SEO, content calendars, and paid campaigns, the front lines of discoverability have already moved elsewhere.

The question isn't "is our messaging strong?" It's "do AI tools even understand who we are?"

AI Is rewriting the rules of discovery

Across industries, the disruption is accelerating.

Only 25% of companies feel highly prepared for the AI era—but nearly 80% expect it to radically reshape their industry within three years, according to Deloitte's GenAI Q4 2024 report.

The biggest impact? Search, discovery, and digital engagement.

That shift is already well underway. ChatGPT alone is now processing over 2.5 billion prompts a day (up from 1 billion just a few months ago), and other platforms, such as Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini, are building AI-native discovery experiences that are likely to render the traditional Web nearly obsolete.

Customers are asking questions, making decisions, and receiving brand recommendations—without ever touching traditional search engine results or your homepage.

In a world where your audience's first interaction is with an AI interface or AI-generated response to a search, your brand's visibility depends on what machines can extract from your digital ecosystem—not what your homepage looks like.

Your website is no longer a marketing tool, it's a data source for machines

To cut to the chase: AI agents don't care about your homepage design, clever copy, or conversion-focused layout. They don't scroll; they parse. They don't appreciate brand tone; they extract facts.

If your site isn't structured in a way that AI models can read and process—clear HTML structure, proper schema markup, a clean sitemap, strong metadata—your content might as well not exist.

Marketing teams are still spending time and budget producing beautiful, well-crafted content. But if that content isn't legible to AI systems, it doesn't matter how good it is. AI won't find it. It won't serve it. It won't recommend it.

And that puts your team in a dangerous spot: competing in an entirely new discovery landscape using tools designed for the old one.

If your marketing team isn't "tech savvy" it's time to school up and understand that the pivot to win in this space is not to become an AI engineer but to understand AI from a communications point of view.

AI optimization must start at Dollar One

Marketing budgets—especially in lean environments—must now prioritize AI agents as a primary audience.

In AI-powered Web browsing environments, agents act autonomously on behalf of human users. From the first dollar allocated, your spend should answer one question: Will this improve how AI agents understand, interpret, and surface our brand?

More on agents, below.

Shifting marketing priority expenditures should include the following:

• Technical answer engine optimization (AEO) and/or generative engine optimization (GEO) audits focused on AI accessibility
• Schema implementation and structured data tools
• Content formatting for natural language summarization
• Metadata management platforms
• AI visibility diagnostics (testing with ChatGPT (Agent), Claude, Perplexity (Comet) etc.)

Ad budgets, website refreshes, and even video content are still valuable—but only if they're built on a foundation that makes your company legible to machine systems.

If AI can't see it, your audience won't either.

You don't need a massive budget—but you do need to lead the shift

Here's the upside: This isn't about outspending the competition, it's about outsmarting them.

AI is leveling the playing field. Small, resource-strapped teams can now compete with large enterprises if they structure their digital presence for machine visibility. But that requires a shift in mindset—and in leadership.

This is now your lane as a leader in marketing or comms. Not your CTO's. Not your product team's. You're the voice of the brand, the architect of discoverability, and increasingly, the first line of defense against irrelevance.

The shifting-priorities steps listed above are not IT-only tasks. They are modern marketing fundamentals. And they're only going to become more urgent with each iteration of AI capability.

AI agents are becoming gatekeepers—and decision-makers

The next frontier isn't just AI tools that inform users. It's AI agents that act on their behalf.

Platforms like OpenAI's Operator (Agent) and Perplexity's Comet are rolling out browsing agents that don't just find content—they summarize it, recommend it, and execute actions. Bookings. Downloads. Purchases.

Dr. Karim R. Lakhani warned in his 2025 TEDx Boston talk that AI model capabilities are doubling every 6-9 months. That pace isn't just fast—it's exponential. Fall behind one cycle, and you're on the wrong side of the curve. Fall behind two, and catching up becomes exponentially harder.

This isn't a future problem. This is happening now. And every day your digital presence remains unstructured, AI-native platforms are overlooking your brand—and recommending someone else's.

Earned media is your new power play

Here's one thing that hasn't changed—but is now even more valuable: earned media.

AI-powered search agents are increasingly prioritizing trusted, third-party sources when surfacing answers to user prompts. That means press coverage, interviews, awards, and legitimate media mentions aren't just brand builders—they're AI fuel.

Marketing leaders must think of earned media not just as reputation strategy but as visibility infrastructure.

Each article you're mentioned in, each quote, each headline are now among the most indexable and influential digital assets you have.

If you're not investing in PR and media placement—or if you're letting those wins disappear into your archives—you're forfeiting one of your most powerful AI-era levers.

Visibility is no longer earned, it's engineered

As a marketing leader, you already know that perception drives performance. But in the AI era, visibility is no longer something you earn through reach or budget—it's something you engineer through structure and clarity.

If AI can't see you, your audience won't either. And your carefully built campaigns will never even make it to the consideration set.

The good news? You don't need a reorg or a million-dollar investment. You just need to reprioritize what your team considers core to marketing.

Because the brands that adapt now won't just be found...

They'll be first.

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If you need help with your email, web site, video, or other presentation to promote your company, product, or service, please give me a call at 330-815-1803 or email me at john@x2media.us

Until next month. . . .remember. "you don't get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression." Always make it a good one!!

How to Turn Subject-Matter Expertise Into Engagement: B2B Short-Form Video Content

How to Turn Subject-Matter Expertise Into Engagement: B2B Short-Form Video Content

More and more B2B brands are pressing play on video content, and it's redefining how companies engage online.

Fully 78% of B2B marketers currently use video in their programs, and 56% plan to increase their investment in B2B video marketing within the next year, according to the 2025 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report from LinkedIn and research firm Ipsos.

What's more, almost half of B2B marketers say short-form social video content delivers the highest ROI, according to the same report, which also found that about 58% of marketers choose B2B influencers based on authenticity and credibility, while nearly half prioritize industry relevance and subject-matter expertise.

Short-Form Video and Subject-Matter Experts

You don't have to look far to see those findings in practice. Many of today's leading B2B brands are prioritizing short-form video content in their marketing strategies, in large part due to its effectiveness in building trust and connecting with target audiences.

And most of those videos feature subject-matter experts (SMEs) who provide insights on specific topics and areas of specialization.

Consider Salesforce's Instagram strategy. Some of the company's most-viewed reels showcase influencers or in-house experts demonstrating Salesforce products in ways that are both compelling and easy to understand.

For example, one Salesforce reel with around 15,200 views spotlights an SME at Salesforce explaining how to land an entry-level role with AI.

Authentic, expert-led short-form videos can effectively engage B2B audiences, ultimately driving real results.

Expert-driven, bite-sized videos are a valuable tool for reaching key decision-makers.

To stay ahead, creatives working with B2B brands may want to focus on mastering SME-centered strategies tailored for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and other forms of short-form video content.

Four Ways to Use Short-Form Video

Here's how marketers and creatives can effectively integrate SMEs into their short-form video campaigns to maximize reach, engagement, and trust with the companies they serve.

1. Emphasize information-sharing and education

SME-driven content should be informative and practical, and it should provide viewers with a clear takeaway related to a specific technology, topic, or issue.

That approach helps potential buyers understand how a product works, the value it can bring to their organization, or the broader problem it addresses. It can also help current clients discover products they aren't yet using but may want to add to their existing services.

Shopify is a great example of a brand using short-form video content to inform and educate its audience. In a recent reel highlighting "underrated features" in its Theme Editor, Shopify clearly demonstrates tips and capabilities that many users may not have discovered on their own.

The video could also help convert prospective clients who were previously on the fence but became convinced after seeing the Theme Editor in action.

Expert-led content can also help educate audiences on broader global issues they may not be familiar with, while highlighting how a company is addressing those challenges.

Consider the Siemens reel highlighting the company's microgrid project on Terceira Island, developed in collaboration with Fluence. The video not only introduces the microgrid initiative but also explains its potential impact, exploring how the microgrid can "cut diesel use by over 1,150 metric tons each year" and lower "CO2 emissions by more than 3,600 tons annually."

The video's 20,000 viewers have gained insight into the project's significance and into Siemens' capabilities in building sustainable energy solutions.

SME-centered, short-form video content that focuses on actionable knowledge helps prospective clients make informed buying decisions, shows current customers new ways to get more from the services they already use, and gives all viewers a clearer understanding of the company's work and impact.

As a result, this type of content drives B2B brand engagement while serving as a trusted resource for both current and future stakeholders.

2. Highlight actual, relatable experts

Another way to maximize the impact of SME content is to be highly intentional about which thought leaders are showcased.

IBM executes this seamlessly across its social media platforms. In a recent "We're Mainframers" TikTok post, which has around 16,000 views, the company spotlights real mainframers who explain their jobs in a fun, approachable way (tapping into the popular "We're XYZ-type of person" TikTok trend).

By introducing real experts, using a popular trend, and making the content relatable, IBM draws viewers in with an entertaining format and keeps them engaged by revealing what mainframers do and why their work matters.

Companies can also showcase customers in different industries who use their products. Adobe regularly employs the tactic on TikTok, and it pays off.

Adobe's TikTok on Mato Wayuhi, who uses Adobe for their music, has over 2.3 million views. Similarly, the brand's TikTok showcasing Likha Filipino Kitchen using Adobe to create the restaurant's daily menu has more than 700,000 views.

Those videos provide viewers with a glimpse into the ways professionals can apply Adobe's suite of products for a range of use cases.

Featuring genuine, relatable professionals as experts not only adds authenticity to short-form video but also helps audiences connect with the content on a deeper level and builds trust. And it drives engagement by making products accessible through entertaining, real-world stories.

3. Keep content relevant

Just as important as sharing pertinent information and picking the right SMEs is making sure the content you're creating is relevant. As noted earlier, IBM's "we're mainframers" video is one successful example of how to create effective content that's connected to what's currently relevant.

However, smaller marketing teams or B2B brands without the bandwidth to keep up with constantly shifting news and trends can still stay relevant without needing to monitor every development in real-time.

One example is the enduring popularity of "day in the life" videos, which have evolved from longer-form vlogs audiences have closely followed on YouTube for nearly a decade. For instance, Upwork's "Day in the Life" Reel of a parent who uses the platform for freelancing has over 11,000 views.

Such videos continue to resonate because they offer a relatable, behind-the-scenes look that remains timely, even as platforms and formats change.

4. Lean into creativity

One thing many of the most popular TikToks and reels from B2B brands have in common? They aren't stale. They attract eyeballs through artful visuals, clear captions, and well-thought-out concepts in addition to the practical wisdom and informative insights.

And although a large marketing budget can help produce polished videos, it's hardly a requirement, and it's not always what resonates most. As in the IBM and Upwork example, a client filming their workday or an employee recording on an iPhone in the office can be just as effective, if not more so, than a highly produced video.

Authenticity, expertise, and creativity can go a long way when optimizing short-form video strategies.

By sharing educational content, spotlighting real experts, and tapping into trends, complex topics are made accessible and businesses build trust with key audiences.

Invest in genuine expertise, and brand engagement won't just follow, it'll flourish.

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If you need help with your email, web site, video, or other presentation to promote your company, product, or service, please give me a call at 330-815-1803 or email me at john@x2media.us

Until next month. . . .remember. "you don't get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression." Always make it a good one!!

The Real Reason Your Shiny New Product Isn't Converting

The Real Reason Your Shiny New Product Isn't Converting

You have a technically sound product, sure to disrupt the market. You've invested heavily in R&D, engineered something truly innovative, and you're confident in the value you deliver.

So why is your sales pipeline stuck?

For marketing leaders in B2B companies (particularly those in industrial tech, hardware, or software infrastructure), that scenario is frustratingly familiar.

Often, the assumption is that the market needs more education. Or that it's just "a long sales cycle." Or that maybe the product is too niche.

But after 20+ years in marketing and sales across fast-growing B2B environments, I've found it's rarely a product problem. It's a messaging-bottleneck problem.

And that bottleneck is almost always internal.

It's not that buyers don't get it, it's that we're making it too hard to understand

The deeper and more technical your product, the more tempting it is to lead with its functionality instead of its benefits.

You build a value proposition that makes perfect sense to your engineers, your internal champions, and your technical founders, but not to the people trying to buy.

And when your story doesn't translate, you start to hear things like...

• "We like it, but we're not sure we're ready yet."

• "We're still trying to understand how this fits with what we already have."

• "We need to socialize this internally."

Those aren't objections. They're signals. What they're saying is, "I don't fully understand the value, and I'm not going to spend the next two weeks figuring it out."

In a market flooded with options, clarity isn't a nice-to-have, it's a competitive edge.

Great products don't sell themselves, especially when they're complex

Working with brilliant engineering teams, innovative founders, and product-first organizations. The throughline? Everyone wants the product to "speak for itself."

But it won't. Not in enterprise. Not in manufacturing. Not in industrial IoT. And not in a world where your buyer has 10 tabs open and multiple stakeholders to convince.

If your product requires a 30-minute call just to explain what it does, you've already lost half your audience. Not because they don't care, but because they don't have the time, the context, or the technical fluency to connect the dots.

The problem isn't complexity, it's translation

Not saying your product needs to be dumbed down. We are saying your messaging needs to do its job at the speed of your buyer's attention.

That means:

• Your headline should pass the "10-second test."

• Your website should feel like a walkthrough, not a glossary.

• Your decks should be layered for multiple audiences, not one-size-fits-all.

• Your positioning should lead with outcomes, not features.

Because when buyers see the value quickly, they lean in. When they don't, they move on.

How are you positioning your product to customers?

Here's the part many teams skip: identifying the actual pain your customer is feeling right now and then building the story around how your product solves it.

Too often, messaging starts with what the product does instead of positioning the product as the answer to the problems the customer is struggling with.

Let's say your customer is a manufacturing unit manager in a high-volume facility. That person's team is constantly fighting downtime, juggling outdated monitoring systems, and struggling to prove ROI to leadership. If your product automates diagnostics or prevents failures before they escalate, that's not just a "feature." That's the relief they've been looking for.

Your job is to identify the customer's pain before you position the product. Try to create a storyline on how your product not only solves the issues at hand but also makes the customer a hero in the eyes of the stakeholders.

It's not about adding more features to the slide deck. It's about showing how your product removes the blockers standing in the way of your customer's success. That story is what gets remembered, shared, and championed internally.

If you're not solving an urgent problem your customer can recognize in themselves, no amount of technical excellence will carry the deal across the line.

Who's getting it right (And what you can learn from them)

Some of the most effective B2B companies aren't simplifying the product; they're clarifying the story.

Take the Interceptor suite of products, for example. Rather than diving into technical jargon, its messaging leads with a clear value promise: "The Interceptor product line is a modular platform designed to monitor, control, and automate critical functions across multiple industries."

The messaging doesn't overwhelm you with specs; it tell you exactly what the product empowers you to do.

Or look at Figma, which launched with "what you see is what you build." Members of its audience knew exactly what they'd get and how it would change their workflow.

The key takeaway: if your buyers can't, in one sentence, repeat what you do, they're not going to champion you internally.

Unblock your messaging in four steps

If you suspect your brilliant product is stuck in the funnel because the message isn't landing, start with the following four steps.

1. Test the 'explain it to a colleague' rule

Find people outside your function—Operations, HR, Finance—and ask them to read your homepage. Can they explain your value prop in under 20 seconds? If not, you've got work to do.

2. Map your messaging to stakeholders

Your technical buyer wants depth. Your economic buyer wants outcomes. Your champion wants internal credibility. Each needs a version of the story that makes sense from their seat.

3. Lead with the Why, not the How

You can always go back to how your product works. But if the "why this matters now" isn't clear in the first five seconds, you're creating friction that kills momentum.

4. Use the language your customers already use

This one is the fastest fix, and often the most overlooked. Spend time on support tickets, sales calls, and onboarding recordings. Pull the actual words your buyers use to describe the problem. That's your messaging goldmine.

You can't afford to let messaging be an afterthought, especially if you're selling a complex product. Buyers don't reward depth alone. They reward clarity, relevance, and confidence.

If your product is solid but conversion is soft, don't rewrite the road map. Rethink how you're telling the story.

Because in B2B the best product doesn't always win. The clearest one does.

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If you need help with your email, web site, video, or other presentation to promote your company, product, or service, please give me a call at 330-815-1803 or email me at john@x2media.us

Until next month. . . .remember. "you don't get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression." Always make it a good one!!