Our Insights

Get The Scoop

Featured Topics
Why AI Is Ignoring Your B2B Customer Case Studies

Why AI Is Ignoring Your B2B Customer Case Studies

Key takeaways: When B2B customer case studies bury customer problems and measurable results beneath company background and product details, AI systems can’t identify the information buyers need. As a result, many case studies never appear in AI-generated answers. Most B2B customer case studies make it hard to identify the problem, the solution and the results. […]
Read more
The Thought Leader’s Shortcut: Build a Content Bank From 1 Asset

The Thought Leader’s Shortcut: Build a Content Bank From 1 Asset

Key takeaways: Break one anchor asset into a Content Bank of articles, social posts, carousels, videos and sales tools. Use a content repurposing strategy and employee advocacy to distribute those assets and support a 90-day, multichannel campaign. This allows you to reach buyers throughout their research process. In the last Expert-Led Content Engine article, we […]
Read more
The Trust Gap: Why Human Content Wins in an AI Market

The Trust Gap: Why Human Content Wins in an AI Market

Key takeaways: Human-first content in B2B is grounded in experience, a clear point of view and informed judgment. It helps buyers build trust before they with speak with sales. For years at The Simons Group, our North Star has been “content-first.” It’s how we keep the focus where it belongs: on the message rather than […]
Read more
Stop Asking Experts to Write: The Two-Touchpoint Content Workflow

Stop Asking Experts to Write: The Two-Touchpoint Content Workflow

Key takeaways: A two-touchpoint content workflow concentrates expert involvement into two focused moments that support speed, cost discipline and buyer expectations. By structuring participation around an input session and an accuracy review, organizations share insights while buyers are evaluating options. In addition, this workflow reduces inefficient use of expert time, supports consistent execution and aligns […]
Read more
Create a Quarterly Content Planning Sprint

Create a Quarterly Content Planning Sprint

Key takeaways: Quarterly content planning gives B2B teams a clear, repeatable way to set direction before execution. Rather than reacting to scattered requests, teams align on priorities, themes and proof points during a focused planning sprint that brings marketers and experts together at the right moment. Experts contribute insight once per quarter, while marketers carry […]
Read more
B2B Trust Has Turned Inward. Thought Leadership Gets You In

B2B Trust Has Turned Inward. Thought Leadership Gets You In

Key takeaways: B2B trust now forms early and close to home. Buyers place greater confidence in familiar people and proven judgment. New research shows that thought leadership content plays a role in helping buyers assess expertise and reduce perceived risk. However, today, merely showing up with content isn’t enough. Organizations that pair expert-led insights with […]
Read more
The ROI of Content Marketing: Why Sales Wins Start With Relevance

The ROI of Content Marketing: Why Sales Wins Start With Relevance

Key takeaways: The ROI of content marketing is measured by its ability to accelerate sales cycles, increase pipeline value and establish credibility before sales outreach. By answering buyers’ questions early, content marketing reduces time to close and improves marketing-qualified leads to sales-qualified leads (MQL to SQL) conversion rates. Effective content also functions as always-on sales […]
Read more
Build a Scalable Thought Leadership Content Strategy

Build a Scalable Thought Leadership Content Strategy

Key takeaways: A strong thought leadership content strategy treats expert time like the scarce resource it is. With one structured input session and one final accuracy review, you build a full quarter of content from a single anchor asset. By bringing experts in early and giving them clear direction, the result is consistent messaging, reduced […]
Read more
The Hidden Bias in AI Marketing Content

The Hidden Bias in AI Marketing Content

B2B marketers depend on artificial intelligence (AI) tools as assistants for many tasks, often without considering every request carries an unseen slant. Every answer starts with a human prompt. Therefore, bias can slip in before these tools write a single word. This cycle makes bias in AI marketing content more common than people realize. How […]
Read more
Where to Find Experts to Interview for B2B Thought Leadership

Where to Find Experts to Interview for B2B Thought Leadership

Expert interviews are your secret weapon for turning strong B2B content into unforgettable thought leadership. When you find experts to interview, you add depth, credibility and insights your competitors can’t replicate easily. Additionally, experts often share your finished work with their own networks, helping your content stick and stand out. Why expert input is golden […]
Read more
A woman sharing good news represents how customer advocates can help boost your sales through word-of-mouth.

Customer Advocates Ignite Your Brand’s Success

If your brand wants an unbeatable advantage that will boost your sales, marketing and customer experience, build a strong customer advocacy program. Every brand – no matter how big or small – will benefit from having advocates. What is customer advocacy? Customer advocacy is about building authentic, strong relationships with

Read More
A racetrack with 7 places represents the top 7 metrics for meeting your content marketing goals.

The Top 7 Content Marketing Goals to Track

It’s crucial to develop a consistent cadence for tracking your content marketing goals. This sets your team up to make smart content marketing decisions. Tracking will help you: Understand your current and prospective customers’ habits Foster relationships with your target audience Run informed content marketing campaigns Fine-tune your content marketing

Read More

Top 4 Tips to Align Sales and Marketing

If you want to stay competitive in today’s digital world, your companies’ sales and marketing teams must work together. However, many companies struggle to reach this utopian vision. Why? First let’s explore each team’s function: Marketers are all about building brand awareness and generating leads. Salespeople turn that brand awareness

Read More
This yin yang symbol represents content marketing versus SEO working together for website traffic.

Content Marketing Versus SEO. Which Drives More Traffic?

If you were betting on content marketing versus search engine optimization (SEO) winning the race for website traffic, which would one would you pick? You might ask yourself which one drives more traffic.  Or you could think I’m asking you a trick question. Content marketing and SEO work hand in

Read More
2023 drawn in the sand represents 2023 digital marketing trends.

5 B2B Digital Marketing Trends for 2023

B2B digital marketing trends will shift in 2023. Brands that keep up will thrive next year and beyond.So, which trends will be the drivers of change for digital marketing in 2023? Let’s take a look at my top five B2B digital marketing trends… 1. Digital-first experiences will (still) rule B2B

Read More

Does Your Website Have a Good Conversion Rate?

Do you want to improve lead generation on your company’s website? If that’s one of your goals, look at your website’s conversion rate. This metric refers to the percentage of website visitors who complete a specific goal. The two types of website conversions are: Micro-conversions A micro-conversion is when you

Read More
Woman at computer thinking about answers to 5 B2B marketing questions

B2B Marketing: 5 Questions That Drive Strategy

For a long time, B2B (business-to-business) marketing was all about inbound. The goal was to attract customers with valuable, tailored content. Companies put marketing dollars into developing engaging material. The content showed the companies’ offerings without pushing sales. The goal was to create brand awareness and attract new business. They

Read More

Manufacturing Brand Marketing Mistakes

Industrial manufacturers might not have the advertising allure of consumer brands. But they still need a manufacturing brand marketing strategy to compete for customers. Most manufacturing leaders understand the importance of marketing. On the other hand, some industry giants face mistakes and misconceptions. As a result, their manufacturing brand marketing

Read More

To Accomplish More, Lead With Kindness

Growing up, the only business role model I had was my dad. He was charismatic (when he needed to be). He was wildly successful. The problem was that he ruled his company with an iron fist. He led with fear, and people in his wake were often left shaking in

Read More
Slow down sign in traffic image for Content Marketing Efforts To Fast?

Are Your Content Marketing Efforts Moving Too Fast?

We all want to go full speed ahead to meet our marketing and sales goals. But sometimes, we need to slow down and reexamine our content marketing efforts. We need to see whether we’re heading in the right direction. Are you:  Taking time to reevaluate your strategy? Reaching your target

Read More
FREE E-BOOK

Unlock Your B2B Growth Engine

“B2B Content Hubs: The Complete Guide to Driving Revenue” is packed with smart strategies – and it comes with three bonus tools to power your next steps.