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Hosted by Steve Phipps of Wayfind Marketing, The Growth-Minded Marketing Podcast simplifies marketing for B2B CEOs ready to grow with confidence. Each episode offers real-world strategies, step-by-step coaching, and inspiring CEO interviews—all designed to help you align your marketing with your business goals, stop wasting time and money, and scale without the stress. If you’re a growth-minded leader tired of vague advice and underperforming tactics, this is your next step.
Steve: If your buyers are using AI
to research short list and quietly
eliminate companies, and they
are, then the real question isn't
whether AI has changed marketing.
The real question is whether your
business is clear enough to survive how
buying decisions are being made today.
Welcome back to the Growth-Minded
Marketing podcast, the show where we
help CEOs and their marketing teams.
Simplify marketing, lead with confidence
and scale their companies with purpose.
I'm Steve Phipps, the CEO and Founder
of WAY Find Marketing, and I am
here with Annie Laurie Walters.
AnnieLaurie: And today we're starting
a two-part conversation around AI that
we've been having over and over again
with CEOs and their marketing teams.
Steve: Because AI is no longer
theoretical or that thing that is
going to happen eventually, it's
already shaping how buyers think,
research, and make their buying
decisions whether we like it or not.
AnnieLaurie: So in part one,
today's episode, we want to ground
everyone in reality, not hype, not
fear, just a clear look at what's
actually changed and why it matters
for CEOs and their marketing teams.
Steve, let's start here.
A lot of CEOs feel like everything changed
overnight with ai, but when you step back,
what do you think has actually changed?
What hasn't?
Steve: Well, that's a great
question to start with, because
not everything has changed.
You know, the fundamentals of marketing
didn't just suddenly disappear.
The foundation of trust still matters.
Clarity still matters.
How your company and your products and
services are positioned still matters.
What's changed is how buyers
are starting their journey, how
they're gathering information
to inform their buying decision.
You know, for years, buyers
have started with search.
They would go to Google or some
would go to Bing search, try
to find the right information.
And they would click on links,
compare websites and they would
slowly narrow their options.
Well, today more buyers are asking
questions, starting with AI tools and
filtering things through the information
they gather there before they ever
make it to a website, and certainly
before they talk to a salesperson.
AnnieLaurie: So basically,
instead of searching for options,
they're more asking directions.
Steve: Yeah.
I mean, you could think about it this way.
In the past, some people would have
an assistant who would go and do
the research for them and filter
out based on certain criteria.
And really people are
using AI in a similar way.
And the thing is as people are
using AI compared to search
the questions are different.
It's not just who offers this service.
Now they're starting to
ask for who should I trust?
Who works with companies like mine , and
so they're asking more detailed, complex
questions than they would with just
Google, because they know that they're
going to get a meaningful answer, and that
is fundamentally a different entry point.
AnnieLaurie: So Steve, from a marketing
perspective, why should CEOs and their
teams be paying attention to this shift?
It's more than a
marketing execution issue.
What's really going on here?
Steve: Well, those questions that buyers
are asking and, and they really, they've
been asking these questions before, but
now with ai, they're much more confident
that they're going to get an answer.
And these questions are
fundamentally trust questions.
It's not tactical and trust is gonna
be shaped, long before somebody
fills out a form or books a call.
Ai, you can think about AI being
like a trust filter because it's
looking for those trust indicators.
It's not just looking for information,
it's looking for whether your company,
your brand, your services are trustworthy.
So it's getting information from
your website, your content, your
messaging, and all of this is
painting a picture of your business.
And you think about the ai, we use the
word agent, but you know, it's functioning
as an agent, if you will, for your buyer.
And so it is starting to filter companies
and services out before it ever makes
it back to the individual, to the buyer.
And if the picture painted about
your company isn't clear, you're
not making the cut, you're not gonna
show up in the recommendations and.
Another thing to keep in mind is
it's not just pulling from your
website, it's looking at reviews.
Third party mentions it's
evaluating case studies.
It's looking for information
that validates your expertise
and your trustworthiness.
So how consistently your message is
showing up in different places matters.
Trust is built through, an ecosystem.
It's not just a single channel.
It's not just your website.
AnnieLaurie: Well, we already knew
that about 80% of the buying decision
is already been completed before
Someone picks up the phone and
makes a call or, or walks in to, you
know, be ready to make a purchase.
Consumers, and they're, they're
doing the work on their own.
They're going out and
finding the information.
So what I'm hearing you say is
that companies are being evaluated
and eliminated a lot earlier in.
Maybe even faster than before,
but also quietly in a way
that you may not be realizing.
Steve: Yeah, in the past, , as a person
may make it to your website, I mean,
your website might show up on page
one of Google's search results, but
now what's happening is AI is the one
that's looking in, in a lot of cases.
And if they don't see the trust indicators
that they're looking for, you're
not making their list of recommended
companies and services that are ultimately
being provided back to the buyer.
And, you know, one of the things
that's challenging for CEOs in this
is that there's not a feedback loop.
It's not like you're
getting a rejection email.
You don't always know when
you're not showing up.
And so it's, it's a little bit of a,
it, it could be, it can feel mysterious
and nebulous until you start digging
in to understand what's happening.
AnnieLaurie: One thing we hear
a lot is our traffic is down.
What's happening?
Is our marketing broken?
Do we need to change our strategy?
But AI is having an impact on this.
Tell us more about that.
Steve: AI is definitely having an impact.
Now let me, lemme just clarify.
There are multiple factors that
impact a website's traffic, a factor
in today's ecosystem, if you will.
And the buyer's landscape is
what's called zero click behavior.
Basically what that means is that buyers
can now get information where in the past
they would have to go to your website.
Now they can get that information
through Google's AI summaries, chat,
GPT, perplexity, I mean, they can
get a ton of information before
they ever get to your website.
So that reduces.
Website traffic, especially some
of the top of the funnel that's
even, I was reading an article
yesterday, that was reinforcing
that a lot of what AI is summarizing
is top of the funnel type content.
So it's more middle and bottom
of the funnel type content
that's more, drilled in.
It's answering those deeper level
questions where traffic is gonna be
coming to your website if it's optimized
and it's building trust, so your website
still matters, but in, in a lot of
cases, it's more of a confirmation.
It's where people are getting
further in the buying journey as
opposed to where they're starting.
AnnieLaurie: And, you know, I think
you make a good point about the middle
and bottom of the funnel questions
that people are asking, and that kind
of traffic has always been the kind
of traffic that will convert better
than that top of the funnel traffic.
So even if your website took a little
bit of a hit, that top of the funnel
traffic probably wasn't converting anyway.
I think that's one little piece
of, reassurance perhaps that
might help you feel better.
If you're seeing that drop in traffic,
that top of the funnel traffic
historically isn't really traffic
that converts and, it's that middle
and bottom of the funnel traffic,
that those are the money keywords.
That's really where you
wanna put some effort.
So ultimately I think that we need
to stop thinking so much about
traffic as being the real question.
It's kind of becomes about perception
and maybe even about branding.
You know, have seeing your name come up
first on those AI results on the Google.
Serp, like that might be a better,
thing to see as branding and perception,
less than, you know, a traffic metric
Steve: and, and branding and
brand awareness has become
more important with ai.
And so, you know, if someone never visits
your website, could they still learn
accurate information about your company?
Would they still be clear on what you do?
Would it still be compelling?
Which really goes into a broader strategy
of just your overall online presence,
consistency in who you are, how you help
your customers becoming the guide and
that most trusted voice in your space.
And, you know, another shift
that's happening here is speed
Buyers can educate themselves a
lot faster now because AI can take.
Seconds to do what would've
taken potentially hours in terms
of the amount of information
being gathered and synthesized.
And it can present it in a
variety of different ways.
And so now a lot of the learning and
comparison and narrowing of options is
happening well before somebody fills out
a form and certainly before they talk
to sales, which is why when information
on your website is uncomplete or
unclear, incomplete, they just move on.
Buyers aren't gonna waste their
time asking for clarification.
In most cases, they're just
gonna keep going until they can
find the information they need.
And so that puts even more pressure on
your marketing team to create website
content, core content that answers their
questions honestly, and is building
that trust and confidence early on.
AnnieLaurie: Steve, one thing I hear you
say a lot is that AI rewards clarity.
What does that mean?
Steve: So the thing about AI is
it doesn't reward cleverness.
Now, one of the things that if you've ever
listened to Donald Miller with StoryBrand.
Talk about this.
It's in his books.
And so we, I emphasize this with clients
is that clarity always wins over clever.
And with ai, because it functions as a
human in this regard, the same principles
apply when it's gathering information.
It doesn't care how clever
or witty your messaging is.
It doesn't reward buzzwords and
it doesn't reward people who are
trying to be everything to everyone.
It rewards clarity.
Are you clearly communicating who you are,
what you do, the value you provide, how
you're different than your competitors?
And are you consistent?
So are you providing clarity
consistently who you help?
All of these things.
Are you clearly communicating
why a buyer can trust you?
So again, statistics that
demonstrate success that you've
helped your clients achieve or
efficiencies that they've gained.
Case studies, testimonials,
all of these trust indicators.
In fact, recently in doing some research
and making some comparisons in terms of
who AI was recommending for a particular
home service provider, so looking at
roofers and things along those lines,
what I've started noticing is that in some
of the AI tools, better Business Bureau,
a membership there, having a, a banner
on the website, that actually matters.
Now, never in the past would I have
encouraged somebody to use that from a
marketing standpoint, and yet that is
a trust indicator that AI considers.
And so when you think about all these
things, if your messaging is vague,
if it's generic, if it could be.
If you could take it and put it on
your competitor's website and it
would apply as much to them as it
does to you, you're gonna miss out.
'cause AI doesn't know how to
advocate for you, doesn't know how to
distinguish you from your competitors.
And this is where a lot
of folks get tripped up.
AI's made it easy for marketing teams
to produce content, but the trust
hasn't increased with the volume because
it's a lot of, it's just generic.
You know, buyers and AI tools,
buyers just by default as humans
we're, we tend to sniff out bs.
If it's generic, we don't
pay attention to it.
AI tools are as well.
What is working is content
that shows genuine experience.
Your experience explaining trade offs,
walking through how decisions are
made, answering your buyer's questions,
honestly, even when it's not the
answer that you want them to have.
And so the takeaway isn't to stop
using AI for your marketing teams.
It's to make sure that human
judgment and experience are still
in the process and in the loop.
AnnieLaurie: In other words, AI
isn't really fixing weak marketing.
It's kind of exposing it
Steve: well, yeah.
Yeah.
And, and faster than ever.
And companies that don't have a marketing
plan don't have a content strategy.
Well, they're just creating
bad content faster.
AnnieLaurie: Steve, let's
talk leadership for a minute.
Why is this a CEO or a C-suite issue?
Why is this not just something
to hand off to marketing?
Steve: Well, because clarity
doesn't start with content.
It, it starts with leadership's decisions.
It's decisions about where is the company
you're going to focus, how are you going
to be positioned in the marketplace?
Are you seeking and striving
to be the most trusted voice?
Are you seeking to educate your buyers?
These are critical questions that go
beyond marketing because it really
goes to the culture of the business,
and that's gotta come from the CEO.
And part of the problem is that when
CEOs delegate this too early, when this
is undefined at the leadership level,
when marketing attempts to be more
transparent, you know, if they've read
endless customers by Marcus Sheridan and
they try to implement this idea of let's
answer our buyer's questions, honestly.
Well, what happens is they start to
fill some of these gaps with assumptions
they're guessing and positioning.
Sometimes they're hedging on the
messaging and the content 'cause
they don't wanna compromise things
or they don't wanna upset people in
the company who may not be on board.
And so the result is you get
marketing and that is active.
And it might be headed in a
better direction, but it's
still strategically unclear.
And that's not an AI problem.
Just AI creating more content faster
just starts to, to reveal some
of those cracks and those gaps.
AnnieLaurie: So the margin for
being unclear is basically gone as
if it was ever there to begin with.
Steve: Well, yeah, exactly.
And so that's why, you know, moments like
this start to feel uncomfortable because
it's starting to point out the gaps.
And that's a shift for a lot of
companies because they're having to
go from being a sales organization
to a trust building organization.
And again, that goes back to culture.
That's not a marketing initiative,
it's not even a sales initiative.
That's a company initiative.
But within this, there is opportunity.
So the companies and the leaders that are
willing to, to slow down, get aligned.
And make these hard strategic decisions,
these important strategic decisions now
about focus, messaging and direction.
These are the companies that are
gonna have a real advantage in
the year and the years ahead.
And I wanna make a quick plug for a recent
episode in which I interviewed Fancher
Sergeant, who is the CEO of CRS CPAs,
and they've been a long time client.
And Fancher talks about the importance
of, as a company, getting clear on
your vision and these types of things
and how their company has benefited.
So I would encourage you to
go back a few episodes ago.
We can put a link to it in the show notes,
but that's a really good insight, some
good insight shared by Fancher and their
company's journey to get that clarity.
AnnieLaurie: Thanks, Steve.
That's a really good tip.
And along those lines, why don't you
put on your coaching hat for a second,
and for those who are listening who
are ready to do something, and they're
feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise
that's online about what to do, what
not to do, this and that just coach a
listener for a second on what they need
to do right now in terms of prioritizing.
Steve: So I would say the first
thing is for folks to step back,
take a breath, maybe literally and
just ask the questions more around
your strategy than the tactics.
Is AI gonna be a part of the mix?
Absolutely.
Is it affecting your buyers?
Yes.
But pause long enough to reassess
where are your buyers right now?
What are the problems that they
are experiencing today and in the
foreseeable future that you solve?
Is your website, is the messaging
in your sales presentations, is
all of this clear and consistent?
Is it going to build trust?
And if it's not, you gotta start there
because that becomes the foundation.
And then put together a plan of how
are you gonna educate your buyers?
Figure out the content that you need
to position you as a trusted guide,
as a trusted voice in your space.
And then start building out that
content with that direction.
So, but again, it's gotta go back
to your overall ethos, if you will,
for your company and how you want to
approach marketing and how you wanna
be positioned in the marketplace.
And then that can filter into the tactics.
And I would say that this is a space
where we work with companies to help them
figure out their strategies, and that's
digging into understanding their whys
their values, what is it as a company
that defines who you are and what you
do and why, and how do we translate
that into messaging that positions you
as that trusted voice in your space?
And if you're just looking for
a simple place to start, head
over to way find marketing.com.
We have a link there at the top that
goes to our B2B marketing assessment.
This is a quick assessment.
It goes through key areas of marketing.
It's based on our guide
marketing framework.
It's a five part framework that helps
you assess holistically how your
marketing is doing, what are the gaps.
It'll take you about five minutes
and you'll get an immediate score.
And you'll also get access to our
marketing workbook, which is full of
tactical ideas that align directly
to the assessment and, and beyond
that, for companies that have somebody
in-house on their marketing team and
maybe you don't feel like they're where
they need to be or they don't have the
tools or even the, the training that
they need, we coach marketing teams.
We help them implement a marketing
framework that helps align sales,
helps align marketing and leadership.
It gives them a 90 day cadence to use
to plan and execute effective marketing.
So if you're feeling stuck,
overwhelmed, you're not sure where to
focus, you probably don't need more
tactics, you need a clear plan, and
we would love to help you with that.
AnnieLaurie: So as we wrap up part one
of this two part AI in 2026 series,
Steve, what's the one thing that you want
the listeners to walk away with today?
Steve: Here's what I would want
you to take away from this.
The fundamentals of good solid marketing
have not changed because of ai.
Have the tactics changed?
Yes.
Has it made the consequences of
unclear marketing much more immediate?
Yes.
Buyers are researching faster.
They're asking better questions,
and they're forming opinions long
before they ever talk to your team.
And I don't want you to miss out
because you aren't prepared and
you're focusing too much on tactics
rather than on a comprehensive plan.
AnnieLaurie: Zero in on
clarity and messaging.
Your message, your position and the way
that you show up across channels are going
to do more for you now than ever before.
And is gonna do the heavy lifting
of selling, helping buyers find all
the information that they need to
make a really qualified decision.
Steve: And, and here's
where I wanna challenge.
If you're a business owner, you're
the CEO, I want to challenge
you and I want to challenge your
marketing team and your sales team.
Are you assuming that your buyers are
clear on the value that you bring to them?
And can they gather that information?
Can AI gather that from your website?
'cause a lot of times it's easy
to assume the answer is yes.
Don't leave it to assumption.
Go look at your website.
Can you find answers to the
most commonly asked buyer?
Our questions on your site, you cannot
afford to leave this to assumption.
You've gotta dig in, ask the uncomfortable
questions, and clarity starts with
your decision as the leader, not the
tools your marketing team is using.
And so the decisions about focus,
who you serve, how you wanna
be known in the marketplace.
AnnieLaurie: If part one is about
understanding what's changed in buyer
behavior, then part two of our podcast is
about what to do with that understanding.
Steve: In the next episode, we
are gonna get super practical.
We're gonna walk through specific
ways that CEOs and marketers can use
AI this quarter, the next 90 days
to create some clarity, regain time,
and lead your team more effectively.
And that's all without
chasing every new tool.
AnnieLaurie: Thanks for joining us today.
If you found this helpful,
please share it with someone else
who might find it helpful too.
Be sure to like and subscribe
to our podcast so you do
not miss the next episode.
Part two is coming up next,
and we will see you then.
Thanks for joining us on the
Growth Minded Marketing Podcast.