Every social platform wants the same three things from B2B marketers: attention, engagement and data. Freely given, rarely questioned.

Luan Wise has spent 25 years teaching marketers how to earn attention on those platforms. A Chartered Marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and now a PhD researcher, she has co-written Privacy in the Age of Social Media: Beyond the Like with cybersecurity academic Dr Manimuthu Arunmozhi. It asks whether we should be more careful about what we hand over in return.

Luan remains an optimist about what social media can do for good, and she is clear that she is not telling marketers to post less. Her argument is that impersonation, data exposure and platform trust are not just IT issues, because they land on marketing's desk. She tells the story of a fake, AI-generated LinkedIn profile that posted a scam link under one of her own posts, explains why the like button was the start of the monetisation of the platforms, and lists the everyday posts that expose businesses, from passwords on post-it notes to the tools you name in public. If your team publishes on social media, this conversation gives you a practical place to start.

What You'll Learn

• Why a self-described optimist about social media co-wrote a book urging B2B marketers to be more careful.
• How the like button evolved into today's AI-driven engagement machinery, and what that shift means for brands.
• Why LinkedIn impersonation and fake profile scams are a marketing problem, not just an IT one.
• Which everyday posts expose your business, and the digital hygiene habits marketing and comms teams should adopt.
• Why trust has become the currency for platforms and for the brands that use them.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction: the privacy problem behind B2B social media

02:06 - Luan Wise: what she does day to day

03:25 - From optimist to cautious: why write this book?

06:17 - The TEDx talk that led to the book

08:00 - Co-writing with a cybersecurity academic

09:48 - How the like button became a data machine

11:41 - From likes to AI-driven algorithms

14:19 - Fake profiles: when impersonation becomes a marketing problem

17:51 - The everyday posts that expose your business

20:06 - Trust as the new currency

21:14 - Why brands left X

23:30 - Where to start without becoming a data protection expert

26:24 - Auditing your social media set-up

28:04 - Why Luan stays optimistic

29:24 - The one reframe: be proactive

30:07 - Where to get the book

Follow Luan Wise

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luanwise/

Website: luanwise.co.uk

Privacy in the Age of Social Media: Beyond the Like (Routledge): https://www.routledge.com/Privacy-in-the-Age-of-Social-Media-Beyond-the-Like/Arunmozhi-Wise/p/book/9781041102816

If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful and memorable, this conversation is for you.

🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community: https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/

💬 What's the first privacy setting you will check on your company's social accounts? Let us know in the comments below.

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Four in five CEOs still see B2B marketing as a support function, not a growth driver. That's the headline finding from new Propolis research, and it's the starting point for this conversation between Richard O'Connor, CEO of B2B Marketing's Propolis platform, and host Joel Harrison.

Richard walks through the three blind spots the research surfaced: ghost revenue, the growth marketing creates that sales quietly gets credit for; a credibility crunch, where CEOs say they'd trust marketers more if they understood the numbers; and an AI value trap, where budget cuts are falling hardest on the very work that builds trust over time. He also makes the case, backed by real boardroom examples, for why commercial credibility buys marketers the freedom to take bigger creative risks, and what it will take for marketers to stop lingering in the shadows of the CEO's blind spot.

What you'll learn

• Why 84% of CEOs still see marketing as a support function, and why that starts as a visibility problem before it becomes a trust problem.
• What “ghost revenue” is, and why the growth marketing creates so often gets credited to sales instead.
• Why speaking the “language of business” isn't enough on its own, and what actually earns commercial credibility in the boardroom.
• Why AI is sharpening the CEO's blind spot, and the risk of cutting the very work that builds trust.
• What it will take for marketers to stop lingering in the shadows and own the growth agenda.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: trust in the boardroom

00:57 84% of CEOs call marketing a support function

01:44 What Propolis is, and how it connects to B2B Marketing

02:33 The shape of the research: 150 CEOs surveyed

05:42 Is the CEO blind spot a trust problem or a visibility problem?

08:41 Ghost revenue: the growth marketing creates that CEOs never see

12:05 Why a CFO said he trusts his marketing function

13:11 The credibility crunch: why “the language of business” isn't enough

15:20 Account-based marketing as a model for commercial credibility

17:51 Why marketing gets excluded from growth strategy and forecasting

19:33 The AI value trap: cutting budgets without understanding the cost

23:23 Richard's advice: own the agenda for growth

24:42 What CEOs actually want from marketing

26:03 Where to find the report

Download the CEO Blindspots report here: https://www.b2bmarketing.net/reports/the-ceo-blind-spot-how-b2b-marketers-prove-protect-and-grow-their-commercial-impact/

Follow Richard O'Connor

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmpoconnor/

https://www.b2bmarketing.net/propolis/

Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/

Podcast: htts://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/podcast

Hashtags

#JoelHarrisonB2B #B2BMarketing #TrustAndInfluence #CEOBlindspot #GhostRevenue #B2BLeadership #MarketingTrust #BoardroomTrust #CommercialMarketing #B2BGrowth #MarketingROI #B2BPodcast

Here's an uncomfortable idea for any B2B business competing for a high-value deal: your biggest competitor may not be a better business. It may simply be one that's easier to believe.

That's the starting point for the second year of the Trust Advantage research from Emmett & Churchman, which surveyed 200 senior technology decision-makers and sat down with 19 CEOs making real, high-stakes buying decisions. The finding: capable businesses lose deals constantly, not for lack of capability, but because of what the research calls the commercial credibility gap, the distance between what a business can deliver and what a buyer can see, believe and defend.

Joel is joined by Lorraine Emmett, founder and managing director of Emmett & Churchman and the lead author of the research, to unpack why 45% of senior buyers say they've ruled out a supplier for failing to prove its credibility, and what leadership teams can do to close the gap in their own business.

Download the 'Trust Advantage' report here: https://emmettandchurchman.com/trust/

What you'll learn

• What the commercial credibility gap actually is, and why it explains lost deals that looked like safe wins on paper.
• The three questions buyers are really asking of every supplier, and which one businesses most consistently fail to answer.
• Why a frank discussion of limitations and risk can build more trust than a flawless pitch.
• What a smaller or less recognised B2B business can do to compete credibly against a better-known incumbent.
• The first practical step for any leadership team that wants to close this gap in its own business.

Chapters

• Introduction: the commercial credibility gap
• Why Emmett & Churchman ran this research for a second year
• The three questions every buyer is asking: can I see it, believe it, defend it
• Why “can I see it” is the one businesses fail most
• Overpromising versus candour: the biggest destroyer of trust
• The human side of commercial negotiation
• Equipping your champion: evidence that travels beyond the room
• Challenger opportunity: why 57% would choose a trusted smaller supplier
• Reframing commercial credibility as a leadership issue
• The CEO commercial credibility test
• Closing thought: where to start closing the gap

Follow Lorraine Emmett

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorraineemmett-b2b-strategic-comms/
• Emmett & Churchman: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emmett-churchman/home/

Closing boilerplate

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🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡ www.joelharrisonb2b.com

💬 What's costing your business the deals it should be winning: capability, or credibility? Let us know in the comments below.

🔔 Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. www.joelharrisonb2b.com/podcast

#JoelHarrisonB2B #B2BMarketing #ThoughtLeadership #TrustAndInfluence #B2BSales #CommercialCredibility #B2BBuyers #MarketingPodcast #B2BInsights #CMOLeadership #B2BGrowth