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Hello and welcome to the 205th edition of Fresh Salmon.

If you're new here, welcome aboard! 🧡
And if you’d like to catch up on past issues, click here.

Today’s issue is direct.

Because there’s a quiet crisis in B2B marketing right now, and most teams are too busy posting to notice it.

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Why Every B2B Company Sounds the Same

Open any B2B SaaS homepage.

“AI-powered platform.”
“End-to-end solution.”
“Enterprise-grade security.”
“Data-driven insights.”

Now open their top competitor.

Same phrases.
Same gradient backgrounds.
Same product UI mockups floating in space.

Different logo. Identical positioning.

This didn’t happen by accident.

B2B messaging was built by committees.
Approved by legal.
Optimized to offend no one.

The result?

It persuades no one.

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The Real Problem: Safe Messaging Kills Demand

When everyone says “AI-powered,” no one hears it.

When everyone says “streamline your workflows,” buyers tune out.

When every brand claims “industry-leading,” it becomes semantic wallpaper.

B2B buyers are not confused because they lack information.

They’re confused because everything sounds the same.

And when everything sounds the same, they default to:

• The cheapest
• The most familiar
• Or the incumbent

Which means your differentiation never had a chance.

The companies pulling away right now are doing one thing differently:

They are choosing a point of view.

Not features.
Not slogans.
A point of view.

The 3-5 Year Attention Arbitrage Window in B2B

We are living in a temporary arbitrage window.

And most B2B companies will miss it.

Right now:

• 80% of B2B brands are still transactional in their messaging
• AI is flooding LinkedIn with generic thought leadership
• Platforms still reward real expertise and strong opinions
• Buyers are researching long before they ever talk to sales

This window will close.

In 3-5 years:

• Everyone will have “a podcast”
• Everyone will have “an AI content engine”
• Everyone will be publishing

When that happens, distribution will be expensive.

Right now, it’s underpriced.

The B2B brands building audience today will own their categories tomorrow.

The ones waiting for paid ads to do all the work will still be renting attention.

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Owned Distribution vs. Rented Attention

There are two types of B2B companies emerging.

1. Rented Attention Brands

• Dependent on paid acquisition
• Dependent on trade shows
• Dependent on outbound SDR volume
• Dependent on marketplaces
• Dependent on LinkedIn algorithm swings

When CPL increases - panic.
When pipeline dips - scramble.
When events underperform - cut budget.

They don’t own demand.

They borrow it.

2. Owned Distribution Brands

• They run a consistent newsletter
• They publish long-form insights
• They host a podcast or show
• They build a library of category-defining content
• Their executives have a visible POV

When ads get expensive - they shift to audience.
When pipeline slows - they activate community.
When competitors launch - they control the narrative.

They don’t rent attention.

They own it.

Every subscriber compounds.
Every piece of content builds brand equity.
Every post reinforces positioning.

This is not “content marketing.”

This is infrastructure.

The Real Shift: Narrative > Volume

Most B2B content strategies fail for one reason:

They are not anchored to a strategic narrative.

Teams publish:

• “5 Tips” posts
• Product feature updates
• Event recaps
• Hiring announcements

But they never answer:

• What do we want to be known for?
• What belief are we challenging in our market?
• What tension are we the answer to?

Without narrative, content fragments.

With narrative, content compounds.

When someone reads your LinkedIn post, watches your webinar, listens to your podcast, and reads your newsletter - do they encounter the same idea from different angles?

Or are they meeting a different company every time?

The companies winning in B2B right now have one clear thesis.

And everything they publish reinforces it.

This Is Not About Being Louder

It’s about being sharper.

It’s about saying:

“We don’t believe X.”
“We think the industry is wrong about Y.”
“We see the market shifting toward Z.”

That’s how you stand out.

Not with better adjectives.

But with better convictions.

The Hidden Advantage in 2026

As AI makes it easier to produce content…

As outbound becomes more automated…

As inboxes get noisier…

Trust becomes the scarcest asset in B2B.

Trust is built through:

• Consistency
• Clear positioning
• Depth of insight
• Repeated exposure
• And visible leadership

The brands that win will not be the ones with the most AI tools.

They will be the ones who:

• Treat media as a core function
• Empower their CEO and leadership team to communicate
• Build ecosystems instead of campaigns
• Design content to move buyers from attention → trust → demand

The Uncomfortable Question

If you turned off paid ads tomorrow…

If your SDR team paused outbound…

If your event calendar disappeared…

Would demand still show up?

Would your market know what you stand for?

Would they repeat your narrative back to you?

Or would you fade into the algorithm?

The Key Takeaway

In 2026, B2B marketing will not be about:

More posts.
More AI.
More headcount.

It will be about:

Clear narrative.
Owned distribution.
System design.
And trust velocity.

The companies that build marketing as a compounding system will pull away.

The rest will keep launching campaigns.

Stop blending in.
Stop renting attention.
Start building something that compounds.

That’s it for this week! If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend.

See you next time!

Do what is good for your soul ❤️

All the best,

Vivek

PS. Whenever you are ready, here are 2 ways in which I can help you and your business:

#1: Promoting you or your brand via this newsletter.

#2: 1-on-1 Personal Coaching and Mentoring on anything related to Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategies for you.

For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.