Frank Strong

Editorial integrity demands PR due diligence with AI-generated copy - Sword and the Script The temptation to rely on generative AI for PR pitches is enticing, but using it without human intervention stands out to reporters and will likely have the opposite effect

Editorial integrity demands PR due diligence with AI-generated copy

The temptation to rely on generative AI for PR pitches is enticing, but using it without human intervention stands out to reporters and will likely have the opposite effect

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/edit...

PR and high quality blogs are well positioned to boost AI visibility, study by Semrush suggests - Sword and the Script Third-party validation is proving to be an influential factor in AI visibility; PR and blogging excel at this task.

Third-party validation is proving to be an influential factor in AI visibility.

@frankstrong1.bsky.social shares insights a recent Semrush study suggesting PR and blogging excel at this task www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/pr-b...

cheers, Grace!

Purposeful browsing: Does long form content still have a place in the era of generative AI? - Sword and the Script Early indications are generative AI tends to surface long form in-depth content; visitors from AI results browse with purpose and are more likely to convert

Purposeful browsing: Does long form content still have a place in the era of generative AI?

Data, anecdotes suggest it does.

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/purp...

The deluge of ‘output only’ marketing has made customers apathetic about feedback and surveys customerthink.com/the-deluge-o...

Media pitching: Adding perspective to Michael Smart’s FAQs for Muck Rack - Sword and the Script Brass tack answers from an experienced professional, who still pitches every week, to common questions about pitching the media

Media pitching: Adding perspective to Michael Smart’s FAQs for Muck Rack

By @frankstrong1.bsky.social, Sword and the Script www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/medi...

U.S. Exclusive: Venture-backed PR software startups Propel, Signal AI announce “strategic partnership” - Sword and the Script The partnership between Propel and Signal AI, two specialized PR technologies, promises to provide comprehensive comms tools on a modern platform built for the era of AI.

U.S. Exclusive: Venture-backed PR software startups Propel, Signal AI announce “strategic partnership” www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/prop...

U.S. Exclusive: Venture-backed PR software startups Propel, Signal AI announce “strategic partnership” - Sword and the Script The partnership between Propel and Signal AI, two specialized PR technologies, promises to provide comprehensive comms tools on a modern platform built for the era of AI.

U.S. Exclusive: Venture-backed PR software startups Propel, Signal AI announce “strategic partnership” www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/prop...

PR and high quality blogs are well positioned to boost AI visibility, study by Semrush suggests - Sword and the Script Third-party validation is proving to be an influential factor in AI visibility; PR and blogging excel at this task.

PR and high quality blogs are well positioned to boost AI visibility, study by Semrush suggests www.swordandthescript.com/2025/10/pr-b...

Media pitching: Adding perspective to Michael Smart’s FAQs for Muck Rack - Sword and the Script Brass tack answers from an experienced professional, who still pitches every week, to common questions about pitching the media

Media pitching: Adding perspective to Michael Smart's FAQs for @muckrack.com

- How do you break through the volume of pitches reporters receive daily?

- Should you follow up on pitches with reporters?

- What’s the best email subject line for a PR pitch?

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/medi...

PR status check: 68% of B2B respondents say public relations drives revenue but struggle to prove it - Sword and the Script A new survey of 300 B2B marketing and PR professionals provides a glimpse of PR goals, tactics, effectiveness, challenges, frustrations and areas for improvement

PR status check: 68% of B2B respondents say public relations drives revenue but struggle to prove it
www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/b2b-...

People are not taking government economic surveys; businesses have the same problem - Sword and the Script Businesses need to take a more considered, deliberate and comprehensive approach to feedback; don’t allow a machine to get between your business and the customer

People are not taking government economic surveys; businesses have the same problem
www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/peop...

How many touches or interactions does it take to attract and close B2B prospects? - Sword and the Script Surveys say from start to finish, B2B prospects require a dozen touches or more, but behavioral data finds it may require hundreds of interactions

How many touches or interactions does it take to attract and close B2B prospects? www.swordandthescript.com/2025/09/touc...

Thanks, Grace!

Fixing a B2B marketing’s addiction to MQLs [Monthly Marcom] “Stop viewing buyers as MQLs to be harvested, and start seeing them as humans seeking solutions.”

Fixing a B2B marketing’s addiction to MQLs [Monthly Marcom] monthlymarcom.substack.com/p/fixing-a-b...

This is an uncomfortable, yet reasonable, question for PR professionals:

Is the influence of traditional media – and by extension media relations – waning?

I have *an* answer in this piece.

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/infl...

Essential generative AI customizations PR should make to their tools - Sword and the Script Sychophancy is a genuine risk to generative AI; as PR increasingly relies on these tools, it’s imperative to modify their customizations to prevent generative AI from merely telling you what it thinks...

Essential generative AI customizations PR should make to their tools
www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/gene...

Analysts say B2B prospects form preferences earlier and avoid sales conversations later - Sword and the Script Forrester survey finds 92% of B2B prospects start evaluation solutions with one vendor in mind; 41% have a single preference; Gartner says 61% B2B buyers want to avoid talking to sales

6 in 10 B2B prospects never want to talk to a salesperson

And

“92% of buyers start with at least one vendor in mind, and 41% already have a single preferred vendor selected before formal evaluation begins.”

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/b2b-...

B2B tech vendors that hide pricing may never make a prospect's short list - Sword and the Script Generative AI provides succinct product comparisons for B2B buyers, including pricing; vendors who choose to omit pricing information risk never even being considered for the short list

B2B tech vendors that hide pricing may never make a prospect’s short list www.swordandthescript.com/2025/08/b2b-...

AI cannot understand the human experience of delight, awe, fear, elation, confusion or frustration in any meaningful way
www.swordandthescript.com/2025/07/ai-h...

Why “Performance Marketing” Falls Short Many B2B organizations overrotate toward marketing tactics that engage buyers long after they have formed preferences. Instead, they must try to influence buyers before they enter a purchasing process...

B2B marketing and sales teams that rely on short-term tactics to attract active, in-market buying group members are drastically limiting their reach and effectiveness.

Instead, B2B marketers need to expand their assumptions about the buyers’ journey @Forrester www.forrester.com/blogs/why-pe...

Study correlates SaaS marketing spend with faster growth - Sword and the Script SaaS companies that grow faster tend to invest more in every customer-facing function: marketing sales and customer success.

Study correlates #SaaS #marketing spend with faster growth

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/07/saas...

41 B2B marketing and PR statistics that provide us all with a status update halfway through 2025 - Sword and the Script What’s going well: CMOs, marketing budgets, alignment with sales; What could be improved: Trust, conversions, and customer retention

Halfway in marketing:

- what’s going well: CMOs, marketing budgets, alignment with sales

- what could be improved: Trust, conversions, and customer retention

>>> 41 B2B marketing and PR stats that provide us all with a status update halfway through 2025 www.swordandthescript.com/2025/07/b2b-...

B2B is marketing for measurement rather than persuasion - Sword and the Script Marketing risks spending its budget in a way that’s measurable for the business rather than persuasive for customers

Marketing has gotten so wrapped up in measurement that we've lost sight of the purpose of marketing: persuasion.

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/07/mark...

Reduce marketing employee turnover to improve performance [academic study] - Sword and the Script Rigorous study shows marketing turnover has a high cost and lasting impact; demonstrates the importance of continuously investing in the marketing team

Rigorous study shows marketing turnover has a high cost and lasting impact;

Demonstrates the importance of continuously investing in the marketing team

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/06/mark...

Thanks, Grace!

5 useful benchmarks for guiding how gated content is best used B2B marketing - Sword and the Script Downloading content is just an early engagement for what will be a long sales process; 66% of prospects who download content aren’t ready to buy for another year

Summer is generally slow for downloads, while October is the peak time for gated content downloads.

However, 66% of prospects who download content aren’t ready to buy for another year.

See more from @frankstrong1.bsky.social, Sword and the Script www.swordandthescript.com/2025/06/gate...

The B2B marketing playbook must shift from tricks to education - Sword and the Script The B2B marketing playbook must shift from tricks to education

Education is the best B2B marketing playbook

It has to help prospective customers see the problem your product or service solves.

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/06/b2b-...

5 ways generative AI is changing organic search traffic in B2B marketing - Sword and the Script The way buyers find and evaluate information is changing with generative AI, yet many B2B marketing teams are still optimizing for traditional organic search engines

The biggest ways generative AI is changing human behavior is learning speed. It’s also upending digital marketing because its changing how people find and process information.

See how generative AI is changing search by @frankstrong1.bsky.social www.swordandthescript.com/2025/05/gene...

Chatting with the robots inside PR software [PR tech summary no. 62] - Sword and the Script Meltwater rolls out chatbot interface; Public Relay hires Brendon O’Donovan; roundup of PR software briefs; new surveys of journalists

Chatting with the robots inside PR software [PR tech summary no. 62]

Meltwater rolls out chatbot interface; Public Relay hires Brendon O’Donovan; roundup of PR software briefs; new surveys of journalists

www.swordandthescript.com/2025/06/pr-s...