Ah the school summer holidays. A chance for some calm, quiet parental reflection while the kids play happily and peacefully in the back garden.
Yeaaaah right.
There are several parallels to be drawn between being a parent and being a marketer. Trying to get a handle on ever-shifting demands and expectations. Struggles to cut through with your messaging. Reacting to the unexpected. Mopping up split milk (both metaphorically and literally).
Just as any parent does with their kids, B2B tech marketers spend a lot of time striving to understand what their customers think. In both instances, a task that’s far easier said than done.
The idea behind launching Signals earlier this year was simple: help marketers to do just that. So every month for the last six months, we’ve been asking 100 IT decision makers for their opinions on what’s going on in the industry (luckily ITDMs are never short of those!).
This is the stuff, the signals, that tech marketers can use to guide their thinking or spark ideas to help make their marketing more effective.
One of the strongest signals to emerge this year is how IT decision makers are responding to vendors’ use of AI in marketing. For time-and-resource-squeezed marketing teams, AI has undoubtedly made it easier to produce more stuff, more quickly. But for customers, it’s left many of them scrutinising vendor comms more than ever, struggling where to turn and who to trust.
And it’s not just a pattern we’re seeing in Signals, as our How Brands Know research highlights:
Seven in ten (70%) cybersecurity buyers say it’s getting harder to see how vendors stand out from each other in meaningful or relevant ways
After digging about in our data, here’s a look at what IT decision makers are telling us, and what tech marketers can take from it.
“…it means I trust all marketing content less…”
Buyers are becoming more sceptical
One of the most valuable and interesting things I find about surveying and speaking with ITDMs is that they don’t hold back.
“I have always been sceptical of marketing…” one senior public sector IT manager told us in April, “…but now with AI behind a lot of campaigns I feel every claim needs to be researched and validated”.
Oof.
And the times they are a-changin’: 87% of ITDMs in our April survey said the rise of AI-generated content is changing their behaviour towards vendors – with one in three (32%) saying it’s made them more sceptical of marketing content overall.
It’s a useful reminder that buyer expectations rarely stand still, and that’s particularly the case in a market like B2B tech. An audience that’s already sceptical of all that, as another respondent described it, “marketing fluff” is becoming even more so in this increasingly (cue movie trailer guy voice) AI-driven world.
So before planning that next campaign, something for marketers to consider: what would make a sceptical buyer believe this? If the answer is “more evidence”, that’s probably what’s needed.
“Are they even experts?”
You can’t assume credibility, you’ve got to earn it
When I first read the quote that inspired this article’s title, my marketer mind was drawn back to a somewhat dated meme from the early 00s: “Do you even lift?” or in the words of the Urban Dictionary, “a condescending expression used on body building and fitness forums to question the legitimacy of someone’s fitness expertise or weight-lifting routine.”
Our respondent here is throwing down a similar challenge. Only this time it’s not about physical strength, but rather the B2B marketing kind. Here it is in full:
“For marketing document creation AI seems to be rife. As soon as I read something and feel it’s been run though AI it loses its credibility. Are they even experts?”
And here’s another striking stat from our How Brands Know report, this one coming from a more specific cybersecurity angle but it’s a view that could be applied broadly:
88% say their expectations of cybersecurity vendors are higher than they were 1-2 years ago, making it harder for vendors to meet them
So what is it that convinces customers that you’re credible? Who better to ask than customers themselves. Here’s a handful of ITDMs from our April Signals survey:
“Hard to tell which claims are true and what is just hype so want more than just marketing material need to see real demos and proof of concepts.”
“I’m more sceptical of marketing content because AI-generated materials often highlight benefits while downplaying limitations. I now verify vendor claims by checking independent reviews, technical documentation and real user feedback before making decisions.”
“Anything that is vague, unverified, or purely marketing-led (AI buzz word) would make me sceptical, especially if the vendor won’t explain how the AI works, what data it uses, or what independent assurance backs up the claims.”
Taken together, these comments highlight that buyers are applying a much higher standard to vendor claims. Sure, AI may have made it easier to create marketing content, but it has also made it more likely for buyers to question whether the expertise behind that content is genuine.
“If someone can’t be bothered to write about their product, I can’t be bothered to read about it.”
Human expertise as a competitive advantage
This rise of scepticism and the demand for more credible proof appears to be increasing the value of human interaction in buyer minds.
In our April Signals, 39% of ITDMs said they place more value on in-person interactions where trust can be built directly with vendors. Conversations and connections to human experts are giving buyers something that AI-generated content cannot.
As one respondent told us:
“Real-world experiences are far more valuable than AI generated content. We have asked AI for solutions to issues and the results are rarely definitive, but speaking to someone who has faced similar issues often gets results.”
Expertise is something buyers want to experience rather than simply read about. Every customer touchpoint, be it a chat, an event, a webinar or a case study, becomes another opportunity for marketers to demonstrate it.
In summary
A tech marketer could read all this and feel rather battered and bruised… or they could see a massive opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
Let’s summarise what we’ve seen:
- Buyers are becoming more sceptical
- That scepticism is making them question expertise
- Demonstrating genuine human expertise is becoming a competitive advantage
Which brings us full circle. As you think about how your business earns attention and trust, there’s one simple question worth keeping in mind, one grounded in what buyers themselves are telling us. And, perhaps, one our kids occasionally ask of us too:
“Are they even experts?”
Signals is our regular snapshot of what IT leaders are thinking and prioritising. Each month, we survey 100 UK IT decision makers across sectors, from organisations with 100+ employees. All are members of our expert network, the Vanson Bourne Community, giving you direct insight from the humans at the heart of tech.
Read more articles from our series below:
February: What’s shaping tech purchasing decisions in 2026?
March: The cost of inertia: Why “doing nothing” is your biggest competitor in 2026
April: In a world of automated touchpoints, do human interactions matter more than ever?
May: Collaboration, credibility and AI security: what turns vendor partnerships into trust?
June: Mythos and the changing cybersecurity narrative
If you’d like to explore how these shifts are playing out in your sector, or go deeper into the data behind this edition, we’re always happy to continue the conversation.