Your hidden pricing is why competitors are winning

This week: Why 73% of B2B tech companies struggle with growth, how to turn your pricing page into a conversion engine, and the uncomfortable truth about marketing attribution. And what GPT-5 means for SaaS as we know it...

High-Converting Websites: Stop Hiding Your Pricing

Does your website actively help buyers, or does it throw up roadblocks? With AI search reducing overall traffic, every visitor is more valuable than ever. Yet many B2B sites make a critical error that kills conversions instantly: they hide their pricing. As GTM Engineer Austin Spikes points out, this introduces friction and forces prospects to book a demo just to answer a basic question: "Is this even in my budget?"

This is part of a larger pattern of websites failing to remove friction from the buyer's journey. According to Dev Basu of Powered by Search, many funnels are broken from the start: the ad promise doesn't match the landing page, the thank-you page is a dead end, and nurture sequences are non-existent. You can't fix a conversion problem by simply driving more traffic.

A high-converting website is your single highest-leverage sales tool. A deep analysis of over 1,000 SaaS UI/UX designs on Reddit reveals common killers: generic hero sections, poor mobile experiences, weak social proof, and slow page speeds. The data is stark: a one-second page-load delay can cause a 7% loss in conversions, and 88% of users won't return after a bad experience.

Comment insights:

• A commenter on Austin Spikes's post mentions that hiding pricing often indicates a sales process that relies on high-pressure tactics rather than consultative selling.

• One user on Reddit points out a simple but powerful truth: "I will never book a demo if I can't see the pricing. It's an instant signal that the product is way too expensive for my needs."

• Another Redditor highlights that a good pricing page isn't just a list of numbers; it's a critical piece of messaging that should clearly articulate the value of each tier and guide users to the right choice.

The New Rules of Brand & Content: Your Only Moat in 2025

Why do 73% of B2B tech companies struggle to hit growth targets? According to fractional marketer Aaron Hassen, it’s because they treat brand building as optional, pouring budget into demand gen and wondering why leads are expensive and sales cycles are long. In a market flooded with AI-generated content, a strong brand is no longer a nice-to-have; it's your primary competitive moat.

As Santiago Uceda argues in a piece for Funk & Levis, AI commoditizes generic content, making a unique point of view and human connection more valuable than ever. The goal is to become the cited authority in AI's answers, which requires building "earned authority." This is achieved through consistent, high-value thought leadership that teaches LLMs what your company is known for, creating what Greg Hakim at Corporate Ink calls the "Earned Authority Loop."

This requires a shift in messaging. Tactics that may work for LinkedIn engagement, like telling your audience they're wrong, often fail to bring buyers in. Brand marketer Liam Moroney cautions that "hard truths" trigger defensiveness, not curiosity. Effective brand content reflects a message the audience already sees themselves in, meeting them with empathy and respect.

Comment insights:

• On Liam Moroney’s post, one commenter adds that accusatory messaging often signals a vendor doesn't understand the complexities and constraints their audience faces daily.

• Another commenter notes that the "you're doing it wrong" approach can work, but only if you've already built immense trust and authority with the audience over time.

• A user on Reddit discussing what's working in 2025 emphasizes that product-led content is outperforming generic SEO blogs, as it bakes the product's use case directly into the content, which inherently builds brand and relevance.

Full-Funnel Attribution: Connecting the Dots to ROI

Are your marketing dashboards filled with vanity metrics that make leadership's eyes glaze over? You’re not alone. Most B2B teams are measuring activity, not impact. As Aaron Hassen points out, with 79% of marketing leads never converting, the disconnect between marketing efforts and revenue is devastating to the bottom line.

The core challenge is the long, complex B2B sales cycle. In a recent video, marketing executive Yuri Paris explains that traditional attribution models break down when a deal spans a dozen touchpoints over six months. A campaign might generate leads today that don’t close for a year, making its ROI invisible in the short term. This lag causes executives to pull budgets from programs that are actually working, just not fast enough.

The solution requires a shift from measuring channels to measuring influence across the full journey. This means better alignment between marketing, sales, and ops to create one version of the truth. It also means recognizing that AI won't fix a broken system. As Shiv Narayanan, CEO of How To SaaS, warns, if your data is messy and your processes are broken, AI will just "make the chaos faster." The foundation must be solid first.

Comment insights:

• One commenter on Hassen’s post highlights that the lack of a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is often the root cause of misalignment, leading to sales and marketing pulling in different directions.

• Another user agrees, adding that without a shared go-to-market strategy, marketing and sales teams will never be on the same page about what a "good" lead is.

• On Shiv Narayanan’s post about AI, a commenter notes that the most common failure point is a lack of clear, measurable business objectives before a project even starts.

The AI GTM Stack: Preparing for a Post-SaaS World

Is your software stack built for a world that no longer exists? With the release of GPT-5, the ground is shifting from traditional SaaS to a new paradigm of AI-native systems. One Reddit user argues that the SaaS-native B2B go-to-market model is already obsolete, comparing companies clinging to the old way to Blockbuster circa 2010.

The new model is built on autonomous agents and unified intelligence, not siloed applications. As Box CEO Aaron Levie explains, software isn't disappearing; it's atomizing. The future is a mix of core platforms for deterministic workflows (like CRM, ECM) and a new class of agent-only companies that automate specific work. This means the seat-based model will give way to consumption-based pricing for agents.

This shift demands a new GTM playbook. Firsthand accounts of GPT-5 show it excels at generating spec-to-draft workflows in minutes but still lacks true reasoning. As Liam Martin, co-founder of Time Doctor, notes, the new model rewards clear thinkers and punishes lazy ones. Your job becomes less about assembly and more about judgment, treating AI as a "tireless junior" that you must QA.

Comment insights:

• A user on Reddit notes that AI-native tools make it easier to deliver highly personalized messaging at scale, moving beyond simple demographic targeting to nuanced behavioral triggers.

• Another user warns that while AI can sharpen ICP definitions, the real challenge is operationalizing those insights across misaligned sales and marketing teams.

• Responding to Liam Martin, one commenter points out that the true value of GPT-5 isn't just automation, but its ability to force a higher level of strategic thinking from the user to get a quality output

Sound Bites

• 🎙️ The AI & Data Consulting Playbook (Durga Analytics): How to scope, price, and position AI projects that execs actually sign off.

• 🎥 Stop Casting Wide Nets (James Summers): When to use mass marketing vs. high-touch campaigns based on deal size and sales cycle.

Strategies look obvious in hindsight—until you challenge the hidden assumptions holding you back. What outdated belief in your playbook is limiting your next growth leap?