The B2B tech landscape is evolving at breakneck speed. Every week brings new market entrants, regulatory updates, and emerging technologies, each one promising to reshape the playing field. But while the pace of change accelerates, the clarity around what actually matters may not be uncovered before it fades into the background, as marketers respond to the next hot issue.
It’s no wonder so many executives feel inundated by data and starved for direction. Amid the flood of headlines and market chatter, many PR agencies are still focused on tactical output, pushing press releases, drafting content, pitching stories and reporting on “hits” without offering the real strategic value their clients need most: insight.
The result? A widening disconnect between what clients value and what agencies deliver. And perhaps more importantly, this leads to clients beginning to question why trends were not spotted earlier and even question the overall value of their PR and digital services.
In Forrester’s 2025 analysis of B2B agency partnerships, more than 80% of marketing leaders said clear, proactive communication from their agencies is critical, yet only 55% were satisfied with it. The same gap appears around strategic counsel and specialized expertise. The message is clear: execution alone no longer cuts it. The question is: in these precarious economic times with budgets hanging by a fraying thread, are agencies willing to take chances with opinions, break rapport with contrarian viewpoints and offer guidance?
Our view: executives don’t need just another press release or newsletter in their inbox. They need someone who can filter the noise, interpret what’s happening in the market, and guide them in shaping a credible, forward-looking voice. Even AI language models are becoming more discerning about which programs will work in a situation and which sources to trust. This means that how you position your story, and the context you bring to it, directly impacts how your message lands and performs with all your audiences and those insights are based on real data.
The Gap: Strong PR Execution Without Strategic Insight
Many large (and even some small) agencies have the tools to monitor industry trends but too often, those insights live in siloed “thought leadership” teams or are packaged into one-size-fits-all updates that don’t truly serve individual clients.
At 10Fold, we take a different approach.
We believe insight-sharing should be tailored and contextualized to a client’s market, narrative, and business priorities. The insights we share with a CMO, a product marketer, and a communications lead might look completely different, even when drawn from the same source. Because insight-sharing isn’t about data distribution, it’s about relevance, perspective, and trust.
When agencies focus only on tactical deliverables, such as coverage, content and social campaigns, they risk being seen as service providers rather than strategic partners. Messaging starts to feel disconnected from market realities, and opportunities are either missed or recognized too late.
Without consistent, meaningful insight-sharing, agencies and clients are working from different views of the market. And when an agency doesn’t demonstrate market awareness, its ability to shape the narrative, and its credibility as an advisor, erodes quickly.
The Shift From PR Support to a Partnership that Delivers Market Intelligence
Today’s B2B tech leaders expect more than execution. They want a partner who can help them understand the market conversation and help them shape their place within it.
This is the new frontier of communications: moving from just executing communications to informing communications strategy.
When agencies bring curated intelligence, such as analyst insights, industry research, competitor analysis, regulatory updates, and real-time sentiment tracking, they elevate their role from doer to advisor. They begin to:
- Provide context, not just content
- Anticipate moments, not just respond to them
- Influence strategy, not just execute it
That’s where real value emerges. The agency no longer reacts to what’s happening in the market; it helps the client interpret it and act decisively.
The Repositioning Mandate for Modern Communications Agencies
Insight-sharing isn’t about flooding inboxes with articles or newsletters—it’s about elevating the agency’s role to that of a strategic partner. The mandate for modern PR and Digital agencies is simple but profound:
Agencies must shift from distributors of information to interpreters of meaning.
This evolution requires three key shifts in how agencies operate:
- Lead With Relevance, Not Volume. Clients don’t need more data or even more coverage (necessarily), they need clarity. Agencies must filter out the noise and surface only those insights that influence business decisions, shape narratives, and protect or enhance reputation. Take for instance a recent prospect that was leading the share of voice among competitors by a factor of four. However, a deeper dive revealed all their coverage was in small publications with tiny UVMs. What’s more, the coverage consisted primarily of brief mentions, rather than substantive articles that the sales organization could use with prospects. Their agency didn’t “get it.”
- Add Interpretation and Implications. Sharing a headline or report isn’t enough. Clients want to know what it means for them, how a competitor’s announcement, regulatory change, or market shift could shape their next move. For examples, we recently briefed a client on a major data-center build and new IEA demand forecasts, not just with headlines but with clarity on why they mattered. Large AI facilities can strain local grids, and uneven demand elasticity complicates forecasting. We distilled the implications into a simple takeaway: these trends reinforced opportunities to sharpen the client’s narrative around grid intelligence, load planning, and modernization.
- Create a Repeatable Rhythm of Insight-Sharing. Insight-sharing works best when it’s consistent and integrated into the partnership, woven into weekly check-ins, monthly strategy reviews, or quarterly narrative resets. This rhythm strengthens trust and keeps everyone aligned on a shared understanding of the market. That doesn’t mean a sharp turn in the market wouldn’t require a one-off conversation, it simply means have the discipline to regularly evaluate what is happening rather than forgetting to explore the trends.
When agencies master this cadence, they stop chasing the news cycle and start leading it.
The Journey From Vendor to Trusted Advisor Begins With Insights
Many agencies do exceptional work but remain stuck behind the “strategic curtain,” brought in only to execute campaigns rather than shape them. Insight-sharing is the key to breaking through that barrier.
At 10Fold, we’ve made this philosophy core to how we operate. Our teams are continuously refining how we surface and share insights that truly matter—those that sharpen strategy, enhance credibility, and prepare clients for what’s next. For example, we’ve increased the types of tools we rely on ranging from LLM rankers to neural network-based graphics evaluation tools.
We’ve honed our process to ensure every piece of intelligence we deliver is relevant, actionable, and timely. And our clients notice.
Just recently, a communications leader at a major energy company shared how much they valued the insights we’ve provided, and how our steady pulse on the news has helped them anticipate emerging issues before they hit the headlines. That kind of feedback is a reminder of why this evolution matters.
Because when agencies bring clarity instead of clutter, they become more than a communications agency. They become a trusted extension of the client’s strategic brain trust, an indispensable partner in navigating an increasingly complex landscape.
The Bottom Line
In an era defined by constant disruption, clarity is a competitive advantage.
Agencies that can interpret the noise, surface meaningful insights, and guide clients with confidence are the ones that will thrive. Insight-sharing isn’t just a best practice; it’s the foundation of strategic partnership.
At 10Fold, we’re not just amplifying messages. We’re helping clients understand the market forces shaping those messages and giving them the insight they need to lead.
Learn how we can help here: https://10fold.com/services/metricsmatter/