Welcome to The BTB – your view into what's driving the conversation in B2B technology. Our proprietary look across traditional, social, and alternative media landscapes pulls from a treasure trove of tools overlaid with analysis from our in-house experts. We look at mainstream, trade, and social media from the previous month to determine who is talking, what they're talking about, and why. In-depth monitoring, analysis, and going beneath the surface of what's trending is critical to bringing value to our clients. Our aptly named BTBs are just one of the tools we use to Be There Before™ for our clients.
Philosophers have long pondered whether a tree makes a noise if there is no one around to hear it. Similarly, we have to wonder if an article can be about tech if it doesn’t mention data or AI.
Across our tracked verticals, AI was a dominant through-line, with coverage touching on three areas: potential, concerns, and use cases. Data coverage was a little more disparate, but generally, the conversation revolves around the potential for and protection of data within each vertical.
Election results and predictions of how the incoming Trump administration will impact specific technology policies and regulations also received significant media attention. This speculation will certainly continue through the new year and January 20th, when we expect a shift towards more news-based appointments and announced plans.
Insurtech coverage, prominent in our priority publications, focused on catastrophic weather events and how to best respond to, predict, and cover hazardous weather in the future.
Anecdotally, coverage overall seems to be slowing down (and we suspect it will continue to through the winter holidays) and then jump-start in early 2025, starting with a deluge of announcements coming out of or made around CES.
"AI" and "Data" led the charge in overlapping conversations among our B2B tech verticals. There are copious questions surrounding AI's potential, and each of our verticals is covering it with cautious optimism, considering data access, bandwidth for processing, and the change management needed both within the enterprise and with consumers as AI adoption continues.
"Administration" was common across cybersecurity, connectivity, and insurtech. These verticals stand to see the most immediate and jarring change with President-Elect Trump’s incoming administration, so it is unsurprising to see this term reflected here.
Cloud coverage continues to carry the largest SOV among our priority publications. This was expected as on-demand access to computing is a relevant part of almost all B2B tech conversations.
We were surprised to see the cybersecurity coverage equaling fintech and connectivity as security historically tends to drive more coverage. We think that a lack of major breach news in November, combined with the pull of the election decreased media coverage of cybersecurity.
We monitor coverage across vertical trades in three main topics: policy and compliance, investment and funding, and innovation. Policy and compliance coverage was the largest bucket of trade coverage across almost all verticals, except fintech, which had considerably more innovation and investment coverage.
Click on a topic below to drill down further into the conversation.
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Substack, the online platform that allows writers, journalists, and content creators to publish and monetize their content independently, continues growing. Substack reports over 35 million readers and three million paid subscribers, with more and more notable journalists and pundits starting newsletters daily. Are you just getting your Substack feet wet? Check out Fintech Business Weekly by Jason Mikula, The Cloud Security Guy by Taimur Ijlal, or Insurtech Weekly by Florian Graillot for a quick update on insurtech news.
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"AI" and related hashtags appeared across all of our key verticals in November, with conversations focused on using AI to combat evolving cyber threats, automate tasks, enhance data analysis, and streamline operations.
Crypto conversations varied in November, ranging from education and regulatory challenges to the growing combination of AI, IoT, and blockchain across sectors, signaling a shift toward more integrated solutions.
Across our tracked verticals, Fintech came out on top for mentions, reach, and impressions, thanks to a combination of mainstream and niche media mentions as well as high individual user conversation.
Conversely, while Insurtech earned the lowest metrics across the board, the sector saw a higher ratio of impressions to reach, primarily due to reshares of content involving both insurance and AI.
B2B tech conversations were all wrapped up in AI, crypto, and cybersecurity. Early in the month, posts were generally election related, but since President-Elect Trump's victory, conversations have broadened a bit to become more speculative and future-focused. Fintech was experiencing above-normal conversation levels, predominantly driven by posts about crypto.
Bluesky is the latest of the X alternatives that has seen a surge in users since the 2024 presidential election results. The 24 million current Bluesky users include journalists, government officials, and other notable figures, with more joining each day. If you’re not sure where to start, check out these “Starter Packs” for potential follows: News/Media, Financial Times Staff, Journalists, and Local Media.
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