From Prompts to Procedures: What 2025 Actually Taught Us About AI
150,000 words of data show B2B marketers stopped using AI to write and started using it to review. The top workflows that won.
This year, you stopped asking AI to write for you. You started asking it to check your work.
The data backs this up. Out of 115 posts and 150,000 words, your most-opened content focused on reviewing landing pages, tightening executive messaging, and validating claims before publication. “Editor” themed posts outperformed “creator” posts by a clear margin.
Meanwhile, this newsletter more than doubled in size. We went from around 135 subscribers to well over 300. And the engagement patterns reveal what brought you here. Competitive intelligence posts hit the highest open rates of any category. You want workflows you can reuse. And you want impactful messaging that win deals.
By the Numbers
115 posts (87 newsletters, 28 podcasts)
~150,000 words
39.1% average open rate
125% audience growth
Help support and promote small businesses by sharing this post with a friend.
Top 5 Workflows
These got bookmarked and reused. The Sales Plays and Buyer Personas workflows were reopened 4.5x each. You’re building a reference library over here. (I see you, fellow hoarders.)
B2B Prompt Engineering for PMMs: The foundation. Everything else was built on this.
Competitive Landscape Mapping: Strategic intel is hard. This made it systematic.
Executive Messaging Review & Harmonization: Getting execs to agree on messaging? There’s a workflow for that now.
Turn Web Pages into Marketing-Ready Data Sheets: Hours saved, every single time.
Landing Page Copy Review: Even the best writers need a second pair of eyes. And AI doesn’t get defensive when you ignore its feedback.
Top 5 Podcasts
Deep conversations with practitioners who’ve made the mistakes so you don’t have to. Note, these Top 5 are based on Substack newsletter open rates, not the number of YouTube views, which paints a different picture.
The Customer Hero Principle: Gabriela Contreras (Skyline Marketing) on ruthless audience prioritization and escaping jargon land
From “AI-Ready” to AI Reality: Shane Murray (Monte Carlo Data) on why building beats endless planning
Your Netflix Moment: Catalina Herrera (Dataiku) on why most AI agent pilots fail
Stop Chasing Hallucinations: Hyoun Park (Amalgam Insights) on fixing context gaps in agentic AI
The AI Agent Mistake 90% of Leaders Make: Chelsea Wise (Relevance AI) on why learning together beats rushing to implement
Top 5 How-To Guides
The stuff you read between meetings. Short-form guides actually outperformed long-form podcasts this year. Respecting your time pays off.
Should You Turn ChatGPT’s Memory On or Off?: The privacy vs. productivity tradeoff we’re all navigating
Tutorial: Prompt Engineering for PMMs: The companion piece to the #1 workflow
Deep Fake Dave & The Future of AI Personas: AI isn’t just writing anymore. It’s becoming.
Marketing Mad Libs: Prompt Variables: Level up with variables
Customizing GPTs for Authentic Content: Making AI sound like you
Looking at 2026
My bet for next year is that the conversation moves from “prompt workflows” to “automation.”
Not the “set it and forget it” kind, we’ve all been burned by that promise. I’m talking about automated workflows that run reliably on their own. Agents that check their own work and marketing systems, where you review exceptions instead of every single output.
The real question becomes: how do I trust the output enough to stop babysitting it?
I’ll be honest. I don’t have that figured out. But I’m spending 2026 working on it, and I’ll share what works. And what fails spectacularly.
Which workflow saved you the most time this year? Hit reply and tell me. Your answers shape what gets built next.
P.S. Saturday posts got +2% higher open rates. Turns out you prefer AI content when you’re not trapped in back-to-back meetings.
About David Sweenor
David Sweenor is an expert in AI, generative AI, and product marketing. He brings this expertise to the forefront as the founder of TinyTechGuides and host of the Data Faces podcast. A recognized top 25 analytics thought leader and international speaker, David specializes in practical business applications of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics.
Books
Artificial Intelligence: An Executive Guide to Make AI Work for Your Business
Generative AI Business Applications: An Executive Guide with Real-Life Examples and Case Studies
The Generative AI Practitioner’s Guide: How to Apply LLM Patterns for Enterprise Applications
The CIO’s Guide to Adopting Generative AI: Five Keys to Success
Modern B2B Marketing: A Practitioner’s Guide to Marketing Excellence
The PMM’s Prompt Playbook: Mastering Generative AI for B2B Marketing Success
With over 25 years of hands-on experience implementing AI and analytics solutions, David has supported organizations including Alation, Alteryx, TIBCO, SAS, IBM, Dell, and Quest. His work spans marketing leadership, analytics implementation, and specialized expertise in AI, machine learning, data science, IoT, and business intelligence.
David holds several patents and consistently delivers insights that bridge technical capabilities with business value.
Follow David on Twitter@DavidSweenor and connect with him onLinkedIn.