January 21, 2025

Unconventional B2B Marketing: Building Human Connections in an AI World

As marketing becomes increasingly automated and AI-driven, traditional methods of outreach are losing their effectiveness. "Buyers are becoming more sophisticated, they're becoming smarter, they're becoming more other-aware," Wright explains. "They can sniff the sales pitch from a mile away."

In a recent conversation with Nate Wright, founder of B2B Bandits, we explored how marketing and sales professionals can break through the digital noise and build meaningful connections in today’s increasingly automated world. With 16 years of experience in B2B marketing, Wright offers unique perspectives on what works—and what doesn’t—when trying to stand out in 2024 and beyond.

The Problem with Traditional Approaches

As marketing becomes increasingly automated and AI-driven, traditional methods of outreach are losing their effectiveness. “Buyers are becoming more sophisticated, they’re becoming smarter, they’re becoming more other-aware,” Wright explains. “They can sniff the sales pitch from a mile away.”

This heightened awareness means that conventional tactics like gated content, automated follow-ups, and generic outreach are yielding diminishing returns. The solution? A return to human connection, albeit with some unconventional twists.

The Power of Tone in Marketing

One of the most overlooked aspects of marketing communication is tone. While messaging often gets the spotlight, Wright argues that tone is what ultimately gets prospects to drop their guard and engage in real conversation. “Tone is what is going to get them to drop their guard and actually have that conversation,” he notes.

This focus on tone becomes particularly crucial in written communication, where subtle nuances can make the difference between connection and rejection. The challenge lies in conveying authenticity through digital channels while maintaining professionalism.

Unconventional Strategies that Work

Wright shared several innovative approaches that his team is currently implementing:

1. Operation Donut Drop

Instead of traditional cold outreach, Wright’s team is executing what they call “Operation Donut Drop”—sending actual donuts to office gatekeepers and decision-makers. This old-school approach, costing about $20-50 per appointment, builds reciprocity and creates memorable interactions that digital outreach simply can’t match.

2. Virtual Lunch and Learns

During the pandemic, one of Wright’s clients transformed traditional steak lunches into virtual sessions by providing DoorDash codes to prospects. This allowed for maintaining personal connection while adapting to remote work realities.

3. Untracked Email Campaigns

Counter-intuitively, Wright’s team has found success by disabling tracking on email campaigns. “We started getting more organic replies,” he notes. While this means less data, it often results in more authentic engagement.

The Future of Marketing Events

Despite the digital transformation of business, Wright strongly believes in the growing importance of in-person events. “Human-to-human live events is going to be the only way to actually prove that you care enough about that relationship to show up,” he predicts. This becomes especially crucial as AI-generated video becomes increasingly sophisticated and harder to distinguish from genuine human interaction.

Content Strategy for 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, Wright identifies three key areas where marketers should focus their efforts:

Strategic Partnerships: “If I’m going to spend all this time like human effort into developing a relationship, I can develop a relationship with a client, or I could develop a relationship with someone that could get me in front of 10 clients.”
In-Person Events: As digital interactions become increasingly AI-driven, face-to-face meetings will become more valuable for building trust and relationships.
Deep, Technical Content: “If you’re going to put out an ebook, why don’t you put out a full-size book? If you’re going to do some videos, why don’t you dig into the hard stuff, give them the PhD level stuff?”

The Death of Gated Content

One of the most interesting insights Wright shared was about the declining effectiveness of gated content. His team is currently in the process of removing gates from all their content, recognizing that forms often create unnecessary friction in the buyer’s journey.

“In a human-to-human interaction, would you ask someone to provide their thumbprint just for tracking purposes?” Wright asks rhetorically. “Are you willing to sacrifice a human relationship that may not lead to a sale but might lead to five referrals so that you could track it?”

LinkedIn Thought Leadership Strategy

Wright shared a particularly valuable tactical tip about LinkedIn advertising: personal posts sponsored by businesses are proving to be more cost-effective than traditional company posts. This approach allows for better targeting while maintaining a more personal, authentic tone that resonates with B2B audiences.

Building Trust in a Digital World

Throughout the conversation, one theme remained constant: the importance of building genuine trust in an increasingly artificial world. Wright suggests several ways to achieve this:

Focus on providing value without immediate expectation of return
Share deep, technical knowledge freely
Invest in real human connections through events and personal interaction
Use unconventional approaches that demonstrate genuine interest in relationship-building

Looking Ahead

As we move into 2025, Wright emphasizes the importance of balancing digital efficiency with human connection. While AI and automation will continue to play important roles in marketing, success will increasingly depend on our ability to create genuine human connections and provide real value.

“If people know that you’re willing to do hard things for them and not expect anything in return, they’re more likely to drop their guard,” Wright explains. This principle will become even more crucial as digital marketing continues to evolve.

Final Thoughts

The future of B2B marketing isn’t about choosing between digital and human approaches—it’s about finding innovative ways to use technology while maintaining authentic human connections. As Wright puts it, “Whether or not we do business together, I think you should do it this way.” This focus on providing value and building genuine relationships, regardless of immediate business outcomes, may be the key to standing out in an increasingly automated world.

In 2025 and beyond, the most successful marketers will be those who can effectively combine technological efficiency with authentic human connection, creating meaningful relationships that transcend traditional business transactions.