Call me ‘Captain Obvious,’ but I have always been a people person, which is why I believe marketing begins and ends with people. Yet, unless you are living under a rock, you’re being inundated with ‘experts’ and ads for AI tools that are encouraging you to allow AI agents to handle everything from writing, producing, and distributing content to outreach and closing sales. And in theory, AI can do all of that. But the question is, are the people you are marketing to cool with that? Or are they recognizing that it’s AI and just brushing you off?

I do use AI, and I think it’s a great collaboration tool, but I am finding that even warm outreach that has been personalized by things that I know, and AI does not, is getting ignored. I believe it’s because:

• AI is being overused with generic messages that are filling up inboxes.
• We are becoming numb to the overwhelming flood of cold outreach, so it’s becoming a reflex to ignore or delete.
• Phone calls go to voicemail, and texts no longer have the immediacy that they once had.
• Social media has lost its community feel and become more of an ad platform.
• We are all so damn busy trying to work on and in our businesses.

So I thought I would do an experiment and ask social AI what it thought I could do to get people to pay attention and interact human-to-human more. I asked:

“What are my 5 strongest activities to create new clients for B2b Interactive Marketing and re-engage past clients and prospects on a human level?”

Here’s what AI suggested I could do.

Personally: Reactivate Past Clients, Prospects, and Referral Partners

I have done this through email. I chose my broadcast email account over a standard Apple Mail account because I wanted to create a reconnect message with eye-catching graphics.

Standing out in an inbox should have a better open rate than a plain email because our inboxes are deluged with requests from AI companies, web developers, and random companies reaching out with boring email sequences that fall flat in the first paragraph.

My first attempt went to 68 people from my CRM with whom I’ve had past conversations. I added a link to my calendar to book on their time.

I had 29 opens, 5 clicks, and successfully booked 4 calls. They have been great conversations that proved valuable for both of us.

I will try another broadcast email to the people who did not open, reaching out again, but with a standard Apple email this time. It’s a fine line between “I missed your message” and “I ignored it”. I don’t want to be a pest, but it’s clear that this may take multiple attempts.

Build a Focused Named-Account List and Engage It on LinkedIn

I have used AI to help me identify companies and people on LinkedIn. This list included companies in the same industry that I have worked in over the last 10 years.

I reached out via LinkedIn with a connection request and a message stating my experience and desire to connect, without pushing to sell anything. Since I can’t message 2nd- or 3rd-level connections, I made sure we had at least one mutual connection first.

This has been a dud with no new connections. It’s either because it was just another cold connection request, or the people I targeted are not active on the platform.

I think another option is to follow those people and others at their company. You can’t send multiple connection requests, but you can try your best to get into the view of people who may actually need what you have to offer.

Publish Useful Point-of-View Content Tied to Client Problems

This is and has been a cornerstone of my marketing for years. I write this blog once per week, and I am always in contact with people to get a pulse of what problems they have and how they are trying to solve them.

Creating content is one thing and distributing it is another. I post to my website, post to social media, add it as a LinkedIn newsletter, and then email a link to my list. Having multiple platforms and touchpoints is key to creating an attention ecosystem that meets audiences where they are.

You can’t control who sees it on social media, but you can get a better result from your email list. The key is staying up to date on new and old connections, and trying to constantly add new ones.

Turn Former Wins Into Proof Assets and “Marketing Checkups”

Although I have produced blogs, videos, ebooks, checklists, and more, they still need new eyes seeing them to be useful to your business. The other challenge is that some clients don’t want you to broadcast their secret sauce (your help with their success) to their competition.

When you do connect with new people and prospects, these are useful tools to send as a sample after initial meetings. This is where adding them to an email program with their permission can trigger an automation of 3 or more emails that link to these assets.

The key is to stay relevant and fresh to people who are just getting to know you, whether or not they are solid prospects or just interesting people.

It also makes sense to revisit your assets often and update them based on current trends and client interactions.

Systematically Ask for Introductions and Partner Referrals

This requires relationship-building and communication. When I enter a catch-up meeting, I ask them to contact me if I can help make a connection and to keep me in mind if someone wants to talk about what I do.

Just communicating that you want referrals will fall on deaf ears. What really works is helping them first, if you can, and then hoping and asking for reciprocation. It’s a pay-it-forward mentality that has reaped the best referrals for my business.

This, of course, only works if you are doing all of the above to connect, communicate, and show mutual benefit.

Closing Thought

I think by now you are saying to yourself, “This sounds like a lot of work?” Yes, it is. But it’s worth it.

AI can do a lot to support you in your marketing, from creating content to even distributing it, but nothing can replace the need for human-to-human interaction throughout the process.

You can spend a lot of time trying to program AI to know your business and customers, but it has no idea about your personal relationships. It hasn’t experienced enough past interactions to help you with future ones.

Captain Obvious famously says:

• “The best way to get somewhere is to go there.”

• “If you don’t start, you will remain exactly where you are.”

• “A meeting is much shorter when nobody talks.”

But my personal favorite is: “You always find what you are looking for in the last place you look.” But if you are not actively looking (for new business), it certainly may not just find you.

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.