By Adam Herbert, CEO & Co-founder, Go Live Data
The world of B2B marketing is moving fast. High-volume emails, tired sales funnels, and generic outreach are no longer fit for purpose. Combined with audiences who are more discerning, the bar for trust is much higher, with AI rewriting the rules. But here’s the thing, smarter doesn’t mean louder. It means more considered, more intentional and more respectful.
At Go Live Data, we’ve spent the last five years challenging the norms of B2B marketing. In an industry that often prioritises leads over loyalty, we do things differently by putting people first and great marketing is built on trust. So, how can today’s businesses in any sectors, build campaigns that actually connect and convert to secure real business growth? According to Adam Herbert, here are the principles they live by:
It’s people first – not leads
It may sound obvious, but in B2B this is a principal that’s often forgotten, but we’re marketing to people and not just contacts. They are real people with goals who are likely experiencing inbox fatigue, and a possible low tolerance for ‘noise.’ Too many campaigns still prioritise what a business wants to say, instead of what the recipient needs to hear. That’s why the first rule of smarter B2B marketing is respect the recipients’ time, interests, and of course, their data.
B2B marketers should therefore be asking; “Is this message helpful, timely, and relevant?” If the answer’s no, then don’t send it.
Lead with education
While AI makes it easy to produce content at scale if you’re not offering value, your audience will simply switch off. So instead, use AI to identify knowledge gaps and provide real, helpful insight.
At Go Live Data for example, we follow the 80/20 rule, which means 80% of content should be educational and 20% should be promotional. It’s using content that builds trust as opposed to selling, and a key thing to remember here is that trust isn’t earned by technology – it’s earned by how useful the content is that’s being shared.
AI to power insight
With AI transforming B2B marketing and most industries – whether that be from analysing buyer journeys or identifying real-time signals of interest to business, it must remain as a means of support. When used well, AI helps us personalise content, track engagement, and understand what really matters to recipients. Combined with human intelligence, empathy, timing, and irreplaceable judgment, our job as marketers is to connect people to people.
Track real intent
Forget open rates and click-throughs. The smartest B2B marketers are using AI to uncover deeper insights such as who’s revisiting content, which topics they engage with and how long for. That’s where intent data becomes transformational, as it tells you not just who’s interested, but what they care about. This allows for timely, relevant follow-up that feels personalised and welcome.
Ethical data
The foundation of any campaign is the data, but if it’s outdated, irrelevant, or non-compliant, your campaign is doomed before it starts. With many companies still cleaning their data once a year or less, it’s no surprise that return on investment in outbound marketing is low. At Go Live Data, we clean our data every 30 days – and for good reason. People change roles, businesses shift direction, and trust relies on accuracy. It’s a simple yet imperative practice that’s often ignored or selectively overlooked, usually because it’s a heavy lift for marketing teams without the right technology.
How data is used is just as important. Transparency must be non-negotiable and GDPR compliance and recipient-first practices build trust. AI can help spot trends, but ethics must lead on your decision-making.
Frequency rules: less is more
One of the biggest misconceptions in B2B is that more outreach equals more results. But in reality, overcommunication erodes trust. Fast. That’s why we developed Frequency Rules; an AI-supported framework that ensures outreach only happens when it matters. It helps businesses pace communication in a way that feels natural and considered, not automated or aggressive. This is what we advise any business to adhere to. By doing so, the result will be better engagement, fewer unsubscribes, and longer-term loyalty.
Building connections
Ultimately, smarter marketing isn’t about squeezing people through a pipeline. It’s about building meaningful relationships over time. The businesses that succeed over the next decade will be those that show up consistently with relevance, empathy, and value. It’ll be those that listen the best, and unlikely be those who shout the loudest.
If we want to build B2B campaigns that actually grow businesses, we need to rethink the metrics for success. Less of “how many emails did we send?” and more of “how many people did we help?” Smarter campaigns start with a mindset shift – from demanding attention to earning trust. When we do that, we are building better businesses, and a better future for marketing itself.
About Adam Herbert
Adam Herbert is the CEO and co-founder of Go Live Data, one of the UK’s fastest-growing data and marketing intelligence companies. With over 20 years in the industry, he’s a leading voice in ethical outbound marketing and is known for challenging outdated marketing norms.
Go Live Data
Go Live Data works with some of the biggest names in the corporate world and many SMEs in the UK and overseas. The team provides the cleanest, most accurate B2B data available of 100 million companies, servicing the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, and UAE territories. This enables highly effective and profitable marketing campaigns to be conducted, leading to growth for their clients. A team of 20 based in Manchester, Go Live Data is pioneering ‘frequency rules’ in the marketing and data industry, which sets itself apart by putting the recipient at the core of everything it does. Unlike the majority of the industry, its data is cleaned every 30 days rather than every 12–18 months. This results in a much better end-user experience for those who receive educational data they need. Prioritising client support and building long-term trust and relationships, Go Live Data is redefining what ethical, high-performance marketing looks like.
Find out more at www.go-data.com
