B2B marketing in 2020 vs 2026 is like two different planets.
I spent a 5 years in B2C before shifting to B2B, the transformation is insane.
What worked in 2020:
Email blasts. Gated PDFs. SEO blogs. Trade shows. SDR armies. Webinars that looked like PowerPoints with voiceovers. It was all linear, manual, predictable.
What works in 2026:
LinkedIn creators. Founder-led content. Short-form video. AI-personalized outreach. ABM that looks more like sniper work than spray-and-pray. Communities, group chats, dark social. Micro-events instead of mega-conferences.
The real shift is this:
👉 Trust is at an all-time low.
👉 Everyone has AI. Everyone can scale content. 👉 Everyone can automate everything.
Which means the things AI can’t fake are now the actual growth drivers.
Your face. Your voice. Your experiences. Your POV. Your consistency. Your credibility.
In 2020, people bought from brands. In 2026, people buy from people.
The more “human” your marketing becomes, the better your pipeline performs.
The future of B2B isn’t automation is authenticity at scale.