The deeper I go into brand strategy for frontier-tech companies, the more convinced I am that modern marketing is swinging back toward something refreshingly human. CMOs tell me every week that their ABM dashboards are lit up with data, yet pipeline velocity is crawling. So when Alexandra Corey - who’s turning heads as CMO at Mosaic Manufacturing - agreed to pull back the curtain on her playbook, I jumped.

Mosaic sells industrial-grade 3D-printing systems to the same technical, risk-averse buyers many of my clients at Fello chase in robotics, quantum, and med-tech. If Alexandra can turn that crowd into vocal advocates, any B2B tech team can learn from her approach. Below is the field guide I wish I’d had five years ago -  brutal lessons and practical frameworks you can swipe for your next board meeting.

Strategy 1 – Tactile Marketing: The Comeback of Physical Sample Mailouts

When you put a real, engineered sample into your prospect's hands, you ignite curiosity and trust in ways no digital campaign can replicate.

Why Everyone Ditched Direct Mail

You and I both remember the mad dash to “go all digital” around 2017. Marketing Ops teams everywhere told us that anything without a pixel was impossible to attribute, so direct mail budgets evaporated almost overnight. When everyone started getting way too many emails, real mailboxes became empty. In tech, sending postcards felt outdated next to smart, automated email campaigns.

Why Alexandra - and Now I - Are Doubling Down

In my experience, the surest way to reset an engineer’s skepticism is to let them interact with the product, not just see a render. Alexandra noticed the same thing at Mosaic. By overnighting a precision-printed component to a hot prospect, her team collapses an entire consideration cycle into a single unboxing moment. And the data backs her up: enterprise marketers now rank direct mail as the channel with the highest ROI and best conversion rates available.

Turning Physical Samples Into Pipeline

If you’re thinking, “Nice case study, but how do I operationalize this?”, here’s the process that has worked for both Alexandra and me.

1. Focus only on your highest-value accounts - the ones where a single deal can justify overnight shipping costs many times over.

2. Create a prototype that tells a clear story even if it isn’t production-grade; the goal is to spark curiosity, not to deliver a fully functional unit.

3. Pair every package with a short video QR code where you or an engineer walks through the part’s design in sixty seconds.

Strategy 2 – Events-Led Growth

Going all-in on events-led growth means making experiences the main way to create pipeline and strengthen relationships.

The Power of a Big, Memorable Booth

If you’re already setting aside funds for shows, I’d argue that “going small” is actually the riskier move. Alexandra’s mantra is simple: if Mosaic is going to attend, they attend loudly. Considering that Gartner’s 2024 CMO Spend Survey shows events already consume the largest offline budget slice, you might as well make every square foot unforgettable.

Hosted Experiences That Close Deals

I was once under the impression that a bold booth was the answer. Alexandra taught me to look beyond. The real breakthroughs emerge when the lights go down on the show floor. Mosaic hosts intimate gatherings at their office, brings in a chef, and invites engineers to test-drive the printers over craft beer.

Proving Event ROI Without Badge Scans

Your CEO won’t accept “good vibes” as a KPI, so here’s the attribution framework we use.

1. Connect every attendee to your CRM and track opportunities opened within 90 days - events are rarely a first touch, so influence matters more than source.

2. Film demos and splice them into micro-videos that feed LinkedIn for six weeks; that extends ROI long after the carpet is rolled up.

3. Analyze net revenue retention. When you present pipeline creation, content yield, and LTV in one slide, the million-dollar budget request suddenly feels conservative - especially as the global exhibitions market is set to reach $50.66 billion next year.

Strategy 3 – Quality Over Quantity: Killing the Volume Myth

High-performing teams know that enduring trust is built through personalized, context-rich interactions, not sheer message frequency.

The Hidden Cost of Spray-and-Pray

I know you feel the pressure to fill the funnel. But Alexandra and I agree - that blanket outreach erodes trust faster than it builds reach. The moment a CTO smells automation, your credibility slips a notch you may never get back.

Focus on building trust, not blasting noise.

In B2B, where relationships drive buying decisions, being relevant and making real connections matter more than reaching a massive audience. Alexandra achieves better results when she slows down, speaks directly to a smaller, focused group, and keeps it personal and authentic.

Strategy 4 – The Resurgence of Face-to-Face (and What It Means for 2025)

You’ve probably noticed webinar attendance sliding. Alexandra’s dashboards show the same pattern. One obvious interpretation is digital fatigue after three years of nonstop Zoom. Technical buyers, in particular, crave hands-on access to equipment, opportunities for nuanced discussion, and the chance to form genuine relationships.

If you need board-level justification, remind your directors that 70% of pipeline typically originates from just four channels - events, SEO, social, and paid search - and events are the only one that builds trust in person.

Strategy 5 – From Webinar Fatigue to Podcast Trust

I used to think monthly webinars were essential simply because everyone else was doing them. Alexandra's insights shifted my perspective. Now, you can take those same topics and transform them into a podcast featuring customer interviews. Alexandra points out that podcasts - especially those with real customer stories or industry experts - feel more authentic and foster greater trust for brand storytelling and education.

The broader market aligns: 67% of U.S. adults have listened to a podcast and nearly half tune in monthly. That’s a commute, a jog, or the dishes - moments where your brand can monopolize attention in a way webinar slides never could.

To replicate the outcome, start by making the customer, not your CMO, the star. Promise a six-episode arc so listeners anticipate next week’s drop, then syndicate everywhere: LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify, even the internal Slack you just launched.

Post-Mortem – When a Whitepaper Flopped … and Became a Winner

Alexandra told me about a marketing campaign that didn’t go as planned. Her team released a whitepaper packed with timely insights, expecting it to gain significant traction. Instead, it fell flat. Labeling it a "whitepaper" made it sound too dry, and its launch coincided with a wave of global news, causing it to get lost in the noise. They also distributed it through high-intent channels, which didn’t align with the content’s softer tone.

The lesson? Positioning, timing, and channel fit matter just as much as content quality. Alexandra's team later rebranded it as a "guide," shared it in niche communities, and gated it more strategically - making it a top-performing lead magnet.

I know that pivoting a “finished” asset feels painful, but the lesson is worth embedding into your content governance.

1. Framing matters: people assume whitepapers are dense and academic, while guides promise utility.

2. Timing trumps quality; even brilliant content drowns during geopolitical drama or an Apple keynote.

3. Channel fit is everything. Early-stage education belongs in peer communities; late-stage proof belongs where CFOs search for ROI.

The Human Edge in Deep-Tech Marketing

If Alexandra’s journey at Mosaic teaches you anything, it’s that data-driven doesn’t have to mean disembodied. In markets where the stakes (and ACVs) are astronomical, the surest competitive moat is human connection channeled through smart systems. When you pair tactile proof with unforgettable experiences, prioritize intimacy over quantity, and adopt content formats people genuinely enjoy, you compress sales cycles and protect budget in lean quarters.

It's something you already recognize: technology convinces the mind, but experience wins the heart. Build both into your 2025 plan and the board slides will come together easily.