B2B marketing doesn’t have to be boring—and GitHub’s Senior Marketing Director Brad Doss is proof.

With a community of over 150 million developers, many at companies worldwide, Brad and the Marketing leadership team have nailed a strategy that keeps human interaction at its heart while driving serious business results.

With these gems from our conversation with Brad, you’ll learn how he and the marketing team integrate human connections, community-led growth, and pure marketing fun into their go-to-market (GTM) strategy

In addition to a few tips, you can bring to your own business of course.

So without further ado, lets get into today’s newsletter with Brad Doss.

GitHub's Marketing Secret

High-Investment, High-Return: Why Human Interaction Still Matters

In a marketing world of increasing automation, AI personalization, AI targeting, and signals, there’s one thing we all know.

AI and automation are great, but throughout our conversation, Brad emphasized that nothing replaces genuine human interaction.

At GitHub, Brad’s team regularly interacts with customers through events, targeted webinars, and personal outreach to high-value accounts.

Why?

GitHub leverages these interactions not just as opportunities to sell but as moments to build real relationships.

In other words, these personal touch points are high-investment marketing, but as Brad's team has discovered, the returns on trust and loyalty make it worthwhile.

How GitHub Lets Its Community Do the Marketing

Sometimes it feels like a fluff piece when marketers talk about their “community”.

But in our interview with Brad, he made it clear that community-led growth is the "cornerstone" of GitHub’s success.

But how exactly does the brand get developers from around the world to advocate on their behalf? It’s simple…

Make it easy (and fun) to spread brand affinity.

At recent events like Google Cloud Next, GitHub didn’t just set up a booth or keynote to offer product demos or highlights —they gave away custom "Mona" stickers (GitHub’s beloved mascot) in various whimsical scenarios.

The result? Lines so long they required crowd control.

The takeaway? Real community marketing isn’t just a buzzword. Community-led growth succeeds best when it’s genuinely enjoyable for your audience.

💡 Think: Stickers might sound like a gimmick, but GitHub’s ICP is made up of developers.

And what do developers do? Use their laptops to make wonderful software. The other thing that they like to do is sticker bomb those laptops.

So ask yourself, what does your audience care about, and how can you find a way to make brand promotion more fun for your end users?

Make Marketing Fun (Even When Selling Serious Tech)

B2B marketers often assume "serious" equals "boring," but Brad rejected that thinking outright. At GitHub, even detailed technical conversations are infused with creativity and excitement.

Brad explained their philosophy to me straight:

That "fun factor" isn’t just icing on the cake; it’s essential to their broader GTM strategy. Making marketing enjoyable creates lasting impressions and deeper customer loyalty.

GitHub’s GTM Strategy in Action

Brad's "human-centric" approach isn't random - it's intentionally structured within the broader Marketing context of GitHub's "Land, Secure and Accelerate" GTM framework:

• Land: Highlight the core value of GitHub's platform to grow with existing and acquire net-new customers 

• Secure: Deepen trust by showcasing built-in security capabilities and proactive remediation solutions 

• Accelerate: Enhance user productivity by accelerating developer workflows with AI

Each phase integrates community-driven marketing, digital touchpoints, personalized human interaction and memorable experience to create a seamless journey from initial awareness to long-term loyalty.

Key Takeaways For B2B Marketers:

• Invest in genuine human interactions: High-touch marketing leads to deeper, more valuable customer relationships.

• Leverage your community: Give your users simple, fun ways to advocate for your brand naturally.

• Don’t shy away from fun: Memorable experiences build affinity, and affinity builds long-term customers and fans.

Brad’s approach proves you don’t need to choose between performance and personality. Great B2B marketing, done right, can—and should—have both.

The goal of AskCMO is to help you become a better B2B marketer. We’d love to get your honest feedback.

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