Best modern methods for B2B niche software lead generation

I run a company (20+ years) offering software and SaaS that people don't know about until they 'need' it (as dictated by their larger vendors usually).

The we niche we occupy in this area is small to mid-size biz, ideally with one main IT Person. (1-100 employee companies). Folks who want 'old fashioned' human customer service and support, and not a lot of 'gotchas' or hidden costs that our competitors employ. The customers we get tend to love us, but because the biggest players in this space have such a huge web and paid ad prescence, its hard for us to be found online (other than Reddit, Capterra) to acquire new customers. No likelihood for Socials to get us leads in this sector.

I've paid Sapper consulting (Abstrakt) 5 figures for nearly a year of 'cold outreach' via Emails and calls, but didn't get any real ROI out of it. Maybe a dozen OK meetings setup. Its hard to get a person not looking for our product to care, and if they already have the type of solution that we offer, its likely they're already in a 'sunk cost' situation even if they're unhappy with their current provider.

So our best options are Reddit (Free, infinite ROI) and Capterra (software review site) – Expensive ish, but has a decent measurable ROI… But it seems like our cost per ad/ Cost per Lead are all over the place, and almost random.

And I don't trust Google Adwords anymore since 'Phrase Match' that we need is now 'Broad Match' so they can show your ad to people who aren't interested so Google gets paid more.

I thought about doing some old fashioned mailings, with an intro letter saying:
"Hi (IT Person) – I know you're probably not looking for our product now. But if you're unhappy with your current provider or just want competitive pricing to give you more leverage when they raise their prices again… Please feel free to reach out. No strings."

Cold Email seems to not be worth the 2% reply rates but let me know what works for others in the IT B2B sector. Thanks!