Why some B2B brands fail to resonate (and how to fix it)

Many B2B brands struggle to strike an emotional chord with buyers. Fortunately, new research and proven frameworks can help marketers build brands that stand out and forge stronger connections.

Would it surprise you to learn that only 1% of top decision-makers believe B2B marketing shows a meaningful understanding of the human experience? It’s a startling statistic – and it points to a serious disconnect. In survey after survey, business leaders admit that B2B brands often feel boring, predictable and repetitive. 

In one recent report, 82% of executives described B2B marketing as dull and undifferentiated, with 88% yearning for a bolder, more provocative approach from brands. If your brand’s message is blending in instead of standing out, chances are you’re failing to resonate with the very audience you’re trying to win. 

The good news? By diagnosing the common pitfalls and applying a smarter playbook, B2B marketers can course-correct and build brands that truly connect.

Common pitfalls

It’s often said that B2B has traditionally been the land of logic, where emotional storytelling takes a backseat. But as it turns out, buyers are still human – and human beings remember and respond to more than just facts and figures. Here are some frequent reasons B2B brands struggle to make an impact:

• Lack of clarity and focus: Many B2B companies dilute their message with jargon, technical specs, or laundry lists of features. The result is a confused audience. Marketing clarity is essential for B2B brands – if a potential customer doesn’t understand what value you offer or what problem you solve, they’ll simply move on. Overcomplicated messaging (or constantly changing taglines and positioning) leaves prospects unsure of what your brand stands for, making it hard for them to relate or remember you.
• Blanding, not branding: In an effort to appear professional, B2B brands often converge on the same tired visuals and tone – think generic stock photos, blue logos, and buzzword-laden copy. The outcome is a sea of indistinguishable brands. No wonder 56% of business leaders feel B2B brands speak to them like “anonymous automatons” defined only by a job title. Brands that play it too safe end up with bland branding that fails to stand out or spark interest. If your messaging and look could easily be swapped with a competitor’s, it’s a sign of weak distinctiveness.=
• No emotional hook): B2B marketers sometimes assume buyers are strictly rational actors making cold, logical decisions. The result: campaigns overloaded with data, specs, and ROI calculations but no heart or story. Ironically, this undermines effectiveness. A LinkedIn B2B Institute analysis of 1,600 B2B ads found that 75% scored poorly on emotional appeal – a major reason so much B2B creative underperforms. When every ad sticks to safe claims and product features, nothing engages the buyer’s feelings. As one agency put it, B2B content often prioritizes “product truths over human truths,” focusing on the what (the product) rather than the why (the buyer’s motivation or problem). Lacking an emotional hook, these brands fail to form any lasting impression in the buyer’s mind.=
• Misaligned messaging and customer disconnect: Even experienced B2B marketers can fall into the trap of talking more about their own company than about the customer. Brands that don’t reflect their audience’s needs and aspirations will struggle to resonate. In fact, 82% of B2B buyers say brands fail to personalize their approach or show they truly understand the audience. If your messaging is all about your product’s greatness and not about solving the customer’s pain point (or helping them succeed), you risk coming off as tone-deaf. Misaligned messaging erodes trust – it makes buyers question whether you “get” them at all. Ensuring your brand voice is customer-centric and empathetic is crucial; without it, emotional connection is almost impossible to achieve. 
• Fear of boldness (risk aversion): Behind many of these issues lies a cultural challenge: a reluctance to take risks. B2B organizations often have a conservative, risk-averse mindset. They worry that a creative or unconventional approach might alienate someone, so they stick to the status quo. This “kiss of beige”  leads to watered-down campaigns approved by committee – and promptly ignored by the market. Ironically, this fear of standing out virtually guarantees you won’t be remembered at all. In branding, playing it safe is often the riskiest move because invisibility is a bigger threat than a few detractors.

In short, B2B brands fail to resonate when they lack a clear, compelling story and a human touch. Next, let’s look at what does work, according to the data, and how marketers can fix these issues.

Effective branding

The past few years have seen a surge of research into B2B marketing effectiveness – and the findings bust a few myths. It turns out that the fundamentals of good branding are strikingly similar in B2B and B2C. Here are some evidence-based principles that top B2B brands use to connect and drive results:

• Emotion powers memory: B2B purchases may involve committees and ROI analysis, but emotional factors heavily influence which brands get picked. Studies show 84% of B2B buyers ultimately base their decisions on emotion, often justifying the choice with rational reasons later. In fact, advertising that evokes emotion can be seven times more effective at driving long-term sales than purely rational messaging. This is because emotion aids memory encoding – we remember feelings and stories, not just specs. Campaigns that make buyers feel (inspired, confident, safe about choosing you) build stronger memory links with your brand. As Professor John Dawes famously explained, “Advertising mainly works by building and refreshing memory links to the brand… if your advertising is better at building brand-relevant memories, your brand becomes more competitive”. In plain terms: the brands that evoke something in the buyer (a laugh, a sense of trust, an “aha” moment) are the ones that come to mind when the purchase decision is on the line.
• Distinctiveness over differentiation: It’s not just what you say – it’s how recognizably you say it. Modern B2B branding leans into category distinctiveness, ensuring your brand assets and tone are unique in your sector. Research indicates that the brands with high “mental availability” (being easily called to mind) win by default because buyers are cognitively lazy – they grab the option that’s salient and familiar. One famous example is the old IBM adage, “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM,” which built mental availability by appealing to emotion (reassurance) and making IBM the safe, top-of-mind choice. Distinctive assets – from your logo and color palette to a tagline or even a mascot – act as memory shortcuts. If your marketing consistently links those distinctive cues to key buying situations, customers will recall your brand first when that need arises. The takeaway from the data is clear: being memorable beats just being logical. B2B brands that are talked about (achieving a bit of “fame” in their niche) see dramatically better results than those that remain obscure.
• Share of voice and broad reach: You can’t resonate with people who never see or hear your message. An IPA/LinkedIn B2B study by researchers Les Binet and Peter Field confirmed that the classic share of voice rule holds true in B2B: brands that consistently advertise at a higher share-of-voice than their market share tend to grow, whereas those that underspend tend to shrink. In other words, brand presence matters. The same study found that effectiveness in B2B, just like B2C, relies on reaching broadly into the market and building mental availability at scale. If a brand only ever targets a tiny pool of in-market buyers (e.g. via highly narrow account-based marketing) and neglects broader awareness, it misses out on future customers and fails to imprint on the wider audience’s memory. The data suggests B2B marketers should think beyond the bottom-funnel – by investing in brand campaigns that reach a wider swath of potential buyers, you “fill the funnel” for tomorrow and increase your chances of being remembered. A strong share of voice, paired with a distinctive message, creates a multiplier effect: people hear your name often and recall it vividly, which is key to resonance.
• Balancing brand and activation: Effectiveness in B2B comes from getting the mix right between long-term brand building and short-term sales activation. Sales activation (think promos, demos, lead-gen offers) drives immediate response but has fleeting impact, while brand building (emotional storytelling, thought leadership, broad campaigns) creates lasting preference. Binet and Field’s analysis suggests B2B firms should allocate roughly 46% of their marketing budget to brand-building and 54% to activation for optimal results. Many failing brands tilt too far toward activation – every campaign is a product push or discount, with no investment in brand equity. The science shows that brands need both: The emotional brand works to prime buyers’ minds, and the rational activation to trigger immediate action when buyers are ready. Skew too much toward the short term, and you never become the default brand in anyone’s memory. 

Top tips on how to fix it

Turning around a bland or ineffective B2B brand isn’t an overnight task, but it’s absolutely achievable with a strategic approach. Here are actionable steps and frameworks for course-correcting and building a brand that truly connects:

1. Simplify and clarify your message: Start by distilling your value proposition to its essence. What urgent problem do you solve for your customers, or what opportunity do you unlock for them? Make that the centerpiece of your messaging everywhere. Drop the jargon and speak your audience’s language. Remember, in B2B, clarity wins – prospects should grasp in seconds what you do and why it matters. One useful exercise is to craft a one-sentence brand promise a fifth-grader could understand. If you can achieve crystal clarity in your core message, you’ve cleared the biggest hurdle to resonance.
2. Find your differentiated voice (and look): Audit your branding alongside competitors’ materials. Do you all sound and look interchangeable? If so, it’s time to break the mold. Develop distinctive brand assets and a brand voice that’s authentically yours. This could mean adopting a more conversational tone, using bold colors or visuals that contrast with the industry’s usual palette, or even incorporating storytelling devices (like a mascot, metaphor, or signature style) that make your communications instantly recognizable. The goal is category distinctiveness – to ensure that when someone sees a piece of content, they know it’s your brand before they even see the logo. Consistently use these assets across all touchpoints (ads, social posts, sales decks, events) to reinforce the memory link. Over time, these unique cues act like memory “hooks” that keep your brand stuck in your buyer’s mind.
3. Build emotional hooks into your campaigns: Every B2B brand has opportunities to tug at emotions – even if subtly. Think about the human impact of your solution. Does it make your customer feel more secure? More innovative? Less stressed? Craft stories around that. For example, instead of just touting “99.99% uptime,” paint the picture of a relieved IT manager who finally gets a full night’s sleep on the weekend because they trust your service. Use testimonials and case studies that highlight personal outcomes (promotions earned, praise received, career risk avoided) to tap into feelings of pride, confidence, or peace of mind. Incorporate visuals and language that inspire or reassure. Even humor has a place in B2B when done in a relatable way. The key is to balance logic with emotion – support the business case with facts and make the audience feel something positive. As research has shown, those emotional connections translate into better recall and persuasion down the line. Don’t be afraid to be a bit more creative and bold than the next guy – a touch of drama or surprise in your marketing can make your message stick when others fade.
4. Align brand strategy to customer needs: Take the time to deeply understand your target audience – not just their job titles, but their motivations and pain points. Why might they personally care about what you offer? Are they trying to impress their own customers, hit a KPI, avoid a career misstep, or achieve some mission? Use these insights to realign your messaging. A helpful framework here is to map “Customer Challenges” to “Brand Solutions” for each major segment. Ensure your content speaks to how you help them succeed or solve a real problem. It can also help to identify a few key Category Entry Points – the typical scenarios that trigger a need for your solution (e.g. “We’ve outgrown our current software” or “We need to cut operating costs”). Then make sure your brand shows up with relevant content around those scenarios, explicitly connecting your value to the customer’s situation. By rooting your brand narrative in the customer’s context, you shift from a me-centric message to a you-centric one. This fosters a sense of empathy and partnership that is vital for emotional resonance.
5. Increase your share of voice: Finally, even the best message won’t resonate if nobody hears it. B2B marketers need to ensure they are allocating enough budget to stay visible in the market. Rather than disappearing outside of major product pushes or quarter-end blitzes, commit to an always-on baseline of brand activity – whether through digital ads, social media thought leadership, PR, or other channels – to keep your brand in the conversation. Aim to achieve a share of voice at or above your share of market, so that you are continually planting seeds in buyers’ minds. This doesn’t mean blowing out your budget on Super Bowl ads, but it does mean investing in reach. Leverage a mix of paid, owned, and earned media to make sure your story is out there consistently. Over time, this sustained presence, combined with your clear and distinctive messaging, will build the mental availability that makes your brand the easy choice. Remember, the more familiar and famous your brand feels in your category, the more likely prospects will gravitate to it when the need arises.

Standing out and connecting for the long haul

B2B marketing doesn’t have to be what one report called “beige” – it can be as dynamic and impactful as the best B2C campaigns, while still delivering on business objectives. The key is to combine strategic rigor with creative courage. Diagnose honestly where your brand might be falling into the common traps of bland messaging or hyper-rational tactics. Then take action to inject clarity, personality, and humanity into your brand at every turn.