Linda Boff

B2B Success Requires Humanity Over Pure Logic

For years, B2B marketing has leaned heavily on the comfort of logic to win the day. And I get it. When the stakes are high, logic feels safe. The assumption is simple: present enough facts, stats, and proof points, and rationality carries the argument. And to be clear — having the goods is table stakes. But business decisions are made by people navigating risk, reputation, and long-term consequences. Whether we like it or not, those expectations are shaped by the best B2C experiences. After shopping at Amazon or Apple, it’s impossible not to want the best possible experience that informs, engages and hopefully delights. In B2B, the stakes tend to be much higher ….premium price points, longer purchase cycles, c-suite stakeholders. Which is exactly why humanity matters. The myth Here’s the all-too-familiar pattern for B2B marketers: lead with the information and certainty will follow. It’s the expected pattern. It just isn’t how decisions actually get made. Yes, facts and rigor matter. Of course they do. But they’re not running the show. Turns out, people make decisions instinctively, emotionally, then use logic to explain them. That’s why what people say they value doesn’t always match what they buy. It’s the halo effect in action – once people form a positive impression, they evaluate everything else more generously. Not the other way around. In high-stakes purchases, trust, clarity, and confidence matter just as much as proof. The reality In practice, B2B purchases play out over longer cycles, carry bigger implications, and hinge on relationships that unfold over time. Product specs alone rarely build the kind of trust those decisions require – particularly in crowded IT, Financial and professional services where everyone’s claims can sound pretty similar. Because behind every big decision is a person asking, “Am I making the right call?” What actually moves things forward is how well a brand helps people feel informed, understood, and supported as they weigh risk. Emotion and logic aren’t opposites here – they work together. Knowledge builds credibility. Humanity builds confidence. Buyers aren’t just looking for information. They’re looking for the confidence to say yes and stand behind that decision. Sometimes that means taking the unexpected path. During my time at GE, we relished finding the unexpected. Our always-on brief was to make our marketing as innovative as our products. One example: we partnered with electronic musician Matthew Dear to collaborate with GE engineers to turn the sounds of jet engines, turbines, and MRI machines into music. Thousands of industrial sounds became a track called Drop Science. On paper, it made no sense. It didn’t explain features or walk through specs. But it did something far more powerful: it made people feel the ingenuity behind the technology. It humanized complexity. And it changed the conversation — not by dumbing things down, but by making them resonate. The role of brand This is where brand really matters in B2B, and where too many teams pull back instead of leaning in. At any given moment, only about 5% of B2B buyers are actively in the market, as research from the LinkedIn B2B Institute shows. Everyone else is forming impressions, building familiarity, and deciding who they trust long before a purchase is on the table. That’s the messy middle of the journey, and it’s where brands either earn belief or lose momentum. Glitter Bombing We see this play out all the time. Many of Said Differently’s clients come to us looking to stand out and share the stories behind their work. Those are some of our favorite assignments – complicated, hard-to-grasp-yet-consequential brands, where trust is earned slowly and decisions aren’t made lightly. It’s also why we build teams differently. We bring in senior folks who’ve actually been in these rooms, who get the pressure behind every brief, and who know how to make complex things clear without dumbing them down. We bring the clarity and credibility buyers need, and have a spark that keeps them coming back. Internally, we call this glitter bombing the category. Not just to get attention, but to keep people moving forward with confidence. Because the work that lasts does both. The takeaway B2B marketing isn’t just business-to-business. It’s business-to-human. After all, decision makers are people too. The brands that understand that, and invest in the talent, storytelling, and emotional intelligence to support it, don’t just win. They build loyalty. And over time, they build a moat around their business that competitors can’t cross. That’s the work. And if you ask me, that’s where the magic has always been.