Humanize B2B: People, Not Specs, Build Trust.
B2B wins authority when brands speak with human tone, not jargon.
Stop Talking To Companies
For decades, B2B communication assumed buyers switched into a different identity once they entered the office. Marketing leaned on specs, ROI calculators, and procurement logic, written in a language stripped of emotion. The assumption was simple: business decisions were rational, not human.
That world has collapsed. In 2025, there is no clean division between “buyer mode” and “human mode.” The same person who signs a SaaS contract at 10 a.m. is watching TikTok memes at 10:05. They don’t swap personalities when they cross from LinkedIn to Instagram. The filters that shape every cultural message, humor, recognition, curiosity, now shape B2B just as much as consumer brands.
And the numbers prove it. Only 5% of potential customers for B2B services are “in market” at any given moment; the other 95% are out of market but still scrolling, reading, and forming impressions that will influence later decisions (LinkedIn B2B Institute, 2024). Specs may close deals with the 5%, but personality and cultural fluency are what win the 95%.
Build Trust Like HubSpot
HubSpot grasped this before most. Long before inbound marketing became cliché, it rewired the sales funnel to feel more human. Instead of flooding inboxes with jargon-heavy cold emails, it produced resources people wanted: explainer blogs, podcasts, webinars, and templates that solved everyday headaches.
The tone was conversational, designed to lower barriers and build credibility at scale. Prospects weren’t treated as leads to be “closed” but as people to be supported and taught. HubSpot’s growth was powered as much by trust as by software capability.
The strategy aligns with what buyers now say outright: 54% of decision-makers spend at least one hour per week consuming thought-leadership content, and they rate it as more trustworthy than marketing collateral or product sheets.
Speak Like Slack
Slack reached the same destination from a different path. On paper, it was enterprise software, a category notorious for lifeless positioning. Slack rejected that model.
From its launch, the platform embraced humor, emoji-driven design, and campaigns that blurred the line between work and play. Its release notes cracked jokes. Its ads mirrored cultural tone. Its product design matched how people already communicated with friends, not colleagues.
By shaping collaboration as intuitive and conversational, Slack made itself sticky in ways rivals never matched. Speaking to the human side of communication turned adoption into loyalty.
The platform context matters here too. With LinkedIn’s global membership topping 1.2 billion in 2025, and text content outperforming visuals among professionals (SproutSocial, 2025), tone is no longer an afterthought, it is the competitive edge.
Slack’s rise proved the principle.
Balance Humanity With Authority
Functionality is assumed in B2B. The differentiator is tone, trust, and resonance. Buyers are signaling this directly: budgets are increasing, 64% of B2B buyers expected higher budgets in 2024 versus 2023 (LinkedIn Sales, 2024), but spend flows to vendors who connect like humans, not machines.
Specs validate capability. Personality builds credibility.
HubSpot scaled by teaching.
Slack scaled by making collaboration feel natural.
The evidence and the data converge on the same point: authority in B2B is inseparable from cultural fluency.
Bottom Line
In 2025, B2B brands no longer compete on functionality.
The real contest is over fluency, the ability to speak to people as people.
Brands that embrace personality, cultural resonance, and instinct will win trust, loyalty, and growth.
