Why B2B creative needs to feel something, not just say something

Buyers today are not simply faceless corporations. They’re actual people, people with pressures, people with ambitions and people who very much have instincts. Whilst rational messaging still matters in the world of B2B, emotion is one particular aspect that simply cuts through to them. Enabling buyers to evoke emotion is what makes your brand memorable, your campaigns relatable, and your audience care enough to take action.

When you make someone feel something from your ad, campaign or website, you move from being another option in a crowded market to being the one they remember.

Why logic alone no longer drives B2B decisions

B2B decisions may seem purely rational on paper, RFPs, budgets and ROI calculations. However, it’s important to remember they’re made by humans. Those humans still rely on intuition and emotion as much as data.

Research from Google and CEB found that B2B buyers are twice as likely to choose a brand they feel an emotional connection with. Why? Because emotion reduces risk. It makes buyers feel confident they’re choosing a partner who understands them.

Facts tell, but feelings persuade. Logic gets you into the room, emotion wins the room.

If your creative only says something, it might inform. But if it makes people feel something, it transforms.

What does “feeling something” actually mean in B2B?

It’s not about sentimental storytelling or tear-jerker videos. It’s about creating genuine emotional resonance, making people care.

That could mean:

• Pride in being part of a forward-thinking partnership
• Confidence that you can solve complex challenges
• Relief that you’ve found a supplier who gets your pressures
• Excitement about a shared vision for the future

When your creativity evokes these emotions, it gives your brand humanity. It says, “We understand your world.” That sense of understanding builds trust faster than any product brochure ever will.

How can storytelling shift perception and behaviour?

Storytelling turns information into meaning. A list of features doesn’t change perception, but a story about how your solution helped a business overcome a real challenge does.

Good B2B storytelling isn’t about overselling. It’s about showing empathy and transformation. You’re not just saying, “Here’s what we do.” You’re showing, “Here’s how we make your life better.”

When a story captures the tension, the stakes and the outcome, it moves the audience from passive to invested. That emotional involvement is what turns interest into action.

Balancing emotion with credibility and substance

Emotion without substance is noise. Substance without emotion is forgettable. The goal is balance.

B2B creativity must always be built on your credibility, your expertise, your proof points and ultimately your outcomes. However, when you land these aspects with emotion included, the delivery makes these truths land so much better in your audience.

It’s important to remember that you don’t have to abandon your professionalism to simply be human. You just need to stop hiding behind the corporate aspects we’ve all (mostly) had trained into us. Focusing on real voices, real visuals, and real meaningful messaging does so much more to inspire confidence than simply using the repeatable buzzwords everyone else in your industry is using.

The most powerful B2B campaigns, websites, creatives and more consider aspects such as empathy and support it with evidence to truly pull in their audience.

Examples of B2B brands that connect through emotion

Chloride

When Chloride, a leader in secure power solutions, approached us, their challenge wasn’t just visibility; it was emotional relevance. Their identity was highly technical, but it didn’t reflect the scale or impact of what they actually delivered, which was reliability in moments that matter most.

We reimagined their brand to convey reassurance and authority while retaining their technical credibility. The tone shifted from cold and functional to confident and human. It helped customers not only understand what Chloride does, but also feel the dependability that defines them.

Read more about this case study here: Chloride

Clevertouch

Clevertouch is a global leader in interactive displays and collaboration technology for education, enterprise and healthcare. Clevertouch wanted to evolve from a single-product provider to a unified technology brand. They wanted to be seen as enablers of a smarter marketing culture. The creative challenge was to capture their precision and intelligence without losing warmth or approachability.

Through confident messaging and design that placed people at the heart of technology, the new brand struck the right emotional chord. It showed Clevertouch as innovative yet human, methodical yet empathetic, a rare balance in B2B. 

Both projects show that emotion doesn’t dilute authority. It amplifies it. When you make people feel understood, they trust your expertise more deeply.

Find out more about our Clevertouch project: Clevertouch

How to inject emotional resonance into your next campaign

Here’s where to start:

1. You need to understand your audience’s world. Don’t just research their job titles, understand their challenges, motivations and frustrations.
2. Find the emotional truth. Ask questions such as, what feeling do we want to evoke: confidence, optimism, relief, pride?
3. Lead with human language. Drop the typical jargon language. Write as if you’re talking to one person, not a boardroom.
4. Show, don’t tell. Use visuals, stories and testimonials that demonstrate real outcomes.
5. Balance empathy with evidence. Support every emotional message with proof.
6. Be consistent. Emotional tone should carry through every channel, from website copy to sales decks.
7. Stay authentic. Forced emotion feels manipulative. Real emotion feels memorable.

Done well, emotional creativity doesn’t just capture attention; it holds it.

Making creativity matter by making people feel

B2B marketing has evolved and continues to evolve on a regular basis. The brands that lead today aren’t just saying the right things; they’re feeling the right things and evoking the right emotions amongst their target audience. They connect logic and emotion to build trust that lasts beyond a single campaign.

When your creativity in campaigns or your website or your decks makes someone feel something, whether it’s confidence, inspiration or relief, it earns a place in their mind and their inbox.

So, the next time you’re planning a campaign, don’t just ask, “What do we want to say?” Ask, “What do we want them to feel?”

That’s where real creative impact begins.
 

Tiga UK is a B2B creative agency based in Kent, helping brands make their marketing more human, more effective, and more memorable. We blend strategy, storytelling and design to create work that feels as good as it performs.

Ready to create B2B campaigns that move people, not just metrics? Let’s talk.