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Humanology in B2B Messaging: Building Trust, Personalization, and Authenticity

Speak Agency • March 11, 2023
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Humanology is the study of human behavior and how it can be applied to improve relationships and interactions between people. When it comes to messaging for business to business (B2B) companies, understanding the tenants of humanology can be incredibly valuable. By taking a human-centric approach to communication, B2B companies can create more meaningful connections with their audience, build trust, and ultimately drive more business.


There are several key tenants of humanology that can be applied to audience messaging for B2B companies. These include empathy, personalization, authenticity, and transparency.


Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.

In the context of B2B messaging, empathy means understanding the pain points and challenges that your audience is facing and speaking to them in a way that shows you understand their perspective. This requires taking the time to truly listen to your audience, asking questions, and putting yourself in their shoes. By demonstrating empathy in your messaging, you can build trust and credibility with your audience and establish your brand as a partner that truly understands their needs.


Personalization is the process of tailoring your messaging to the specific needs and preferences of your audience.

In the B2B space, personalization means understanding the unique challenges and goals of each of your customers or prospects and tailoring your messaging to address their specific needs. This can include using data and analytics to personalize messaging based on past interactions or preferences, as well as using personalized language and examples to show that you understand their business and industry.


Authenticity is the quality of being genuine and sincere.

In the context of B2B messaging, authenticity means being honest and transparent about your brand and your offerings. This requires being upfront about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as being willing to admit when you don't have all the answers. By being authentic in your messaging, you can build trust and credibility with your audience and establish a more meaningful connection.


Transparency is the quality of being open and honest about your actions and intentions.

In the B2B space, transparency means being upfront about your pricing, policies, and procedures. This can include providing detailed information about your products and services, as well as being transparent about your data and privacy practices. By being transparent in your messaging, you can build trust and credibility with your audience and establish your brand as a trustworthy partner.


To apply these tenants of humanology to your B2B messaging, it's important to start by truly understanding your audience. This means taking the time to research their needs, challenges, and pain points, as well as their preferences for communication and messaging. Once you have a solid understanding of your audience, you can begin tailoring your messaging to address their specific needs and preferences, using personalized language and examples to build a more meaningful connection.


Throughout the messaging process, it's important to demonstrate empathy, authenticity, and transparency. This means listening to your audience, being honest and genuine in your messaging, and being open and transparent about your brand and offerings. By taking a human-centric approach to B2B messaging, you can build trust and credibility with your audience, establish a more meaningful connection, and ultimately drive more business.


If you're interested in learning more about how we can help your B2B company make meaningful connections with your audience, don't hesitate to reach out. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and see how we can help you build trust, personalize your messaging, and establish authenticity with your target market. Let's work together to take your B2B messaging to the next level!

How AI Agents Are Transforming Marketing & Sales Alignment

By Speak Agency • February 13, 2025
Marketing and sales are supposed to work in sync. Marketing creates the messaging, sales takes it to market, and customers get a consistent, compelling brand experience. But in reality? That almost never happens.

MVB: What Early-Stage Tech Brands Need to Launch a Minimum Viable Brand

By Speak Agency • February 10, 2025
For tech startups, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) — the stripped-down version of your product that allows you to test core assumptions with real users — is a common approach to product development. But what about your brand? Enter the Minimum Viable Brand (MVB): the essential elements needed to present your company professionally and connect with early customers, without over-investing in elaborate brand development.

The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But the Truth. So Help Your Brand.

By Speak Agency • February 3, 2025
Let's cut to the chase: In a world drowning in digital noise and AI-generated content, brand authenticity isn't just a nice-to-have — it's your survival kit. Today's tech-savvy customers can smell manufactured messaging from ten browser tabs away, and they're not afraid to hit "unfollow" faster than you can say "corporate values." The Power of Brand Truth Here's the deal: brand authenticity means getting real about who you are as an organization. We're not talking about your product specs or your tech stack — we're talking about the raw, honest truth of why you exist and what drives your team to show up every day. Your brand truth might be buried in your startup story, your unique approach to solving gnarly problems, or the way you're fundamentally changing how your customers work and live. Take Microsoft's transformation under Satya Nadella. When he took the reins in 2014, he didn't just pivot the company's technology — he unleashed its authentic truth as an enabler of human achievement. This wasn't some slick marketing play; it was a fundamental shift from "Windows first" to "empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more." The result? Microsoft's stock price soared over 600% since 2014, and they've become one of the most valuable companies in the world. Why Truth Matters More Than Ever The numbers don't lie: According to Stackla, 88% of consumers say authenticity is crucial when deciding which brands to support. Even more telling? A recent Edelman study found that 81% of consumers need to trust a brand before they'll even consider buying from them. In an age where every startup claims to be "disrupting" something, customers are developing highly sophisticated BS detectors. They're not just looking at your product dashboard — they're scrutinizing your GitHub contributions, reading your engineering blog posts, and watching how you handle service outages on Twitter. Uncovering Your Brand's Truth Finding your brand's authentic truth requires serious introspection. Ask yourself: What technical problem made you angry enough to start this company? What conventional wisdom in your industry are you willing to challenge? What keeps showing up in your customer success stories? What principles would you defend even if they slowed down your growth? Sometimes your truth is hiding in plain sight. Look at Twilio. Their brand truth isn't about APIs — it's about democratizing complex communications technology. This core truth drives everything from their developer-first approach to their acquisition strategy. Expressing Truth Through Story Once you've nailed your brand truth, you need to tell its story in a way that clicks with your audience. And no, we're not talking about another "Our Journey" blog post. Consider how Stripe tells its story. Their truth isn't about payment processing — it's about increasing the GDP of the internet. This bigger narrative has turned what could have been dry technical documentation into a compelling story about empowering entrepreneurs worldwide. Their transparency about their engineering challenges and public infrastructure investments has built unprecedented trust in the developer community. Building Trust Through Consistency Real talk: authenticity means walking the walk. When Zoom faced security criticisms in 2020, CEO Eric Yuan didn't hide behind PR speak. He admitted the problems, implemented a 90-day feature freeze to focus on security, and hosted weekly webinars to address concerns. This transparent approach turned a potential crisis into a trust-building opportunity. The data backs this up: According to PwC, 71% of consumers say they'll lose trust in a brand if they perceive it's putting profit over people. And once that trust is gone, 46% say they'll stop buying from the company altogether. The Bottom Line In the tech world, where every other company claims to be "revolutionary" or "game-changing," authentic brand truth is your secret weapon. It's not about crafting the perfect message—it's about having the courage to be genuinely, consistently, unapologetically you. The next generation of successful tech brands won't win because they had the most sophisticated tech stack or the biggest AWS budget. They'll win because they dared to be real in an increasingly artificial world. In an industry obsessed with automation and scalability, never forget that authenticity is the one thing you can't fake. Remember: Your brand truth is like your source code — you don't write it from scratch, you refactor and optimize what's already there. When you commit to pushing authentic commits to your brand repository, you're not just building a better story — you're compiling a more resilient business that resonates with users on a fundamental level.
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