The human side of B2B marketing: How audience intelligence can uncover the real people behind the data

That CEO, manager, or the content marketer that you're targeting, you may refer to them in sales as the “the decision makers” or the gatekeepers, influencers or blockers and you might view them as that way too - but in the end they’re real people. There is much more than someone just signing a contract, or the end user of your product.  

On most B2B sales calls with those people, the first thing you probably try to do is connect with them on a personal level, before jumping right into business. So why isn’t this the case in B2B marketing?

Many B2B marketers struggle to connect with these audiences because they are focused on their titles, or their place in the business.

But if you want to be successful, you have to view them as humans, and not reduce them to their job vocation. 

I get so many automated Linkedin messages for Marketing tools, just because I have the title “Content Marketer”, but I read 0 of them because they all sound the same. 

B2B marketing teams that break this mold and start to connect with their target audience on a deeper, human level, will be the ones to succeed in 2025. Their ads and Linkedin messages won’t go unanswered like so many do. 

This is why, in this blog, we're taking the time to help you learn about these B2B audiences beyond their job titles so that you can connect with them and turn them into customers. 

Why B2B marketing often falls short 

Traditional B2B marketing approaches are for lack of a better word, boring. 

They use generic messaging to target broad audiences that share the same job titles in the same industries.

Essentially they lack personalization. 

Even ads about B2B marketing being boring, ARE boring. 

And it all feels very “one-size fits all”. 

Another pitfall of B2B marketing is the focus it places on the product vs the value that product provides to the individual: 

When I look at the B2B ad above, I think “great, analytical software for working with media data - what could be more exciting?” 

Then there is the typical B2B audience segmentation, meaning and audience is segmented based on their shared job titles and job functions. When really they should be segmented based on their shared pain points, interests, values, buying intent, and behaviors. 

Thankfully, that’s exactly what audience intelligence tools aim to do. But more on this later. 

Understanding B2B audiences as humans first 

What do Hubspot, Squarespace, MailChimp and Canva all have in common? Well not only are they all B2B brands valued in the billions, but they do not use traditional B2B marketing methods. They take a human-centric approach. 

It’s why we all recognize their names, even if we don’t use the software ourselves. 

Just take a look at some of their campaigns: 

They’re not boring, they're inspiring. They don’t focus on the product but the personal motivation for the product. 

So how do these brands get it right while others don’t? The key is audience intelligence. Audience intelligence provides this deeper layer and understanding of an individual beyond who they are in an org chart. It gets to the “what is going to inspire this person” layer. 

Audience intelligence tools surface real-time data and insights on each audience member to help you get to know them through their passions, interests, behaviors, values, conversations, content consumption habits, personality traits, and social influences - all the real things that influence people to buy.  

To demonstrate, let’s ask Google to describe a CEO in the tech industry: 

This profile of a CEO is focused on describing their job responsibilities, their level of leadership, traits they should have to be a good CEO etc. but it doesn’t tell me who they are as a person. 

Now when we ask the audience intelligence tool “Audiense” to describe a CEO, we’re met with a full report on the shared personality traits and behaviors of CEOs (specifically CEO’s in the tech industry in the US). 

Take a look:

Here’s what we’ve learned:

• They are influenced by thoughtleaders like Reid Hoffman (investor), Eric Schmidt (fellow CEO), Chris Sacca (Guest on Shark Tank, and investor), Paul Graham (computer scientist, writer, entrepreneur, and investor)
• Beyond tech they are interested in investing, which is why a lot of their influencers are also investors themselves
• They're into coding and they watch coder “@thecodingtrain” on Youtube 
• Another Youtube channel they love, is one that that talks about random facts (the Ze Frank channel)

• They listen to DJ Will Weinbach
• Beyond Tech Crunch, they read the Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Wired, Harvard Business Review and The Verge 
• They’re reading articles on “how to build a stronger work culture”, and they’re tweeting about AI and bitcoin

• They are very analytical, expressive, and social beings 
• These CEOs are adventurous, and always eager to experience new thingsThey are very analytical, expressive, and social beings 
• They are high energy and enjoy a fast paced environment, and a busy schedule with many activities, which is not surprising for a CEO 
• They are very philosophical and open to new ideas 
• Their choices are driven by a desire for efficiency 

• They are persuaded to buy things with brand names on them and they are heavily influenced to by based on a products features 
• Online they spend a lot of time on WhatsApp, Medium, Facebook and Reddit - which is where the majority of the ad spend used to target them should be spent 

Notice how none of these insights are directly related to their role, but instead related to who they are as a person, outside of their job. 

This highlights the importance of not just seeing what a person does professionally, but knowing what drives them personally. This is what good B2B ads are made of. 

Audiense in action: How to humanize your B2B target audience

Let’s explore some typical B2B audiences using Audiense and see what we can learn about them on a deeper level. 

• Retail CMO’s: are influenced by thoughtleaders like Gary Vaynerchuk (master marketer and CEO of Vayner Media), Mari Smith (Facebook marketing expert), and Kim Garst (AI consultant) 

• Customer Success Managers: love Ted Talks, The Masters, Women's March, and Startup Grind - these are the events you will find them at 

•  Data analysts: are interested in sports, specifically soccer (beyond their technology-related interests)

• Graphic designers:  want to see content that is highly aesthetic and artistic, makes them think, is counter-culture, and artistically advanced. They want to see the use of metaphors, and be forced to use their imagination. 

These are just a taste of the insights that Audiense can surface and help you to create some of the best B2B personas to work from and be inspired by. So instead of just targeting “CFOs at mid-sized tech firms,” Audiense enables marketers to identify CFOs who are also interested in sustainability for example, and who actively follow certain influencers, and prefer long-form content on LinkedIn.

Building human-centric B2B marketing strategies 

Here are the areas and ways you can use these audience insights to build ads like Canva, or Mailchimp, who always take a humanized approach to B2B marketing: 

• Personalized content: Craft content that speaks to the individual’s personal interests (e.g., “Sustainability Trends for Tech CFOs”) rather than generic professional pain points. Create targeted content that aligns with both the professional and personal interests of the audience.
• Influencer Marketing: Collaborate with influencers or thought leaders identified through Audiense as resonating with these B2B targets.
• Media Buying: Discover which social apps or websites they spend most of their time, so you can buy proper ad space, and get the most out of your media budget 
• Event marketing: Design events or webinars that appeal to these broader interests, not just industry topics (e.g., a sustainability-focused webinar for CFOs in tech).
• Communication tone: Adjust messaging and tone to be more conversational and less formal when targeting certain segments, based on their personal preferences and communication style.

The future of B2B marketing is human 

For your B2B marketing efforts to be successful, you need to move beyond traditional methods. If you reduce people to their job titles instead of treating them as humans, you’ll never produce ads like top performers Hubspot or Canva do.

Audience intelligence tools like Audiense enable you to uncover personal insights, like what a CEO’s passions, behaviors, and influencers are. This is what drives real connections.  

By focusing on personalized content, targeted media buying, and relatable communication, you can create inspiring campaigns that resonate with audiences on a deeper level, transforming decision-makers into engaged customers. And no one will be bored by your B2B ads ever again. 

Remember, purchases are driven by human connection, and audience intelligence is key to building that connection. 

Forget titles and job descriptions, schedule an Audiense demo and understand your B2B audiences from a human perspective.