B2B and technology companies often have the most impressive products and the least memorable marketing. Their websites are full of acronyms, feature lists and claims such as “end-to-end”, “AI-powered” and “scalable”, which could belong to any competitor. Buyers leave without understanding what the company actually does or why it is different. In a world where most buyers are not ready to buy today, that is an expensive problem.

The 95-5 rule: most of your market is not buying right now

Research by Professor John Dawes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, published by LinkedIn’s B2B Institute in 2021, popularised what is now called the 95-5 rule. Businesses change major suppliers infrequently, often around once every five years. That means only a small share of potential buyers, roughly 5% in any given quarter, are actively in the market. The other 95% will buy at some point in the future.

The implication is significant. If your marketing only targets people who are ready to buy, you are competing with every rival for a small pool of buyers, and your costs rise. Brand building is how you reach the 95%, so that when their need arises your company is the one they remember and trust. Dawes himself presents the figure as a guide rather than a precise law, but the principle holds across most B2B categories.

Why complex products are hard to brand

• Too many messages: products with many features try to say everything and end up saying nothing.
• Insider language: engineers and product teams write for each other, not for buyers.
• Multiple decision makers: the CFO, the CTO and the end user all care about different outcomes.
• Long sales cycles: months pass between first interest and signature, so memory matters.

A practical framework for B2B branding

1. Find the one-sentence truth

Describe what you do, for whom, and why it matters, in a sentence a non-specialist would understand. “We help hospitals cut patient waiting time with smarter scheduling” is more memorable than “an AI-driven, cloud-native healthcare operations platform”. This sentence anchors the website, sales decks and campaigns.

2. Build distinctive brand assets

Distinctive assets such as a consistent colour, visual style, tone of voice, illustration system or recurring campaign idea help buyers recognise you over time. Most B2B brands change their look with every campaign; the ones that are remembered repeat themselves consistently.

3. Translate features into outcomes for each buyer

Create a message map that connects product capabilities to the outcomes each stakeholder cares about: cost and risk for finance, integration and security for IT, ease of use for the team that will live with the product every day. Proof points such as case studies, numbers and certifications support each outcome.

4. Make the website do the explaining

For B2B buyers the website is often the first and most important sales meeting. It should explain the problem, the solution and the proof clearly, with industry pages, use cases, product tours, pricing guidance where possible and an easy way to talk to someone. Fast, well-structured pages also help search visibility and AI-powered research tools, which increasingly summarise vendors for buyers.

5. Balance brand and demand

Use emotional, memorable content to reach the 95% through LinkedIn, YouTube, thought leadership, events and PR. Use rational, proof-led content such as ROI calculators, comparisons, demos and case studies to convert the 5% who are ready. Measure both: brand reach and recall for the long term, pipeline and win rate for the short term.

An example in practice

Imagine a cybersecurity company selling to mid-sized banks. Its old website listed twenty product modules. A brand-led approach would start with one clear promise, for example “We help banks stop fraud before customers notice it”, then build every touchpoint around it: a distinctive visual system, a homepage that shows the problem and the outcome in plain language, role-specific pages for risk heads and IT teams, short explainer videos, and a steady drumbeat of LinkedIn thought leadership. Sales conversations then start from recognition rather than introduction, and the long buying cycle works in the brand’s favour.

Signs your B2B brand needs work

• Sales teams create their own decks because the official ones do not work.
• Prospects describe your company differently from how you describe it.
• Your homepage could be swapped with a competitor’s without anyone noticing.
• Most pipeline comes from referrals, with little inbound from people who discovered you on their own.

Key takeaways

• Most buyers are out of market today; brand building reaches them before they need you.
• Simplify: one clear sentence about what you do and why it matters.
• Invest in consistent, distinctive brand assets.
• Map product features to the outcomes each decision maker cares about.
• Treat the website as your most important salesperson.

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