Historically, B2B advertising has leaned on rational messaging, focusing on product features, benefits, and performance metrics to influence business decision-makers.

But with today’s competitive landscape and the rising expectations of B2B audiences, this functional approach alone isn’t enough. A new wave of research, including LinkedIn’s “B2B Renaissance” study with MAGNA Media Trials, highlights that adding creativity and emotional appeal to B2B ads can significantly boost engagement, brand consideration, and even purchase intent.

The Evolution of B2B Advertising: A Focus on Creativity and Connection

A growing number of marketing leaders recognise the value of emotional engagement. LinkedIn’s 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark report found that nearly 90% of CMOs are championing more creative campaigns, with 67% increasing their brand-building budgets to support this shift. This trend is grounded in real business outcomes: emotionally engaging, creative ads are not only more memorable but also improve critical brand metrics like Share of Voice and media coverage.

Roughly 60% of respondents noted that standout creative content improved brand engagement, while 55% saw an increase in Share of Voice and 48% noted more media coverage​.

New Research: Creativity in B2B Ads Drives Results

To better understand the impact of creativity in B2B advertising, LinkedIn and MAGNA Media Trials conducted controlled testing with over 1,700 LinkedIn users, exposing them to 67 ads across various formats and measuring brand outcomes. These ads, including single image and video formats, were served in the LinkedIn news feed to ensure participants experienced them as part of their regular browsing.

The findings were enlightening: creatively engaging ads produced significant lifts across key brand metrics. Business decision-makers exposed to video and display ads demonstrated a 9% increase in brand favourability and a 12% lift in purchase consideration​. These statistics reveal that adding creative, emotional elements to B2B ads can yield concrete improvements in audience perception and intent.

Key Insights: Why Creativity Works in B2B Advertising

The study revealed several important findings that illustrate why creativity is crucial for B2B brands looking to enhance their advertising impact.

1. Video and Display Ads are Powerful Tools
   Video and display ads stand out as highly effective formats for B2B advertising on LinkedIn. These ad types, when creatively executed, significantly improve brand opinions, drive consideration, and ultimately, increase the likelihood of purchase. As LinkedIn’s data shows, video ads in particular generated a +24 second lift in view times, underscoring their power to capture attention and engage audiences more deeply than static ads​.
2. Decision-Makers Find Most B2B Ads Bland and Forgettable
   Many B2B ads fall short of engaging decision-makers, as they often lack humour, a unique perspective, or an emotional appeal. A considerable 64% of business decision-makers expressed that typical B2B ads are missing relatable characters and strong storytelling elements​. This data underscores the need for B2B brands to break out of convention and explore more creative storytelling techniques that align with decision-makers’ expectations and preferences.
3. Creativity Cuts Across Industry Verticals
   Across industries, from finance to technology, decision-makers report a similar lack of creativity in B2B ads. In sectors such as education and healthcare, less than half of surveyed business leaders found ads to be emotionally appealing or memorable​. This points to an industry-wide opportunity to distinguish brands through creativity, regardless of the vertical.
4. Creative Ads Increase Purchase Intent and Brand Preference
   Ads with higher creative appeal were shown to increase purchase consideration by 40%. Notably, decision-makers reported that creative ads made brands feel more relevant and connected to their needs, suggesting that emotional resonance can foster stronger relationships and greater brand loyalty. This benefit is particularly important in B2B markets, where brand preference and trust are crucial to securing long-term business relationships​.
5. Higher Engagement and Interactivity
   Creatively engaging ads yielded better overall performance, with higher view times and more interactions like “likes.” Decision-makers spent more time on ads they found creative, reflecting a 21% increase in likes for creative ads compared to average scores​. This level of engagement is invaluable in today’s attention economy, where capturing and retaining audience interest can be the difference between a forgettable campaign and one that converts.

Actionable Takeaways for B2B Brands: Moving Beyond Functionality

With these insights in mind, how can B2B brands infuse their advertising strategies with creativity to drive stronger engagement and brand loyalty? Here are some practical strategies:

• Invest in Storytelling: Adopting narrative-driven content can make your brand more memorable and relatable. Stories that reflect real-world scenarios or challenges that your target audience faces are especially effective at forging an emotional connection.
• Leverage Humour and Unique Perspectives: While B2B has traditionally shied away from humour, incorporating it in a tasteful, relevant way can make a significant impact. Unique perspectives, too, resonate strongly with audiences, especially when they address common industry challenges or misconceptions.
• Utilise Video and Dynamic Display Formats: Video and display ads are proven winners for LinkedIn’s B2B audiences. Creative, high-quality video ads, in particular, offer an opportunity to build a multi-dimensional brand image that static ads struggle to achieve.
• Prioritise Emotional Appeal and Clarity: For short-term objectives, clarity and message simplicity are crucial. In the longer term, however, brands that communicate an emotional appeal and a unique perspective can build a stronger sense of connection with audiences​.

Creativity as a Competitive Advantage in B2B Advertising

The landscape of B2B advertising is changing, with creativity and emotional resonance now proving as crucial to success as product features and performance metrics. As LinkedIn’s “B2B Renaissance” study shows, brands that embrace creative, emotionally engaging approaches are seeing better results in both brand health and performance metrics. By investing in creativity and storytelling, B2B brands can not only capture the attention of business decision-makers but also foster lasting connections that drive consideration, loyalty, and growth.

In the coming years, creativity won’t just be a “nice-to-have” in B2B marketing—it will be a necessary differentiator.