The Counterintuitive Way to Build Your B2B Brand When most marketers think about driving growth, they often believe the key steps are to:- Narrowly target prospects- Focus on promoting product features- Gate content to generate leads- Constantly introduce new creative to grab attention- Keep communicating until the prospect convertsThis approach is popular because it feels intuitive. If we believe we know the segment of people most likely to buy our product, the logical next step seems to be finding those ready-to-buy prospects, capturing their information, showcasing how great our product is, and then continuing to communicate with them until they’re convinced.Sounds reasonable.While this approach sounds intuitive, the research shows it’s actually wrong.Here’s the real way to build your brand:- Don’t target too narrowly. Despite the promises of intent data and martech, we often know very little about a prospect’s readiness—whether they’re in-market, familiar with your brand, or past buyers. This makes it largely ineffective to try to target based on readiness. Also, research shows your best audience for outreach is anyone who buys the category; it's not limited to the narrow criteria you define. Instead of hyper-targeting, focus on broad outreach to build awareness. - Build emotional connections. Don’t start with boring creative about what your product does, instead start by creating emotional resonance through storytelling, visuals, and messaging that your audience can connect with.- Offer value upfront—for free. Give potential customers a chance to experience your value with a useful tool, resource, or insight at no cost (including gating). It has to be genuinely valuable, not just interesting, and it must demonstrate your expertise. When you provide value first, you’re not just showing off your expertise—you’re building trust. - Make your brand distinct. Whether through visuals, messaging, or positioning, your brand needs to stand out and be memorable. Find those distinctive elements and stick with them - forever.- Don’t chase uninterested prospects. If your message resonates, your value is clear, and your brand is memorable, you’ve done all you can. If a prospect doesn’t engage, it’s either the wrong time or they don’t see you as the right fit. Don’t waste time chasing them. Focus on continuing to build your brand presence and let it do the work over time.