Is your brand talking to people or at them?
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Take this quick test.
Go to your company’s website, click on the About page, then read it out loud. Actually out loud, in your normal speaking voice, as if you were explaining what your company does to someone you just met at a dinner party.
How did that feel?
If you couldn’t get through it without cringing, you’ve just discovered something important – that your brand isn’t talking to people, it’s ‘performing’ at them, and the worst part is that your audience can tell.
The Human Translation Test
There’s a reason so much B2B communication falls flat. Somewhere along the line, B2B brands forgot how to sound like humans having conversations.
They started “leveraging synergies” instead of working together. They began “driving innovation” and they “enabled digital transformation” when they meant they sold software. The “Powering” that comes before multiple descriptors, such as “Powering tomorrow”
The result is a sea of corporate sameness where every business sounds identical and nobody remembers any of them.
According to research from The Insight Collective, 88% of B2B buyers say that when everyone claims to be “leveraging disruptive, cutting-edge, AI-powered solutions,” words lose meaning and credibility takes a bit of a nosedive.
They’re right. When your language could belong to literally any company in your sector, why would anyone pay attention to yours?
The Human Translation Test is brutally simple and goes beyond the “about page” test. Take any piece of your brand copy. Read it aloud. If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face in a normal conversation, or if it doesn’t make sense to your friends, it probably shouldn’t be on your website.
Why We Hide Behind Complexity
It’s interesting to think about why so many B2C brands have a very straightforward, clear and at times overfamiliar tone (I’m thinking about the cute tone Innocent Smoothies launched over a decade ago). In comparison corporate language feels safe, and it creates distance. It sounds “professional.”
When you write that your company “enables organisations to optimise operational efficiency through innovative technology solutions,” you haven’t really said anything! That’s precisely the point.
Vague language is a shield that protects you from being specific enough to be wrong. It lets you sound impressive without making real promises. But your customers aren’t fooled. Only 9% of buyers consider vendor websites reliable sources of information! Half of business buyers say the content they receive from brands is useless – ouch!
What Human Sounds Like
Look at Marks & Spencer’s food marketing.
They don’t say their products are “premium quality food solutions optimised for the discerning consumer.” They say “This is not just food. This is M&S food.” Direct and confident. The kind of thing a proud friend might say when serving you dinner.
Innocent Drinks built an entire brand on sounding like an actual person. Their packaging doesn’t talk about “maximising nutritional value delivery.” It says “We promise not to put anything weird in your drink.”
Monzo took the same approach to banking. While traditional banks talked about “financial products” and “account management solutions,” Monzo simply told people what their app does, in words anyone could understand.
Yes, these are B2C examples that I’ve included, as you’ll likely know those brands to prove a point – but these brands get something fundamental. You’re never really selling to a ‘consumer’. You’re selling to ‘people’. Your B2B brand is never selling to a “business” your selling to the people inside that business. People with fears and ambitions and limited time and zero tolerance for corporate waffle. That’s the core of Business to People (B2P) thinking.
Behind every purchase decision is a human being who wants to be spoken to like one.
The Before and After
Let me show you what I mean with real examples.
Here’s the actual copy I found on a UK consultancy website last week (I will not name and shame as that goes against my own values):
“Our holistic approach synthesises cross-functional expertise to optimise operational paradigms and unlock sustainable competitive advantage.”
The human translation?
“We help different teams work together so you can beat your competitors.”
Same meaning, half the words. Perhaps actually memorable – though of course needs some wordsmithing from an actual copywriter, but you get the idea!
Here’s another:
“We leverage cutting-edge technology to deliver innovative solutions that drive transformational growth and enable organisations to achieve their strategic objectives.”
Human version:
“We make software that helps companies grow faster.”
The corporate versions sound impressive until you realise they say nothing as you need to work to decode them. The human versions tell you what these companies actually do. Which would you remember or trust? My examples are a little rough around the edges – this isn’t about dumbing things down. It’s about respecting your audience enough to be clear.
The Empathy Inversion
Here’s another test. Count the “we” and “our” on your homepage versus “you” and “your.”
Most B2B websites drown in first-person language. We do this. We believe that. Our solutions. Our expertise. Our commitment to excellence. Our award-winning team. Our industry-leading approach.
But, shock horror – your prospects don’t care about you – well not yet. They care about their problems, their goals, and their challenges. They’re on your website asking one question: “Can these people help me?”
When your copy is 90% self-congratulation and 10% customer relevance, you’re not having a conversation. You’re delivering a monologue that nobody came to your website to sit through.
The fix is simple: just flip the ratio. For every sentence about your company, include three about your customer. Talk about their world before you talk about yours. Acknowledge their problems before you present your solutions.
The Real Risk of Safe Language
You’re probably thinking. “Our industry expects formality. Our buyers are senior. We can’t sound too casual.” Fair point, but consider that the riskiest thing you can do right now is sound like everyone else and those senior buyer are still people.
In a market where 58% of buyers don’t trust vendors’ claims, even from companies they buy from. Bland corporate language doesn’t make you look professional. It perhaps makes you look like you’re hiding something. Or, like you have nothing original to say as your business is exactly the same as those competitors.
In my experience, the brands that win trust use plain language. They make specific claims. They acknowledge limitations instead of promising everything to everyone.
The Five-Minute Audit
Here are a few mini tests you can run on your company’s communications. Choose any of them – they are easy to do and quick.
The swap test. Replace your company name with a competitor’s. Does it still work? Then you have a differentiation problem.
The jargon count. Highlight every “leverage,” “synergy,” “solution,” “innovative,” and “best-in-class.” Double figures on a single page? You have work to do.
The so-what test. After each claim, ask “So what?” If you can’t answer simply, the claim is too vague to matter.
The friend test. Would you explain your business this way to a smart friend in a different industry? If not, why explain it this way to customers?
The Path Forward
Your brand voice and messaging isn’t a choice between professional and human. The best brands are both. Clear without being too simplistic. Confident without being arrogant and warm without being unprofessional and overly chatty.
The starting point is simpler than most people think. It’s actually often a case of thinking less! Voice note it and then translate it, this helps you say what you mean in the fewest words possible. Remember that behind every business email address is a real person who’d rather be doing something else than reading your marketing!
Every piece of communication is a chance to build trust or erode it. Every sentence is either talking to someone or at them.
Which is yours?
Take the full review
A five-minute diagnostic can only reveal so much.
If you’re serious about understanding whether your brand language and likely your brand strategy is good or damaging, drop us an email to book in for a complimentary review.
Remember the brands that win aren’t the ones with the most impressive vocabulary.
They’re the ones who remember they’re talking to humans!
Other insights by Vicki
About Vicki Young
Vicki Young (she/her) is Founder and CCO of Nalla. After working for two of the most respected creative agencies within the industry, she set up Nalla as a tribute to her late father, Allan.
A thought-leader in the branding space, Vicki’s insights are regularly featured in publications such as The Times, Creative Review and Transform Magazine.
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