Why Tech Buyers Are Tired of Generic Marketing: First-Party Insights from Decision Makers
Modern B2B tech buyers are sending a clear message: generic marketing is not good enough. As buying committees grow more diverse and strategic goals evolve, technology decision makers are raising the bar for what makes a solution worth their time, and ultimately, their budget.
In our most recent tech buyer preferences survey, when asked “What makes a technology solution most relevant to your needs?”, buyers revealed their true priorities:
Today’s B2B buyers demand more relevance, more clarity, and above all, solutions that speak directly to their challenges and goals.
Buyers Want to See Themselves in Your Solution
The top response from the survey was crystal clear:
33.33% of buyers said the most relevant factors when considering new technology solutions are “use cases tailored to my job.”
Buyers are not content with vague value propositions or buzzword-heavy messaging. They want to see real-world scenarios that match their daily challenges. The key driver behind relevance is not just what your technology does, but how it helps them in their role and within their unique business environment. In other words, B2B buyers aren’t just trying to adopt new tools, they’re trying to solve real problems.
And when decision makers see themselves reflected in use cases, it builds trust. It helps them visualize ROI, solve current pain points, and justify investments. They aren’t just buying tech, they’re buying a transformation that feels doable, relevant, and immediate.
That’s why it’s essential to show buyers:
- How your product works in their context.
- The measurable impact on their tasks and KPIs.
- That you understand their industry pressures and role-based challenges.
Scalability Signals Long-Term Relevance
Just behind tailored messaging, 31.75% of buyers cited “scalability to support future growth” as a defining factor of relevance.
As organizations evolve, they don’t want solutions that cap out or require constant add-ons. They’re looking for platforms and tools that scale naturally with their growth trajectory.
Incorporate buyers’ need for scalability in your marketing:
- Showcase how your solution handles increased volume, new teams, or multi-location rollouts.
- Highlight stories of customers who started small and scaled successfully.
- Emphasize low-friction expansion, modular architecture, and integration readiness.
For large enterprises (10,000+ employees or/and $5B+ revenue), scalability isn’t just a feature, it’s the foundation of vendor selection. Failing to emphasize this can immediately disqualify a vendor in the eyes of strategic buyers.
ROI Is Always a Core Factor
Cost and time efficiency may not have topped the list, but it remains a core factor for nearly a quarter of buyers, and frequently came up in open comments as part of a broader decision framework.
Several Directors of Information Security emphasized cost and time savings, noting that this kind of evidence made a solution most relevant. Another respondent similarly highlighted the need to balance scalability with cost-effectiveness, reminding us that relevance is often a value equation: how much can this product do and how efficiently can it deliver those outcomes?
A Director of Cloud Security added a layer of realism to this perspective. He said, “We always try to maximize longevity for our clients, despite knowing that cost is always a factor.” His words reflect most decision makers’ balancing act: striving for long-term impact without overstepping budget limitations.
How marketers can respond:
- Offer ROI calculators, benchmark reports, and case studies with quantified impact.
- Frame time savings as strategic enablers (e.g., “free up your team for innovation”).
- Provide total cost of ownership comparisons to highlight long-term value.
Flexibility and Customization Cannot Be Ignored
While flexibility and customization ranked lowest among the four options, they are still highly relevant. In fact, for executive level buyers, the ability to tailor a solution to their needs is often the deciding factor.
Furthermore, flexibility and customization appeared in several open responses, often alongside scalability and cost considerations. One of the respondents emphasized the trio of flexibility, customization, and scalability, suggesting that adaptability makes a product more relevant when needs evolve.
Two Heads of Information Technology also cited customization in tandem with scalability, pointing to a preference for solutions that can scale without becoming rigid. This view aligns closely with C-level priorities, where strategic agility is key to long-term value.
Another respondent summed it up well by stating, “It’s a combination of all factors,” reiterating that customization isn’t always the first consideration, but it becomes crucial when tailoring a solution to fit evolving or specialized needs.
Why Generic Messaging Misses the Mark
Today’s tech buyers are evaluating solutions through a much more nuanced lens than they used to. They’re not just focused on one dimension like features or cost, they’re weighing a combination of job relevance, scalability, ROI, and adaptability. That’s why generic marketing will not resonate with decision makers.
The challenge with broad, one-size-fits-all messaging is that it fails to reflect how real buyers think. As respondents made clear, the relevance of a solution often “depends on what we’re trying to solve.” Buyers are looking at technology through the lens of need, environment, and goals, and that lens changes from project to project.
When messaging lacks specificity, it doesn’t just fall flat, it becomes noise. It doesn’t acknowledge the diversity of buying committees or the layered nature of decision-making. It also makes it harder for internal advocates to champion a solution across functions.
Final Takeaway: Relevance Is a Mosaic, Not a Monolith
What makes a tech solution “relevant” isn’t a single trait, it’s a carefully weighted mix of role alignment, scalability, ROI, and flexibility. Buyers are evaluating your offering through multiple lenses.
The most effective marketing strategies will:
- Lead with job-specific use cases to grab attention.
- Build confidence through scalability messaging.
- Back up claims with ROI and efficiency proof points.
- Reassure with flexibility and future-readiness.
In a competitive landscape, you don’t win by shouting louder, you win by speaking directly to what matters.
Get the Full 2025 Tech Buyer Survey Report
This article provides insights from our comprehensive survey of senior technology decision makers. If you want to access the full survey results, including detailed data, industry breakdowns, and key trends shaping technology adoption, subscribe now to receive the complete report as soon as it’s released: