So what's working in B2B ads, and what drives decision makers to pay attention to, and click through on B2B brand promotions?

B2B is a pretty different audience to regular consumer outreach, inasmuch as you're looking to connect with a much more professionally-focused and goal-oriented market. And as such, what drives the best response may be different, with certain formats likely to better communicate this than others.

To dig up more insight, LinkedIn recently partnered with Magna Media Trials to survey more than 1,700 LinkedIn users about the key drivers of B2B ad performance, based on experience. And the findings may help you create better ad campaigns, on LinkedIn and on other platforms, by honing in on the right elements.

You can download the full LinkedIn/Magna study here, but in this post, we're going to take a peek at the key notes.

First off, in terms of ad formats, video ads on LinkedIn tend to drive more impact.
Video Ads Drive Higher Response in All Measured Elements, though LinkedIn's Display Ads Also Generated Good Response.

But simultaneously, as many B2B campaigns attempt to go the humorous route, many are missing the mark.
Which either indicates you need to drill down on a strong message and call to action, or B2B marketers just aren't funny. Maybe it's a little of both.

While the more extensive results here likely reflect the latter, as B2B buyers do respond better to more creative outreach.
In other words, what this research tells brands to focus on specifically is that message clarity is important, though again, as you can see by this listing "creative" is still pretty high on the list.
So it's not that B2B consumers don't want more creative humorous outreach, it's just that they're not seeing that in the current landscape.

This means that the best way to invest in a creative, resonant message is by focusing on clarity at the same time. However, most B2B campaigns are obviously failing in this regard, indicating opportunity for your business.

If you can come up with creative outreach, then it is very engaging.

I suppose the real message of this is that spending in creative is probably necessary, since most B2B brands are not quite landing the way they should currently. This might help inform your strategic thinking, but you should also probably not try to be funny without first screening your campaign for a wider audience. 

These are some interesting insights that could assist you with your planning.