12 Best B2B Marketing Trends for 2024

Advancements in tech and changes in consumer behavior mean that business-to-business (B2B) marketing teams need to reassess their approach. Where content marketing used to be the strategy used by a B2B digital marketing agency, there are other approaches like influencer marketing and blockchain usage that are emerging as possible ways to win the minds (and hearts) of stakeholders. Here are 12 of the key trends to monitor in the coming year(s). 

 

Key B2B Marketing Trends for 2024

Expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Influence

AI’s functionality isn’t just limited to content creation. It’s anticipated that going forward increasingly more B2B brands will use AI marketing tools to help them with their marketing. 

More than 40% of B2B marketers surveyed in the US indicated that they wanted to explore AI and automation more.

Where AI isn’t adopted (yet), it’s probably because of a lack of understanding or knowledge.

B2B trends show that AI is having a significant impact on pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns in particular, helping businesses to optimize their ad spending. AI can dish up deeper insights and analyze demographic data, online behavior, and purchase history to create highly targeted paid ad campaigns.

It can also be used to incorporate other B2B trends in marketing like influencer marketing. Influencer Marketing Hub’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Marketing Benchmark Report 2023 found that more than 60% of those surveyed plan to use AI in their influencer marketing campaigns.  

Content Personalization as a Key Success Factor

Content has always been foundational to B2B marketing. However, going forward, expect to see more B2B marketers personalize their messaging. 

Instead of merely focusing on listing the features of your product and explaining why your business is better than its competitors, try to humanize your brand. You can, for example, use B2B content marketing services like video production to show the actual faces behind the brand. Alternatively, you can weave storytelling into your blog posts and website copy strategically. All in all, it helps with brand recall and also appeals to decision-makers on an emotional level.

Not only should the messaging extend its scope beyond facts and figures, but it should also be tailored to the specific needs and interests of target audiences. For example, C-suite executives may prefer in-depth white papers, while mid-level managers might favor case studies or interactive content (another one of the trends in B2B marketing to explore). Partnering with a content marketing firm can help you effectively personalize your B2B messaging to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Expanding Marketing Based on Account-based Approach (ABM)

In short, account-based marketing (ABM) refers to a marketing strategy where resources are allocated to specific accounts. This way, B2B businesses can direct their efforts towards clients showing higher value. 

The reason why this is one of the trends in B2B marketing to embrace is that sticking to the traditional B2B marketing funnel is a slow process. However, by incorporating an ABM approach, B2B businesses can speed up growth. In fact, Gartner reveals:

Effective ABM strategies can boost pipeline conversion rates by 14%.

In addition to higher conversion rates, Gartner also reports that B2B businesses benefit from improvement in various other areas including:

• Ad performance
• Email performance
• Webinar attendance
• Website traffic

Account-based marketing also goes hand in hand with other B2B marketing trends like content personalization. To implement it effectively, you need to personalize your content (and overall experience) to align with the needs of the high-value perspectives you’ve identified. 

Considering that the B2B industry is closely associated with long sales cycles, B2B digital marketing trends like content personalization and ABM are especially beneficial. Plus, the chances that you’ll be rewarded with a high-value contract makes the extra effort all the more worthwhile. 

Fundamental Role of SEO in B2B Marketing Strategy

Although often associated with consumer-focused strategies, SEO is equally pivotal in B2B marketing. For example, by incorporating specific, industry-relevant keywords, it can help you to generate highly targeted traffic to your website. This way, you can attract leads who are likely already further along the buying cycle.  

While AI marketing tools like Jasper can help with content creation, it’s best to restrict it to the planning phase. Google is starting to penalize brands that publish AI-generated content which can hurt your SEO results.  

Instead, content that’s rich in first-hand encounters and original data will help you to rank higher. You can, for example, interview customers and share their experiences in a long-form blog post. 

Alternatively, if you have the resources you can launch your own survey. Not only will this information help you with your B2B SEO efforts, but it also doubles up as a useful source of first-party data, another one of the major B2B trends in marketing explored later in this article. 

Rise of Micro-influencers in B2B Marketing

Influencer marketing isn’t just restricted to other business models like B2C eCommerce. Ogilvy’s The Global Rise of B2B Influencer Marketing report reveals: 

75% of the B2B marketers are already working with influencers.

One of the reasons why influencer marketing is such an attractive strategy to explore is that you don’t have to work with mega stars with millions of followers. According to Influencer Marketing Hub’s May 2024 Influencer Marketing Report that surveyed over 230 marketers, more than half of brand partnerships involve smaller influencers. Engagement is favored over reach and micro influencers typically have more engaged audiences. 

While it can be more lucrative to work with micro-influencers, you still need to identify the right ones in this category and therein lies the rub. Influencer Marketing Hub’s survey also found that identifying the right influencers is currently the biggest challenge faced by marketers. Hence, why it’s a good idea to leave influencer sourcing to a B2B influencer marketing agency that uses a comprehensive vetting process.     

Enhanced Video Content for B2B Engagement

A survey completed among B2B marketers in the middle of 2023 reveals: 

Nearly 70% plan to dedicate more resources to video content marketing in 2024.

As content personalization will also be crucial going forward, ensure that your videos offer that personal touch. For B2B video marketing to reach its full potential, it needs to be authentic. 

For example, instead of featuring the product on its own, ask an employee to demonstrate how it works. Other video ideas include an interview with a thought leader in your niche or an educational video that breaks down a complex topic. 

Then, to get the most value, repurpose your video so that it can be shared on multiple channels. It might come as a surprise, but a survey completed in May 2023 lists TikTok (along with Instagram and YouTube) as the channel that delivers the second highest return on investment (ROI). TikTok is basically synonymous with bite-sized videos, making it a worthwhile channel to include in your strategy. 

Embracing Data Ethics and Privacy in B2B Marketing

To ensure your marketing strategies deliver meaningful results in the right areas, you need to base your decisions on correct data. By analyzing data, you’ll be able to identify patterns and B2B trends that will impact your actions. 

The importance of data isn’t something new, though. However, what will change (and become more challenging) is how you source this data. Google’s third-party cookies deprecation means that B2B marketers will have to focus on gathering first-party data. 

This introduces two challenges — getting customers to opt-in and ensuring that you adopt ethical practices. 

In 2024, expect to see more B2B brands focus on growing their email subscriber lists. Owned channels like email can be very valuable for gathering first-party data. 

For it to be effective, though, ensure that you’re transparent about how you’ll use the data and which data security measures you’ve put in place. One way to do that is to create a data privacy policy that you share on your website or via email. Aside from ensuring that you comply with data regulations, it also builds trust among prospects.

Growth of Podcasts as a B2B Marketing Channel

Podcasts’ popularity are showing no sign of slowing down. Not only is it convenient, but also easily accessible thanks to the number of streaming platforms available. 

Aside from being able to reach a growing audience, the content can also be repurposed easily, helping your B2B company to keep its content marketing costs down. For example, if you host your own podcast, you can share guest speakers’ experience in a blog post. Considering Google’s focus on experience, this type of content can also help to accelerate your SEO efforts and land a better ranking for your B2B website. 

Alternatively, if you’re invited to appear on a podcast, you can create a social media post with a quote that stood out, or repurpose a short clip as an Instagram Story.  

Rise in Demand for Interactive Content Formats

While content like case studies, white papers, and research reports that have traditionally been linked with the B2B space remain the most commonly used content, interactive content has also featured lately. According to the 14th Annual Content Marketing Survey completed by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, a third of B2B content marketers have used interactive content in the previous year. 

Unlike traditional static content, interactive content invites the audience to participate actively, making the experience more engaging and memorable. It’s a fresh way to stand out among long-form content typically used by businesses in this niche. Considering that email engagement and website engagement are two of the top 5 metrics used by B2B marketers, content that can boost engagement should be added to your content checklist. 

What’s more, it can also serve as a tool for data collection. As mentioned earlier, data ethics will be one of the B2B digital marketing trends to prioritize this year and with the right disclosure you can use, for instance, a quiz to learn more about your B2B clients. 

Expansion of Chatbot Usage to Improve Customer Service

Chatbots can help to convert website visitors into leads. When used in conjunction with other B2B marketing trends like AI-optimized campaigns, video marketing and other interactive content formats such as a calculator, it can be that final push they need to follow your call to action. 

Another reason why you should take notice of chatbots is that it’s more cost-effective. It empowers your business to offer round-the-clock support without having to carry the overheads of hiring additional employees. 

Customer Experience (CX) Focus

Consumers are starting to expect B2B businesses to deliver the same level of customer experience that B2C businesses deliver. One of the challenges, though, is that when you’re operating in the B2B landscape, you have to interact with multiple stakeholders instead of just a single customer. For example, if you’re selling a very technical product, the CEO might ask the team that will use your software to sit in on a software demonstration. 

This is one more reason to adopt B2B digital marketing trends like chatbots, AI tools, and content personalization. Chatbots can help you to deliver uninterrupted support, while digital marketing tools like Mailchimp makes it easy to personalize email with dynamic content helping you to adjust your messaging to different segments. 

Integration of Blockchain in B2B Transactions

It’s predicted that by 2025 the number of B2B cross-border transactions on blockchain will add up to 745 million, according to the Statista Research Department. 

It can help to build trust, transparency, and security. When a transaction has been recorded, it can’t be interfered with. Considering that B2B contracts are typically of higher value, this level of transparency and security are attractive benefits. 

Plus, as you can remove third parties, you can also boost efficiency and cut costs.  

Unlock Your Business Potential with NetShopping: Next-Level B2B Marketing Strategies!

From global banks and software providers to platforms for sport fan engagement and crypto investments, NetShopping has delivered next-level B2B results for a wide range of clients. Whether you’re a B2B brand looking to focus on lead generation or brand awareness, we’ve helped our clients to achieve various goals. 

For example, when an international software provider wanted to launch a large-scale ad campaign to increase brand recognition among B2B (and B2C) audiences, we implemented a strategic approach that focused on analysis and creative messaging. It’s by first ensuring that we understood the market situation that we could identify B2B marketing trends like content personalization that wasn’t leveraged to its full potential. The result — brand recognition in the B2B segment increased by nearly 20%. 

Conclusion

Like with other industries, AI is also one of the hottest B2B topics right now. Going forward, it’s expected to be one of the major trends shaping B2B marketing. Whether it’s to plan content or complement customer support, there are various ways that teams can use it to reach more B2B customers.

That said, it shouldn’t be at the expense of personalization. There’s a growing trend among B2B buyers to be given personalized content. Even better yet if it’s interactive! Think personalized surveys based on their recent interactions or webinars with an AMA session, there are various types of content and channels that you can explore.