Content is the lifeblood of any winning B2B marketing strategy. It’s what answers your audience’s questions. It’s what explains your unique value proposition. It’s what drives you leads – whether you distribute it all organically or leverage it in paid campaigns. Check out these top B2B content marketing trends for 2024 so you can prepare for your best year yet.
A lot has happened in 2023. From the generative AI boom to Google Analytics dropping UA in favor of GA4, we’ve experienced some shifts in how we not only create but also report on content marketing efforts.
What does this mean for 2024?
Well, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again:
Keep creating valuable content.
Things change. Trends come and go. What doesn’t change: people have questions and you have the answers. The way you get those answers to them might evolve, but at the heart of it all is prioritizing the user experience. What do users expect? How can we make the content as accessible as possible?
☝️With that foundation set, let’s review the top 11 B2B content marketing trends for 2024.
- Highly Targeted Content
- Content Derived From Audience Behavior
- More and More AI-Powered Content
- Short Form Video Content
- Impactful Storytelling
- Personalized Content for Socials
- Organic Growth with Social Media Content
- Content That Comes with Real-Time Engagement
- Podcast Content
- More Evergreen Content
- Consistency
11 B2B Content Marketing Trends for 2024
#1 – Highly Targeted Content
The more you think about your target audience and use it to fuel your content, the better your content will be. This involves diving deep into your target audience to define who they are and what they’re looking for. By knowing certain details about your target audience, you can create highly targeted content that inspires users to want more. This includes information like:
- Job titles
- Age ranges
- Gender
- Location
- Interests/hobbies
- Education level
- Lifestyle and values
- Pain points
#2 – Content Derived From Audience Behavior
Your current online content can tell you a story about what your audience likes and dislikes.
By doing a little digging to see what pages, blogs, emails and social posts get the most engagement, you can spot a pattern and use it to create new content in 2024.
It might be a certain topic, a certain call-to-action, or something else. What resonates? What works? Use this audience behavior to your advantage with what you create next.
#3 – More and More AI-Powered Content
ChatGPT is changing how we inform ourselves and others. This AI tool can add value to human-written content. Whether you’re writing a blog, ad, email, social post, or landing page, ChatGPT can be a helpful source of information and inspiration, as long as you use it right.
Using ChatGPT to create content in 2024 is going to become the norm, but don’t forget to put your own spin on it before publishing. When you have tailored brand messaging and proven content-building tactics, you don’t want to stray from them just because you’re using ChatGPT. You’re a human expert in your field, and not even a robot can speak to your audience the way that you can!
#4 – Short Form Video Content
People still prefer short, to-the-point video content, especially when they’re in the early stages of a buying decision. People don’t always want to read a blog or listen to a whole webinar to find the information they need. They just need a short answer. That’s why, when they see a video that’s less than a minute long, they’re more likely to stick around. They’ll appreciate a video that doesn’t waste time and provides value they can’t find elsewhere.
#5 – Impactful Storytelling
At the end of the day, content is about communicating a message. While we use “content” for “marketing” purposes, it’s really about telling a story that you (well, your buyers) care about.
Yes, even B2B can be emotional.
People love a good story with a meaningful message, and by including this on your website or in print media, you’ll be able to convey something important while connecting with your audience.
This could mean talking about your core values to show the humanity behind your business. But this should also go beyond that: Lead with messages that speak to your audience’s emotional problem, not just their business problem. What is the human need behind the problem they are facing? Talk about that and you will appeal in a much more genuine way with your content.
#6 – Personalized Content on Social Media
When it comes to social media, users like content they can share. But what does “sharing” really mean? Sure, sharing articles or posts on an Instagram story is fun. But how can you engage with your followers in a more personalized way?
In 2024, your brand should spend as much time on user-facing content as you do on content that talks about your own business. Maybe even more.
On Instagram alone, here are a few ideas:
- Run polls on your story
- Use the “questions” feature to crowdsource questions from your followers
- Post carousels that answer questions
- Post funny reels that your audience will relate to
#7 – Organic Growth with Social Media Content
Instagram and TikTok reels are currently playing a significant role in organic growth for all kinds of businesses. Your brand can gain serious traction by posting engaging reels. The key is to create relevant content that optimizes your profile for searchability. Some ways you can do this include:
- Use trending audio
- Include the right keywords in the caption (it’s not all about hashtags anymore)
- Write a longer caption to keep users “on” your reel for longer
#8 – Repurposed Content
Get more mileage out of the content you create by repurposing it across different channels and outlets.
For example, you wrote a blog. Next, create a batch of social posts that tease out key sections of the blog. Then, host a live webinar or live stream to dig into those topics even more.
Webinars are great for longer conversations that feature subject matter experts because you can use the time to really dive deep into the topic. While webinars take a little more planning, they’re a great way to connect with your audience in 2024.
#9 – Podcast Content
Podcasting is here to stay. According to Statistica, global podcast listeners are expected to grow to 505 million by 2024.
Take it from the perspective of B2B marketers who spend their days learning really interesting things about really specific industries: You do awesome work and solve awesome problems, and it’s worth talking about.
The key, of course, is having someone on your team that is comfortable being recorded. Even better if you can host conversations with other guest experts so it’s more interesting to the listener. Then, you just need a microphone and an idea – and maybe an audio editing software for polish.
Podcasting isn’t for everyone and every business, but it can be another great way to repurpose your ideas in another engaging format.
#10 – More Evergreen Content
Evergreen content – content that remains relevant over time – serves a few distinct purposes:
- High SEO performance
- Brand authority
- Thought leadership
- Traffic consistency
- Sustainable value
If you continuously post credible and solution-driven content, you’ll be an authoritative source within your industry. In 2024, users will want insights straight from the experts, and they’ll look to you as a valuable source.
This type of content will power high SEO rankings, backlinks, referrals, social media shares, etc., without maintenance and updates. Creating evergreen content is a great use of your time and will likely lead to even more wins as the year progresses.
#11 – Consistency
Content consistency will always lead you down the path to success. If you write one blog or create one video every few months, they may get some views, but users won’t have anything else to look at once clicking through to your website. It’s crucial to post content consistently so that when you snag a user’s attention with one piece of content, it doesn’t end there. The more value you have ready for your audience to digest, the more likely they are to continue to visit your website.
Final Thoughts: B2B Content Marketing Trends for 2024
Content feeds all of your marketing efforts. As AI takes over the world in 2024 (just kidding), remember to keep creating awesome content that genuinely helps your audience. You’ll beat the bots every time.
