7 B2B Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2024

B2B marketing is constantly evolving and adapting to the changing needs and expectations of buyers. In 2024, B2B marketers will face new challenges and opportunities as they navigate the post-pandemic world, the rise of digital transformation, and the increasing demand for personalized and engaging experiences. Here are some of the key trends that will shape B2B marketing in 2024 and beyond.

Key Takeaways

ABM will become more strategic and data-driven

Content marketing will embrace interactive and immersive formats

Social media marketing will expand beyond LinkedIn

Email marketing will adopt more personalization and automation

SEO will focus on user intent and experience

Webinars will remain a popular and effective marketing tool

Customer advocacy will become more important and influential

1. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Will Become More Strategic and Data-Driven

ABM is a marketing strategy that focuses on targeting and engaging specific accounts or prospects with personalized messages and offers. ABM has proven to be effective in increasing conversion rates, retention rates, and customer lifetime value for B2B businesses. In 2024, ABM will become more strategic and data-driven, as marketers will leverage advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation to identify, segment, and prioritize their most valuable accounts. ABM will also integrate with other marketing channels, such as email, social media, webinars, and events, to create a seamless and consistent buyer journey.

2. Content Marketing Will Embrace Interactive and Immersive Formats

Content marketing is a vital component of B2B marketing, as it helps to educate, inform, and persuade potential buyers. However, content marketing is also becoming more competitive and saturated, as buyers are exposed to a plethora of content every day. To stand out from the crowd and capture the attention of buyers, B2B marketers will need to embrace interactive and immersive formats, such as videos, podcasts, infographics, quizzes, surveys, games, virtual reality, and augmented reality. These formats will help to create more engaging and memorable experiences for buyers, as well as generate more data and insights for marketers.

3. Social Media Marketing Will Expand Beyond LinkedIn

LinkedIn has been the dominant social media platform for B2B marketing, as it offers a large and professional network of potential buyers. However, in 2024, B2B marketers will need to expand their social media presence beyond LinkedIn, as buyers are increasingly using other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Clubhouse, and Reddit, to research and discover B2B products and services. B2B marketers will need to adapt their content and tone to suit the different audiences and preferences of each platform, as well as leverage user-generated content, influencer marketing, live streaming, and social commerce to increase their reach and engagement.

4. Email Marketing Will Adopt More Personalization and Automation

Email marketing is one of the most effective and cost-efficient marketing channels for B2B businesses. However, email marketing is also facing some challenges, such as low open rates, high unsubscribe rates, spam filters, and privacy regulations. To overcome these challenges and optimize their email marketing performance, B2B marketers will need to adopt more personalization and automation in 2024. Personalization will help to tailor the email content and offers to the individual needs and interests of each recipient. Automation will help to streamline the email creation and delivery process, as well as trigger timely and relevant emails based on the recipient’s behavior and actions.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Will Focus on User Intent and Experience

SEO is a crucial factor for B2B businesses to increase their online visibility and traffic. However, SEO is also becoming more complex and dynamic, as search engines are constantly updating their algorithms and ranking factors. In 2024, SEO will focus more on user intent and experience, as search engines will prioritize the quality, relevance, and usefulness of the content over the technical aspects. B2B marketers will need to conduct keyword research, content analysis, and competitor analysis to understand the intent behind each search query, and create content that matches the user’s needs. B2B marketers will also need to improve the user experience of their websites, by ensuring fast loading speed, mobile-friendliness, easy navigation, and security.

6. Webinars Will Remain a Popular and Effective Marketing Tool

Webinars are online presentations or workshops that provide valuable information or insights to a specific audience. Webinars have been a popular and effective marketing tool for B2B businesses, especially during the pandemic, as they allow them to showcase their expertise, build trust, and generate leads. In 2024, webinars will remain a key marketing tool for B2B businesses, as they offer several benefits, such as:

They can reach a large and global audience at a low cost.
They can be recorded and repurposed into other content formats, such as blog posts, e-books, podcasts, and videos.
They can be interactive and engaging, by allowing the audience to ask questions, participate in polls, and share feedback.
They can be integrated with other marketing channels, such as email, social media, and landing pages.

7. Customer Advocacy Will Become More Important and Influential

Customer advocacy is the act of promoting or recommending a product or service to others, based on a positive and satisfying experience. Customer advocacy can take various forms, such as testimonials, reviews, case studies, referrals, and word-of-mouth. Customer advocacy is one of the most powerful and credible forms of marketing for B2B businesses, as it helps to:

Increase brand awareness and reputation.
Build trust and credibility.
Influence purchase decisions and behavior.
Boost customer loyalty and retention.

In 2024, customer advocacy will become more important and influential for B2B marketing, as buyers will rely more on the opinions and experiences of their peers and experts, rather than on the claims and promises of the sellers. B2B marketers will need to encourage and incentivize their customers to become advocates for their brand, by providing them with exceptional products and services, as well as rewarding them with recognition, appreciation, and incentives.

Tips

Be customer-centric: Focus on creating value for your customers, rather than selling your products or services. Solve their problems, address their challenges, and help them achieve their goals.

Be relevant: Create content that matches the intent, context, and stage of your buyers in their journey. Provide them with useful information, insights, and solutions that they are looking for.

Be consistent: Maintain a consistent brand identity, voice, tone, message, and style across all your marketing channels. Create a coherent and cohesive buyer experience that builds trust and recognition.

Be creative: Experiment with different formats, mediums, angles, stories, and ideas to capture the attention and interest of your buyers. Stand out from the crowd with originality and innovation.

Be agile: Adapt to the changing needs, expectations, behaviors, and preferences of your buyers. Stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, tools, and best practices in the industry. Test, learn, improve.

B2B Marketing Trends 2024: A Statistical Report

B2B marketing is the process of selling products or services to other businesses. It is different from B2C marketing, which targets individual consumers. B2B marketing requires a deeper understanding of the buyer’s needs, challenges, and decision-making process. In this report, we will explore some of the key trends that are shaping the B2B marketing landscape in 2024, based on data and insights from various sources.

Trend 1: Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach that focuses on targeting and engaging specific accounts or segments with personalized messages and offers. ABM aims to increase the relevance, value, and loyalty of each account, leading to higher conversion rates, retention rates, and revenue growth. According to a survey by ITSMA and the ABM Leadership Alliance, 73% of B2B marketers reported that ABM delivers higher ROI than other marketing initiatives, and 71% said that ABM accounts for more than a quarter of their total marketing revenue.

Trend 2: LinkedIn + Other Social Channels

LinkedIn is the most popular and effective social media platform for B2B marketers, according to a report by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. The report found that 96% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for organic content marketing, and 76% use it for paid social media advertising. LinkedIn offers various features and tools for B2B marketers, such as LinkedIn Pages, LinkedIn Live, LinkedIn Stories, LinkedIn Events, LinkedIn Learning, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Besides LinkedIn, other social channels that B2B marketers should leverage in 2022 include YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Trend 3: AI & Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are technologies that enable machines to learn from data and perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. AI and ML can help B2B marketers improve their efficiency, effectiveness, and creativity in various aspects of their marketing campaigns. For example, AI and ML can help B2B marketers with:

Lead generation and qualification: AI and ML can help B2B marketers identify and prioritize the most promising prospects based on their behavior, intent, and profile data.
Content creation and optimization: AI and ML can help B2B marketers generate and optimize content that matches the preferences, needs, and interests of their target audience.
Personalization and segmentation: AI and ML can help B2B marketers deliver personalized and relevant messages and offers to each account or segment based on their characteristics, behavior, and stage in the buyer journey.
Analytics and attribution: AI and ML can help B2B marketers measure and optimize the performance and impact of their marketing activities across different channels and touchpoints.

According to a report by Salesforce, 57% of marketing leaders say AI is absolutely or very critical in helping their company create 1-to-1 marketing across every touchpoint.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1: What is B2B marketing?
A: B2B marketing is the process of marketing products or services to other businesses or organizations, rather than to individual consumers.

Q2: What are the benefits of B2B marketing?
A: B2B marketing can help businesses to:

Increase their sales and revenue.
Expand their market share and reach.
Enhance their brand image and reputation.
Establish long-term and profitable relationships with their customers.

Q3: What are the challenges of B2B marketing?
A: B2B marketing can also face some challenges, such as:

Longer and more complex sales cycles.
Multiple decision-makers and influencers involved in the purchase process.
Higher expectations and demands from the buyers.
More competition and saturation in the market.

Q4: How to measure the success of B2B marketing?
A: B2B marketing success can be measured by using various metrics and indicators, such as:

Lead generation: The number and quality of potential customers who show interest in your products or services.
Conversion rate: The percentage of leads who become paying customers.
Customer satisfaction: The degree of happiness and loyalty of your customers.
Customer lifetime value: The total amount of revenue generated by a customer over their relationship with your business.
Return on investment: The ratio of profit or loss generated by your marketing efforts to the cost of those efforts.

Q5: How to improve your B2B marketing strategy?
A: To improve your B2B marketing strategy, you can:

Conduct market research and analysis to understand your target audience, their needs, pain points, goals, and preferences.
Define your value proposition and unique selling proposition to differentiate yourself from your competitors and communicate your benefits to your buyers.
Create a marketing plan that outlines your objectives, strategies, tactics, budget, timeline, and expected outcomes.
Implement your marketing plan using various channels, tools, techniques, and resources that suit your audience and goals.
Monitor, evaluate, and optimize your marketing performance using data, feedback, and best practices.

References:

https://www.infosys.com/about/knowledge-institute/insights/Documents/future-customer-engagement.pdf

https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/B2B2C-business-to-business-to-consumer

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/small-business-commissioner-role

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7641-3932-1

http://fortune.com/fortune500/2015/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343409950081275

https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00343409950081275

https://noblestudios.com/industry/b2b-marketing/b2b-marketing-trends-2022/
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2022_B2B_Research_Final.pdf
https://www.salesforce.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/documents/reports/fifth-edition-state-of-marketing.pdf