The State of B2B Marketing: 4 Key Findings From 20M+ Leaders

There is more B2B content now than at any point in history—and by the time you finish reading this, there will be even more. (Just take that in for a second.) With B2B content rising exponentially, how do you ensure yours captures the attention of decision-makers and the ever-elusive C-suite? 

Based on their combined first-party data direct from decision-makers, Industry Dive and NetLine teamed up for a data-packed deep dive on the state of B2B marketing, complete with tactics to win over today’s buyers. The discussion revolves around two powerhouse reports: Industry Dive’s 2024 Audience Snapshots and NetLine’s 2024 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report.  Industry Dive’s VP of Global Strategy, Lieu Pham, was joined by NetLine’s General Manager, David Fortino to bring all of the insights to life. 

According to Pham and Fortino and their mountain of data, leaders are desperate for content that helps them be more efficient, including AI-related content, skimmable assets, and insights from peers. What they’re not interested in are lead forms with too many fields, stories that add to the noise, immediate sales messaging, and a user experience that feels like a letdown. 

Read on for a full recap and learn the habits and preferences of today’s B2B decision-makers so you can ensure your content marketing and demand strategies stand out.

Leaders Are Absolutely Interested in AI

With AI-mania in full force, it comes as no surprise that AI-related topics were featured in the Top 10 Most Popular Stories across 92% of Industry Dive’s 37 industry-specific publications.

AI-related content saw a 38% growth from the second half of 2023 to the first half of 2024

— Industry Dive’s 2024 Audience Snapshots

The demand for AI content is rising exponentially, showing no signs of slowing. 

So much so that, should the acronym for AI ever be renamed, Fortino suggests going with “Absolutely Interested.” He says this while pointing to data showing a dramatic rise in content consumption related to AI, with demand for AI-related content rising 5.5x in 2023 on the NetLine side. 

How Marketers Should Respond

• Don’t add to the noise. Pham predicts AI will introduce a wider disparity between good and bad content. To counter this, ensure whatever you present, whether it’s an opinion piece or an analysis, has substance, she says. “Don’t [create AI-related content] unless you have something of value to add to the conversation,” she adds.

• Focus on your expertise. Pham implores us to think twice before jumping on the hype train. Instead, she suggests that you focus your efforts on creating expert-driven content that revolves around your particular industry’s or your company’s expertise. 

• Elevate your executions. Rather than adding to the overwhelming noise, Fortino suggests finding ways to use AI to elevate your executions and accelerate content creation, making your life and your staff’s lives a little easier. 

• Be transparent about AI outputs. “Envision a world whereby brands of integrity go out of their way to make it clear to their prospects that they aren’t using AI in marketing executions,” suggests Fortino. He imagines a future watermark or an international Internet standard certifying the content as original and not written by AI. (Startup idea, anyone?)

Related Reading: What Are Ownable Conversations?

Gated Content Consumption Is on the Rise

According to the data, being a gatekeeper is solid strategy (as long as what’s behind the gate is worth the suspense). 

Users aren’t averse to providing data in return for gaining access to great content.

— David Fortino, General Manager, NetLine

Pham agrees, pointing to how Industry Dive’s studioID generated more than 121,000 leads across client campaigns between October 2023 and January 2024 with gated content. “That’s proof in the pudding,” says Pham. “You just have to be very discerning about what you’re offering.”

Even more proof? NetLine, who has been tracking gated content consumption since the inception of their report, has seen a year-over-year increase in gated content consumption across the platform, says Fortino. “This past year is up 14%, and we’re already pacing to exceed that for 2024,” he adds. 

How Marketers Should Respond

• Create compelling content. Ask yourself, says Pham, if the content behind that gate is truly valuable. Is it proprietary or something nobody else can give your audience? “Create content people would be compelled to give their data for and that you are truly happy about as a creator,” adds Fortino.

• Do a gut check. Put quality to the test by putting yourself in your prospect’s shoes, says Fortino. Have a quick gut check and ask yourself, Would I enjoy that experience? If the answer is no, then don’t gate the content. 

• Limit your form fields. “Cool your boots with the number of form fields,” says Pham. She notes how, even though people will feel compelled to share their information if they get great content in return, it’s easy to be put off by having to enter so much information. 

• Improve the user experience. “If you’re engaging with the brand and consuming a ton of great content from them, but every form is the same and doesn’t recognize you. That’s just a terrible UX,” says Fortino, who suggests using technology to remember your audience. 

Related Reading: Choosing Between Gated vs. Ungated Content

The C-Suite Seeks “Fast Paths to Knowledge”

The C-suite is consuming more content, and brands can help them consume responsibility.

Though content consumption has increased by 8% YOY in the C-suite, says Fortino, so has C-suite stress. 

Last year, 40% of the C-suite said they would likely quit within the year because of work-related stress.

“The C-suite is incredibly stressed, busy, and overworked, and they’re looking for fast paths to knowledge,” says Fortino. He notes the importance of distilling complex topics and subject matter into accessible, digestible formats.

At the same time, it’s crucial to recognize it’s not just the C-suite in the buying committee. “There’s always a decision-maker, and then there’s always someone doing the actual research,” says Pham. 

We need to create content that serves them and helps build that business case to sell into the C-suite.

— Lieu Pham, VP of Global Strategy, studioID

How Marketers Should Respond

• Give the C-suite what they want. Over half of Industry Dive’s readers are senior leaders, and nearly a quarter are in the C-suite, so Pham knows a thing or two about what executives crave.

• Keep content simple. “[The C-suite] wants simplicity. They want straight talk. They want things to be pretty clear-cut regarding the topics and issues they’re interested in,” says Pham. “Make their lives easier and more simplistic, and they’ll advocate for you,” adds Fortino. 

• Consider linkable assets. Interlinking assets allows readers to bounce around and go for the format of content that aligns best for where they are in the buyer’s journey,” says Fortino. Think: linking to a deeper, editorialized analysis, or even a shared Excel doc or Google Doc, where the raw data lives and pivot tables can be applied.

• Support buyers outside the C-suite. “I’m an advocate of making content that allows the, let’s say, director level or influencer to educate seniors,” says Fortino. Pham seconds this and advises marketers to consider what content will serve those ‘purchase-influencer’ roles.

Related Reading: 3 Critical Challenges Confronting B2B Leaders in 2024

Playbooks, Case Studies, and Webinars Reign Supreme

We’ve all heard the saying, “Content is king,” but what kind of content wears the crown?

“It’s not just driving top-of-funnel high-volume content, but also finding the content formats that nicely associate accelerated buyer outcomes,” says Fortino. 

For example, while case studies see a low volume of registrations across NetLine’s platform, Fortino says users who register for case studies were 79% more likely to make a purchase decision in that market segment within the next 12 months than any other content format. 

Playbooks are associated with users being 115% more likely to make a purchase decision in the next 12 months, while ebooks accounted for 40% of the 6.2 million leads that Netline processed. 

Meanwhile, at Industry Dive’s studio ID, webinars were the number one format across all 37 publications and were one of the highest-performing formats for quality lead generation. She adds that the most popular webinars were ones with informed predictions (read: data) and featured a household brand name. 

How Marketers Should Respond

• Mix up your content. Knowing different formats attract buyers at various stages, present a mix. “You need to have ebooks to invest in building volume at the top of your funnel, but a webinar is going to offer a level of depth and breadth and personality that you are really unable to ascertain through written content, even if it’s amazingly written,” says Fortino.

• Tap into subject matter experts. Improve your content by using insights from experts. Pham notes how the featuring of household names or high-ranking panelists, like your SVPs and C-suites, drew higher attendance rates in webinars. (This is especially true when Fortune 500 names are mentioned in the headline.)

• Look beyond the buyer journey. “Don’t forget your future buyers because your competitors may be talking to them, and by the time it’s time to buy from you, they’re not thinking about you because you haven’t built that relationship,” notes Pham. “Set yourself up for a healthy pipeline by thinking about people outside the journey.”

• A/B test content formats and adapt accordingly. Resist the urge to go ‘all in’ on a singular format. The best content marketing programs strategically match format to subject matter and buying journey stage. 

Lean Into Your Biggest Opportunity

Your greatest opportunity to give leaders what they want is to be bold, not boring, says Fortino. 

The vast majority of B2B marketing is incredibly stale. It lacks personality, it lacks emotion

— David Fortino, General Manager, NetLine

As a marketer, you can take risks, get away from groupthink, and push back on content your CFO, CMO, and CEO all tweaked down to a distilled homogenous asset. 

The TL;DR: don’t be afraid to shake up your marketing. 

And know that you don’t have to do this alone. As Pham suggests, consider who in your organization can help advance the conversation or put a new spin on it. Everyone’s got different specialties and opinions — how can you leverage the expertise lurking throughout your company to your advantage?

Eager to dive into all of the data? Watch the full webinar on demand.