What Worked & What Didn't Work For B2B Marketing In 2024
AI, B2B Influencers, Video & 2020s SEO: Context Collapse #319
Another year, another set of ch-ch-changes.
2024 brought a continuation of many B2B marketing trends from 2023: Tighter budgets, agency consolidations, and AI continuing to transform the industry.
This year also introduced some unique shifts. U.S. business spending took a hit due to uncertainty following Election Day. The TikTok ban debate appears to have settled, with the platform sticking around. Meanwhile, tools like ChatGPT, Claude, NotebookLM, and Midjourney evolved into indispensable assistants—not replacements—for marketers.
Let’s dive into the biggest B2B trends of the year.
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What Works: More Video
If you want to reach audiences, embrace YouTube and TikTok. 2024 was the year B2B brands understood that their customers use YouTube and TikTok as search engines.
Are you a dentist who is learning about new options for your practice like laser dental tools or 3D printed prosthetics? There’s a whole #dentalprosthetics hashtag on TikTok for you.
Do you work in logistics and want to grow in your career? You can watch tens of thousands of videos on logistics and supply chain management on YouTube.
Smart brands and creators produce video content that attracts new customers and keeps existing ones engaged. It’s no longer optional—it’s essential.
What Doesn’t Work: AI As A Gimmick
We’ve all been there. Your favorite SaaS tool rolls out an AI feature with a sparkly icon. You try it, and instead of simplifying your work, it makes things harder.
2024 was the great year of unwanted AI plugins as marketing tools. 90% of any job’s AI needs can be filled with ChatGPT, Claude, and Midjourney. The remaining 10% are genuinely useful AI-software integrations like Otter or Zoom’s autotranscription, Adobe Firefly or Google Sheets’ AI features.
The push for "AI everywhere" is understandable given investor pressure, but let’s face it: not every tool needs AI. Sometimes, less is more.
What Works: Modernizing SEO
Talk of the death of SEO is overhyped and frankly counterproductive for marketers. Instead, SEO is evolving to meet changing user behaviors and technology. Four key trends shaped this shift:
The use of ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini as Google/Bing substitutes.
The growing popularity of Perplexity as a search engine.
Google and Bing increasingly relying on featured snippets and AI summaries.
Users increasingly turning to Reddit, YouTube, and TikTok for how-to content.
These changes are positive. They emphasize quality over keyword stuffing. If I’m fixing an appliance and Google serves me irrelevant SEO spam, I’ll turn to ChatGPT or YouTube for answers.
The new SEO isn’t about topping search results—it’s about creating genuinely helpful content that earns its place in snippets and AI-generated summaries. That’s a win for everyone.
What Doesn’t Work: Lazy Influencer Content
When planning influencer campaigns, don’t phone it in. This is especially true in B2B, where influencer marketing often spans newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube videos rather than just Instagram or TikTok.
Good influencer content must be:
Organic: The content should align with the influencer’s brand and style.
Interesting: A corporate buzzword-filled article abstract might make a decent blog post but won’t translate into an engaging 15-minute video or 45-minute podcast.
Relevant: Your campaign should resonate with the audience—not just your internal stakeholders.
Influencer marketing can be a game-changer, but only if it’s done thoughtfully.