Being a content marketer in 2023 was akin to continuously riding Space Mountain, with no idea what the next twist, turn, or dip would bring. Seismic economic shifts, constantly changing priorities, and the looming specter of AI all made for a thrilling, if somewhat exhausting, ride.
But it’s a new year, and while you might still feel like you’re riding the roller coaster, we do see a light at the end of the tunnel. Now is the perfect time to take a deep breath, step back, and reassess the current marketing landscape. Stop bracing for every jump scare; instead, create a robust strategy that will help you confidently approach the coming year.
As a content marketing agency in the B2B tech space, we have a finger on the pulse of tech marketing. We are privy to the priorities, concerns, and content wins of dozens of our clients across various industries. And while we keep our client’s individual information private, it’s easy to notice the trends across accounts.
So what is in store for 2024? We asked some of the brilliant minds on our team what they foresee for the year ahead:
1. Renewed interest in out-of-market buyers
Desperate to boost ROI in the short term, many marketing teams hammered away at the bottom of the funnel in 2023. While driving leads and pipeline is always necessary, no company can afford to ignore the B2B buyers who are not ready to dig into product details or talk to sales.
Companies that make an effort to connect with out-of-market buyers — especially those who are just starting to experience pain points and ask questions that may lead to a product search — will pull ahead of those that focus strictly on solution- and product-aware buyers.
Adam Patton, Content Team Lead
2. A return to reader-first content
As the internet continues to fill up with AI-generated content, much of which will be, frankly, garbage, sophisticated readers will become even more skeptical of the information they consume. Regurgitated content that echoes what already exists on the internet will become less and less valuable for brands.
While AI will continue to be a useful tool in content generation, marketers who want to make an impression on potential buyers must return to the time-honored approach of giving their readers something of value: an expert opinion, a unique viewpoint, or fresh data. It may be more work, but the payoff is greater, too.
Stephanie Yoder, Director of Client Services
3. Topical authority will make a comeback
We already know that E-E-A-T — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — are important to Google’s ranking systems. In 2024, topical authority is going to matter more than ever.
Brands will need to look at all the content across their website to ensure it’s authentic, authoritative, and good quality. This means honestly asking: “Are our actions signaling to the audiences and the search engines that we’re the authority on this specific topic?” If the answer is no, it will be necessary to rethink the strategy and figure out ways to elevate both their planned content and the content already on their site.
Because of this, we’ll see a rise in the importance of topic clusters and an increased emphasis on content refreshes.
Goran Mirkovic, Growth Operations
4. An increased focus on quantitative results
Tech layoffs and continued anxiety around the economy have businesses rethinking their marketing strategies. Organizations will push content pros more than ever to demonstrate the empirical results of their marketing strategies and efforts. We’ll see more of an investment in SEO, analytics, and other numbers-oriented technical marketing tools and less of an investment in experimental strategies.
Alex Holden, Content Writer
5. A more thoughtful approach to Generative AI
The hype around GenAI will simmer down, and more marketers will spend time learning how to actually incorporate it into their workflows, edit AI-generated content more effectively, and understand how to stand out from pure GenAI content by bringing experience, expertise, authority, and trust into their content.
Meg Scarborough, CEO
6. Amazing brand campaigns will rise above
Zero-click searches will become the norm, resulting in fewer clicks for branded content. Even if brands continue to rank for key search terms, I think the value of those rankings will significantly decline. Because frankly, average readers won’t care — or even notice — the source of most of the content they encounter within search engines or across the web. They just want answers and information — fast. With that in mind, we’ll see more investment in brand campaigns over SEO in the content marketing world. I expect to see more brands elevating the profiles of thought leaders and executives via speaking engagements, personal channels, or book deals. It’s the year of the brand campaign.
Lucia Giles, Content Team Lead
7. Marketers will go back to basics as the industry continues to evolve
B2B content marketers had a lot to contend with last year: tightening budgets, hype around AI, uncertainty around the future of search, and increasingly blurred lines between communications, PR, and marketing. 2024 will be a reset year. Marketers will return to the fundamentals — establishing strong branding and identity and conducting deep audience research — as we redefine what successful marketing looks like over the next few years.
Sarah Cottone, Content Team Lead
Megawatt’s got your back
Of course nobody knows what exactly the future holds for us, but going into 2024 with a robust content marketing strategy will help you withstand whatever storms lie ahead.
Not sure where to get started? We can help! At Megawatt we specialize in helping B2B tech brands develop and execute rock-solid strategies to meet their marketing goals. Reach out to see if we can help you act proactively, not reactively, in 2024.
After all, we’re in this together.
If you want an expert B2B content marketing agency to help you create and strategize your B2B tech content 👇
