6 Social Media Trends B2B Marketers Need to Know for 2024

Change is the only constant in the always-evolving world of social media. Last year brought forth countless trends, AI integration, and the rebranding of Twitter to X alongside the launch of Threads. As media consumption habits continue to shift, here are some top social media trends for B2B marketers to keep in mind this year:

Social Media = Search Engine

With social media now embedded in many parts of our lives, it makes sense that users are turning to the apps to seek out information, find recommendations, and discover brands. Social media platforms favor linkless content, and Google is optimizing search results for answer delivery, surfacing social user-generated content in the top search positions. This trend impacts how brands and digital marketers create content.

Marketers will shift their strategy on social media platforms to focus on delivering immediate value and cultivating a customer-centric approach rather than solely driving direct traffic. Creating practical and helpful social content that answers search questions, such as how-tos, FAQs, hacks, and tutorials, is essential. It will also become increasingly important to consider search engine optimization for content on social media platforms, otherwise known as social SEO. Social SEO includes adding keywords to captions, descriptions, video titles, profiles, and image alt text. According to Hootsuite, Instagram posts that leverage SEO have a 30% higher engagement rate. 

Brands Choose Their Champion Platforms

Many brands are rethinking what social media platforms they post to in 2024, as maintaining a presence on multiple networks is challenging, especially with the rate at which new platforms are emerging. Marketers will embrace and experiment with new platforms but ultimately focus on platforms where their core audience is. Those identifying top-performing channels based on ROI may even abandon a few platforms in 2024.

Finding success in social media requires prioritizing quality over quantity. It’s unrealistic to be on every platform, doing everything, everywhere, all at once. Marketers will focus their attention, time, and resources on the platforms that truly resonate with their audience and implement best practices such as posting regularly and incorporating social SEO.

AI Is Here to Stay

AI is no longer just a buzzword. It’s real and here to stay. Many marketers have already implemented artificial intelligence and automation tools into their workflow to assist with content creation, brainstorming ideas, and administrative tasks. Nearly 80% of Google’s advertisers already use at least one AI-powered Search Ad product. Using AI for social media can help save time and effort while giving valuable insights.

Here are a few approachable AI tools for social media marketers:

• Canva’s Magic Media Tool creates unique AI-generated images from simple descriptions.
• Sprout Social’s Listening Tool uses sentiment mining to identify positive, negative, and neutral chatter around your brand.
• Synthesia’s AI Video Generator enables users to create professional videos without mics, cameras, actors, or studios.
• Brandwatch’s Iris Writing Assistant generates copy and captions with your brand’s personality and the post intention in mind.

While AI can assist in generating ideas and crafting multiple message variants, social media marketers are still the brains behind every compelling message.

Authenticity Is More Important Than Ever

With AI-generated content becoming widespread and consumers cognizant of inauthentic marketing efforts, marketers must keep high-quality, human-led content at the forefront of their strategies. According to the 2023 Sprout Social Index, authentic, non-promotional content is the number one type of content consumers don’t see enough of from brands on social media. With an understanding of what kinds of posts an audience finds valuable, marketers can tap into content that bolsters community engagement and creates trust with their audience.

Showcasing employees and internal influencers on social media is one way marketers can showcase core values and strengthen brand reputation. Encourage company leaders to share thought leadership content, highlight the company’s unsung heroes, and tell a story. Monitoring and responding to messages and comments is also key to fostering a community on social media that ultimately builds consumer trust.

B2B Influencers Are Having Their Moment

Influencer marketing is not just for B2C marketers. B2B brands are having success too, specifically with micro and inside influencers. Micro-influencers have smaller audiences with niche audiences and often see a higher engagement rate than macro-influencers. When working with micro-influencers, marketers can target a niche audience and get their product in front of the right people while opening up their brand to new audiences. Micro-influencers can be found on several platforms, but the most common platforms are Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

B2B marketers are also leveraging inside influencers. Employees have the potential to be a brand’s biggest champions and can provide an audience with authentic, trusted expert content. Inside influencers typically utilize LinkedIn. Whether it be internal or external, marketers who partner with influencers who are subject matter experts in their own right will drive authentic engagement and earn the trust of their audience.

Content Video Is King

Video is the fastest-growing content type, and while short-form video has dominated social media platforms for the past few years, 2024 just might be the year long-form video makes a comeback. That doesn’t mean marketers are turning to hour-long videos. But with social media platforms increasing their max video lengths and consumers turning to social to search for answers to questions, marketers will once again lean into their evergreen video strategy. YouTube remains the online video leader, a sign that incorporating long-form content is relevant in 2024.

At the same time, short-form video isn’t going anywhere, as the human attention span has shrunk to a mere 8.25 seconds, less than that of a goldfish. Social media platforms themselves are also developing new tools to make it easier for brands to create short-form videos.