Figuring out a successful B2B strategy is like winning the Super Bowl.
The competition is fierce, it takes a lot of meticulous planning and investment, and even if you do everything right—there’s a chance someone else will just do it a little bit better.
Plus, with the economic uncertainties, rising costs, and rapid technological changes (looking at you, AI), there’s a possibility B2B marketers take a more cautious approach this year.
So will they? Let’s look at some data.
🖱️📈 Clicking on each individual chart will take you to its interactive looker studio board.
The Outlook On B2B Marketing Spend In 2024
According to Insider Intelligence, B2B marketing spend grew slowly since 2020:
So while there was some increase year-over-year, marketing spend in 2023 grew 2% less compared to the same period the year before.
Which coincides with the cautious approach we all felt in the industry all throughout last year.
However, the B2B marketing spend is projected to slowly rise again in 2024 with $3.8B, then keep a rising trend as we move into 2025.
The slow growth correlates with another report that shows how B2B marketing budgets will change this year:
42% of B2B budgets will more or less stay the same as in 2023. And if we see an increase, it will be around the 1-9% mark—-quite possibly on the lower side.
Only 13% will spend 10% and more compared to last year.
The good news is that not many B2B marketers are looking to decrease their spend.
Where will B2B Marketers Spend Their Resources in 2024?
No alarms and no surprises here:
According to 84% B2B marketers, LinkedIn remains the best B2B social media content marketing platform.
Interestingly, TikTok snuck in with 3% B2B marketers claiming it is the best for B2B marketing.
And Sagefrog reports that—when it comes to online marketing—top areas of marketing spend will be:
- Content Marketing (23%)
- Paid Social Media (21%)
- Email Marketing (20%)
- Search Engine Marketing (17%)
- Search Engine Optimization (15%)
So pretty much an even spread of channels.
But besides the familiar, there’s an artificially generated elephant in the room.
How Will B2B Marketers Leverage AI In 2024?
Or a better question—will B2B marketers turn to AI?
They will probably have to as automation gets integrated into every stage of the B2B marketing process. But do they find it a good or a bad thing?
It looks like more than half of B2B marketers see AI as a positive thing, with 15% not sure, and 27% being weary of the tectonic shifts it may bring.
Nevertheless, adopting AI has become the norm, particularly in B2B. And here’s how B2B marketers plan to use it:
So if you’re in B2B marketing and still haven’t integrated AI in some of these processes—you might want to start thinking about it.
Your peers seem to be doing it.
Bottom Line: B2B In 2024
It doesn’t look like an easy year, but it definitely seems more interesting.
The main takeaway: If you need to reduce B2B marketing spend, try not to reduce it too much, as it seems the majority will keep sailing through the heavy waves.
Furthermore, try to figure out LinkedIn, as it seems to be the place to be-to-be.
However, if you have creative ideas, you may test out an underappreciated channel like TikTok—at least for top of the funnel marketing. It’s underutilized by B2B marketers, so ads might be much cheaper than on LinkedIn.
Finally, try to slowly incorporate AI in most of your systems and processes. But you probably already knew that…
Sources
The report sourced data from the following:
