Content for the human experience

The human experience

What does our strategy look like? Are we feeding people the right content, or pushing them away? How does our brand make people feel?

"The GenAI bubble may not burst completely, but the excitement around it will wane as its limitations become clearer. Our research shows that 72% of marketers think GenAI will make everyone’s thought leadership the same. So, I hope that we’ll see fewer but more differentiated assets, as well as a greater emphasis on and investment in the creative process. On another note, our survey of B2B buyers revealed that customers select their winning vendor early in the buying process – often before they’ve even compiled a shortlist. This tells us it’s crucial to reach decision-makers at the right time with the right message and stay top of mind to win business.

These two data points underscore the importance of emotional intelligence, insight, and intuition. In 2024, content must be distinctive and trustworthy to elicit an automatic, emotional response in customers.”

Hannah Gresty,
Senior Editor
at Momentum ITSMA

Rethinking Thought Leadership shows the biggest thought leadership challenge is unique problem-solving - precisely where its true gains lie. Mechanical quantitative research alone is no longer enough. Qualitative work is considered to bring the most value and steer fresh points of view.

The report highlights the need to use video/audio interviews or case studies as trustworthy validation tools against hard research - and reach people intuitively.

The question is: How can we make human-to-human content in the dawn of GenAI?

“There are a couple of key content marketing trends for 2024. Firstly, B2B marketers need to focus on how to make their content more “human”. There is already a saturation of content for B2B buyers and research we have recently published with The Financial Times shows that there are multiple faces to the modern decision-maker. So, for your content to both stand out and resonate you will need to look past the job titles and consider the different traits, values and behaviors of today’s B2B buyers.

Secondly, our research also showed the trust in peer-to-peer content at every stage of the buying process. So I would expect to see more user-generated and influencer content in 2024.

Thirdly, if 2023 was the year of hype around GenAI, 2024 will see B2B brands actively using GenAI to support content production. However, brands will need to ensure that they have the right tools and governance in place to avoid inadvertent legal and ethical harms like copyright infringement, perpetuation of biases, and sharing false information.

And lastly, even though there is a trend for “machine to machine” content (AI-generated content to feed ad algorithms) to deliver short-term performance, this doesn’t drive brand differentiation or create memorability. So in 2024 even though marketers will use GenAI tools to drive efficiencies, I hope to see more authentic, human-centered content delivered, to provide personalized, impactful, and relevant content experiences.”

Claire Davidson,
Executive Strategy Director
at Twogether

We have the tools and technology to maximize operations. We can automate and personalize workflows, but this content needs to be created in the first place. There’s no doubt that engagement data - capable of flagging individual preferences - is every content producer’s North Star.

Key takeaways

Emotive content is impactful
Buying decisions aren’t always conscious
Reach buyers early to maximize efficiencies
Content needs to be strategized by humans to meet complex needs