- Perspective
- Social Media
B2B social media trends: How to navigate the landscape this year.
Ellice Patrick, our Social Media & Influencer Manager, has been exploring some of the latest B2B social media trends and what to look out for in 2024. Quite a mammoth task, that. But we’re pleased to say that Ellice has gotten down to the nitty gritty and selected the top five developments B2B brands should be aware of…
Top 5 B2B social media trends in 2024.
Rethinking Ad Targeting.
“Meta is embarking on a journey to transform ad campaigns. The ambition is to streamline targeting options by removing those that are underutilised or consolidating certain categories that could be perceived as sensitive. Now, you would think we’d know by now what will be, or at the very least, could be removed – we don’t. Meta seems to be taking a page out of Google’s let’s-just-announce-it-but-not-really-announce-it handbook. I guess that’s what keeps B2B social media marketing fun.
What we do know is that changes are coming into effect on Sunday 17th March and existing ad campaigns will be paused. At the moment all we can do is remain vigilant and explore additional ad targeting options such as ‘lookalike audiences’ or ‘Meta Advantage+ audience’ that will enable us to search audiences using Meta’s AI tool.
Is this a way to push us towards AI-tool utilisation – time will tell.
The power of short-form videos.
We can blame TikTok for our relatively new desire for short-form video content (and the hours and hours of scrolling…). But regardless of our opinions on the platform, TikTok has certainly reshaped social media and single-handedly encouraged Instagram to launch Reels in the summer of 2020.
As someone that works closely with B2B brands, I’ve found that TikTok – at the moment – is a little bit of a jump (I’ll keep trying). But Instagram, well that’s just a bit more palatable. Right now, Reels make up more than 20% of the time people spend on Instagram – whilst video content accounts for 50% of the time that users spend on Facebook.
The TikTok effect is real, it has transformed social media marketing strategies for B2B and B2C businesses alike. If brands are to maximise Instagram and Facebook performance, Reels must be an integral strand in B2B content marketing campaigns.
LinkedIn: Feature it.
LinkedIn will now allow company pages to feature key items at the top of the page. This is a real nice one for B2B brands as important content can now be curated and highlighted, enhancing visibility and engagement on the platform.
Unveiling the Future of Experiences.
Meta’s AI – which was introduced in September 2023, aims to make Facebook and Instagram more engaging and useful, from answering questions to generating photorealistic images. Of course, the presence of AI is still under observation and query, but efforts are being made to increase transparency and build trust. In February 2024, Meta announced its new labelling application: “Imagined with AI”. During the next 12 months, Meta will continue its work with industry partners to determine a set of common technical standards for labelling non-human generated content.
This will become increasingly important for users to identify content and start to build trust, not with AI, but with the platform itself. And, when we inevitably start generating ads via AI for B2B brands (a few years away), it will be vital for us to differentiate content to provide an authentic and reliable experience across audiences.
YouTube Shorts.
That’s right, it’s video again. And yes, they’re short. We cannot stress enough the importance of developing short-form video content for your B2B brand. YouTube, the second most popular social media network in the world, has rolled out a new function to enable users to edit long-form video content into Shorts. This will prove handy for B2B brands as, from my experience, B2B businesses tend to produce longer videos on products or services. This new function will enable us to edit current videos far quicker and distribute across multiple channels for maximum exposure. It’s also a good opportunity to revisit and breathe life into older videos!
Recent changes you need to know in the B2B social media marketing world…
To conclude, I thought I’d mention a few other social media changes that have occurred over the last week or so. First up, LinkedIn is removing the ‘Ads’ tab, which means all Ads can now only be reviewed via the Ad library.
Secondly, Bluesky – once an invite-only platform – is now available and welcoming all users. This is considered a “decentralised version of Twitter” (it even has a butterfly logo…).
And finally, Threads ‘accidentally’ introduced a feature that allowed users to filter search results chronologically. This functionality was removed pretty quickly, leaving Threads as is. Although this doesn’t have any bearing on our B2B social media strategies at the moment, what it does signal is Threads’ active evolution behind the scenes. It may not be a competitor to X just yet (Bluesky is vying for that), but I think in 2024, it is something we must look out for.
If you need any support creating a B2B social media marketing strategy, please connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a DM. Or email our social media team at hello@wyattinternational.com.