In the B2B content realm, demand is like a bright, burning bonfire. You and your teams need to keep feeding it so it doesn’t die—while also simultaneously making it burn hotter, brighter, and bigger.
The pressure is real and urgent—if the flame starts dimming it impacts everyone around you. That’s because copy and content both fill the sales pipeline and move people along the funnel.
And, of course, since your competitors are also fueling their sales funnels, your brand needs to do it faster and better.
The only issue? Finding enough high-quality wood. And as every diligent camper knows—you can’t keep a bonfire burning, much less growing, without good, high quality wood.
That said, content demands keep growing with no end in sight. According to SEMRush and the B2B Content Institute, here’s the near-future forecast for B2B content marketing:
- SEO: 77% of orgs will increase
- Personalized content: 56% will increase
- Social media: 76% will increase
- B2B videos: 61% will increase investment
- B2B thought leadership 52% will increase investment
How are organizations keeping pace with this escalating need? To put it simply, many are not.
Resources are scant—and AI isn’t the answer.
According to a 2024 report by the B2B Content Institute, 1 out of 3 marketers lack a “scalable model for content creation”. On top of that, 39% of B2B marketers struggle to “create enough content.” And 58% of marketers say their content strategies are only “moderately effective.”
What’s causing this? Well, much of it comes down to simply lacking trustworthy B2B writing talent necessary to get the job done.
54% of B2B marketers name “lack of resources” as their biggest challenge. They don’t say “more TikTok videos.” They don’t say “better SEO,” “more media coverage,” or even “more budget.” They say: lack of content resources.
The same report says most content creation teams are too small—just 2-5 people, if even that. Sure, some marketers might use GenAI platforms, such as ChatGPT. But the best brands know better. They recognize that GenAI is based on derivative technology, e.g. someone else’s words. So by definition, it’s the opposite of differentiating. Using it for ideas is fine—but without a human touch, the copy sounds tepid, generic, and even wrong—at the exact moment you need something human, authentic, accurate, and unique.
In fact, in a 2024 report, Gartner predicts that by 2027, brands will start to reject AI-generated copy in favor of the kind written by humans.
Steeper expectations are on the way.
According to the 2024 marketing report by Salesforce, each marketing team member manages an average of 10 channels—and 89% of marketers feel the need to continually innovate to achieve what has become an impossible task. Furthermore, A 2023 report by SEMRush calls the lack of resources even worse for B2B companies, where content needs are typically complex, nuanced, and technical.
This is something we can personally vouch for at MarketSmiths. We consistently encounter marketing executives who are making a courageous attempt to keep up with the ever increasing demands of the job. But they’re getting more channels, more responsibilities, and being asked to achieve better results — and despite increasing budget, they can’t do it. The supply of great content creators isn’t enough—and it isn’t good enough.
Simply put: every marketing organization needs more content creators creating better content.
How are today’s marketing leaders managing these challenges?
In our next post, we break down the current state of content sourcing to show you what’s working—and what’s not—when it comes to fueling the B2B content bonfire.
