How AI in marketing will improve the B2B buyer’s journey in 2024

The buyer’s journey is changing

The modern B2B marketer’s buying journey looks a lot different than what we traditionally expect. Recent research points to long-coming changes that stem from shifts in processes during the pandemic and a new generation moving into leadership roles.

These factors, among others, have contributed to the consumerization of B2B marketing. Consumerization means the move towards behavior we’d typically see from a B2C consumer and away from the typical buying behavior we’d expect from a B2B buyer.

This change in buying behavior reshapes the B2B buyer’s journey. You need to adapt your strategy to stay ahead of the changes and get in front of your prospects. AI can help.

Our 2024 predictions for how B2B will leverage AI in marketing

Using AI in marketing: More strategic content

One of the ways consumerization shows B2B buyers are behaving more like B2C buyers is that B2B buyers are spending more time doing independent online research before making a buying decision. This means you need to have the right content available for them along the way.

More content is expected, especially product-focused information or competitive comparisons that help answer some of their burning questions before the buyer is ready to talk to a salesperson. You need to make sure you have content that speaks to every stage of the funnel, but now bottom-of-funnel content is even more important since many buyers may prefer to get this information through their online research rather than going straight to a sales conversation.

These extra content pieces mean your content team will be expected to create more content than ever before—but this is where AI comes in. AI can help you move more quickly and create content at scale. You can use generative AI to research and brainstorm keywords that speak to your audience. Even further, you can take one content piece, say a larger asset like an eBook, and ask AI to suggest derivative assets with different lenses for each funnel stage.

With more content in the B2B marketing space than ever, you need to offer assets that rise above the noise and catch your prospects’ attention. Try to create content that stands out against what your competitors offer. Incorporating AI into your asset brainstorming process can be a great way to get fresh ideas and new perspectives on the types of content you produce in the coming year.

Using AI in marketing: Getting more personal

Think about all of the (seemingly millions of) emails you got during this season’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales from retailers and brands you subscribe to as a consumer. I’m sure many of them were personalized in one way or another.

Be it a simple first name personalization or an even more personal “You forgot this in your cart” message, B2C brands are taking advantage of personalization—And customers are now expecting it. The same goes for your B2B buyers.

AI tools can be great for adding more personalization to your outreach. You can work with a data partner who is equipped with specific AI and Machine Learning (ML) to filter and combine massive amounts of data to append your lists and equip you with any additional information you need to personalize your outreach.

Using AI in marketing: Buying groups

If the buying group has been this ambiguous and confusing thing that you’ve largely ignored in the past, that’s going to change in 2024. The buying group is going to be a huge focus going forward. 2024 will be the year many B2B marketers make the shift from focusing on passing MQLs to sales to focusing on opportunities—and buying groups are a big piece of this.

AI will be used more and more to help identify and tailor outreach to the buying group. Identifying the buying group has historically been a challenge because it often means having to sift through huge amounts of data and discern patterns. Many B2B marketing teams just haven’t had the bandwidth to do this on their own.

With AI, you can quickly analyze your data and ask it to find patterns you expect might be there. You can even ask an AI to suggest prompts for ways to segment the data differently to find patterns you may not have considered. You can layer engagement data with firmographic data like job titles to find different members of your buying group and assign them to their buying group role. AI just makes the whole process more manageable by doing the heavy lifting on the data analysis. Be mindful of putting personally identifiable information (PII) into the AI when using a public AI engine. You can first anonymize data to protect any personal information.

Then, you can use a generative AI to help build ads, emails, and even custom landing pages for the different buying roles. Remember that each role in the buying group has different pain points and different aspects of the purchase they care about. Use AI to suggest how to reframe the same content to appeal to each role’s different goals. From there you can build out content that really resonates with each member.

Looking forward to 2024

As we gear up for 2024, the B2B marketing scene is in for some big changes. In the coming year, AI will be a game-changer in how content is crafted and personalized for B2B buyers and how data is analyzed to reach your best customers. It’s not just about churning out tons of content; it’s about making sure it’s spot-on for every stage of the buyer’s journey.

With AI-powered tools, you can break down previously overwhelming amounts of data to help you uncover and understand your buying group and then craft tailored campaigns that speak directly to each member’s needs. AI has the potential to make the B2B marketers’ job more effective if you know how to use it. Working with a trusted data partner who is experienced and equipped with AI and ML, like Anteriad, can help you get ahead of a changing buyer’s journey.