Are You Choosing the Right Content Formats to Connect with Your B2B Audience?

By Nick Nelson

The internet has been filled to the proverbial brim. It’s chock full of the same stuff, as far as the eye can see. Thanks to generative AI, thousands of blog posts, ebooks and social media posts are being published every day, many of them barely distinguishable from one another.

In this bloated content environment, the format you choose isn’t just a matter of style; it can be the difference between being noticed or ignored. If your content isn’t resonating, the issue might be not what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it.

Adaptive B2B marketers are expanding beyond the written word and embracing dynamic, multi-format strategies to meet their goals more effectively.

The new content discovery landscape

Search behavior is shifting. AI Overviews and generative summaries are changing how users interact with search results. New data from BrightEdge shows that AI Overviews now appear in 11% of total queries on Google, up 22% from a year ago, with search impressions skyrocketing but click-through rates plummeting. B2B tech is among the industries most impacted.

In SEO, content visibility today depends less on traditional keyword dominance and more on relevance, structure and perceived authority.

Meanwhile, buyer behaviors are also evolving. Multimedia is on the rise: According to LinkedIn’s 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark, video and visual content were the most-used content types currently, and video led the way for planned usage. In fact, 65% of marketers intended to increase video usage this year. And it’s not just marketers who value video: nearly two-thirds of B2B tech buyers say that short-form social videos help inform purchasing decisions.

Diversifying content formats for different objectives

So, which content formats should you prioritize? The answer depends on your audience, objectives and stage of the funnel. Here are some high-impact content types and when to use them:

Top of funnel (Awareness)

Use these formats to capture attention, express your differentiating values and build brand familiarity.

Short-form video (social clips, animations, selfie vids)
Infographics and data visualizations
Thought leadership blog posts
Influencer co-created content

Mid-funnel (Consideration)

At this stage, content should demonstrate credibility, expertise and detailed understanding of buyer needs.

Webinars and livestreams
Case studies and customer stories
Podcasts
Original research reports

Dive deeper on the blog: Generate More Leads with Webinars: Avoid These Top Mistakes

Bottom-funnel (Decision)

These formats support conversion by addressing specific questions and reducing perceived risk.

Interactive product demos
Testimonials and social proof
ROI calculators
Implementation checklists

Letting data guide the way

Marketers don’t need to guess what kinds of content their audience seeks out and engages with. Advanced analysis can provide this understanding. One of the strategic services we offer at TopRank Marketing is audience research, which helps brands determine the most effective content formats by:

Using specialized tools to identify audience affinities and behaviors
Analyzing competitors and high-affinity sites for content gaps
Conducting keyword and SERP analysis to determine which formats appear and perform best for relevant queries