The Great Content Collapse: Why B2B Marketing Is Heading for a Reckoning

We need to talk about what’s happening to B2B marketing.

Have you noticed your LinkedIn feed lately? It’s becoming an endless stream of AI-generated “thought leadership” that all sounds vaguely the same. Vapid listicles. Generic how-tos. Content that looks suspiciously like it was created in 10 minutes by someone who’s never actually done the job they’re writing about.

You’re not imagining it. We’re in the middle of what I call the “Great Content Collapse” – and it’s fundamentally changing the rules of B2B marketing.

When Algorithms Attack Reality

A recent article by Jason Koebler described what’s happening as a “brute force attack on reality.” AI-generated content is overwhelming digital platforms through sheer volume rather than value. Content creators openly brag about “cranking out 8-10 shorts in under 30 minutes” and “exploiting weaknesses at scale.”

The strategy works because the primary audience isn’t humans – it’s algorithms. As Koebler explains:

“The strategy with these types of posts is to make a human linger on them long enough to say to themselves ‘what the fuck,’ or to be so horrified as to comment ‘what the fuck,’ or send it to a friend saying ‘what the fuck,’ all of which are signals to the algorithm that it should boost this type of content.”

And it’s not just happening on social platforms. SEO, email, and even advertising are all experiencing this relentless scaling of AI-generated content optimized for distribution rather than human value.

Why This Is Disastrous for B2B (But an Opportunity for the Savvy)

The “brute force” approach that works for viral TikToks and Instagram Reels is proving catastrophic for B2B companies, for reasons that should be obvious but somehow aren’t to many executives.

B2B purchasing isn’t driven by algorithms – it’s driven by trust. When buyers evaluate six-or-seven-figure purchases that could impact their company’s operations (and their careers), they need confidence, not content volume.

We recently worked with a cybersecurity company that experimented with AI-generated content. Their traffic quadrupled in a month – success, right? Not exactly. Sales reported that leads who mentioned this content were mostly unqualified, and two enterprise prospects actually expressed concerns about the “sensationalist approach.”

What looked like marketing success on paper became a liability in actual sales conversations.

The Human-Centered Alternative

Instead of joining the race to the content bottom, forward-thinking B2B companies are going in the opposite direction. They’re doubling down on human-centered approaches that treat buyer attention as a precious resource rather than something to be exploited.

We’re seeing three strategies work particularly well:

1. Review-Based Marketing: Mining competitor reviews (both positive and negative) to create hyper-targeted campaigns that address validated pain points
2. Micro-Events Over Mega-Conferences: Replacing giant conference booths with intimate gatherings of qualified prospects for authentic conversation
3. Unpolished but Authentic Content: Featuring actual subject matter experts in genuine, helpful content – even if it’s not production-perfect

These approaches share something critical: they respect both the intelligence and time constraints of B2B decision-makers.

Introducing Our New Guide

To help B2B marketers navigate this challenging landscape, we’ve just released “The B2B Marketer’s Guide to Algorithmic Awareness + Human-Centered Design.”

This comprehensive resource combines insights about algorithmic content distribution with proven human-centered design principles to create a framework for authentic, effective B2B marketing in the AI age.

You’ll learn:

• Why the metrics that drive B2C success can lead B2B companies astray
• How to measure content quality in ways that align with actual business outcomes
• Practical techniques to balance algorithmic visibility with genuine human connection
• A 4-step implementation plan to transform your marketing approach

Download the free guide →

The Authenticity Premium

As AI-generated content saturates digital channels, we’re witnessing the emergence of what I call the “authenticity premium.” Genuine human expertise becomes exponentially more valuable precisely because it’s harder to fake at scale.

The opportunity for thoughtful B2B marketers has never been greater. While your competitors flood LinkedIn with AI-generated posts chasing vanity metrics, you can focus on creating experiences that build genuine trust and drive actual business.

As one CMO puts it: “Everyone’s chasing cheap attention while genuine trust becomes more valuable than ever. The math is simple – would you rather have a million irrelevant views or the focused attention of 100 actual decision-makers?”

The choice is yours.

Download Our Free Guide: The B2B Marketer’s Guide to Algorithmic Awareness + Human-Centered Design