A recent report by the CMO Council reveals that content marketing has never been more important to the buying process. An overwhelming majority of respondents (87%) said that online content has a major or moderate impact on their B2B purchase decision. That surprising figure explains why marketing departments are dedicating a growing portion of their budgets on the development, delivery and promotion of content to drive business leads, influence customer markets, and grow brand presence and authority.
Don’t let out that sigh of relief just yet, however. The study also found that on average, buyers find little value and trustworthiness in online content.
When asked which types of content they trust most, 67% of survey participants rated research reports or whitepapers as the most trusted, followed by customer case studies, analyst reports, and product reviews.
The survey also found that when it comes to the most valued characteristics of content, respondents were split almost evenly in their responses. Breadth and depth of information was most important with ease of access, understanding, and readability as a close second. Originality of thinking and ideas rounded out the top three responses.
Respondents were also able to shed some light on what they disliked the most in B2B content marketing. Half of the survey participants said the top disliked content characteristic was having too many requirements for download, followed by blatantly promotional and self-serving, and non-substantive and uninformed.
(For tips on creating exceptional content, be sure to check out this article from the Strategic Guy blog.)
All hope isn’t lost, however. When it comes to content consumers found to be trustworthy and relevant, some 28% say they share content with more than 100 colleagues while another 31% share it with 25 to 100 people.
So what’s the lesson here? “Improving content relevance and performance is a strategic imperative for BtoB marketing organizations,” said Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council. “BtoB buyers are looking for content that’s original, consultative and highly pertinent to where they are in their decision-making process. Too many vendors are failing these buyers with overly promotional and overly technical content that doesn’t adequately address market challenges and customer needs.”
The report claims that ‘too many organizations are still engaged in random acts of content development, without having implemented cohesive and effective strategies, customer-centric themes and platforms, efficient publishing and delivery capabilities, or the necessary content performance tracking systems.”
In the end, while content marketing clearly has the power to significantly influence your customers and prospects in their buying decisions, you need to be sure that your content is resonating with your targets. Otherwise, your content marketing dollars are going to waste.
