About eight years ago, SiriusDecisions (now owned by Forrester Research) did a study that proved that about 67% of the buyer’s journey is now done digitally. While they were talking about B2B buying, the reliance on the internet for research and making buying decisions very much mirrored the behavior of consumers in their personal lives. Since then, content has become king – an essential pillar of marketing today.
But while many marketing departments are scrambling to create content, the role of content in the buyer’s journey isn’t fully understood, particularly within the complex realm of B2B marketing. To address this, we surveyed 243 marketers to understand the role and types of content used within the purchase journey for marketing technology.
Methodology
More than half of participants (52%) said that they are “definitely” more likely to buy from a vendor after reading content from a specific vendor.
How buyers find content:
- direct vendor websites
- internet searches
- social media
- industry publications
- word of mouth
Vendor Content consists of:
- videos
- infographics
- whitepapers
- websites
3rd Party Content consists of:
- analyst reports
- peer reviews
- social postings
- industry events
- webinar
- blogs
63% had a buying team of 3 to 4 people
73% took between 2 to 6 weeks
Most Useful Types of Content for Purchase Decision
Product specifications and functionality
Product comparisons
Product success stories
Content to specifically show value to internal stakeholders
Product tutorials
Guidance on my problem / how to solve it
Average number of Content pieces Consumed:
Implications:
Content is critical in your B2B buyers journey, so ensure you have the right content, in the right place, for the right stage in their journey, by doing the following:
1. Understand your customers
Not just how they think but also how they feel. B2B marketers must understand the emotions that motivate business buyers and ensure their content makes buyers feel more powerful and assured they are making the correct purchase decision.
2. Offer content in a variety of formats
Formats can include whitepapers, infographics, blogs and videos, to help people engage in in a way that suits their learning style.
3. Don’t forget next steps
Once you’ve created the content, look to address other elements, such as SEO and nurture campaigns.
To learn more read the full study
