According to a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and NetLine, only 9% of business buyers approve vendor papers for the value and trustworthiness of their online content, while 67%
rate content produced by professional organizations as more usable and relevant. Industry white papers are valued most by 50% of the respondents.
Content Most Valued and Trusted |
Content | %
of Respondents Value Most |
Professional association research/white papers | 67% |
Industry group research/whitepapers | 50 |
Customer case studies | 48 |
Analyst reports and whitepapers | 44 |
Product reviews | 40 |
Vendor papers | 9 |
Source: CMO Council, June 2013 |
BtoB marketers annually invest an estimated $16.6 billion in
digital content publishing to acquire business leads, influence customer specification and consideration, as well as educate and engage prospects, says the report. But, despite spending about 25% of
their marketing budgets on content creation, most companies lack the necessary strategies, competencies and best practices to effectively engage their markets. And very few have content performance
measures and metrics in place to measure effectiveness and calculate ROI.
87% of the respondents say that B2B online content has a major to moderate impact on customer buying decisions,
while 67% also feel that professional association reports or papers have a similar impact. Online content is widely shared with peers and associates, mainly through email.
Online Content Shared With Peers and Associates |
Number
Shared With | % of Respondents |
Over 100 | 28% |
50-100 | 15 |
25-50 | 16 |
15-25 | 15 |
5-10 | 13 |
1-3 | 10 |
None | 3 |
Source: CMO Council, June 2013 |
Donovan Neale-May,
Executive Director of the CMO Council, says that “... BtoB buyers are looking for content that’s original, consultative and highly pertinent... vendors are failing these buyers with...
promotional and technical content... doesn’t adequately address market challenges and customer needs.”
Characteristics Most Valued in B2B Content |
Characteristic | % of
Respondents Value Most |
Breadth and depth of information | 47% |
Ease of access, understanding and readability | 44 |
Originality of thinking and ideas | 39 |
Source: CMO Council, June 2013 |
The report,
Define What’s Valued Online, shows that online content plays an essential role in influencing BtoB purchasing decisions. The survey provides a snapshot of BtoB content sourcing behavior
as well as how content seekers rank, rate, share and value content online.
Characteristic Most Disliked in B2B Content |
Characteristic | % of Respondents Dislike
Most |
Too many requirements for download | 50% |
Blatantly promotional and self serving | 43 |
Non-substantive and uninformed | 34 |
Source: CMO Council, June 2013 |
The CMO Council’s Content ROI
Center concludes that too few marketers have fully grasped the role and value of content in the process of sales lead acquisition, qualification, conversion and closure or its contribution to customer
retention and revenue generation. Channel analytics and content testing are needed to further the “precision acquisition” of qualified, actionable leads, opines the report.
For additional information from the CMO Council, and access to the PDF whitepaper file, please visit here.