Commentary

White Papers Preferred By B2B Tech Buyers

According to a recent report from Eccolo Media, product brochures are frequently consumed and highly valued by B2B technology buyers. The survey, based on data from people responsible for influencing or making B2B technology buying decisions, said that 57% of respondents had looked at product brochures/data sheets from B2B technology vendors in the past six months, the most engagement with any content type.

Other commonly consumed content types read in the previous 6 months are:

  • Emails from vendors (52%)
  • White papers (52%)
  • Competitive vendor worksheets (42%)
  • Case studies/success stories (42%)

The least consumed content types are eBooks (24%) and podcasts (24%). The content types seen as being least influential on buying decisions are eBooks (7%) and tweets (4%). Content types ranking as the top five asset types being very influential include:

  • White papers (33%)
  • Case studies/success stories (31%)
  • Detailed technology guides (23%)
  • Competitive vendor worksheets (22%)

48% of B2B tech buyers say they only consume 2 - 5 content assets before making a decision. 52% of buyers read the same number of emails and white papers from vendors, but white papers are seen as being twice as influential in the decision-making process.

Number Of Assets Consumed Before Ready To Make Purchase

Content Used

% of Respondents

More than 10 collateral assets

4%

9-10

8

6-8

25

2-5

48

Less than 2

16

Source: Eccolo Media, January 2015

For the 2015 Eccolo Media B2B Technology Content Survey, respondents ranked their consumption of the following types of content:

Media B2B Technology Content Survey (Consumed in Previous 6 Months; % of Respondents)

Content Type

Consumed

Top Five Assets

Email

52%

15%

White papers: analysis of technology or business trends from a vendor-neutral perspective

52

33

Product brochures: product, service, or vendor information

57

39

Case studies: success stories of how customers deploy a vendor’s products or services

42

31

Detailed technology guides: in-depth descriptions of product features and functionality

35

23

Video and multimedia files: marketing communications, from customer testimonials to product demonstrations to executive interviews

35

17

Blog articles: online dispatches on current topics in an informal style

30

12

Infographics: visual representations of data and trends

25

13

Webinars: online seminars that deliver presentations or workshops either live or prerecorded

34

16

E-books: long-format documents, consumed digitally, delivering information visually stimulating or interactive

24

7

Podcasts and audio files: audio recordings of customer testimonials streamed onto a desktop or mobile device

24

8

Customer magazines and publications print and online

35

14

Competitive vendor worksheets: product features and functions from multiple vendors

42

22

E-newslettersand digests: newsletter in an electronic format with links to longer treatments

30

8

Social content: any form of content delivered through socialmedia platforms

34

14

Web slide shows: online presentations with an emphasis on charts and images

31

9

Tweets: 140-character messages with links to more in-depth content

2

4

Source: Eccolo Media, January 2015

For additional information from Eccola Media, please visit here

 

 

 

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