• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 12, 2023

Business people are desperate for content, and are increasingly requesting research reports and guides, signing up for webinars and exhibiting other signs of purchase intent, according to NetLine's 2023 State Of B2B Content Consumption Demand Report.    

But one form of content stands out above all others in terms of sheer growth: the email newsletter. 

There was a 307% increase in email newsletter subscriptions in 2022 YoY, judging by the requests coming through the NetLine platform. 

Newsletters have become one of the more “in vogue” formats, the study notes.  

“For years, we’ve heard marketers promoting the benefits of operating brands as media companies,” it adds. “Today, more and more brands are doing just that: attempting to establish a media arm of their business. This is a sign of this movement in the market.”

That doesn’t mean newsletters signal purchase intent. The content formats most likely associated with immediate buying decisions are: 

• White paper 
• Survey Report 
• Tool
• Research Report
• Analyst Report
• On-Demand Webinar 
• Live Webcast 

The content formats deemed less likely to be associated with immediate buying decisions are:

• Tips & Tricks Guide 
• eKit
• Course
• Newsletters
• eBook
• Book Summary
• Cheat Sheet

Another issue for newsletter teams is that email newsletters are not even in the top ten of content formats, those driving 85% of total registrations. The list is: 

1. Ebook 
2. Guide 
3. Cheat Sheet 
4. Research Report
5. White Paper 
6. Tips & Tricks Guide 
7. Article
8. Book Summary
9. Live Webinar
10. On-Demand Webinar

Note that ebooks, while they accounted for 33% of all registrations, fell by 10% YoY. 

The top 10 content topics were: 

1. Information technology — 33.1% 
2. Marketing — 8.2% 
3. Human Resources — 7.6%
4. Finance — 7.4%
5. Operations — 6.6%
6. Management — 6%
7. Sales — 4.8%
8. Manufacturing — 4.2%
9. Healthcare & Medical — 3.8%
10. Engineering —2.8%

Meanwhile, here’s a tip for marketers trying to analyze intent: 33.4% of professionals expect to make a purchase decision within the next 12 months, an 8.8% increase YoY.

The purchase timelines are:

• 6-12 months — 14.6%
• 3-6 months — 10%
• Under 3 months — 8.8%

Consumption time decreased significantly in 2022 — from 33.3 hours to 28.7 hours, a 13.8% improvement. And the study says, ‘That’s a very good thing.” Why?

“It’s well worth mentioning that a faster rate of consumption is a terrific indicator of intent. The more eager one is learn about a given topic or solution, the more likely they are to open a given asset as quickly as possible.”

Those taking less time include senior vice presidents, senior directors and directors. Senior directors have increased their time by 9.2 hours YoY, 300.6% greater than the average reduction. 

C-level content consumption jumped by 7%.

Another key findings are that there has been a 39% increase in Webinar promotion. And buyers are responding -- as the study puts it, there is no more “webinar fatigue.”