KnowledgeStorm and MarketingSherpa Research Highlights What Buyers Want and How Well Marketers Deliver.
Think you’re meeting your market’s appetite for content? As it turns out, that appetite is bigger than most thought.
A recent study jointly produced by KnowledgeStorm and MarketingSherpa (How Technology Marketers Meet Buyers’ Appetite for Content) surveyed nearly 4,000 B2B marketers and technology and business professionals to understand what buyers want and what marketers deliver.
First, the good news… Ninety-two percent of technology buyers surveyed are either “somewhat satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the quality of content available to them.
Yet, there are still opportunities to deliver more relevant content to buyers…
Buyers are online – Nearly three-fourths of buyers conduct their purchasing research online, yet marketers conduct a disproportionate percentage of their content marketing offline (40%).
They expect you to educate them – Eighty-four percent want content that educates them and expect vendors to provide it.
Case studies and white papers topped the list of desired content – 71% frequently read white papers and 67% often read case studies – the highest percentages of content read.
Buyers like objectivity – Case studies, articles from industry journalists and analyst reports are all frequently forwarded by buyers. The study indicates the perception of objectivity makes them of interest to the broadest number of individuals in the IT decision process.
Buyers need to solve a problem – When they start a new search, nearly 72% of respondents want to find “solutions to solve a current problem.” Show them how your solution solves their specific problems.
Buyers have different needs at different stages – Sixty percent of technology buyers look for different types of content depending on their needs at the time, but only 38% of marketers customize content to different buying stages.
They want it targeted for them! – Nearly 82% of technology buyers prefer information targeted to their industry. Case studies are a key way to demonstrate real-world successes with specific industries and types of problems.
Those are just some of the findings from the study. Check it out for yourself as you develop your content for 2007.
How Technology Marketers Meet Buyers’ Appetite for Content is the first in a series based on the study, called Connecting Through Content.
