To grow your brand and establish yourself as a thought leader, it is essential to invest in content marketing. Why? Because long before prospects pick up the phone or fill out a contact form, they've already done their homework—and their primary research tool is content.
To be effective, that content must be meaningful, relevant, and reach your audience at the time they need it. While businesses may grasp this concept instinctively, their execution often falls short of expectations.
To determine how closely companies' content aligns with their customers' needs, Uberflip—a platform focused on content distribution—surveyed both B2B purchasers and marketing professionals. The study examined what buyers want from content against what they're receiving. The findings revealed a pattern: companies are producing a great deal of material, but the relevance and value often fall short.
Take personalization as an example. Uberflip found that B2B purchasers prefer content customized around the following:
· The challenge they need to address (26%)
· Their organization (22%)
· Their sector (14%)
Meanwhile, businesses most frequently personalize based on:
· The prospect's name (51%)
· The prospect's organization (42%)
· The prospect's sector (40%)
Translation? Before you mail that direct piece or send that email, ensure that you're speaking to what your recipients actually care about.
A similar misalignment is also evident in content format preferences. When asked what resources they value most, B2B buyers cited customer testimonials (64%), product demonstrations (43%), and video content (33%). Businesses, however, tend to lean heavily on spec sheets (47%), white papers (42%), and e-books (30%) instead.
Recognizing the misalignment between the marketing content businesses produce and what buyers seek should fundamentally shape your communications strategy, whether in print or digital formats. Build customer testimonials directly into your layouts. Leverage QR codes and embedded links to connect recipients to product demonstrations and video content within your printed materials or digital pages. Feature customer success stories at strategic touchpoints.
Remember, content preferences vary significantly across industries and organizational roles, so seek to understand not only what information your prospects want, but how they want to receive it—and at what stage of their journey.
