by
Partner

What Content Do B2B Buyers Crave?

The pandemic has driven an insatiable need for high-value content among B2B product and service buyers. According to a new study, 55% of buyers said they now rely more on content to research and make purchasing decisions than they did one year ago.1

Driving home this trend was the fact that 62% of the buyers surveyed said they engage with three to seven pieces of content before connecting with a salesperson. Of the most popular content formats, two thirds of the buyers polled said they had engaged with webinars over the past 12 months — a significant increase from last year. Other popular formats included E-books (56%), research/survey reports (55%) blogs (54%), white papers (52%), and case studies (49%).

The study reported that most buyers typically spend between 5 to 30 minutes reviewing nearly all content formats. The exception was webinars where 72% said they are willing to invest 30 to over 60 minutes.

The study reported the types of content most desired by B2B buyers at different stages of the purchasing journey.

In terms of presentation, respondents said vendors should organize content on their websites by issue/pain point (52%), topic (51%), and industry/vertical (46%) versus the traditional content format classification (18%).

Among content-sharing platforms, LinkedIn was the most popular for sending relevant content to colleagues or other members of the buying committee. Email was a close second

When asked about the key drivers for sharing content, respondents said content:

  • Should include relevant/shareable links that can be shared immediately (48%)
  • Must be packed with shareable stats and quick-hitting insights (42%)
  • Should tell a strong story that resonates with the buying committee (41%)

TW’s Take

It’s no surprise that B2B buyers crave high-quality, easy-to-access content that is backed by data and filled with quick-hitting insights. Our experience aligns with the study’s results that show webinars as one of the most popular content formats. Good-quality technical and scientific content continues to be the fuel that powers demand generation and lead nurturing. More importantly, research has shown that content has become a key factor in selecting a B2B or life science supplier.  80% of the respondents indicated a vendor’s content had a positive, significant impact on their buying decisions.2

For copy of the report, email rwhitmyre@tizinc.com.

1 2022 Content Preferences Survey Report, DemandGen, March 2022.                                                                                           

2 Source: 2021 B2B Buyers Survey Report, DemandGen, June 2021.