When compared to consumer purchases, today's B2B buying journeys typically are more complex and include multiple stakeholders. Perhaps nothing connects them more during their journey than content.
For example, according to the "2021 B2B Buyers Survey" by Demand Gen Report and Demandbase, some 65% of buyers cite relevant content as one of the Top 3 criteria on their top vendor websites. That means content with easy access and that which speaks directly to their company. The "2021 B2B Buyers Survey" queried responses from more than 257 B2B marketing, sales and IT executives.
When researching new solutions, primary decision makers, internal influencers and researchers, those Top 3 factors include:
Easy access to relevant content that speaks directly to their company (No. 1 for primary decision makers and internal influencers, No. 2 for researchers)
Easy access to pricing and competitive information (No. 1 for researchers, No. 2 for primary decision makers and internal influencers)
Content that spoke directly to and demonstrated expertise around the needs of the organization’s specific industry (No. 3 across the board)
All three groups agreed that the first step of the buying process was conducting anonymous research (41% overall), followed by developing an informal list of vendors (15% overall) and rounded out with preliminary information on cost (10%). Noticeably missing from primary decision maker’s, researcher’s and influencer’s preferences was speaking with a vendor’s representative (19% overall), indicating that tech influencers and end-users have stronger preferences in this area.
Once they were engaged with a solution provider and spending time on their site, respondents indicated that the biggest factors influencing effectiveness of their experience included:
Easy access to relevant content (65%);
Easy access to pricing/competitor information (65%);
Content that speaks directly to needs and demonstrates industry knowledge (55%);
Ease of search and navigation tools (36%); and
Vendor-focused content (43%).
For solution providers, this means that not only are B2B buyers expecting content messaging and follow up that is relevant to their industry and ideally specific to their company needs, but now different stakeholders are looking for different information at different points in the journey.
To get a copy of the "2021 B2B Buyers Survey," click here.
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