InsightBrief for B2B Marketers, Kings House, 174 Hammersmith Road, London (2026)

19/07/2023

Is your content Memorable, or just "Meh"?

Almost 4 in 10 B2B buyers report shortfalls in their content experience.

1️⃣ 51% of B2B buyers said the assets were not objective/ too much of a sales pitch. 🚫🎯

Focus on delivering value-driven content that educates and informs rather than pushing a sales agenda.

2️⃣ 39% of B2B buyers said it was difficult to find relevant content that caters to their needs. 🧩🔎

Invest in robust content discovery mechanisms and optimise content distribution channels. Understand you buyer's challenges and align your content strategy accordingly.

3️⃣ 38% of B2B buyers said the content was too generic. 🌪️🚫

Dive deep into buyer personas, understand their unique requirements, and create targeted content that resonates with their specific industry, role, and pain points.

4️⃣ 37% of B2B buyers said the assets were not always informative or entertaining. 📚😃

Strike a balance between informative and engaging content. Incorporate storytelling, visuals, and interactive elements to captivate your audience and deliver a memorable content experience.

12/07/2023

B2B marketers play a crucial role in supporting sales team and driving business growth.

But what do salespeople need most from their marketing team?

1️⃣ Higher Quality Leads:
➡️ Refine lead generation strategies to attract and nurture high-quality leads.
➡️ Leverage data analytics and buyer personas to understand your target audience better.
➡️ Collaborate closely with sales to ensure alignment on lead qualification criteria.

2️⃣ Alignment on Goals/Strategy:
➡️ Foster open communication channels with the sales team to align on common goals and objectives.
➡️ Hold regular joint meetings to discuss strategies, share insights, and make adjustments as needed.
➡️ Continuously update the sales team on marketing initiatives and campaigns to ensure a shared vision.

3️⃣ Better Sales Enablement Content:
➡️ Conduct an audit of existing sales enablement content and identify areas for improvement.
➡️ Collaborate with sales to understand their content needs, pain points, and challenges.
➡️ Develop and deliver targeted content that addresses specific stages of the buyer's journey.

4️⃣ More Transparency into Effective Marketing Content:
➡️ Implement robust tracking and analytics to measure the effectiveness of marketing content.
➡️ Share data-driven insights with the sales team to help them understand which content performs best.
➡️ Provide regular reports and dashboards that highlight key performance metrics and trends.

5️⃣ More Input on Marketing Content:
➡️ Establish a feedback loop with sales to gather their input on marketing content ideas.
➡️ Conduct joint brainstorming sessions to ensure sales' perspectives are incorporated.
➡️ Encourage sales to share success stories and customer feedback that can inspire content creation.

6️⃣ More Sales Enablement Content:
➡️ Develop a comprehensive sales enablement strategy to equip salespeople with the right resources.
➡️ Create training materials, playbooks, and case studies that address their unique needs.
➡️ Provide ongoing support and updates to ensure the sales team is always equipped with the latest content.

03/07/2023

What does B2B Buyers' Content Preferences mean for us as marketers?

1️⃣ Quality over quantity: 🎯 Creating valuable, relevant, and concise content is key. Don't overwhelm your audience with sheer volume; instead, focus on actionable insights and solutions.

2️⃣ Multi-format approach: 🌐 As buyers consume multiple pieces of content, it's essential to diversify. Include blogs, videos, whitepapers, webinars, etc., in your content mix.

3️⃣ Storytelling matters: 📚 A well-crafted story resonates with buyers and helps them connect with your brand. Craft your content to speak to their needs and challenges.

4️⃣ Make it easy: 🛠️ Optimize your content for discoverability. Implement SEO practices and ensure your content is easy to find, navigate, and consume.

5️⃣ Timing is crucial: ⏰ Understanding the content consumption patterns of your buyers can help in timely content distribution and engagement.

👉 Adapt to your buyer's journey, meet them where they are, and provide the valuable content they seek.

26/06/2023

B2B brand experiences are not evolving at the same rate as buyer expectations. While it's tempting to assume the quality of these experiences has dropped, it's more likely that customer expectations are simply rising at an accelerated pace.

In the recent index, the percentage of B2B buyers reporting positive brand experiences throughout key stages of the purchasing journey has declined compared to last year.

Stages like the "initial interaction with the supplier" and "negotiation/contracting" have seen significant dips.

So, what does this mean for us as B2B marketers?

1️⃣ Don't underestimate the power of the first impression: Your initial interaction with a potential client is crucial. Invest in training and tools that can help your team create an engaging and positive first contact.

2️⃣ Make the negotiation process as smooth as possible: Clear, transparent, and straightforward contracting processes can greatly enhance a buyer's experience.

3️⃣ Keep pace with rising expectations: To meet the demands of increasingly discerning buyers, we need to continuously enhance our brand experiences.

4️⃣ Focus on the onboarding stage: It's a critical point in the customer journey and your chance to make your clients feel valued and supported.

👉 The key takeaway? In the race to deliver value, it's important to understand that the finish line is constantly moving. We must remain nimble, adaptable, and always ready to exceed expectations.

31/05/2023

What are B2B marketers' top challenges when leveraging intent data to enhance go-to-market efforts?

1️⃣ Creating a strategy for intent data use - 42%

🔍 Define a clear intent data strategy to unlock its full potential and align your goals effectively.

2️⃣ Measuring impact of intent data - 35%

📈 Establish robust measurement metrics to demonstrate ROI and optimize your marketing efforts.

3️⃣ Converting data to insights efficiently - 33%

💡 Streamline the process of transforming raw data into actionable insights using advanced analytics tools.

4️⃣ Verifying validity of intent signals/insights - 28%

🔒 Ensure the accuracy and reliability of intent signals through rigorous data validation.

5️⃣ Identifying keywords/topics that signal intent - 21%

🔍 Refine your keyword strategy to pinpoint the signals that indicate buyer intent.

6️⃣ Ingesting data into CRM or MA system - 21%

🔄 Seamlessly integrate intent data into your systems for streamlined workflows and productivity.

🤔 How are you addressing these challenges in your intent data initiatives? Share your strategies and insights in the comments below!

25/05/2023

🤝📊 Only 29% of marketers feeling very confident in their current sales and marketing model/alignment highlights the need for improvement in the B2B marketing and sales landscape.

Here's what it means for B2B marketers and sales and how it can be improved:

>> Enhanced Collaboration:

Encouraging regular communication, joint planning sessions, and cross-team meetings can foster a shared understanding of goals and strategies.

>> Shared Objectives:

Clearly defining shared objectives and metrics can align marketing and sales efforts. This can include jointly owning revenue growth metrics, such as pipeline contribution and conversion rates, to ensure both teams are working towards the same targets.

>> Integrated Technology Stack:

Implementing an integrated technology stack can facilitate seamless data sharing, automate processes, and provide better visibility into marketing and sales activities. This enables more effective coordination, enhances lead tracking, and improves overall alignment.

>> Joint Customer Strategy:

Establishing a customer-centric approach where marketing and sales co-own the customer strategy can create a unified experience. By aligning on customer journeys, persona development, and data insights, marketing and sales can better target, engage, and nurture prospects and customers.

>> Continuous Communication and Feedback:

Regular communication and feedback loops between marketing and sales teams are crucial. Sharing insights, updates, and performance results can help identify areas for improvement and drive continuous alignment.

>> Leadership Support:

Strong leadership support is essential for driving and sustaining alignment between marketing and sales. Leaders should encourage collaboration, set a clear vision, and provide resources to enable both teams to work together effectively.

16/05/2023

The progress and challenges B2B marketers face in leveraging data effectively:

1️⃣. Alignment with goals:

45% of B2B marketers describe their marketing strategy as proficient, showing that they have successfully aligned their strategy with marketing and sales goals.

👉This alignment is crucial for cohesive messaging and driving revenue growth.

2️⃣. Attribution challenges:

44% of B2B marketers have good visibility of their overall marketing contribution to the pipeline, but struggle to attribute value to specific marketing activities or touchpoints.

👉This highlights the need for improved attribution models to accurately measure the impact of individual marketing efforts.

3️⃣. Utilizing engagement data:

36% of B2B marketers collect engagement data from multiple touchpoints and use it to align contacts and accounts based on the buyer journey stage.

👉 This demonstrates the importance of capturing and leveraging data to understand audience behaviour and personalise marketing efforts accordingly.

4️⃣. Data-informed content:

42% of B2B marketers use data to inform content, themes, and drive interactivity and conversations.

👉This emphasizes the value of data-driven content creation, which enhances relevancy and engagement, leading to more meaningful interactions with the target audience.

Successful marketers align their strategies with goals, invest in attribution models, leverage engagement data, and inform content creation with data insights to drive meaningful and impactful marketing efforts.

How successful is your organisation at making the most out of its data?

25/04/2023

How do you make it clear to your prospects that you are the obvious choice in the competitive B2B software market? Understanding key statistics can help you tailor your approach and differentiate yourself from the competition.

• 50% of the software buyer’s journey is spent referring to independent, third-party information sources.

👉 Focus on building strong relationships with reputable third-party sources and ensure that they have access to the latest information about your software. Guest post on reputable blogs or publications, and feature customer reviews and testimonials prominently on your website.

• 41% of B2B buyers say one of the most important factors when selecting a vendor is their flexibility to adapt the way they sell to the way they want to buy.

👉 Customise pricing plans, personalise product demos, and create email campaigns based on the buyer's preferences and needs.

• 48% of B2B buyers usually consider 4 to 6 different software providers before making a final purchase decision.

👉Provide easy access to product information and demos to guide the buyer through the process.

• 36% of B2B buyers say the top reason for disqualifying a software provider from a purchase shortlist is their confusing or contradictory information material.

👉 Ensure that your messaging is clear, consistent, and aligned across all channels.

06/04/2023

Do you have a long-term plan in place for nurturing leads throughout their extended buying journey?

👉 The average B2B customer journey takes 192 days. That’s over 6 months from the very first anonymous touch to closed-won.

Make sure your content is tailored to different stages of the buying journey, from initial awareness to final decision-making.

Marketing automation tools can come in handy to track and engage with leads at each stage of the buying journey.

👉 On average, across B2B industries, there are 31 touches before a deal is closed.

Use a variety of content formats, such as blogs, videos, webinars, case studies, and eBooks, to keep prospects engaged throughout the buying journey.

Use retargeting campaigns to reach out to prospects who have engaged with your content in the past and keep them top-of-mind.

👉 55% of B2B buyers rely more on content to research and make purchasing decisions than they did in 2021.

Create high-quality, informative content that addresses the pain points and challenges of your target audience.

Use customer case studies and testimonials to demonstrate the value of your product or service.

👉 42% of B2B buyers want content that is packed with shareable stats and quick-hitting insights.

Use data to create content that provides insights and trends relevant to your target audience.

Use infographics and other visual aids to make data more engaging and shareable.

29/03/2023

EMEA IT Decision-Makers Demand Trustworthy, Educational Content

👉 Develop a content marketing strategy that focuses on delivering high-quality, trusted information on IT products and services. This could include creating educational blogs, webinars, whitepapers, and case studies that provide valuable insights and information.

👉 Provide educational content throughout the purchase process to positively impact the impression of EMEA ITDMs. This could include creating content that addresses different stages of the customer journey and providing timely information to customers to address their queries.

👉 Make sure that the registration process to access content is easy and user-friendly. Also, ensure that the information collected is used for relevant purposes, and not for spamming purposes.

👉 Respond to inquiries from EMEA ITDMs within 10 hours to demonstrate your responsiveness and commitment to customer service. It's essential to have a system in place to respond quickly to inquiries, such as an automated email system or customer service team.

👉 Measure the success of your content marketing efforts through metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and ROI. Use this data to improve your content marketing strategy and make it more effective in reaching and engaging EMEA ITDMs.

21/03/2023

Information technology decision-makers (ITDMs) are more focused than ever on seeking out information that helps them make informed choices.

But how do the North American ITDMs fare?

91% struggle to find trustworthy information about IT products and services.

76% are negatively impacted when vendors don't supply educational content throughout the purchase process. So, if you want to make a positive impression, it's crucial to provide valuable information every step of the way.

But don't worry, it's not all bad news. 89% are willing to share their information with technology vendors to access the educational content they crave. So, start offering high-quality content and watch your leads soar!

Just remember, when a potential client fills out a form to learn more about your product, they expect a response within 18 hours. So, be prompt and show them that you value their time and interest in your product.

07/03/2023

How can B2B marketers improve their customer experience and build stronger, more profitable relationships with their customers?

👉 87% of business customers expect to be delighted both before and after purchase.

• Consider providing interactive content like product demos, virtual tours, or webinars that give prospects a better understanding of your offerings and how they can benefit from them.

• Build a comprehensive post-purchase customer service strategy that goes beyond just resolving complaints. Create a loyalty program that rewards customers for repeat purchases.

👉 71% of B2B customers expect fully/mostly personalised content when engaging/staying connected with the vendor.

• Leverage customer data to segment your audience and create customised content that resonates with their interests and preferences.

• Use customer feedback to improve your customer experience. Regularly solicit feedback from your customers and use it to identify pain points and areas for improvement in your customer journey.

👉 54% of ITDMs said they see the greatest value in content tailored to their industry.

• Develop content that is relevant to your customer's industry and speaks to their unique challenges and opportunities.

• Invest in marketing automation tools that can help you create and deliver personalised content at scale. These tools can also help you track and measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, enabling you to optimise and improve your customer experience over time.

👉 55% of B2B marketers say their biggest barrier to realising their customer experience vision is the lack of necessary marketing technology vendor solutions.

• Evaluate your current marketing technology stack and identify gaps that could hinder your ability to provide a seamless customer experience. Invest in technology solutions that can help bridge these gaps and enable better customer insights and personalisation.

What's your take on these stats?

InsightBrief for B2B Marketers

19/07/2023

12/07/2023

03/07/2023

26/06/2023

31/05/2023

25/05/2023

16/05/2023

25/04/2023

06/04/2023

29/03/2023

21/03/2023

07/03/2023

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