If you’re in the wonderful world of sales and marketing, it is highly likely that you have heard of content marketing already. Not just heard – probably tried it already. Over the past few years it’s an area that has completely exploded, yet there are still some who are not producing consistent content, or high quality content that drives leads and sales.
The stats below should help convince even the strongest skeptic. Take a look at the following B2B content marketing statistics and studies that prove just how integral B2B is to a growing business.
General B2B Marketing Statistics
To truly understand how important content is to an overall marketing strategy it’s important to understand how B2B buyers are currently behaving.
For example, the millennial generation now makes up half of all B2B buyers. Will print advertising still work for these? How does digital marketing come into play?
Take a look at the 3 statistics below to see how the word wide web has completely changed the game.
1. Digital Influence Works
No matter the industry, the majority of B2B purchasers make influenced decisions based on digital marketing content. In fact, according to a study by Google, 67% of B2B purchases are made because the buyer was influenced digitally.
2. Starting with Online Research
B2B buyers like to start with a generalized online search before finding more detailed answers to suit their needs. Most of these buyers will look at two or more brands before narrowing down their options. And this has proven to be true across the board, regardless of industry.
3. Indirect Influence is a Powerful Thing
Most buying decisions made by business representatives are actually made based on indirect experiences, rather than actual direct interactions with a sales rep.
In fact, 80% of business to business purchasing decisions are made based on indirect customer experiences, and only 20% based on experiences with an actual employee.
B2B Content Strategy
So when you start to think of your B2B marketing plan and assigning a budget there clearly needs to be a digital aspect to it. But how much of that will be assigned to content? Does your marketing team all buy into the idea of content marketing?
The below stats will show you and any doubters that content marketing needs to be part of your strategy.
4. Don’t Underestimate the Landing Page
A strong landing page is the best way to capture new leads from the start. Without a good landing page, how can you expect to collect the names and information of potential leads? Not to mention, a terrible landing page will get buyers heading towards the Close Window button really quickly.
According to Marketo, 68% of successful B2B marketers use strategized landing pages to capture good leads.
5. You Need a Strategy
Over half of successful B2B marketers have used a documented marketing strategy and have strictly followed it in order to increase sales and drive lead generation.
Content Marketing Institute reported that in 2020, 69% of the most successful B2B marketers have been following a documented content marketing strategy to the T.
6. Outsourcing Your Content Marketing Efforts
What happens when your marketing strategy is too big for just one person to implement? What if you don’t have a dedicated in-house marketing team to help you accelerate your B2B marketing plans? In these situations, it’s okay to outsource.
In fact, about 62% of successful B2B companies outsource their content marketing strategies as they don’t have their own level of expertise to match their goals.
7. Content is a Numbers Game
As we pointed out earlier you need a strategy, just one blog or one case study isn’t going to convince potential buyers of your expertise.
Research has found that 53% of surveyed B2B buyers typically view 3-5 pieces of content before getting in touch with the supplier.
So you need a consistent flow of content, blogs, case studies, whitepapers that address your target markets pain points or issues.
8. Follow Up with Interactive Content
In addition to providing lots of video content, it is important to continue providing different ways for buyers to interact with you. Over 88% of B2B buyers prefer interactive content that they can not only use over and over again, but that they can also get on-demand whenever they want.
9. Consistency is Key
B2B marketers who have been in the game for years have started to notice a combination of patterns and changes. This means that while B2B customers are starting to demand more, and in different ways, it is still possible to continue producing the same amount of content each month in order to find more buyers. In fact, these suppliers have found that consistency is key.
Over 60% of B2B marketers publish content multiple times per week on a regular basis. Not to mention, 89% of these same marketers have reported getting higher-quality leads as a result of effective and consistent content marketing.
10. Keep Technology on Your Side
There is an obvious shift in focus towards the use of more technologically-advanced tools and resources that can enhance the B2B content marketing strategy in the new age. It is hard to attract new, high-quality leads without using certain technological tools.
For example, 86% of B2B organizations use analytics tools to measure website and traffic success.
The Future of B2B Content Marketing
It’s exciting to see the direction B2B marketing is headed in. After taking a look at the above B2B content marketing statistics, it is easy to see that every industry is entering a purely digital age. So, what does this mean for the future of B2B dealings? How will suppliers navigate sales and capture more leads as we enter the future?
These stats may help us understand where exactly we are headed.
11. Content Marketing Will Grow
Content marketing strategies are already becoming increasingly important, as most successful suppliers admit that they have seen the most success with content marketing versus all other types of strategies used.
In fact, a Databox study predicts that after 2020, content marketing will make up almost 50% of the entire focus of marketing efforts.
12. Audience and Lead Quality is Important
Studies show that there will be a growing focus on the quality of audiences moving forward. Suppliers can get frustrated when they turn out good-quality content and nobody is really around to see it. With a better focus on who your audience is, and how you can cater to them, you’ll get more eyeballs on your content and ultimately more sales.
That’s why a Marketing Charts study showed that improving the quality and conversion rate of the audience is the biggest priority for B2B content marketers in 2020. The study also showed that 48% of marketers believe improving audience quality to be more important than other focuses.
13. Make Space for Thought Leaders
A large number of studies show that audiences actually do want to hear from the experts. It is important to focus on creating content that includes access to industry leaders, whether via webinar, training course, guidebook, or free consultation.
Demand Gen Report shows that a whopping 96% of B2B buyers are looking for more content that has input from the leaders of that industry.
Final Thoughts
As all the research above shows content marketing is more important than ever. This isn’t going to change anytime soon. If it’s not part of your strategy at the moment you are missing out on a great way to generate leads.
It’s important to not only have a repertoire of dynamic content that your audience will love, but you also need to have a documented content strategy that you can refer to time and time again. This will help you and your team keep on track and ensure your creating worthwhile content.
Trust these numbers, as they speak to the truth about B2B marketing success. Practice good content, keep it consistent, and keep an eye on emerging content types.
Justina Bakutyte is a Growth Marketing Manager at Yieldify, a Google-backed startup that helps eCommerce companies quickly and easily grow leads, conversions, and revenue by creating personalized customer journeys.