An annual B2B content audit can help you assess whether you have the right content for each phase of the funnel to advance your customer's path to purchase.
The more granular you get, the better your content strategy will be at meeting the needs, expectations, and preferences of your target audience.
Start with these five questions to improve your B2B content strategy this year. Within every question, you'll find more questions and more answers. The curiosity of discovering more and more about your content and your audience will lead you to craft more effective content in the coming year!
I share research from Demand Gen’s 2023 Content Preferences Survey Report to illuminate some B2B buyer trends. These are significant directional inputs to help inform ideas, but I encourage a deep dive into your own data to see what works for your specific audience.
How self-interested is your content?
Please stop wasting content creation efforts on blatant sales pitches. It doesn't work.
*51% of survey respondents said content assets were not objective and too much of a sales pitch
43% said to focus less on product specifics and more on business value
38% said to add more insights from industry thought leaders and analysts
Is your content boring?
Your audience wants to be educated while also being entertained. Warning: AI content is going to bore your audience.
38% said content was too generic
37% said content was not always informative or entertaining
48% said they want content with interactive elements that make it easy and fun to navigate
Are you delivering content experiences your buyers want?
Just like your consumption habits change, so too do your target audiences'. Find out how your audience likes to consume content and you'll be more likely to turn a prospect into a buyer.
65% prefer short-form content like infographics and blogs
52% prefer to attend webinars and events
42% want case studies/user-generated content/product reviews
Do you have content for each stage of the funnel?
The content that you produce should capture your audience's attention to get them hooked on your brand and solutions and then move them along to learn more and finally, take action.
Top:
57% want webinars
53% want original research
52% read blog posts and news articles
Middle:
62% want to read case studies
49% want to read analyst reports
47% attend webinars
Bottom:
62% hop on a demo
55% read user reviews
48% want to understand the ROI of a solution with an ROI calculator
Which distribution channels are helping build an engaged, loyal audience?
What does your data show about where your content has the highest impact on your audience? Lean into the highest performing channels to optimize your distribution this year.
There you have it! Five questions to a better content strategy this year–and beyond.
Looking for a fractional head of content to design and support your content marketing plans this year? Let's connect and discuss how we might collaborate this year.