Throughout her presentation, Hopkins will discuss how to transform existing martech stacks from a budgetary burden into a powerhouse of efficiency with a focus on:

• Practical and free tools to audit tech stacks and compare to 1,400 similar companies;
• Action plans to consider how to move forward with owning the stack; and
• Actionable and creative solutions.

To learn more about her session and dive deeper into the world of martech efficiency, the Demand Gen Report team sat down with Hopkins for a deeper discussion.

Demand Gen Report: In your opinion, what are some of the latest trends or factors impacting the modern martech landscape today?

Jeanne Hopkins: There is an increased focus on first-party data and privacy compliance along with a growing importance of martech stack integration and interoperability. There are a lot of trends, many asks and little support in terms of budget or people.

In addition, with the rise of AI and machine learning for personalization and automation, an emphasis on omnichannel marketing and seamless customer experiences call for a complete integration of customer data platforms (CDPs).

DGR: Being that practitioners are working in a world oversaturated with marketing technology, what steps can they take to audit their tech stacks to determine what’s essential and what’s not?

Hopkins: First and foremost, do a complete map of current tools and their functions. Who owns what? When is the tool/platform up for renewal? Who pays for it? Who is the administrator?

Then, identify overlaps and gaps in functionality by gathering feedback from users across departments (it’s not just marketing!)

Finally, prioritize tools based on strategic alignment and performance and define clear business objectives for each with KPIs that are reported. No data = no ownership.

DGR: What are some of the factors that led to over-accumulation of technology?

Hopkins: I’d start with the siloed decision-making within organizations. Many times, the owner of technology sits with IT. And, with a lack of visibility or training, they are not able to properly vet the technology needs of sales, customer support, or marketing teams.

Throw on top of this a lack of long-term strategic planning AND insufficient evaluation of existing tools before new purchases, and the tendency to chase what is ‘shiny and new’ causes waste of time (which marketers do NOT have) and budget (again, ‘do more with less, please’).

DGR: What’s your biggest piece of advice for practitioners who want to onboard a new piece of technology?

Hopkins: Ensure alignment with overall marketing strategy AND clearly define goals and success metrics for the new tool. You also need to involve key stakeholders from the beginning of any new purchase and develop a comprehensive implementation and training plan. Consider starting with a pilot program or phased rollout.

Additionally, regularly assess adoption and gather user feedback. Consider a debrief discussion six months into the purchase and develop a document that assesses the value received from the technology.

DGR: Similarly, do you have any advice for those who want to eliminate a component of their tech stack?

Hopkins: You have to ask yourself, ‘How would eliminating the component impact current workflows and integrations?’ In other words, what does that tool ‘touch’ in the stack?

Have a data migration and preservation plan to ensure a smooth transition to alternative tools or processes. Don’t kill something without having a backup and make sure there is solid, consistent communication to all affected teams about this modification of the tech stack.

Then, provide the necessary training (often overlooked) for any workflow changes, and monitor your performance metrics to validate the decision for the change.

To learn more about how your martech stack can you hold you back from achieving great results, make sure to register for #B2BMX East now and add Hopkins’ session to your agenda!

The post Why Commitment Is The ‘Real Magic’ Of Martech Effectiveness appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

“More than 50% of leaders who don’t really see the full potential or are really hesitant to integrate generative AI into their business,” said Calen Holbrooks, VP of Integrated Marketing for go-to-market (GTM) platform ZoomInfo. “On the other hand, a measly 3% are already recognizing and actively realizing business value from their AI initiatives. It’s really the leadership and executives that are falling behind because of their concerns around data. The root cause or concern is around the data quality, reliability, accuracy and compliancy.”

To shed more light on how poor data impacts AI usage and buyer engagement, Holbrooks teamed up with her colleague Kayla Prunier, AVP of Sales, to host, “Where Are The B2B Buyers? And How Do We Find Them?”, a webinar that discussed practical ways to combine AI with high-quality data. Throughout their presentation, Holbrook and Prunier dove into the power of leveraging AI in tandem with clean data, which can ensure sales is always working with accurate, real-time buyer intent signals.

Create A Foundation Of Robust, Granular & Up-To-Date Data

Access to clean data is a common problem that most companies face — a recent survey by Experian found that 55% of corporate leaders distrust their own data, and according to Prunier and Holbrook, there are layers to this skepticism, which might include:

• A lack of data;
• Inconsistent or duplicative data; and
• Too much data to make sense of.

“Bad data is clearly a problem, and adding AI to the mix will only exacerbate that issue,” said Prunier. “As exciting as AI is and as useful as it can — and will — be when leveraged properly, it’s nothing without good data. AI won’t be able to revolutionize your go-to-market (GTM) approach or your company if it’s grabbing from incomplete or flat-out wrong data pools.”

Use That Clean Data To Fuel Clear Buying Signals

One of the most critical aspects of leveraging AI and data for business growth, according to ZoomInfo’s experts, is identifying the best signal — aka the one most likely to convert. Marketers traditionally know when a lead or MQL source is close conversion, but they often don’t understand what’s happening at the account level. To generate that understanding, businesses must understand the signals, motions or actions that are most likely to propel conversion.

“Understanding which signals are most predictive to conversion is key to effectively targeting and engaging potential buyers,” said Holbrooks. “These signals can come from a variety of sources. We have intent data that most people use now, different behavioral cues, and information coming out of earning reports or demographic statistics. There’s so much data that we can pull together to identify these signals. So, ask yourself: ‘What’s the best signal to convert my business?’ Understanding that will be the next clue to helping solve those elusive buyers.”

Close The Gap Between Sellers & Buyers

When salespeople (and their AI counterparts) aren’t working off of clean data, it creates a disconnect between buyers and sellers. Everyday buyers are on a journey, and the reality is that they’re starting that journey before sellers can even have a conversation. This is because most of the time, buyers are largely unknown and only 10% of your total addressable market is actively looking for a conversation, meaning that most teams are pursuing leads that really aren’t ready to engage.

“When you’re not using AI and data effectively, it’s truly impossible to get in front of that 10% to ensure that you’re maximizing your sellers efforts,” said Prunier. “To address this problem, it’s essential that you harness AI and clean data, because AI can analyze a vast array of buyer signals. We can turn what seems like a challenge into a solvable mystery by aligning your sales team’s efforts with real time needs of your buyers, which ultimately helps you win opportunities at the right time.”

To unlock the full insights “Where Are The B2B Buyers? And How Do We Find Them?”, register for the Buyer Insights & Intelligence Series now — it’s currently available for free on-demand!

The post The Secret To Unlocking Anonymous B2B Buyer Engagement appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

With 48% of respondents indicating that they plan to publish content daily, it’s clear that content is an increasingly prominent aspect of B2B marketing strategies. With the increased pressure to produce more content, 81% of marketers are alleviating that burden by using AI to streamline content creation, while 93% leveraged third parties to create and distribute content.

“The marketing leaders we engaged through Sapio Research have clearly dedicated substantial budgets and resources to their content strategies,” said Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold Communications, in a statement, “Our year-over-year data shows a strong trend: Marketers are not only open to adopting new technologies and innovative approaches but are also willing to overhaul their entire strategies, processes, and content formats. This commitment is driven by the goal to produce high-quality content that truly resonates with and reaches their target customer profiles.”

Marketers Scale Budgets To Fuel Content Boom

Throughout the research, marketers acknowledged the vital role of content marketing — and they’re responding in kind to boost its growth. When asked about increasing budgets, 46% invested at least $500,000 annually, which aligns with the global trend of heightened content creation. Specifically, 92% of marketers reported producing more content compared to the previous year, and nearly 40% have increased their output by 3X to 5X.

AI & External Resources Fuel Content Boom

When questioned about AI’s role in content creation, 81% of marketers confirmed using AI (36% frequently, 45% occasionally), while just 19% said they rarely or never use AI for content creation. Another content efficiency boost in content creation and delivery was the use of third parties such as agencies and contractors, as 93% of marketing leaders used third-party resources. In terms of tapping in third parties to create content, 31% of companies outsourced 50% to 74% of their content development, while 53% outsourced 50% to 100% of their content development.

The Power Couple: Social Media & Video

Social media content topped the list of preferred content preferences, with 46% of marketing leaders prioritizing this content format for 2024, with video a close second (41%). For marketers with budgetary constraints, social media offered a cost-effective approach to scaling content and aligns with growing audience preference for shorter formats – compared to resource-intensive, longer formats like E-books and white papers (used by less than 15% of marketers).

Data-Driven Content: Leveraging Analytics

The marketing landscape is saturated with content, placing immense pressure on generating marketing qualified leads. Nearly half (48%) of global companies are now making content creation a part of their routine. Notably, this trend is especially prominent among B2B organizations (37%) and those with larger budgets.

While Google Analytics remains the primary tool (42%) for measuring content effectiveness, other website and CRM tools are a strong second (36%). Interestingly, these same website analytics combined with research, trigger decisions for new content for at least 50% of marketers making content decisions.

To view the full findings of “The Engagement Equation: How B2B Tech Marketers Are Creating and Delivering Content That Captivates in 2024,” download the full report now.

The post Amidst Content Boom, 91% Of Leaders Report Growing Budgets; 92% Anticipate Content Production Increases appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

As Klaudia and I were plotting out the season, we knew we needed to give fan-favorite (and #B2BMX veteran!) Pam Didner the first episode. She’s a B2B marketing consultant, author and speaker, and she’ll be keynoting the upcoming #B2BMX East, as well as hosting a workshop and campfire-style keynote on-site. She also hosted a workshop at #B2BMX East, which gave us the opportunity to chat with her on the show floor at the event. Klaudia and Pam sat down to talk through all things go-to-market (GTM) strategy, including the role of content, AI and alignment.

Sadly, I missed the recording because I was hosting a panel discussion, so I know all too well how FOMO-inducing it is to miss an opportunity to learn from Pam. I’d hate to put my dear readers in the same boat, so I’m here to share a brief overview of her blueprint for successful GTM strategies (though you’ll have to head over to your podcast player of choice to unlock all of Pam’s expertise!).

1. (Properly) Structure A GTM Plan With Clear Goals & Timelines

Pam emphasized the importance of structured GTM plans and advised practitioners to start building their strategy by first determining what departments need to be involved, which typically includes the product team alongside marketing and sales. From there, she suggested businesses scope out the timeline while also being very specific about what they want to accomplish.

2. Prevent Misalignment By Understanding The Root Of The Issue

Pam explained that the primary hinderance to sales and marketing alignment lies in how each department approaches their responsibilities — marketing traditionally focuses on top-of-funnel, while sales prioritizes lower-funnel activities. The two departments essentially speak different languages, which causes them to approach the same goals with varied actions.

3. Shift Marketing Over To A Sales Mindset

To help bridge that mindset gap, Pam suggested that marketers start thinking like a salesperson — and the first step is to move away from nurture initiatives and into “hunting.” Next, she reminded marketers that their content isn’t necessarily applicable to sales and suggested they create more relevant assets for sales. For example, given sales’ stage-based approach, Pam suggested marketers break up their content accordingly.

4. Allow Content To Power The GTM Journey

Speaking of content, we all know it’s king, and in the ever-lengthening B2B buyer’s journey, one of the primary ways to keep buyers’ attention is through a compelling piece of content. According to Pam, the same ideology applies to GTM strategies. She explained that when a company launches a product, nobody knows about it or its features, and the best way to educate is via engaging assets.

5. Embrace AI On An Individual Level

Pam was one of the first industry bigwigs to discuss AI and its role in B2B sales and marketing, so we naturally had to ask her about the current landscape. She shared two primary pieces of advice for our listeners:

• Don’t worry about falling behind, as AI is still in its inception and has a long road ahead; and
• Don’t get overwhelmed by the oversaturated landscape, because the power is ultimately in users’ hands to pick and choose the AI tools they use.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of all the nuggets of wisdom Pam shared — to learn more about the topics we briefly discussed, make sure to tune into episode one of the 10th season of the “B2B Marketing Exchange Podcast” now! If you’d like to hear Pam speak in-person, make sure to register for the B2B Marketing Exchange East now!

The post The Blueprint For A Winning B2B GTM Strategy appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

Throughout her sessions, Didner will help attendees:

Unlock GTM Excellence During A Hands-On Workshop

First, Didner will host a workshop centered around the essential three key components of GTM planning to provide B2B marketers with the knowledge and templates needed to assemble a robust plan, align their teams and maximize the odds of success. Throughout the hands-on session, she plans to help attendees:

• Understand definition of GTM to scope out their marketing plan;
• Craft their product messaging by identifying unique selling points and areas of differentiation;
• Create target marketing outreach and optimize their marketing channels with relevant content to create a seamless customer experience;
• Enable, train and onboard sales teams about new products to ensure they are prepared for a GTM launch; and
• Collaborate with relevant team members to develop a comprehensive plan.

This high-value Workshop is exclusively available to All-Access Pass holders, who also receive the luxury of attending another Workshop session on day three of the event and unlock additional mentoring and networking opportunities!

Optimize Demand Gen Through AI During An Interactive Campfire-Style Session

Later that same day, Didner will host a Campfire-style keynote for all pass holders that will dive into how demand generation and nurturing have grown increasingly challenging as customers are bombarded with ads and messaging from all channels. Throughout the interactive session, she will share insights into how practitioners can optimization their demand generation efforts through AI by focusing on how to:

• Effectively integrate AI into lead generation outreach;
• Identify areas to automate within workflows; and
• Optimize content’s potential for successful lead generation.

To snag your seat to the Didner Day festivities, register for B2B Marketing Exchange East now. Ticket prices are currently at their lowest possible rate, so don’t wait! And, to unlock more insights from Pam, check out the latest episode of the B2B Marketing Exchange podcast!

The post Reinvent Your GTM & Demand Gen Strategies At B2BMX East With Pam Didner appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

In a recent webinar, “Cutting Through The Clutter: How To Harness A Simpler Approach To Personalization,” Navu’s John Greely, VP of Marketing, and Colin Zealear, Head of Sales, walked attendees through the mechanics of a simpler approach to personalization built around audience segmentation and first-party data. While the full webinar is now available on demand and dives deeper into the nuances of personalization, here are four key takeaways that reflect the power of personalized website messaging:

1. Send Targeted Messages That Guide Visitors To Relevant Content

According to Zealear, there’s a “huge” opportunity for businesses to nurture website visitors when they’re still in the research phase, which includes sending out targeted messages that guide visitors to relevant content in the middle of their journeys.

“When you think about the top of the marketing and sales funnel, you have very targeted ads with different messaging aimed at different audiences — same is true at the bottom of the funnel,” he continued. “But in the middle, prospects are wandering around your website, and most marketers are sitting on their hands hoping visitors will find what they’re looking for and spamming all visitors with the same messages.”

2. Engage Self-Service Buyers Via Unified Messaging

Those targeted messages can also help cut through the content overload of years past, which caused buyers to become more discerning and increase their reliance on third-party sources. According to Greely, this led to more sophisticated and savvy buyers, who don’t respond to campaigns in the same way.

“If somebody comes into your website from Google, they already have one story in mind,” he continued. “They think you’re going to solve one problem, and that’s what they’re looking for — if your website has multiple messages and gives them the wrong content early on, or they can’t find what they’re looking for, you’re in danger of them bouncing. These early touchpoints are critical, so you need to use whatever information is at your disposal — whether it’s third-party data or acquisition-source campaign information — to create unified messaging.”

3. Onboard The Right Tools To Assist With Personalization Efforts

While there are several tools at marketers’ disposals to help assist with those personalization efforts, Greely warned marketers to proceed with caution and perform their due diligence onboarding new technologies.

“AI and ABM tools are supposed to help you fill a need in your marketing team, but oftentimes they end up being unwieldy and make marketers’ jobs harder,” he explained. “Most times, you’re trying to make the tool work rather than having the tool work for you. There is so much productivity to be gained from these tools, but you need to ensure you’re adopting them with caution and not getting lost in the weeds.”

4. Ensure Marketers Remain In Control Of Messaging

Zealear echoed Greely’s sentiments about the potential pitfalls of technology, advising marketers to ensure they remain fully in control of all technology-related processes.

“AI is all the rage right now — it’s what everyone’s talking about,” said Zealear. “However, despite making huge strides in generating accurate responses and content, there’s still a long way to go before AI becomes truly dependable. You need to keep marketers in control and adopt tools that don’t need a lot of time or maintenance, because people are busy and the last thing they need to do is worry about artificial intelligence functioning correctly.”

To learn more about this simpler approach to personalization, check out the full webinar on-demand now!

The post 4 Personalization Tips For Optimizing B2B Websites appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

With that in mind, the three primary drivers for the increased emphasis on measurement and attribution strategies include:

1. Showing ROI From All Marketing Investments

Budgets and strategies exist in a paradoxical cycle: Marketers need to demonstrate the success of their strategies to justify further budget and resources, but new campaigns or ideas are often stifled by a lack of resources that prevents their execution. With nearly three-fourths (73%) of survey respondents indicating they want to better demonstrate the success of their investments, the research suggests that practitioners are starting to prioritize a data-driven, evidence-based approach that builds confidence among executives and aligns marketing initiatives with broader business objectives.

2. Articulating Marketing’s Impact On Pipeline & Revenue

Generally speaking, marketing teams are often fighting for their lives — they’re typically the first department slashed when budget cuts are needed, and their innovative ideas are often overlooked in favor of more traditional, proven strategies. It makes sense, then, that 70% of marketers want to better demonstrate their impact on pipeline and revenue: By linking marketing activities to tangible outcomes, marketers can make a stronger case for themselves and their ideas.

Additionally, having concrete data on marketing’s influence on revenue allows for more strategic decision-making, enabling marketers to refine their tactics based on what drives the most significant financial returns.

3. Improving Sales & Marketing Alignment

Ah, the tale old as time — misaligned marketing and sales teams. Although this alignment is critical for creating a seamless customer experience, as well as for optimizing lead nurturing and conversion strategies, nearly two-thirds of survey respondents want to improve processes between the two departments. When internal teams are constantly communicating and aligned on strategic initiatives, it promotes a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of how marketing efforts contribute to sales outcomes.

Enhancing alignment between marketing and sales also improves overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness — when both teams work closely together, they can share insights and feedback, leading to a more cohesive and integrated approach to customer acquisition and retention. This collaboration helps to eliminate gaps and inconsistencies in the customer experience, as well as streamline processes such as lead handoff and follow-up.

Unified teams that can clearly articulate their value are a core component of success — for a full breakdown of “The 2024 Marketing Measurement & Attribution Survey Report,” keep an eye on the DGR website for the full report, publishing soon. You can also sign up for our newsletter to receive the report directly to your inbox!

The post How B2B Marketers Are Re-Structuring Their Measurement & Attribution Practices appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

To remedy those gaps, Harder joined me on the B2B Marketing Exchange podcast for a deeper discussion around AI and content. While the full episode won’t air for a few more weeks, check out a quick preview below:

Kelly Lindenau: Can you quickly share an overview around how they content creation landscape has changed, and what role AI plays in it?

Dana Harder: There’s a fair amount of discussion these days around what content assets are truly resonating, and in B2B, we get tied to static formats. We love our E-books and white papers, but they just get downloaded and we don’t know if anyone goes back to them.

We need to start looking at formats that are shorter and easier to digest: Everything doesn’t have to be this long soliloquy of what buyers need to do. Those longer-form content pieces have a place, but we also need to mix it up with short-form podcasts, social posts, video, interactive pieces and web-based content so it’s easier to find and for gen AI tools to pick up.

Lindenau: Let’s stay on the topic of creating content that’s optimized for gen AI tools — how can practitioners conduct an audit of the content to determine how it’s resonating?

Harder: Gen AI tools — both paid and free — are amazing for research and finding out information, but they’re only as good as the data that’s going in because they just regurgitate the same information back. When we conduct an audit for our clients, we start by putting ourselves in the mind of their buyers and ask ourselves (and the AI), ‘what do we want to know about this company? What are our pain points?’

And as we’re having that conversation with generative AI, we start to see a data progression — and sometimes our clients are nowhere to be mentioned and their competitors come up instead. Once you can identify those gaps, you can create content that’ll start to surface on those engines.

Lindenau: The other side to AI is its content creation capabilities — what’s your take on the current ‘AI is taking my job’ phase?

Harder: AI is not the enemy; it’s going to help us become more efficient in content creation. However, you must ensure that you’re keep your content original and aligned with your brand and voice. A lot of content marketers are using AI for research and to create an outline, which is great because it cuts down on hours of research — sometimes, we just need a starting point.

However, if you have a small marketing team or writing just isn’t your thing, you must be prepared to edit the AI content and make sure to incorporate your voice into it. It generates a lot of fluff and repetitive words, so you’ll have to pare down the word count, too.

Lindenau: How do you see content creators and marketers working alongside gen AI tools in the future?

Harder: We have to become experts in how we talk to AI and understand prompting — i.e., what’s going to come up — because that’ll be most effective in helping content marketers understand where their gaps are. Anyone can ask generalized questions, but you need to understand how to get deep into the AI weeds.

We couldn’t fit all the insights from this podcast into one blog, but don’t worry! We chatted with Harder on the B2B Marketing Exchange Podcast, and that episode will be airing in just a few weeks. For a recap of the panel discussion itself — and more a comprehensive view into content creation — check out our latest feature.

The post Beyond The Content Panel: How Generative AI Is Shaping Content Creation appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

New Name, Location & Date

The event is shipping down from Boston and landing in Alpharetta, Georgia to debut on Oct. 1 and conclude on Oct. 3. As for accommodations, attendees can expect to stay at The Hotel at Avalon, which offers state-of-the-art facilities nestled in a walkable community that features more than 75 luxury shops and 23 nearby restaurants.

Reimagined Tracks

In addition to the outside aesthetics, the inner workings of the event also went through the renewal process. Instead of five main tracks, the #B2BMX team pared down the offerings into three main content tracks and three intimate discussion rooms.

Campaign Optimization

In the Campaign Optimization track, attendees can expect sessions that will provide actionable advice on how to embrace the latest formats, tools and channels to optimize strategies and create campaigns that engage target audiences and drive measurable revenue results.

Buyer Insights & Intelligence

Over in the Buyer Insights & Intelligence track, key topics will include all things data, buyer insights, sales enablement, AI and more. Experts will take the stage to share their experiences and best practices for applying new intelligence signals and insights to deliver highly relevant, authentic and contextual marketing campaigns that target key audiences — and align with sales.

Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy & Planning

Finally, the GTM Strategy & Planning Track will help marketers optimize multiple channels and utilize new signal data from buyers. This track will cover topics such as GTM strategy, channel/partner marketing, revenue operations, sales and marketing alignment and more.

New Additions

In addition to the main tracks, #B2BMXEast will also feature three smaller track rooms where attendees can engage with speakers, experts and peers on a deeper level, with sessions such as, but not limited to:

• Speaker Q&A Sessions, where industry experts will answer burning questions;
• Expert Show and Tell, which will feature hands-on demonstrations that explore new campaigns, tools and tactics; and
• Roundtable Discussions designed to foster meaningful connections and exchange insights with fellow attendees.

Extracurriculars

In addition to the educational tracks, the event will also feature plenty of after-hours activities, such as:

Innovator Awards

The annual B2B Innovator Awards will celebrate the most progressive marketing and sales practitioners pushing the envelope to effectively engage prospective customers and meet their buyer needs in the age of digital transformation. In addition to the in-person awards ceremony, winners will be honored in an exclusive special report post-event.

B2BMXperts

These 15-minute, pre-booked sessions will allow attendees to connect with handpicked experts one-on-one to discuss their personal marketing and sales challenges and leverage the B2BMXperts’ ideas or experiences to brainstorm new strategies.

Networking Receptions

Attendees can expect multiple nights of networking receptions focused around food, drink and marketing conversations!

“The B2BMX events have become a staple for B2B marketing and sales practitioners looking to innovate, collaborate and transform the way they connect and engage in the business landscape,” said Klaudia Tirico, Content Director for the #B2BMX event series. “The team and I are so excited to take our event series to the next level with #B2BMXEast. While we’re making moves to a fabulous new location and venue, attendees can still expect to experience the same level of superior thought-leadership content and endless networking opportunities our events are known for. #B2BMXEast is designed by marketers, for marketers, and we can’t wait to help empower and inspire our attendees with the tools and tips they need to elevate their marketing and sales game for years to come.”

Check out the #B2BMXEast website now to register for the event and sign-up for updates via email!

The post Introducing B2B Marketing Exchange East: The Latest Iteration In The #B2BMX Event Series appeared first on Demand Gen Report.

To help put an end to content faux pas, the soon-to-be-released “2024 Content Preferences Benchmark Survey” candidly asked respondents about their content recommendations — here’s a glimpse into what they said:

Focus Less On Product Specifics & More On Business Value

I’ll let you in a little secret: No one wants to hear your thoughts on your products. At best, it’s biased; at worst, it’s misleading. In other words, you’re just too close to the offering to objectively discuss what gaps your solution fills and the value it could bring to businesses. Instead:

1. Curb The Sales Message

According to those surveyed, the slightest whiff of a sales pitch is enough to entirely turn them off from a business. Rather, prospects and buyers are seeking objective content that articulates value rather than alleged benefits.

2. Add More Third-Party Insights

To help make content more well-rounded, the survey respondents suggested incorporating insights from industry thought leaders and analysts for a more nuanced perspective.

3. Use Data & Research To Support Content

With third-party insights in place, buyers then suggested taking objective content to the next level by including research and data. While it’s great to have an industry insider wax poetic about your products, it’s even better when you can back up their claims with facts and figures.

Make Content Easier To Access

Marketers are possessive over their content, and I get it — I might not be a marketer, but I know I create great content and people should be willing to give me their life savings to read it! (Right? Please say I’m right).

Either way, it’s clear that we need to check our content egos at the door and let our work speak for itself. Specifically, this means taking away the hurdles to access exist content and re-assess the content we create.

4. Remove The Gates

Nearly two-thirds of buyers are somewhat or not likely to fill out a form if content is gated, and those that are willing to share their information only do so for “high value” content. While we’ll unpack what the high value content entails when we release the full survey results, I can give you a little hint — it involves video!

5. Thoughtfully Curate Content Offerings

With 56% of buyers overwhelmed with the amount of content available, marketers need to step back and evaluate their current portfolios. Instead of whipping together assets that address every potential need, buyers are advising organizations to take a more holistic, tactful approach to their content strategies.

To craft content that truly resonates with buyers, marketers need to put in the work to understand their audience and craft their content accordingly. In a few short weeks, we’ll release the entire “2024 Content Preferences Survey Report,” which will dive deeper into buyers’ content consumption patterns and preferences.

The post What Are B2B Buyers’ Top 5 Content Recommendations? appeared first on Demand Gen Report.