In the first five days of the 2024 Paris Olympics, viewership was already up 79% from the 2021 Tokyo games. That uptick of viewership is likely twofold: The games are much more accessible across multiple streaming and cable platforms, and remote/hybrid workers have the luxury of watching their favorite athletes during the day (not me, though — I am glued to my computer and most definitely not watching the U.S. women play in the soccer semi-finals as I type this!).
And just like Olympic viewership is skyrocketing, so are content budgets: 91% of leaders anticipate budget increases and, consequently, content production is expected to increase by 3X to 5X. As practitioners ramp up their content machines, practitioners need to balance quality with effectiveness to ensure their content meets buyers’ preferences.
“Content plays a pivotal role in B2B demand generation as it serves to educate, engage and build trust with potential customers,” said Ken Stout, SVP of Data Axle, a data, technology and marketing services provider. “Quality content positions a company as an industry authority, attracting prospects seeking valuable insights.”
With crafting quality content in mind, it’s time to look at B2B buyers’ contenders for the gold, silver and bronze medals of content formats to determine what assets resonate most strongly with prospects and customers.
Bronze: User-Generated Content
Coming in at the No. 3 spot is all forms of user-generated content, which encompasses everything from case studies to product reviews. Third-party validation is crucial to generating credible content: Sure, your team can tell buyers about how great your offerings are, but the bias is abundantly clear. Instead, savvy buyers are turning to industry thought leaders and influencer feedback to paint a clearer picture of the solution they’re about to purchase. But if you’re a marketer not already leveraging user feedback, don’t sweat: You likely have all the information already at your fingertips.
“Every marketer has excellent access to zero- and first-party data,” said Sarah Sehgal, Director of Demand Generation for OpenSesame, an educational technology company. “Zero-party data, specifically, comes from people raising their hands and intentionally sharing information, while first-party is coming from whatever platforms you have on your website that connect into our CRM or marketing automation tool. To generate more first-party insights, you need to go into those systems to segment and activate your audience by action to unlock that type of engagement.”
Silver: Digital Events & Webinars
Ah, the mighty webinar. While it was a close runner-up, it didn’t secure enough of the vote to jump up to the No. 1 spot on the podium. The medium’s popularity is clear, as it helps facilitate virtual connections and allows attendees to interact with their peers and learn from experts. In an era where time is valuable and buyers are looking for the most streamlined journey possible, webinars emerge as a formidable contender to provide comprehensive content and distill detailed explanations that are often not possible in static formats. However, to make the most out of this lucrative medium, webinars aren’t something marketers can sprinkle in whenever they want — it’s a strategy that requires a full commitment.
“Virtual events can’t be a targeted effort your company does here and there,” said Jason Widdup, VP of Marketing at Metadata.io, a demand gen platform. “They should really be an ongoing channel that’s a key part of your overall marketing strategy. If you’re just ‘spraying and praying’ or hosting one-off events, you can’t connect them to any of your other marketing efforts. You must cohesively weave the virtual events channel into overall marketing efforts.
Gold: Short Form Content
If B2B had a national anthem, we’d start playing it now! Whether you want to refer to it as the Michael Phelps or Simone Biles of marketing, short-form content was easily the GOAT for 67% of B2B buyers. As I’ve said before, the attention economy is in a recession as attention spans plummet: The average time that a person can focus on one thing has dropped from around 2½ minutes to around 45 seconds, meaning short is in — especially with 70% of B2B buyers preferring to learn about a company through articles and blog posts.
“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,” said Dana Harder, Partner at Unreal Digital Group, a demand generation agency. “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.”
If I had the Photoshop/Canva skills, I’d insert a fun image of an Olympic podium or photoshop each medalist into a flag-raising ceremony. However, despite my lack of artistic prowess, there’s no denying the ongoing power of content, as 48% of practitioners plan to publish content daily. With such an uptick expected in content generation, it’s essential that B2B practitioners to maximize their resources and ensure they’re providing buyers with the formats and mediums they’re most likely to engage with.
To uncover more into the current state of content marketing, check out “Navigating The Attention Economy Via Snack-able & Shareable Content.”
