Customer viewpoints a priority. Customer voice and content performance.
Across the board, B2B marketers say that the customer's view is the most important part of content.
Reader value (62%) and alignment with customer priorities (63%) are the qualities that define their best work.
But talking to customers is a problem.
I don't always know what terminology to use with the target audience, or what level of knowledge they already have.
36% reported a big problem with customer contact, saying they don't know what customers want. A further 42% called it a small problem.
The issue is especially acute in large enterprises, and on mainland Europe: a big problem for 62%, and a small problem for a further 38%.
And it has an important impact on results.
Predictably, a lack of customer access reduces marketers' satisfaction in their content's customer alignment (by 24%).
But surprisingly the impact is proportionally greater on business results (27% lower).
We believe customer viewpoints are powerful. But what evidence is there?
Knowing what content works is literally Shaema Shazleen Katib's job. So we asked her what the data shows.
It confirms our respondents are right: the customer's story can make all the difference.
Our best-performing content has that credibility factor – things like statistics, customer success stories, and testimonies. These things have always performed the best on a global scale.
In the B2B space, certain content formats perform better than others.
At Intel, we've seen things like infographics, social media content and videos get higher views and interactions.
What's important is finding the right format, length, structure and tone – and that's a matter of knowing your audience well enough.
I've seen so many B2B marketers look at B2C and go, "Why do they get all the fun?" But if it's done right, B2B content can certainly match the creativity and appeal of the best of B2C.
We have a clear standard of what good content is, based on historical performance.
These are our safe bets – content pieces we know will always work: for example, case studies.
Out best-performing content has that credibility factor from things like statistics, customer success stories, and testimonies.
