When it comes to content, what do B2B technology buyers rely on most to guide purchasing decisions? New research produced by the Channel Institute has uncovered some interesting insights into this challenge.
Entitled “What Marketing Content Do B2B Technology Buyers Want?” the survey provides valuable insights to technology marketers on what technology buyers view as credible, reliable and relevant content. The results can also inform strategies to help inform channel partner marketing plans and enable channel partners to engage more meaningfully with customers and prospects via customizable, simple-to-execute digital, social and content marketing campaigns.
Credibility Matters
At a high level, the survey results show marketers need to help channel partners build better stories and more compelling content around tools such as ROI and TCO calculators, vendor comparison tools and templates, and workshops that combine use-specific demos with free software trials.
According to Michael Kelly, Director at the Channel Institute, a recurring theme from the research was the skepticism of B2B technology buyers towards vendor and partner marketing content and claims. This may be summed up by one respondent’s request for “The truth! Not the marketing angles where everything out there will reduce costs and improve revenues and profit.”
It is clear from the survey that simply delivering partner marketing plan templates will not suffice. The credibility of marketing content is top of mind for B2B technology buyers. Source independence for marketing content is important, which is why decision makers look to third-party communities like to find content and share ideas and experiences with peers.
Survey Highlights
The Channel Institute study results reflect responses from more than 300 senior technology buyers. Questions were primarily aimed at gaining a better understanding of the types of content technology buyers want at the evaluation phase of the purchase decision-making process. These insights could then be used to create more effective channel partner marketing planning templates.
Results show a clear preference for practical tools to help inform and evaluate solutions. Vendors need to consider building this content into their channel marketing plan templates for partners. For example, when asked to choose “Which educational channel partner marketing content do you prefer to receive from technology vendors?” respondents reported (in order of preference):
- Free trials
- Demos
- Videos
- Calculators (ROI, TCO, etc)
- How-to Guides and Templates
- E-Books
- Case Studies
- Independent Research
- White Papers
When asked for general feedback on what other content is useful for shortlisting vendors, technology buyers’ responses included:
- Comparison sheets versus other vendors and solutions
- Cloud environments for testing
- Proof of concept workshops on real use cases, and VM workshops
- Customer results statements
- Implementation history. What was easy, what was difficult, how did we overcome the difficulties?
- Free and independent assessments or templates
- Webinars
- Online buyer reviews
About the Channel Institute
The Channel Institute is the only training body in the world that provides business training and certification specifically for the channel profession through a syllabus validated by a vendor-independent Industry Advisory Council. The Institute currently offers three certificate courses supporting channel managers, channel marketers and channel resellers:
- The Certificate in Channel Management
- The Certificate in Channel Marketing
- The Certificate in Digital Co-Marketing
The Channel Institute also licenses its course content to universities and vendor training academies to bolster their channel training libraries.