Having a clear understanding of the types of marketing content tech buyers give importance to when considering their purchasing options, including where they source their information from throughout their purchasing journey, has become crucial for B2B marketers who wish to effectively engage tech buyers. For this reason each year Techformation and Strategic Enterprise Org carry out a study of over 800 international technology buyers, providing you with crucial insight into their media preferences that you can incorporate it into your marketing strategy.
In this post, we focus on six key findings from our 2024 Effective Marketing Media Study on today’s tech buying journey, along with practical recommendations that assist you in aligning your content strategy to buyers’ preferences so that you can better connect with your current customers and attract new clients.
Firstly, as previous Media Consumption studies have shown us that buyers are conducting a large portion of their research in a self-service, digital manner – a trend that has only increased within the last year. As per the majority of the buyers, vendor shortlists can be built on digital content by itself (#1), as buyers prefer digital sources for research. Based on this, we recommend prioritizing digital content creation and promotion to meet this need.
An important fact to note is that as marketers are incorporating generative AI (GenAI) to scale their content output, they should steer clear of over-reliance. Our findings show us that buyers won’t be so easily convinced by GenAI-authored content. Eventhough our study shows a staggering 900% increase in GenAI purchase intent activity year-over-year (#2) (YoY), yet despite GenAI’s rise, tech buyers prefer content written by experts and analysts. Based on this, we recommend limiting AI content writing to news stories, blog posts and infographics and that too after heavily editing it and adding a human touch.
Buyers are increasingly seeking out independent sources of information (#3), and they tell us they make informed decisions based on expert, technical advice to guide them in making a vendor shortlist (#4) more so than any other type of content. On this note, YoY reliance on expert content grew by 39%. Based on this, you should include independent analyst and expert content in your brand’s content marketing strategy to tap into buyer engagement with these content types.
70% of buyers prefer vendors that understand their challenges (#5), and their needs are detailed, technical and specific which they need addressed before making a purchasing decision. In addition to case studies, we recommend that you incorporate case highlights and educational resources on a particular pain-point or solution as buyers need in-depth information on solution pricing and ROI, along with technical specifications on implementation for their organization – all of this information should be delivered in your content first so they can carry out their research accordingly and form their own shortlist before contacting one of your sales representatives. For the majority, if not all, cases, GenAI is unable to deliver content that achieves this level of technical depth and detailed analysis. Focus on technical content that showcases your product(s) implementation and highlights solution specifications.
Furthermore, buyer loyalty has decreased YoY, with 85% of tech buyers having switched or added vendors in the last 12-18 months (#6). With this trend in mind, garnering trust with prospective buyers and maintaining a solid relationship with your existing clients – via sharing tips, guides, and best practices on your products, providing market insights, and including latest features and capabilities your customers desire – is extremely important.
Value-packed and expert content is crucial to attracting tech buyers
Marketers have their mission set out for them to provide tech buyers with the content they need in making crucial purchasing decisions. As a marketer, if you’re not addressing buyers’ content needs – with the above projections in mind – you’re risking losing buyers’ attention to your competitors.
Keep in mind, that when it comes to capturing your buyers’ interest, content is king, and successful marketers need an abundant, comprehensive content pipeline that caters to buyers’ current technical pain points and content consumption demands.
Refer to our recommendations to navigate today’s complex content marketing landscape and embark on a journey for success in engaging tech buyers.