What Types of Insights-Based Content Do B2B Marketers Find Most Effective?

September 10, 2014

This article is included in these additional categories:

B2B | Content Marketing

CorpVisions-Effective-B2B-Insights-Sept2014About 8 in 10 B2B firms use insights when crafting their collateral, reports Corporate Visions in a survey of roughly 400 B2B marketers and salespeople worldwide. But what types of insights are they using – and where do they come from? The research suggests that respondents are most commonly using insights derived internally using company-generated data, surveys and other types of research, with added context and perspective from their own companies. Interestingly, one type of insight appears to be most effective.

As part of its survey, Corporate Visions identified 4 types of insights:

  • “Visionary” insights: reinforce where a market is headed;
  • “Current” insights: predict where a market is headed and validate a buying strategy;
  • “Authoritative” insights: reinforce key messages around risks, costs and performance based off industry analysts and proven experts; and
  • “Anecdotal” insights: reinforce key messages around best practices, lessons learned and new operating frameworks based on work in the field.

Asked which they used most frequently in their marketing collateral and sales tools (on a 4-point scale, where 1 is most frequently), respondents pointed to “anecdotal” insights (2.47), followed closely by “authoritative” insights. Overall, though, there was not much variation in reported use of the different types of insights.

There was more consensus, however, on the types of insights that are most effective at generating more engaging conversations and driving decisions. On this front, respondents tabbed “visionary” insights as most effective (2.15 on a 4-point scale, where 1 is most effective), followed by “current” insights (2.23).

The results suggest that B2B marketers and salespeople believe that they have the most success when positioning their companies in the context of more macro-based industry trends. That “anecdotal” insights – based on work in the field – ranked last in terms of perceived effectiveness reinforces the concept that, at least in the minds of the survey respondents, prospects are less interested in the nuts-and-bolts of a solution than they are with how it fits into a longer-term vision.

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