by Lori Berson | Mar 6, 2023 | artificial intelligence, Content Marketing, Marketing
Edelman and LinkedIn recently conducted a survey of almost 3,500 management-level global business executives, which found that decision-makers are more likely to value thought leadership over traditional product-oriented marketing during an economic downturn.
The survey revealed that 55% of decision-makers would cut products and services that they consider “nice-to-haves” rather than “must-haves” during budget cuts. However, non-critical providers can increase their chances of winning business by demonstrating that they can help a prospect increase their profit margins, minimize losses, retain customers, and win market share.
To achieve this, thought leadership can play a strong role. 61% of decision-makers believe that an organization’s thought leadership can be more effective than traditional product-oriented marketing during an economic downturn. Additionally, 55% of decision-makers believe that non-critical providers must produce high-quality thought leadership to win their business during an economic downturn.
What elements make thought leadership effective?
Decision-makers expect non-critical providers to identify new opportunities or industry trends stemming from the economic downturn, give them information and insights that will make them more effective/successful in their job, and explain how the organization can help their business do well despite the economic downturn.
To increase the value of thought leadership, decision-makers look for content that is quick and easy to consume and absorb, with 51% rating this attribute as a top-1 box score. Additionally, 49% believe that it is crucial for thought leadership to reference robust research and strong supporting data. B2B buyers have previously stated that content including research and data is crucial, and vendors can improve their content quality by incorporating more research and data.
B2B marketers need to focus on thought leadership content during an economic downturn to demonstrate their value to decision-makers. By providing quick, easy-to-consume content that references robust research and strong supporting data, marketers can increase their chances of winning business during tough economic times.
To learn more, download the study.
About the Data: The results are based on a survey of 3,449 global business executives, using the LinkedIn platform to survey LinkedIn members. Respondents hailed from the US, Canada, UK, Singapore, Australia and India, and the majority (60%) work at companies with more than 200 employees.
Need assistance with your marketing content? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
by Lori Berson | Aug 16, 2022 | Content Marketing, Social Media
A new study from Conviva suggests that TikTok engagement rates are closely linked to follower count.
1,500 verified brand TikTok accounts were analyzed with a total of more than 591K videos, including 500 brand accounts, 150 news and media accounts, 75 sports leagues, 125 sports media accounts, 300 sports teams, and 350 TV and entertainment accounts.
Average Engagement Rates
The results show that there’s a strong negative correlation between follower count and engagement rate. So, the more followers, the lower the engagement rate.
For accounts with a follower count of less than 100K, the average engagement rate was a high 28%. Double-digit engagement rates were maintained among accounts with follower numbers of 1-200K (14%) and 2-300K (12%) but then fell below the 10% mark for all accounts with larger follower counts. As such, the lowest engagement rates were for the biggest accounts – with more than 10 million followers – which averaged engagement rates of around 2%.
Overall, the average engagement rate across all of the verified accounts was 13.5%. Brands enjoyed the highest average engagement rate among the various account types identified, at 17.3%, though Conviva notes that brands had the smallest average follower counts (~600,000 on average), which could explain the high rates given the data mentioned above.
Brands that want to increase their follower count should think about increasing their posting frequency, per the report’s findings. Overall, the analyzed accounts posted 189 times from March 2021 to March 2022, a 13% increase from the previous year’s average. However, the top 20 accounts by follower growth averaged 1,345 posts during that period, about 7.1x higher than the average. These accounts averaged around 3-4 posts per day. Moreover, the analysis found that those accounts that posted more frequently (1,250+ times over the year) gained significantly more followers than those that posted less frequently (0-250), though it’s conceivable that frequency was not the only factor here (resources, brand size, advertising, etc., could have all played a role).
Top TikTok Accounts By Follower Count
- Flighthouse (28.1 million)
- PSG (25.2 million)
- ESPN (22.9 million)
- Netflix (22.4 million)
- Overtime (19.2 million)
Among the brand accounts analyzed, Guinness World Records had the most total followers (19.1 million) and the largest year-over-year increase (7.8 million). Roblox was the next-largest in terms of follower size (7.9 million), ahead of Fortnite Official (7.7 million), Red Bull (6.5 million), and Crumbl Cookies (4.7 million). Among the top 50 brand accounts by follower size, #17 Among Us had the highest average engagement rate, of 11.41%.
Need assistance with your TikTok strategy and production? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
![Types of Videos B2B Buyers Prefer [Study]](https://bersondeanstevens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/VideoShoot-1080x675.jpg)
by Lori Berson | May 16, 2022 | Content Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Video, Video Marketing
According to the results of a Brightcove study conducted by Ascend2, video has a strong influence on the B2B buyer’s purchase journey. Virtually all (95%) of the buyers surveyed for the report said that video has an important role in deciding to move forward with a purchase.
Video’s use in making purchase decisions manifests in various ways, according to the study, though buyers are most likely to find it helpful when learning about a product/service (58%).
Beyond learning about products and services, video also proves helpful to buyers in understanding a problem they have (36%) and learning how to solve a problem they have (40%). Buyers separately said that videos were more helpful than any other content type for creating awareness of business-related problems. Moreover, when comparing solutions to such problems, about 6 in 10 respondents said that video is the most impactful content type.
Video Types Preferred
Almost 9 in 10 B2B buyers have watched a video in the last 3 months for the purpose of learning about a product or service, and almost half (46%) have watched a video at least 5 times in pursuit of product and service research.
Two types stand out as the most widely watched: product reviews and product demos, each by 39% of this group of respondents.
Other popular types of videos watched include tutorials/training (33%), live videos such as webinars (31%), educational videos (30%), and brand story videos (24%).
Almost 3 in 4 (73%) report a preference for video over written communication when being introduced to a sales/customer service representative. And watching a video certainly seems to open buyers up to such communication: virtually all of the buyers surveyed said they were extremely or somewhat likely to be more receptive to sales communication from a specific organization after consuming its video content.
Additional Insights:
- 93% of buyers report that video is important in building trust in a brand.
- Almost all (97%) buyers find video content and communication to be useful post-purchase.
- Video is most helpful in the post-purchase stage for learning about other products/services offered and for training/onboarding.
- About 8 in 10 (81%) prefer video over written content when learning how to use a product or service.
About the Data: The results are based on a February survey of 305 professionals responsible for purchase decision-making within their organization, operating in the business-to-business (B2B) space for businesses generating more than $50M in revenue or more annually in North America and the United Kingdom.
Need assistance with your video marketing? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
![What Makes Content Memorable and Enables a Sales Call [Survey]](https://bersondeanstevens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Memorable-Contentshutterstock_353241029.jpeg)
by Lori Berson | May 4, 2022 | Content Marketing, Marketing, Sales Enablement
A majority of B2B buyers consume 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson when making a purchase decision, although 3 in 10 consume more than 5 pieces of content, according to Demand Gen’s B2B Content Preferences Survey Report. With content consumption playing a key role in predicting purchase behavior, it’s helpful to see what buyers want from content.
Research & Data Are Key for Content Sharing
The report indicates that B2B buyers pay close attention to content that includes research and data, and that this is a factor in their decision of whether or not to share content. When they were asked the key drivers for sharing content, respondents pointed first to its inclusion of relevant/shareable links that can be immediately shared (48%), and then next they preferred the content be loaded with shareable stats and quick-hitting insights (42%).
In fact, the presence of data seems to be a driver of sharing for more respondents than the ability of that data to influence others: about 4 in 10 said that a motivation to share content was that it tells a strong story that resonates with the buying committee (41%), while fewer said that shareworthy content is that which will influence peers/other internal stakeholders on the buying team (34%).
B2B buyers participating in the study indicated that they were more likely to share research/survey reports (45%) with their colleagues than other popular types of content including e-books (43%), webinars (42%), and case studies (40%).
The results bring to mind recent research from Muck Rack, in which journalists said that two factors that make a story shareable are it containing an image or infographic, and it having exclusive and/or surprising data.
Data Makes Content Memorable
The survey also asked buyers what makes content memorable and triggers them to take a sales call. Once again, research and data figured prominently, with the top response being that the content uses data and research to support claims (51%). Some 4 in 10 also said that what makes a piece of content memorable is that it is packed with shareable stats and quick-hitting insights (41%) and that it is research-based (41%). The only other key element cited for content that triggers a buyer to take a sales call is that it tells a strong story that resonates with the buying committee (49%).
Not surprisingly then, a sizable share of buyers (36%) would recommend that B2B vendors use more data and research in order to improve their content quality. Other recommendations included curbing the sales messages (39%), creating shorter content (37%), and not overloading content with text (36%). In other words, as Demand Gen Report notes, “B2B buyers crave concise, research-based content.”
About the Data: The results are based on a survey of 174 B2B executives from a range of titles, industries, and company sizes.
Need assistance developing and implementing your content marketing strategy? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
![The Most Valuable Content Marketing Formats for B2B [Survey]](https://bersondeanstevens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Content-Marketing-1080x675.jpg)
by Lori Berson | May 3, 2022 | Content Marketing, Marketing
According to Demand Gen’s B2B Content Preferences Survey Report, B2B buyers say they’ve been placing a higher emphasis on the trustworthiness of the source of the content they’ve consumed over the past year. Below are the buyers’ content consumption preferences per the report.
Webinars Are Still Popular
Although there are signs of online event fatigue, webinars are still effective. Of the 174 B2B executives surveyed for the report, two-thirds (67%) said they had consumed webinars during the previous year. This was the top format, ahead of e-books (56%), research/survey reports (55%), blog posts (54%), white papers (52%), and case studies (49%).
It’s no wonder then that recent research finds B2B marketers saying that webinars are their most effective top-of-the-funnel demand generation tactic. They may also be key for the later stages of the funnel, too, as they’re more likely than some other formats to be associated with an immediate buying decision.
Webinars Are Well Suited for Mid-Stage of the Funnel
The report indicates that buyers are more reliant on content in the early- to mid-stages of their journey, as each of the 16 content formats examined for the study were said by buyers to grab their highest engagement at those stages.
A majority said that infographics (62%), blog posts (58%), and podcasts (56%) are most valuable at the early stage of the funnel. Despite the above-cited results, 48% of buyers said that webinars are most valuable at the mid-stage of the funnel, compared to 41% who find them most valuable at the early stage and 11% at the late stage.
This is supported by research from MarketingCharts in partnership with Active Marketing Services, in which B2B demand gen marketers said that blogs and infographics are most effective at the top of the funnel, while webinars are most effective mid-funnel. The only content format that a plurality of respondents believed was most effective at the bottom of the funnel was the in-depth white paper or e-book.
Research Reports Help in Purchase Research
While buyers are most apt to have attended webinars over the past year, webinars are not the format they’ve found most valuable for researching their purchases. Research/survey reports were cited by more than 4 in 10 respondents, narrowly ahead of case studies and webinars. Separately, respondents noted that research-based content that includes shareable stats gets their attention and proves memorable.
About the Data: The results are based on a survey of 174 B2B executives from a range of titles, industries, and company sizes.
Need assistance developing and implementing your content marketing strategy? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
