Mind the Trust Gap: Content Marketing Falls Flat with Majority of Decision-Makers
Informa Tech’s first Trust in Marketing Index shows how current content marketing practices are missing the mark.
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Eighty-five percent (85%) of business technology decision-makers believe that high-quality thought leadership B2B content improves their perception of a brand. However, 71% are sometimes or often disappointed in the value of B2B gated content. Among the leading causes of disappointment were “the same old content” and content that was “too general.”
Industry newsletters and partner websites are viewed by technology buying decision-makers almost as much as B2B news publications and social media. Content marketing should be treated like news reporting, with fresh, relevant and accurate information, and without so much as a whiff of sales pitch.
Content marketers who provide readers with top-quality information can establish themselves as trustworthy thought leaders. To attract readers, marketers should offer readers what they want most: up-to-date information on trends and product comparisons. But again, without so much as a whiff of sales pitch.
B2B technology buying decision-makers overwhelmingly recognize the importance of marketers having correct data on them. Their filling out a form required to access gated information — which 41% of respondents said they do once a month or more — provides the marketer with information on them as well as the type of content in which they’re interested.
For their part, marketers must be careful not to overwhelm the reader with too many form fields to complete. They should also reassure the reader that all data provided will be protected.
Even the best content must be targeted at the appropriate audience. Forty-one percent (41%) of respondents who were incorrectly targeted said they wouldn’t buy a product from the offending brand. Twenty-four percent (24%) said they weren’t sure if they would do business with that brand in the future.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of respondents said their technology budgets will increase in the next 12 months. That means the time is now for content marketers to recalibrate, refresh and refine their programs to establish themselves as trustworthy industry thought leaders.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of respondents said their technology budgets will increase in the next 12 months. That means the time is now for content marketers to recalibrate, refresh and refine their programs to establish themselves as trustworthy industry thought leaders.
The appetite for content marketing is high, but current practices must be refined to realize maximum success with senior B2B technology buying decision-makers. That’s according to the inaugural Trust in Marketing Index from Informa Tech.
The Index, which reveals an overall score of 61 on a scale of 1 to 100, uncovers the disparity between existing content marketing practices and the preferences of senior business technology decision-makers. As the Index states, “While there are strong building blocks present, there is still significant work to be done.”
The 2023 Informa Tech Trust in Marketing Index was created from interviews with 150 senior executives, leaders and the C-suite across the business technology community in the U.S. and the U.K. The survey analyzes how trust is fostered through accuracy, clarity, expertise, personalization and timeliness. It included five baseline questions with assigned point values for each answer to create the Index score.
Informa Tech’s Emma Moorman
“The Informa Tech Trust in Marketing Index suggests there is more work to be done when it comes to maximizing the value of marketing content,” said Emma Moorman, Informa Tech’s marketing services product director. “It’s really interesting to see how valuable content is to senior decision-makers but how easily wrongly-timed, wrongly-targeted or badly-executed content can undermine trust.
“Trust is key to building long-term relationships, and we know from multiple studies that senior decision-makers are more likely to make decisions based on trust and relationships than less senior roles in an organization. With tech buying budgets expected to go up next year, it is crucial to understand the factors that will build or break trust in 2024 to create a fertile ground for sales.”
See the slideshow above for six insights on content marketing from Informa Tech’s Trust in Marketing Index.
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