B2B Content Marketing’s Paradigm Shift

The average attention span in 2015 was 8.25 seconds[i]

To put this statistic into perspective, the average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. Yes, that’s right… humans now have a shorter attention span than goldfish! And this information is a generalised number, as when it comes to viewing webpages and content, the time is no doubt a lot less than 8.25 seconds. So, what does this mean for B2B marketing content? Well, the landscape is changing and a paradigm shift is taking place. Are you ready?

Where are you at right now?

Before you go dramatically changing your content strategy off the back of this blog post, first review and analyse your current B2B content marketing performance. Is it generating the leads and sales you need? Are your buyers engaging with it regularly? Are you able to measure all of the metrics you need? Is there a particular format of content your buyers love to engage with? Ultimately, you need to dive into the nitty gritty of your current content activity and determine whether you are seeing a change happen in buyer behaviour.

Why are buying behaviours changing?

There are a number of reasons that buyer’s relationship and engagement with content is changing, but it basically boils down to 4 key factors…

• Time to read content is getting shorter
• Devices they read content on are getting smaller (think mobile)
• The decision-making process is getting longer
• Their appetite for relevant content is growing

So ultimately then, content from now on needs to be easily digestible, easily viewable on a mobile device, and provide a great deal of helpful, nurturing information. So where does that leave us in relation to today’s tip sheets, ebooks, and infographics etc.?

Interactivity is the future

There are two types of marketing communications – active and passive. An example of passive marketing would be a TV advertisement. This form of communication requires no input from the potential buyer and they can ultimately ‘zone out’ – not great when trying to drive them towards a conversion. Active content on the other hand, requires the reader/buyer to physically engage with the content, by clicking on links or images for example. Does active content actually make a difference to results? The answer is yes…

• Content webpage bounce rates are typically around 45%. But with active content pages, this reduces to just 20%[ii]

• Lead generation forms in interactive content convert 2-3x better[iii]

• Interactive video increases engagement by 19% compared to traditional ‘passive’ videos[iv]

How to go interactive

It’s clear that interactive content is the future. We’re all heading there, and those who act first will likely generate the best results. So, what is the best way to go interactive? Well firstly, don’t reinvent the wheel. If you currently have a comprehensive content strategy, then you’re half way there. The fact is, you’re most likely generating content that is relevant to your buyers anyway, all you have to do now is make it more engaging via interaction. So, here’s a few content ideas to get your creative juices flowing…

• Quizzes
• Tools
• Calculators
• Configurators
• Interactive infographics
• Interactive ebooks
• Interactive videos

Some of these content pieces will require ‘specialist’ tools, but as the desire for interactive content has grown, so too has the suppliers of the necessary tools. So, whether you are simply starting out with interaction, or you’re looking to spend a lot of budget on staying ahead of the curve, there’s a price point to suit every business.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for ideas to inspire your content…