What the B2B buying journey means for content planning

Most marketers will acknowledge that the idea of a linear buying journey is a thing of the past; the assumption that the buying process happens sequentially has been replaced by the reality that buyers flit around. They research, compare and go back to where they started and gather intelligence along the way.

In the B2B sector this is even more prevalent. The nature of the type of purchases taking place and risks of getting it wrong are often higher, so not only is extensive research an expected part of the process, this is often carried out by multiple stakeholders - the ‘buying committee’ - who will each have their own motivations that will need addressing.

Gartner calls this flighty approach to information gathering ‘looping’, and asserts that stakeholders each have around six buying jobs they seek to fulfil, from problem identification to validation, all of which are revisited during this purchase journey. They also assert that this process takes place more simultaneously rather than sequentially, meaning that sellers have less access and fewer opportunities to influence customer decisions directly. Forrester’s customer journey model illustrates the possible different paths buyers might take and it’s pretty messy!

Right content, right time What’s clear is that it’s the individual driving the buyer process rather than brands controlling the selling cycle. That doesn’t mean the traditional stages don’t exist – just that they won’t be visited in a linear way and as people self-educate and self-guide their own journey on digital channels, the average touch-point with a brand can be up to 10 or 12 times before a decision is made.

So what can brands do to ensure they are giving stakeholders the right information at the right times in their buying journey?

Well, having a deep understanding of audiences, their problems and needs as individuals and as a buying committee will be key – as will assuming they will choose a chaotic approach to information gathering right from the get-go.

Accessibility will need to be a part of content planning, so brands are ready with the right content at each of those touch-points.

Customer-first content A good place to start is by thinking about what type of information your customers and potential customers need at every stage and create stage-specific content in a variety of formats so it’s accessible when and – importantly – where your buyer ends up consuming it.

Providing information in a variety of formats does require some in-depth consideration and effort initially, but in the long-run it is not only a much more cost effective way to produce content, but it will provide the means to match format to channel as part of a the distribution strategy – after all, there’s no point producing great content if no one sees it!

How does it work in practice? Let’s consider the discovery phase and the sort of content and formats that work well here, bearing in mind this phase might be revisited numerous times.

Blogs and newsletters work well and if written from an audience perspective, serve to showcase how well a brand understands their customers’ pain points. Now provide the blog in an FAQ format (or start with the FAQs and use each frequently asked question as a discussion point for a full blog). These are often the second most read sections of a website (after the home page) and importantly they also improve SEO rankings.

Providing answers At this initial stage where self-education plays a large role, formats such as video, interactive graphics, quizzes and diagnostic assessments all work really well. They also perform superbly on social and are highly shareable.

White-papers or e-books work really well for the consideration phase but can also be used in this discovery phase, as long as they are research-based pieces. These can hold in-depth content such as industry insights, which can be broken up into smaller pieces and used in multi-channel campaigns. This makes them both flexible and very cost efficient as their content can live on in different formats which work in social, website, email and even for webinars.

To find out more about how to match content and formats to your buyer journey, contact stefanie@marketerly.co.uk for an initial consultation.