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And we’re back! If you live in the MENA region, you probably know why you didn’t receive the last issue. If not, well, we all just got back from a long vacation and, as a result, things are a little bit hectic in offices around the region right now.
We are starting this issue with a little bit of social media. We all know that Meta is pushing for videos to compete with TikTok, and according to Sprout Social 2022 study of social media trendsit’s working, preference for short-term videos climbed to 66% vs 50% in 2020.
Be careful though, not all videos are the same. Only 24% of subjects (US-based) consider longer videos, over 1 minute, to be the most engaging.
When consumers are scrolling through their feeds they find short-form videos to be 2.5x more engaging than longer videos.
Can you guess what’s the least popular content? Sharing links on social media, only 11% of subjects picked links shared on social media as engaging content.
What if you work in news, research, or simply want to promote your blog posts? Think images, which ranked second at 61%, with a brief encouraging viewers to read more.
The good news is that 86% of subjects who follow a brand on social media are more likely to choose that brand over a competitor.
Are today’s B2B clients more informed?
The short answer is yes, but they have also become much more stressed and feel pressured when making a buying decision.
Previous research by the Content Marketing Institute showed that 47% of B2B buyers consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson and 90% of buyers won’t take a cold call, today the research entity believes things are changing.
The institute’s 2022 report shows that content marketing generates better results when focused on easing the buying process, not informing the client of why to make the buying decision in the first place.
The report is filled with excellent data and you should definitely explore their findings in detail. But for now here are some interesting finds:
- 71% of commercial buyers begin their research with generic Google searches
- 68% of B2B customers prefer to research independently online
- 56% of organizations report that they receive the most value from content marketing when it comes to generating awareness, with an average of 46% of all content creation directed at this stage
- Podcasts’ effectiveness has climbed to 77% as opposed to 60% in 2020
- Case studies are of most value during the middle of the consideration phase of the buyer journey
Shifting to Netline’s 2022 report about content consumption, we find that demand for B2B content increased by 9% year-on-year, while demand for all content types claimed by 33% between 2019 and 2022.
According to the report, content consumption is directly related to corporate investment decisions, where 31% of B2B buyers expect to make purchases within the 12 months following initial exposure to relevant content.
One of the report’s interesting finds is professionals registering for a webinar are 29% more likely to make a purchasing decision in the following six months.
What to read?