This episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy is a bit special. It reveals the results of our survey into B2B content problems, and it’s also peppered with insights from some stalwarts of B2B marketing. As a result, it’s a little longer than normal, but we promise it’s worth your time.
At the end of last year, we conducted our first survey of B2B marketers and content creators to uncover the Barriers to Great B2B Content. More than 105 of them took part, representing every part of the industry.
(You can see the resulting research report for yourself, here.)
The survey unearthed some surprising findings – not least that nobody said they’re proud of all their content. Clearly, there are significant roadblocks preventing people from doing their best work, so we dug into the details to see what we could learn.
Crucially, we found these barriers aren’t just an annoyance for marketers. They can also significantly restrict content performance – reducing brand awareness and stifling business results.
The survey also revealed that:
- Just 14% of respondents say that everyone in their organisation agrees on what good content looks like
- 81% of B2B marketers have to fight to publish their best work
- Stakeholder interference and changing priorities can reduce content satisfaction by more than 25%
- Only 44% agree that the best content gets the best results
In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, David and Fiona examine the survey results in more detail, and unpack the six big content obstacles experienced by at least 75% of B2B marketers.
Listen now, and you’ll also hear what four top marketers think you can do to overcome these barriers, including:
- Why Maureen Blandford at Community Brands believes there’s a healthy balance to strike between overcoming challenges and looking for a better place to work
- What Doug Kessler from Velocity Partners thinks about stakeholder management
- How Palo Alto Networks’ Mat Harper maintains the best conditions for creativity
- Data-backed insight from Intel’s Shaema Shazleen Katib on the link between customer stories and content success
What you’ll find in this episode…
03:17 – An overview of the key survey results, including David and Fiona’s top takes
05:58 – Anonymous comments about nightmare stakeholders
07:19 – Maureen Blandford on inter-department issues and challenging cultures
21:12 – Doug Kessler says stakeholder alignment is your most important job
33:49 – Shaema Shazleen Katib brings a data-backed view on which content works
47:44 – Mat Harper talks about making space for creativity in a large tech enterprise
Tell us what you think of the results (or use us for content-related counselling)
Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or send an email (better still, a short voice memo) to podcast@radix-communications.com.
How to listen
- You can download the episode here (right click and select “Save As” to download)
- Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes
- Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player
- And don’t forget you can follow us on Spotify
Credits and resources
We released this report in a free webinar. If you like, you can watch it on demand.
Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash
