What does content need from companies so that it is consumed with pleasure and perhaps even shared with other interested parties? A new study sheds light on this. One thing first: the writing counts. More than anything else.
The content intolerance of consumers is increasing - and makes good, professionally prepared content a success-critical factor in corporate development. So unmistakable are the Results of a studymarket researchers in Germany have now surveyed on behalf of the software company Adobe.
The market researchers asked more than 1,000 consumers how important the content of companies is for their consumption decisions and how this content has to be designed in order to be used and perhaps even strengthen trust in the brand. One finding: every second person has already bought online because they liked the brand's content; conversely, around two-thirds of the respondents have already refrained from buying because bad content also destroyed the product promise.
Readers of the study could now calmly object that in this case it was about the B2C market and purchase decisions for smartphones, washing machines or bicycles, about everyday things; but not about B2B investment decisions. This should not be relied upon: the expectations a user has of content are naturally shaped by his private preferences as well as by the standards he has in his professional environment. The pattern of expectations is congruent.
How similar the demands in the B2B market are compared to the B2C environment is also shown by a another study: the proportion of B2B buyers who define company content as the basis of their purchasing decision, has risen sharply in recent years. Particularly high in favour are therefore also Case Studies and White Papers among B2B decision-makers. One explanation for this: B2B decision-makers complain about scarce time resources. They therefore do not want to spend their time budget on content that does not support them in making necessary investment decisions.
According to Adobe, one thing in particular builds trust: that content is "informative and not too promotional" - important for online advertorials, for example. 45 per cent of respondents said this was an important requirement for them to share such content. 34 per cent expected "authenticity" so that they would share it with others.
Consumers primarily believe content they receive from family or friends - followed by content they see on online news portals.
The number one attention killer, however, is content that is "poorly written" according to users, closely followed by content that is poorly designed visually. Somewhat surprisingly, only 17 per cent of those surveyed found the lack of images annoying. Content is what counts.
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