Survey: Buyer Personas Critical to Quality B2B Content Creation

As B2B marketers look to better understand their customers, research shows that understanding the buyer’s journey is giving them leverage. A new survey from Akoonu has found that 91 percent of respondents who have visualized buyer personas and created buyer journey maps believe they have an in-depth view of their customers.

Just 50 percent who did not create buyer personas and buyer journey maps said that they had a firm grasp on their target audience.

“For B2B marketers to rise above the noise and effectively connect with their buyers, they must have a truly in-depth understanding of their audiences,” said Robert Rose, chief strategy officer at the Content Marketing Institute. “When done the right way, personas and journey maps arm marketers with these rich audience insights, so they can create targeted, buyer-centric experiences at strategic points along that journey.”

About 90 percent of B2B marketers believe understanding their buyer audience is critical to creating engaging content.

Nearly half of B2B marketers (48 percent) state that they build buyer’s journey maps to get a deeper understanding of their target audience’s purchasing process. About 47 percent said they conduct interviews, and the same amount said they interview the sales team to gain further insight.

Considering the Full Buyer’s Journey

Previous research shows that marketers have been investing more money in understanding the buyer’s journey. A study published by the CMO Club and IBM earlier in 2015 found that marketers now spread their budget more evenly across the customer experience.

The results found that they put 21 percent toward the buy stage, while 20 percent goes into the discovery stage. Learn (16 percent), try (16 percent), advocate (14 percent) and use (13 percent) are the other stages garnering marketing dollars.