Many marketers offer educational resources to acquire and retain SMBs. But how well do they really work?
Bredin Business Information surveyed 270 SMBs on their perceptions of educational resources, and surveyed major marketers on their performance.
Highlights:
- Educational content drives traffic. 45% of SMBs report using the Internet frequently or very often to find educational content.
- Articles still work best. 59% rated articles a useful or very useful format. Interactive tools such as quizzes and calculators were next at 37%. Web 2.0 formats – forums podcasts, webcasts and blogs – were well behind.
- SMBs look to you first. 54% of respondents visit vendor sites frequently or very often for educational information, compared to 37% for media sites, 33% for trade associations and 30% for government and non-profit sites.
- Content boosts your brand. 50% of respondents agree, or agree strongly, with the statement “I am more likely to think favorably of a vendor whose site has educational content.” 46% are more likely to explore your site, 42% are more likely to visit your site, and 41% are more likely to buy from you if your site has educational content.
- Marketers want to be trusted advisors. Most marketers reported that as their chief objective in providing educational content (59% ranked it their #1 or #2 goal), followed by enhancing customer retention and loyalty (56%) and acquiring new customers (53%).
- …and it’s working. 74% of respondents rated educational resources effective or very effective at achieving their goal of becoming a trusted advisor. However 46% agreed educational content meets their retention and loyalty goals, and only 20% agreed that educational content has helped them meet their acquisition goals.
