There are too many dead-end alleys that buyers wander down when they pursue digital content. In fact, at IDG Connect we find that over 25 percent lead nowhere. They fail to offer in-asset linkage to relevant content. Instead, buyers usually must back up to a navigation pane, review a non-descript list and play something akin to “go fish” to learn more.Continue reading

A column about dynamic design and content optimization.  According to our research at IDG Connect, B2B buyers complain the relevance of marketing content—defined by how well it supports their purchase decision-making process—has declined by 31% over the past five years. Marketers can’t fix this problem by churning out more content or wishing on SEO magic—though they continue to try. Neither will fix a content relevance issue that buyers say lengthen the decision-making process by almost 20 percent. The answer is personalization. Personalization means capturing profile information about your buyers’ interests, needs, behaviors and learning styles—and applying it to something other than the pursuit of leads. Personalization goes way beyond demographics—those “iffy” statistics you pull from registration forms (which buyers admit they fill out inaccurately up to 30% of the time according to IDG Connect’s buyers’ content preference research). You also won’t achieve it by asking odorous questions...

A column about dynamic design and content optimization.  Hang on tight. We’re going to reframe many of your digital content beliefs and approaches through this column based on 15 years of studying how buyers choose and buy using the web. We’ll start by dismantling the traditional 4Ps of marketing. That’s right. Product, Price, Place and Promotion simply fall far short in the digital age With more than 10,000 buyer surveys and ample best practices under our belt, the new 4Ps become clear to leverage into a better return on content. They are Profile, Personalization, Path and Purpose. First up is Profile. The days of dumb assets that cannot identify whom they intend to help are history. Going forward, smarter assets will shout their angle and focus for all to see. Ready? If you look at the average piece of content on the web, it does little to help the user decide if it is relevant other than a catchy title or graphic. Content publishers expect their readers to make it through the opening...