Content marketing is broken. B2B buyers (83%) are drowning in too much content. And only 9% trust vendor content, like white papers, when they do read it.
So what is working? User-generated content (UGC) – unbridled, raw, authentic content created by customers, for (future) customers. With B2B buyers scouring social networks, online reviews and third-party sources for authentic content to inform their purchasing decisions, marketers need to infuse a trustworthy voice every step of the way.
In Inspiring Customers To Create Content For You: A Marketer’s Guide, successful marketers explain in their own words how they:
- Engage customers to improve their content ideas and strategy
- Save time and resources by getting customers to create content
- Increase the reach of their content through their customer’s social networks
- Inspire customers to create valuable UGC on third-party websites
“It’s crucial we consult our advocates before we start creating content…Without our advocates’ help, we’d be missing half of the content that we currently create.”– Taylor Moore, Content Marketing Manager at TouchBistro
“When our customers say, ‘I’ve used this product and I saved X amount of money or time,’ it lends a lot more credibility to our brand. This is why advocate-authored content is critical to reach buyers today.”– Chris Peltz, Business Operations Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software
“You can’t control a buyer’s journey any more than you can control the weather. That’s why we rely on UGC to drive positive word of mouth for our brand—especially where it isn’t appropriate for us to step in and do it.”– Davin Wilfrid, Senior Marketing Manager at QuickBase, Inc.
