Study shows B2B Buyers Overwhelmed with More Sales & Marketing Material than Prior to Pandemic

• 60% are putting purchasing decisions on hold due to shifting business priorities and budget restrictions.
• Three quarters (74%) believe marketers contact them too often and two thirds (64%) think they do not approach them with the right information at the right time. 
• However, 80% of B2B buyers engage with vendors when they are ready to buy and 88% will consider a vendor if they have a positive impression before beginning their research.
• durhamlane and Cyance partner to unveil changing B2B buying behaviours and key learnings for marketers

B2B buyers are consuming more marketing material than ever during the pandemic but most are still delaying their purchasing decisions. More than half (56%) are engaging with an increased volume of sales and marketing content, but 60% are putting decisions on hold due to increased budget restrictions and shifting business priorities.

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This is according to new research from business development specialists, durhamlane and Cyance, the leading provider of global, third-party intent data, who have partnered on a new report launched today. The B2B Buyer Insights Report 2021 – (insert link) explores changing attitudes and behaviors amongst B2B buyers and what these new trends mean for B2B marketers moving forward.

Whilst the findings demonstrate a challenging environment for B2B marketers, it also highlights that there are opportunities for those that engage with buyers in the right way.

For example, with more people working remotely, buyers have noticed a significant decrease in sales calls, but have noticed an increase in all forms of digital marketing, in particular a staggering 92% increase in direct emails, followed by:

• 64% increase in newsletters

• 57% increase in social ads

• 53% increase in banner ads

• 63% increase in chat bots

• 64% increase in direct messages on social media

The findings show that even when the decision making unit is in an active buying journey, they’re overwhelmed with information that lacks context, relevance and timing – almost three quarters (74%) believe marketers contact them too often and two thirds (64%) think that they do not approach at the right time.

That being said, 80% of B2B buyers report that they are still happy to engage with vendors when they are ready to buy and 88% will consider a vendor if they have a positive impression before beginning their research.

With this in mind, durhamlane and Cyance asked B2B buyers what they want from a vendor when it comes to creating meaningful engagements:

• Understanding my challenges (71%) and educating me on how to overcome them (69%)

• Listening more than talking (40%), asking the right questions (39%) and providing resources and information tailored to the current stage of my buying journey (53%)

• Sales calls (after meaningfully engaging with the company) are the most likely outreach to get a response as mentioned by almost three quarters of respondents (70%).

• Although almost half (46%) rely more on word of mouth, the preferred marketing content is case studies and customer stories (70%) followed by blog posts, articles and videos (51%).

This indicates there is a big opportunity for B2B sales & marketers that have the ability to execute timely outreach with relevant, useful information that outlines how prospective buyers can overcome their challenges.

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With this in mind, it’s pivotal for marketers to have the right tools in place to accurately understand what their prospects are researching, consuming and sharing.

This will help B2B marketers to understand their business challenges and design helpful content that provides actionable insights to resolving their current issues, creating that all important ‘positive impression’ before they begin the research phase of their buying journey.

Lee Durham, Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer at durhamlane commented on the report: “The purpose of this report was to evaluate how the B2B buying process has changed and as a result, educate marketers that they may need to reevaluate their marketing strategy. There are some useful insights in here and whilst it’s a more challenging market, there are still plenty of opportunities for business development, if it’s done right”.

Steve Russell, Executive VP – Alliances and Partnerships at Cyance added: “The responses from B2B buyers clearly show that vendors are over communicating with their target audiences, using content that is not aligned to their needs. It’s more important than ever to target the right accounts with the right messages at the right time, showing how you help solve their problems. Leveraging technology providing accurate & localised intent data signals is a way to achieve this.”

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