In the B2B realm of product/service marketing, how much does your company’s expertise in its related field matter to your audience? A lot!

Be an expert
Research shows that customers welcome and even seek out vendor-produced information on specific topics relating to their industry. For example, according to a new study by IDG Connect, nearly one-half of information technology (IT) professionals (47 percent) say they are always interested in reviewing vendor-produced content, whereas 53 percent tend to seek out content on an as-needed basis, when it’s relevant to a specific project.

In any industry, professionals and customers look to experts — thought leaders — to help them make sound business decisions. In fact, according to the aforementioned study, survey respondents find content provided by thought leaders as the most useful, followed by other research and survey statistics.

Provide solutions
So, what makes thought leadership so desirable to an audience? It does more than simply focus on the details of a vendor’s product or service features. Rather, good thought leadership shows that a vendor understands the big-picture issues and challenges faced by professionals in the industry.

It then demonstrates how the vendor’s offerings can help resolve such issues, thus benefiting the businesses and the lives of those it serves. Thought leadership goes beyond marketing a product or service … it identifies an industry-specific problem and presents a solution. That’s content marketing at work!