In a new study, 48 percent of B2B decision makers polled said B2B advertising is boring, and only 22 percent feel B2B advertising prompts them to take the next step in the purchase funnel.

In other words, current and traditional B2B advertising isn’t doing its job. In the same survey, 82 percent of decision makers said they wished B2B had the creativity associated with B2C. Eighty-one percent said they feel they would make better decisions if B2B advertising was more engaging.

The way forward with B2B advertising is clear: make it more creative and engaging for the audience.

As we’ve said before, even in B2B advertising, you’re talking to people, selling to people, not machines. Your content needs to speak to those people.

How do you engage them?

BayCreative specializes in creating engaging content for B2B clients, so we’ve offered an 8 step checklist below.

8 Step Checklist to Focus on Your B2B Audience

1. First and foremost, create content for a specific audience. That seems common sense, but so often, B2B content is created once, for all audiences, even though your audience is actually segmented. And because it’s created for all audiences, it comes across as too technical or too dumbed down, and the pain points don’t relate to the decision maker reading the content, or the messaging is simply off. Engaging content relies on knowing the specific audience you’re targeting and tapping into their hopes, fears, pain points, and situation.
   
2. Create content of value for the customer. Teach them something, or show them something they didn’t know.
   
3. Create stories that highlight your product/solution’s features and benefits, rather than list them. Case studies and videos are particularly good for this, but white papers and eBooks work well, too.
   
4. Include numbers that tell a story of why your product or service is such a valuable option for the company. That tangible evidence of value will have them wanting to know more if you’ve targeted your content correctly.
   
5. Share data. In the “2017 Content Preference Survey Report,” 76 percent of B2B buyers said that more data and research content would improve the quality of content provided by B2B vendors.
   
6. Consider tying your content to current events. People are interested in current events, so your content is more likely to engage them if it’s tied to current events.
   
7. Create a consistent, seamless brand message. The audience will become familiar and comfortable with your story and want to continue following it.
   
8. Keep it simple and easy to read. There’s no reason to show off how smart you are. You’re creating content to connect with the audience, not to inflate your own ego. Don’t write like an MBA. Write it right at the level that’s appropriate for your audience, and that’s usually going to be a lower level than you think. When you’re writing for a B2B audience, you want to be professional, but you don’t have to use overly technical language. Revise your content one more time to simplify concepts and explanations.