I asked a content marketer the other day this question: “What’s a big, bold content marketing idea you’ve always wanted to execute but haven’t yet?”
She said that she’s really been wanting to do a benchmark report. That she is an avid consumer of that kind of content herself when she sees it. She knows the inherent value to prospects and customers. She thinks she’d be able to do it better than other variants she’s seen: more interactive, more directional, more strategic for the readers––with sales enabled better, too.
But she couldn’t get the data. And you all know how it is. Priorities shift, and big projects are assigned, and suddenly you can’t fight the good fight anymore simply due to distraction. And the big, bold content idea takes a backseat.
I loved her answer, especially because I know a lot of content marketers who wouldn’t classify “benchmark report” as a big, bold idea.
But it is.
Sure, it’s been done before. And hell, it’ll be done again. But few brands can pull off a benchmark report using their own data, and present it as a leading authority for their audience.
This type of content matters for B2B businesses. It is comparative. And most important, it is tactical.
Benchmark reports have been the best performing content campaigns I’ve worked on at the B2B companies I’ve worked at. That’s almost a decade of collective benchmark work––and the results continue to prove themselves out.
Over the years, of course, the creative and user experience has gotten better. The strategic guidance has improved. But the reason it works has stayed the same. Benchmark reports live in bull’s eye of a content trifecta:
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They are thought leading, specifically when it’s your company’s data
- They are educational & tactical, meaning they are specifically helpful to your audience
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They are emotional, in that they are comparative, and reflect someone’s need to improve or validate their efforts.
If you can pull off a benchmark report at your company, I highly encourage you to do it.
And for all of you, the same question: What’s a big, bold content marketing idea you’ve always wanted to execute but haven’t yet? Why?
