There’s a widely held belief that B2B buyers are less likely to engage digitally in their research process than the average B2C buyer, but new research says otherwise. According to DemandGen’s 2022 Content Preferences Survey, the pandemic changed everything for B2B buyers. Just like everyone who had to get creative to keep business moving over the past several years, they’ve come to rely heavily on online content to stay connected and research potential purchases.

Here’s what else the research report uncovered about B2B buyers:

• 55% of buyers said they now rely more on content to research and make purchasing decisions than they did a year ago.
• A growing majority of B2B buyers (62%) said they engage with three to seven pieces of content before connecting with a salesperson.
• Just over two-thirds of the buyers polled (67%) said they had engaged with webinars over the past 12 months – a significant increase from last year’s 57%.
• Research/survey reports also ranked high at 55%, compared to 52% in 2021.

What this means for you is that B2B buyers aren’t separating the way they buy as a buyer vs. a consumer. What is different, however, is the type of content they’re valuing to inform their decision-making process. So, as a medical aesthetic supplier, is the type of content you’re cranking out (or hopefully cranking out) actually synced with the latest research and buying patterns of the practices you’re targeting? Below we outline a few of the latest findings regarding this pattern – with the stats to back them up – and how you can lean into it within your business’s own content strategy.

Do Your Homework

This is not new advice in the B2C world, but, according to that DemandGen study, it’s a big one right now with B2B buyers. In fact, the report showed that what triggers a sales call from buyers is content that’s well researched. More than half (51%) said they were looking for content that uses data and research to support its claims, while 41% said they sought research-based content.

One stat that did surprise us this year was that almost half of those surveyed (49%) said that good information wasn’t enough for just them – they wanted content that tells a strong story for the entire buying committee, including 41% who said the content should be packed with shareable stats and quick-hitting insights.

How Medical Aesthetic Suppliers Can Put into Practice

• You should take the time to understand your B2B audience as well as your B2C customers and provide them with information that’s relevant, timely, and linked to a sale. Find expert sources you trust and dig into the details – don’t rely on a quick Google search to put together content. Your prospective clients will appreciate your attention to detail, use of first-party sources, and research that’s up to date.

Present Content in Other Formats (Beyond the Blog Post)

Yes, you should be posting on your blog regularly, especially as your various blog posts are the main point of entry through search engines after your homepage. The DemandGen report revealed that B2B buyers have a variety of consumption habits, but research/survey reports topped the list at 43%, followed by case studies and webinars (both at 40%), B2B news/media publications (37%), and white papers and e-books tied at 34% each.

How Medical Aesthetic Suppliers Can Put into Practice

• Simply put, you’ll stand out from the crowd if you’re able to give the people what they want. If the idea of creating this kind of content is daunting, there are marketing firms, like Hawthorn Creative, here to assist you. Not to mention, once this content is created, we can help broaden the reach of it, not just on your website but with online ads, email marketing, and social media.

Go Mobile

B2B buyers were clear: nearly 1 in 8, or 40%, said they prefer to read content that’s easy to read on a phone or tablet. A trend toward on-the-go is also showing up in expectations for the type of mobile content – 39% said they want shorter-form content, and 41% said the content should focus on quick-hit stats and shareable insights.

How Medical Aesthetic Suppliers Can Put into Practice

• Whenever you’re designing a website, landing page, or uploading new content, think mobile first. Work with a web developer who understands responsive design and do a lot of testing on various devices to make sure that what you’re posting works on desktops, phones and tablets. If this feels daunting to you, Hawthorn Creative is home to a team of design experts who can help you make mobile content a no-brainer.

Understand B2B Pain Points

This is something we all crave – information that’s easily available, answers our questions, and eases our concerns. When B2B buyers were asked how they would like to see information organized on vendor websites, over half said by issue/pain point (52%) or topic (51%). The other answers that rounded out the list included by industry or vertical (46%), and by business role (42%). Conversely, organizing by size of organization (26%), buyer stage (20%), location, and content format (both 18%) were at the bottom of the list.

How Medical Aesthetic Suppliers Can Put into Practice

• From our experience working with a variety of medical aesthetic practices and medspas, we know the two biggest challenges they – your prospective clients – face are: 1) fierce competition (there are dozens of like companies all around them), and 2) having to stay on top of evolving industry trends and new technologies. With that information in hand, you can craft your research content plan around how to battle these challenges. They’ll begin to see you not just as a brand that’s trying to sell them more of your product, but as a partner they can trust to help them rise above the competition.

Make Trustworthiness a Top Priority

There’s a common thread that runs through all of these statistics and insights – trust. B2B buyers want their potential medspa partners to be well researched, experts in their fields, on top of the latest trends, and trustworthy. According to survey results, buyers are placing a higher emphasis on the source’s trustworthiness (41%) and seeking content from industry influencers (39%). In addition, you can increase your credibility by curbing sales messages (39%), using more data and research in your content (36%), making content easier to access (31%), and adding more insights from industry analysts and thought leaders (30%).

How Medical Aesthetic Suppliers Can Put into Practice

• One of the easiest ways to create trust is to tie an expert to the content that’s being created. For example, in the blog content we produce for AW Plastic Surgery, we always – always – interview the appropriate staff members on the topic, then quote them throughout the piece (see examples How to Make Sure You Never Look “Done” After an Elective Cosmetic Procedure, 8 Ways to Protect, Maintain & Boost Your Collagen Levels, How to Get Rid of Jowls: 4 Treatments for 4 Stages of Sagging). Yes, these are B2C examples, but the philosophy is the same: Are there folks within your company – perhaps a scientist or even the founder – you can attribute your various content topics to? Or someone to serve as a thought leader?

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