There’s a growing disconnect between buyers and sellers, the report reveals
B2B marketers are struggling with an overload of information, leading to an obfuscation of basic information, new research has revealed.
Reddit, in partnership with SurveyMonkey, discovered that 55% of decision-makers reported a difficulty in deciding which information sources to trust.
Other challenges they face include finding real user testimonials (48%); parsing through vendor/seller information (46%); and gathering details on specific vendors/sellers (44%).
B2B marketing decision-makers increasingly carried out their own research before ever speaking to a sales team, with more than half using search engines, and vendor websites for pricing, technical information, and product capabilities.
“Today’s B2B buyers face an abundance of information, but not necessarily clarity. As buying has shifted online and become increasingly self-directed, decision-makers must navigate a fragmented and often contradictory information landscape,” the Reddit report stated.
“Buyers repeatedly express frustration with polished messaging that obscures real value, hides limitations, or delays access to basic information until a sales conversation occurs. The result is a growing disconnect between how vendors present themselves and how buyers want to evaluate solutions.”
The research found that buyers are increasingly turning to ‘real-user testimonials’, with 37% rating them as ‘very valuable’. This is followed by video demonstrations (32%), community discussions (27%), and analyst reports (27%). The least useful content for buyers was reported as one-sheets and white papers with only 17% stating these as valuable.
Authentic insights from experienced users are consistently cited as the most useful resource for potential buyers, which can often be difficult to find on vendor websites.
As a result, buyers often turn to online platforms and forums for conversations around the realities of purchasing decisions – with a clear gap remaining between the content that vendors provide and the content buyers require to purchase with confidence.
