August 1, 2013 — According to American Business Media’s “Value of B-to-B” report, B2B information seekers continue to rely on print as a source for industry related content and publishers report that print remains a key source of revenue, nearly a third say they expect to cut their print ad budgets in the next 12 months.
Key findings from the report, which aims to quantifying the role of the B2B information and media industry in the buyer‐seller relationship:
- Print magazines and websites are the top B2B media for reaching decision makers with industry related content:
Q: How often do you use the following information sources for industry-related content?
Print – 96%
Websites – 96%
Manufacturer product info – 93%
E-newsletters – 92%
Trade Shows – 80%
Print newsletters – 76%
Digital replicas of print newsletters – 69%
Mobile optimized web sites – 56%
Social media – 54%
Mobile apps – 51%
- B2B users are not making either/or decisions in their use of media. Three-quarters (74%) of respondents say they rely on both digital and traditional media to learn tips/best practices and to gain valuable information they can use in their work.
- Nearly 7 out of 10 (68%) say they spend more time with industry-related print publications than with mainstream business or consumer print publications.
Websites (73%), e-newsletters (67%), and print magazines (45%) are the most common B2B content sources accessed on a weekly basis.
- Websites (65%), manufacturer product info (62%), and print magazines (48%) are the top 3 resources for decision-makers researching work-related purchases.
- Nearly all (95%) of B2B media users think that websites will remain important to their jobs, or grow in relevance, over the next five years. The majority (61%) thinks that print magazines will stay constant or grow in importance over the next five years.
- Compared to other information sources, B2B publishers say print advertising generates the largest share of revenue.
- While publishers report that print remains a key source of revenue, 32% say they expect to cut their print ad budgets.
- Search engine, mobile, and e-newsletter ads are among the budget areas B2B marketers expect to increase in the next 12 months (45%, 43%, 41% increases respectively).
As stated by ABM “these data points reveal a disconnect between marketers and end-users: marketers are moving away from print media, but our research suggests readers are not, at least not at the pace advertising is leaving print.”
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