{"id":44516,"date":"2021-12-20T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/?p=44516"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:01:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T19:01:52","slug":"using-premium-content-to-attract-b2b-buyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/blog\/story\/using-premium-content-to-attract-b2b-buyers","title":{"rendered":"Using Premium Content to Attract B2B Buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

High quality premium content is arguably one of the most important elements of a successful content marketing strategy. It perfectly aligns with B2B buyers’ <\/span>behavior patterns<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, buyers today are much more likely to research potential solutions to a business problem online than rely on a sales person to guide them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Savvy professional services firms and other expertise driven sales teams develop content specifically to educate potential clients and showcase their expertise and areas of focus. In short, it helps establish you as a thought leader in your space.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite all these advantages, premium content is often misunderstood as a marketing concept and poorly applied in practice. Let\u2019s see if we can fix some of those shortfalls.<\/span><\/p>\n

But first\u2026 What exactly do we mean by the term premium content?<\/span><\/p>\n

Premium Content Defined<\/h2>\n

Premium Content<\/b> is any type of content that is highly valued by the target audience. It is typically longer, more in depth, and not widely available. Access to premium content is typically restricted and often requires either registration or payment. Premium content is commonly used in <\/span>content marketing<\/span><\/a> campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The demand for high-quality content is strong. Download Hinge’s Research as Content Guide and learn how to rise above the noise with research-based content.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Uses of Premium Content<\/h2>\n

There are two broad uses of premium content. The first is in content marketing or <\/span>thought leadership marketing<\/span><\/a> programs. In this context, premium content is widely offered to a target audience, often through advertising, social media, or blog posts. To access a premium piece, an individual is typically required to fill out a registration form and provide an email address or other contact information. Since people are often reluctant to share their contact information, the content must be compelling enough to overcome this objection.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, not all content marketing programs require a form fill to access their premium offerings. Instead, they use open-access strategies to lower the barriers to engagement and rely on the content to be powerful enough to convince prospects to reach out to the firm with their business needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second use of premium content is as a paid product offering. This business strategy is often referred to as a <\/span>\u201cfreemium\u201d approach<\/span><\/a>. It starts by offering an abbreviated free version of the piece, such as an excerpt or summary. Advertisements in the free version encourage the purchase of the full-length or full-featured premium version.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, we will be focusing primarily on the use of premium content in the context of thought leadership and content marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples of Premium Content<\/b><\/h2>\n

Research\/Survey Reports\u00a0 <\/b><\/h4>\n

Research and survey reports are widely used in both content marketing and premium product applications. For example, an executive summary of the research can be offered as a free download, either behind a registration form (to build your marketing list), or as open access content to maximize downloads. Within the executive summary, the full research study can be offered for sale as a premium content product.<\/span><\/p>\n

Figure 1 shows the <\/span>Executive Summary<\/span><\/a> of Hinge\u2019s <\/span>Inside the Buyer\u2019s Brain<\/span><\/i> research report. This Executive Summary is offered for free in our resource library, while the full <\/span>industry-specific research reports<\/span> are available for purchase.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a>

Figure 1: Example of Research Report Cover<\/p><\/div>\n

White Papers\/Executive Guides\u00a0 <\/b><\/h4>\n

Guides and white papers are primarily used in content marketing\/thought leadership applications. For example, you might offer an executive guide that describes an approach to solving some of your target clients\u2019 common challenges. In Figure 2 below is an example of the Hinge Research Institute\u2019s <\/span>Research as Content Guide<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a>

Figure 2: Example of Executive Guide<\/p><\/div>\n

E-books\/Books<\/b><\/h4>\n

Books are one of the most common\u2014and highly valued\u2014types of premium content products. With modern digital technology, it is easy to offer either a sample chapter to encourage a sale or a full length digital version of the book to accelerate thought leadership goals. Figure 3 below showcases our book, <\/span>The Visible Expert<\/span><\/a>, which is promoted across our website as a piece of premium content.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a>

Figure 3: Hinge’s Visible Expert Book<\/p><\/div>\n

Live and On-Demand Webinars<\/b><\/h4>\n

Used primarily for content marketing and thought leadership applications, webinars are a popular digital alternative to seminars and other live events. They are well suited for audiences who enjoy audio\/visual presentations. Pre-recorded versions are also commonly available on-demand, either behind a registration page<\/a> or open access. Figure 4 below shows the cover slide for one of Hinge\u2019s on-demand webinars..<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a>

Figure 4: Example of a Free Webinar<\/p><\/div>\n

Industry Newsletters<\/b><\/h4>\n

Many firms use industry-focused newsletters to demonstrate their thought leadership content and spotlight key industry specializations and areas of expertise. For newsletter publishers, the picture is more complex with some using an advertising supported free content model and others employing either a freemium or paid subscription model. Figure 6 features an email from Hinge\u2019s partner <\/span>Deltek<\/span><\/a> in which they feature content for their consulting audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Industry<\/a>

Figure 5: Deltek’s Industry Newsletter to the Consulting Industry<\/p><\/div>\n

9 Benefits of Premium Content<\/b><\/h2>\n
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  1. Demonstrates your expertise. <\/b>Relevant expertise is typically the core reason that a client chooses a <\/span>professional services provider<\/span><\/a>. Unfortunately, expertise is invisible and intangible. How can you demonstrate to a prospect that your firm possesses the right expertise to address your client\u2019s challenge? Premium content is one answer. And it is the foundation of <\/span>thought leadership marketing<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Deepens engagement with prospective clients. <\/b>Since premium content is almost by definition both in-depth and educational, it is designed to deepen a prospects\u2019 knowledge of your firm, its people, and their expertise. In some formats (such as webinars), there are also opportunities for questions and further interaction.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Increases your visibility. <\/b>Premium content doesn\u2019t just demonstrate your expertise; it can increase your visibility too. As more people experience your premium content, they not only learn that your firm exists (a good start), but they also discover that you might be able to help them. Often, they will share the piece with a colleague or friend.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Attracts new prospects and referrals. <\/b>Premium content is valuable and helpful to people, so it is natural that it will be shared with friends and colleagues. This sharing is the engine that drives additional referrals and new prospects as your visibility and perceived expertise grow.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Builds your list. <\/b>When premium content is placed behind a registration form, it will grow your email list. The secret to making this happen is two-fold. First, the content title and description must be enticing enough to motivate the right people to fill out the form. Second, the premium content must be promoted in a way that makes it visible to the target audience.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Provides accessibility 24\/7 in digital formats. <\/b>As remote work flourishes, and busy professionals look for more ways to save time, digital content formats become more popular and practical. Most premium content can be delivered in a digital format, making it available anytime and anywhere. This is a big advantage for both marketers and buyers as it makes their job easier and gives them more control.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Fuels your marketing automation engine. <\/b>You must think of your marketing automation platform as a high performance engine. Content is the fuel. However; too many marketers make the mistake of using low-grade content to fuel their marketing automation engines. That is why these marketers often see sluggish or stalled campaign performance. High performance engines need premium fuel. It is the same with marketing automation. Marketing automation performance is driven by the quality of the content not the quantity of the content. Invest the time and effort in premium content to draw the clicks, educate prospects, and deepen the engagement.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Makes digital marketing effective and measurable.<\/b> Premium content is content that your audiences will value and trust more and will fill out a form and give up some information to get. You can benefit from this higher level of value and trust by linking to landing pages with contact forms when you promote premium content in email campaigns, paid and digital ads, social media postings, webinars, and more. With those filled contact forms, you can measure the effectiveness of various campaigns and channels beyond clicks, opens, and likes. You can see how many of those filled online contact forms turn into meetings, sales opportunities, and eventually revenue.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Generates higher quality business opportunities. <\/b>Perhaps the most important benefit is the role premium content can play in generating higher quality business opportunities. When you consider the other benefits, it is easy to see that a new business prospect that has consumed multiple pieces of your premium content is much better educated about what you do and how you think. In other words, they are self-selected. They know what you do and they like it. In our experience, these opportunities are the easiest to close and the most likely to be great clients.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Most Valuable Types of Premium Content<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

    All premium content is not created equal. Some types of content are simply seen as more valuable and useful to potential clients. But which types?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    To answer this question, we turn to a survey of content preferences conducted by <\/span>Demand Gen Report<\/span><\/a>. This survey of B2B buyers looked at two important variables. First, what type of content is most valuable for researching purchases? Second, what type of content is most likely to be shared with colleagues and the buying committee?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Taking both criteria into consideration, five types of content emerge as the most valuable to buyers.<\/span><\/p>\n

    1. Research\/Survey Reports<\/b><\/h4>\n

    Research tops the list as the most valuable type of premium content. It is both <\/span>the most valuable for researching business purchases<\/span><\/i> and<\/span> the most likely to be shared with colleagues and buying committees<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    An established research organization, such as the <\/span>Hinge Research Institute<\/span><\/a>, can help you fully leverage several key benefits of customized research. First, it is original and not available elsewhere. This is a big advantage in today\u2019s crowded content marketing space where everyone is indistinguishable. Second, it has inherent credibility because it is based on data, rather than opinion. Third, it conveys subject matter expertise and focus, which is highly valued by potential clients. And finally, it builds trust in ways that product sheets, white papers, and guides simply can\u2019t. Customized research is the \u201cgreat equalizer\u201d that tears down the walls of distrust and sets you up to build stronger engagement faster.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    B2B Content Licensing – Secret to Generating More Leads and Visibility<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    An important tip: Not all research firms are the same. Look for one that will actually help you promote and explain the findings to your audience. For instance, look for a firm that will help you market and present a webinar about your new research study and its key findings. This is one of the fastest ways to gain more visibility and leads. You can leverage the reputation and following of the research firm to drive more webinar attendance. Having a senior research analyst present the bulk of your webinar will give your firm a higher level of credibility and subject matter expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n\"Click<\/a>