5EngagementQuestions — Answereda Pardot Research Report

It’s the question at the heart of almost everything a

marketer does: How do I increase engagement with my

content and my brand?

Providing valuable and authentic content is crucial

to establishing your brand as credible and worthy of

engagement. But if you’re creating large amounts of

valuable content without ensuring that your audience

is engaging with it, you could be wasting a significant

amount of time. You need a thorough understanding of

all the variables that contribute to brand engagement:

what drives consumers to engage with a brand, to identify

them as a credible source of information, and ultimately, to

share that brand’s content with their own following?

“The time has come to stop treating

proprietary audiences as afterthoughts and

instead embrace them for what they are — a

source of critical business energy in need of

investment, leadership, and support.”

- Jeffrey Rohrs, Audience

Mathew SweezeyMarketing EvangelistPardot, a salesforce.com Company@msweezey

How do I increase

engagement with my

content and my brand?

Research by

reputable content

3x

employees

In an effort to answer these questions, we surveyed over 400 people on

issues of brand engagement: the ways in which they engage, why, and

how these engagements influence their decision to purchase. And for our

respondents that indicated that they are highly likely to share content with

their own following, we delved even deeper and attempted to answer the

following five questions:

When it came to making a purchasing decision, survey respondents

indicated that trust in a brand’s content was 3x more important to

them than trust in a brand’s employees.

1. What establishes my content as trustworthy?

2. Does the type of content matter?

3. Which channels do my audience consider to be

the most credible?

4. How do I accumulate subscribers, fans, and

followers for my brand?

5. How do I retain subscribers, fans, and followers?

Of those who are likely to share content, the following criteria

impact their perception of the content’s value:

On ghostwriting:

Honesty: 83% said if they found out content wasn’t written

by the company, it would negatively affect their level of trust

with the brand in a significant way.

On publishing primary research:

Fresh Data: 66% feel content containing primary research is

more credible than content that shares secondary research.

On overall brand credibility:

Brand Ethics: 86% said “trust in the brand’s ethics and

business practices” was more important than their trust in

the brand’s people or solution.

“Trust has never been more important

as a corporate asset, and it needs to

be managed for people to believe the

information you’re putting out.”

- Amy Treanor, EVP Edelman Square, the

division of the firm responsible for the

Trust Barometer

83%

say ghost

written

content

would ne

gatively

affect

brand image

What establishes my content as trustworthy?1

82% of those surveyed indicated that the

type of content affects their perception of

how credible the information is. What types

of content were perceived as most credible?

Survey respondents found the content to the

right to be “very helpful” or “extremely helpful”

in their search for credible content.

44% Referrals from industry thought leaders

34% White papers

31% Videos

30% Email

29% Articles on third-party sites

23% Podcasts

22% Blog posts on company website

18% Social media

Content from white papers and referrals

from industry thought leaders are the

two content types that are perceived

to be most authentic. Social media and

blog posts have the lowest credibility.

Does the type of content matter?2

Referrals and conferences/networking events are considered to be the most credible ways to find

authentic information. Online search and banner advertising are among the least credible methods.

39% Company websites

26% Online search

Banner advertising43% Thought leaders

54% Referrals

52% Conferences and networking

5%

Which channels do my audience consider to be the most credible?3

Increasing the reach of your content starts with

accumulating a following for your brand.

Out of all those surveyed, the criteria to

the right was found to be “very influential”

or “extremely influential” when deciding to

become a follower of a brand:

59% Authenticity ofcontent

57% Helpfulness ofcontent

28% Ease of signing up for online communication

43% Peer recommendations or referrals

35% Brand’s perceived position

in the marketplace

15% A personal invitation to become a fan, subscriber or follower

How do I accumulate a following for my brand?4

77%say “helpfulness of content” is the second-most influential factor.

80%

say “auth

enticity of

content”

is the most in

fluential fa

ctor

in followin

g a brand.

80% of survey respondents say that “the authenticity of

content” is the most influential factor in their decision to

become a follower of a brand. 77% say “the helpfulness

of content” is the second most influential factor. These

factors weigh more heavily than peer recommendations

and the brand’s position in the marketplace.

How do I accumulate a following for my brand? (continued)4

67% of respondents consider content authenticity when considering brand solutions..

Authentic contentis 3x more important

than a brand’s market position.

Authentic content

is 2x more impactful

than trust in

employees.

When Done Correctly:

When deciding to stay with a brand, customers indicated that

authentic content is 2x more impactful than the trust they have

in the brand’s employees. It’s also 3x more important to them

than the brand’s “perceived position in the marketplace.”

67% of those surveyed indicated that they are more likely to

consider buying a brand’s solution if the content they received

after becoming a follower was both authentic and helpful.

Your followers are valuable. In fact, 80% of those surveyed

indicated that they are more likely to evaluate solutions

from the brands they follow on social channels. When it

comes to retaining these followers, survey results reveal

that content might be your best friend (or your worst

enemy, if not done correctly).

How do I retain fans, subscribers, and followers?5

97%indicated the experience

either slightly or seriously affected brand trust.

63%

have engaged with

disappointing brand c

ontent.

23% said they would never read that brand’s content again after the experience.

When Done Incorrectly:

63% of all respondents have engaged with

content at some point in their career only to be

disappointed by what they received. Of those who

have been disappointed, 97% indicated that the

experience either slightly or seriously affected their

trust of the brand.

In addition, 23% of those who were disappointed

indicated they would never read content from that

company again, and 41% said they are only slightly

likely to ever read content from that company again.

How do I retain fans, subscribers, and followers? (continued)5

Quality over quantity

Focus on customer

retention

The type of content

matters

Quality over quantity.

Focus on customer retention. The type of content matters.

If you focus too much on producing content, but not

producing quality content that’s both authentic and

helpful, you risk alienating your followers. Remember:

over half of your audience will likely never read your

content again after only one bad experience.

This study has shown that customers are more likely

to evaluate solutions of brands that they follow, and

content plays an important role in retaining your

existing customers.

Keep in mind that your audience views white

papers and referrals as more credible sources of

information than blog posts and social media, so be

careful where you invest your time and resources.

While this study points to the

importance of content as a tool

for customer engagement, it

also teaches us a few additional

best practices:

What can I take away

from this research?

Marketing Automation for the Customer Company

Smarter Marketing. Better Results.www.pardot.com

Your customers are smarter, more capable, and better-informed than ever before.

This new breed of consumer demands a better breed of marketing, and the Pardot

platform has the capabilities to get you there.