Bredin Report: Best SMB Content Formats for a Resource Center

SMBs Want Webcasts, Research Reports and Insight

What content formats work best to attract and engage SMBs when they visit your resource center? Bredin’s recent survey of 500 U.S.-based principals posed that question to SMBs who regularly visit vendor resource centers.

More than half of SMBs visit a resource center — defined as the section of a company’s site featuring tips and advice on business management, as opposed to product information — three times a year or more. Webcasts, research reports and expert insight are the most appealing formats, with preferences varying by company size.

Very small businesses (VSBs, with fewer than 20 employees) rate webcasts the highest. Formats that support task completion or decision-making, such as checklists and worksheets, rank second, while articles rank third.

The top pick for small businesses (SBs, with 20 to 99 employees) is research reports, followed by videos and peer forums or discussion boards.

Midsized businesses (MBs, with 100 to 500 employees) favor analyst reports. After that, they prefer interactive tools such as quizzes and calculators. Like SBs, MBs rate research reports highly; this format is a great way to take advantage of SMBs’ desire to learn from their peers.

SMB Content Format Preferences

While company size plays an important role, content format preferences also vary by industry, respondent age and other factors. Testing different formats on your resource center will help determine what works best for your specific audience.

Want to better understand and engage your SMB target? 
Let our experienced team design and execute a custom research project, or place a few questions in our monthly SMB Pulse, to uncover actionable insights to improve your go-to-market and product strategies. We can also develop high-value content.


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About Bredin

Bredin was founded in 1991 by America's foremost small business expert, author and syndicated columnist Alice Bredin. From its beginning, Bredin was designed to be a breed apart: 50% research consultancy, 50% creative agency, 100% focused on SMB. Based in Somerville, Mass., Bredin helps Fortune 500 companies understand, reach and retain SMB customers through timely, targeted research and award-winning marketing programs.