What do folks need?
What do folks do?
Regardless of literal yottabytes of information continuously flying round us, many entrepreneurs really feel they don’t actually perceive what their goal audiences need or do.
Supply: tes.com
And that’s troubling.
So how can we resolve this?
Merely, to establish what our audiences needs, we should perceive what they’re already doing.
Enter NetLine’s ninth annual State of B2B Content material Consumption and Demand Report—an in-depth, first-party evaluation of how professionals work together with content material and what their actions reveal about intent.
Introducing NetLine’s 2025 State of B2B Content material Consumption and Demand Report
“The extra issues change, the extra they keep the identical.” – Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
In 2024, 7.9 million first-party registrations revealed that a lot of the identical stays true in B2B.
[ Access the 2025 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report.]
Sure, purchaser behaviors are shifting, AI is reshaping our skilled lives, and B2B professionals require extra from their content material than ever.
Nonetheless, 2024’s retrospective appears an terrible lot like 2023.
- Content material demand grew 26.9% 12 months over 12 months—a testomony to the rising urge for food for gated content material and the treasure trove of intent indicators it unlocks.
- There’s a Catch 22. The time it takes to devour content material has widened.
- That is known as The Consumption Hole, and it has grown 23.3% during the last 12 months.
- That is known as The Consumption Hole, and it has grown 23.3% during the last 12 months.
- Wish to know who’s most probably to make a purchase order determination within the subsequent 12 months? Produce a Playbook.
- In comparison with different codecs, customers registering for this content material are 115.1% extra prone to make a purchase order right now.
- In comparison with different codecs, customers registering for this content material are 115.1% extra prone to make a purchase order right now.
- eBooks proceed to be a very dominant format power throughout all Job Ranges, Industries, and Roles.
However simply because what we’ve found is analogous, it doesn’t imply the takeaways are the identical.
What we found supplies a roadmap for thriving in at this time’s intent-driven ecosystem.
5 Recreation-Altering Insights from the 2025 State of B2B Content material Consumption and Demand Report
Beneath, we’ll discover 5 key findings that may redefine how you concentrate on content material advertising in 2025.
1. Timing is…
The whole lot.
Supply: Stephen Covey
We started by asking what folks need.
As soon as we work our approach by way of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Wants, what folks crave is time.
Cash, theoretically, is infinite. Time is finite.
In 2024, the Consumption Hole—the delay between content material registration and consumption—reached 38.5 hours, widening by 7.3 hours 12 months over 12 months.
So, whereas content material consumption charges have by no means been larger, the pace at which content material is consumed has by no means been slower.
This metric displays greater than hesitation; it reveals the competing priorities and overload that at this time’s consumers face.
The underside line? When you start your outreach, issues.
2. The Tortoise and the Hare
So what can we do with this info round timing?
Many advertising groups nonetheless run follow-up sequences as if nothing has modified.
And it’s costing you cash.
Right here’s an instance:
Your advertising automation fires off a follow-up electronic mail inside minutes of a lead hitting your CRM. Your SDR calls inside the hour.
However your prospect? They haven’t even opened your content material but.
From their perspective, they haven’t began the dialog. So when your electronic mail lands—or your gross sales rep dials—it feels off.
The timing isn’t simply flawed; it’s disruptive.
Actions like this lead to:
- Ignored emails
- Unsubscribes
- Decrease conversion charges
Quick follow-ups used to work. (Nonetheless, in the event that they’ve particularly requested for contact, don’t wait!)
However at this time, relevance with out readiness simply creates friction.
Advertising Aikido
What’s apparent is that our nurturing methods should adapt.
As an alternative of worrying concerning the lag in consumption, we ought to be benefiting from this conduct. Present well timed summaries and follow-ups that respect and embrace the slowdown.
Offering these instruments to your gross sales colleagues shall be extraordinarily helpful and, primarily based on common B2B consumer conduct, will doubtless be appreciated by the recipient.
For sellers, apply each warning and context to any outreach.
Earlier than any outreach to your new registrant, evaluation the content material they’ve simply requested and share no matter quick-hitting synopses and actionable takeaways you have got obtainable for his or her chosen asset.
This lets you accomplish the next:
- Say whats up with none aggressive demo/gross sales request
- Set up a reference to a registrant
- Add extra worth
We should additionally acknowledge the position Format Intent performs for every registration.
For instance, a consumer registering for a Playbook ought to be engaged extra swiftly than a consumer requesting an eBook.
Why? As a result of for each Playbook request in 2024, there have been 50 eBook requests—making the registration of a Playbook an exceptionally uncommon alternative (and infrequently with important buy intent).
[More on this in “The eBook Empire”.]
3. C-Degree Engagement Surges by 26.5%
For the primary time since 2022, C-Degree professionals ranked because the second-largest viewers, accounting for 12.7% of whole registrations.
For advertising departments, this progress ought to be celebrated. C-Degree attain is one thing most campaigns hope to realize. Not solely are these professionals wanting to devour, however they’re additionally seeking to devour the identical codecs as their group members.
C-Degree professionals need entry to easy-to-consume content material. (There’s a motive why Govt Summaries exist.) Their time is proscribed and, due to this fact, should squeeze essentially the most from any time funding.
So whereas we wish to interact the C-Degree due to their monetary sway, keep in mind that they’re folks with the identical period of time of their day as anybody else.
4. AI Content material Demand Grew 186%
Synthetic intelligence is now a cornerstone {of professional} curiosity and manufacturing.
In 2024, demand for AI-related content material skyrocketed by 186%, led by curiosity in subjects like generative AI (up 493%) and regulatory issues amongst authorized professionals.
Particularly, this enhance in total demand indicators a important alternative to craft AI-focused narratives tailor-made to various industries—from biotech’s fascination with NLP to finance’s embrace of automation.
Supply: NetLine’s 2025 State of B2B Content material Consumption and Demand Report for Entrepreneurs, P. 14
“Generative AI” content material registrations grew 5x year-over-year with industries like Banking/Mortgage and Advertising driving this wave. In the meantime, Journalism’s curiosity about instruments like “ChatGPT” spotlight how professionals are leveraging AI to unlock creativity and streamline workflows.
The takeaway for entrepreneurs is to satisfy your viewers the place they’re (and the place they’re going).
Whether or not it’s talking to Agriculture’s urge for food for “Chatbot” options or showcasing the potential of “Robotics” to Executives, the important thing to success lies in tailoring your messaging to the precise wants of your audience.
Entrepreneurs who align their methods with these pursuits won’t solely seize consideration however set up themselves as trusted voices within the AI craziness.
5. The eBook Empire
The 2025 State of B2B Content material Consumption and Demand Report paints a compelling image of the dominance of eBooks because the go-to format for B2B professionals.
Accounting for 53.3% of all demand in 2024, eBook registrations skyrocketed by 71.4% year-over-year, far outpacing every other content material format.
In comparison with Guides, eBooks outperformed the second hottest format by registration quantity by a staggering 572%.
Furthermore, the effectivity of eBooks is unmatched.
Every asset uploaded to the NetLine platform generates a median of 983 registrations, eclipsing White Papers’ 59.5 registrations per asset.
These stats underscore eBooks’ distinctive means to stability depth, accessibility, and consumer engagement.
eBooks’ dominance reveals a desire for complete assets that mix wealthy insights with comfort, making them a cornerstone of top-of-funnel consciousness campaigns.
The caveat with this format is that its recognition doesn’t match its intent sign. In comparison with different codecs like playbooks and case research, eBooks have been 11.8% much less prone to drive shopping for selections inside a 12 months.
However that’s okay.
Each format has a goal. In case your ICP is requesting eBooks, that’s a very good factor. They’re merely on the prime of the funnel and simply starting their journey. Your job is to introduce your enterprise’s experience in these eBooks and educate all through your nurture program.
To capitalize absolutely, entrepreneurs should strategically pair eBooks with high-intent codecs of their content material arsenal, guaranteeing their campaigns not solely spark curiosity but additionally have the chance to drive conversion.
Why Constructing Intentional Content material Experiences is Crucial
We’ve highlighted 5 of essentially the most attention-grabbing learnings from NetLine’s annual B2B content material consumption report.
So what comes subsequent?
What ought to everybody do with this info?
In (re)analyzing everything of the 2025 report, one large thought involves thoughts:
B2B content material entrepreneurs and groups should shift their focus from merely creating extra content material to orchestrating smarter, extra intentional content material experiences.
The insights are clear—consumers are overwhelmed.
The widening Consumption Hole (38.5 hours!) is proof that audiences want time, area, and relevance to interact meaningfully.
For entrepreneurs, we are able to’t afford to deal with content material as a quantity sport. As an alternative, we should craft belongings that align with particular moments within the purchaser’s journey—content material that respects their timeline, solutions their fast questions, and gently guides them ahead.
The dominance of eBooks and the rise of AI-related content material present that whereas curiosity abounds, buy intent typically lies deeper within the funnel.
Codecs like Case Research and Playbooks—that are strongly tied to buy selections—remind us of the significance of balancing top-of-funnel discovery with bottom-of-funnel precision.
In 2025, groups that thrive will prioritize:
- Smarter Comply with-Ups: Respect the time it takes to interact with the content material they’ve requested. Wish to comply with up earlier than the 48-hour window? Be completely positive you have got contextually related messaging.
- Format-Particular Methods: eBooks must be your loss-leader. They must be the content material that will get your ICP within the door. From there, use intent-rich codecs like Playbooks when concentrating on consumers near a call, whereas feeding discovery and brand-building efforts.
- Hyper-Personalization with Intent Information: That is the 12 months of data-driven empathy. NetLine’s viewers intent information provides a window into what your viewers needs—leverage it to ship personalised, human-first experiences. In an AI-world, this may separate good entrepreneurs from nice ones.
Utilizing NetLine’s Analysis to Repair the Damaged Demand Era Playbook
Consumers aren’t ignoring outreach as a result of they aren’t ; they’re ignoring it as a result of they aren’t prepared.
Pushing too quickly results in decrease response charges, extra no-shows, and elevated frustration for each consumers and gross sales groups.
Bear in mind: your timeline is just not their timeline.
The best groups in 2025 received’t merely transfer quicker; they’ll transfer smarter. Precision will win over pace, and the businesses that adapt now would be the ones main the cost into the long run.
Be deliberate.
Prioritize precise engagement behaviors, reminiscent of nurturing emails that ship actionable takeaways and synopses and Gross sales monitoring actual intent indicators as an alternative of counting on outdated MQL definitions.
Completely different content material varieties replicate completely different ranges of curiosity—eBooks drive consciousness, White Papers point out deeper analysis, and Playbooks are robust shopping for indicators.
Each phrase, format, and interplay ought to contribute to a considerate, empathetic content material technique that prioritizes high quality over amount and influence over noise.
This report isn’t nearly tendencies—it’s a blueprint for connection in a world that desperately wants it.
What Stunned You Most?
As you discover this 12 months’s findings, we’d love to listen to your ideas. What stunned you most? How do you propose to adapt your technique primarily based on this information?
Tag NetLine on LinkedIn together with your reflections and questions—we’re right here to collaborate and study collectively.
Able to dive deeper? Entry the complete 2025 State of B2B Content material Consumption and Demand Report.
