About 400 purchasing managers were surveyed and only 9% said they trust the content providers, while 67% prefer to use news and articles as a basis for decision-making.

Donovan Neale-May the executive director of the CMO Council, said "The content that buyers are looking for needs to appear to come from a genuine source. They want input coming from people with direct knowledge of the product and best practices, and who are willing to share."

Many companies are moving away from the hard sell in their campaigns, but it seems still quite a few are yet to jump on this bandwagon.

The survey asked what features were most valued in a B2B communication and the majority answered; depth and breadth of information content, simple and readable text, and the originality of the message.

Neale-May ended by saying "Do you want something visually striking, interpretive. - Something that quickly can be used and shared?"