Two providers of content engagement solutions announced that they’ve secured new funding to help expand reach, infrastructure and product development — a sign that interactive content is gaining prominence within the B2B marketplace.
Interactive content marketing platform Ceros will receive $8 million in a Series B round of funding, led by Grotech Ventures, with participation from CNF Investments and existing investors. The company will use the funds to further product development, expand its reach and quickly scale its sales, marketing and client services, according to a release.
At the same time, content marketing engagement platform LookBookHQ announced that it has raised $4 million in a Series A round of funding led by Edison Partners, with participation from Hyde Park Ventures. The company plans to use the money to expand its product development, invest in sales and marketing and expand its workforce in the U.S. and Toronto, according to a LookBookHQ announcement.
These moves are par for the course during a time when a majority of B2B buyers prefer visual and interactive content versus more traditional formats — 84%, according to the Demand Gen Report 2016 Content Preferences Survey.
More than half of B2B marketers are already using interactive content to influence the buyer’s journey, according to research from Content Marketing Institute. Customer education is the No. 1 reason B2B marketers gave for using interactive content (75%), followed by increased engagement (59%). Investments in this type of content for B2B marketing will only continue to grow: 75% of those respondents said they anticipate their organization’s use of it would increase this year, compared with 2015.
