The Real Reason Your B2B Content Isn't Converting

Robin Emiliani

August 14, 2025

Why Attention Is Up—But Action Is Down—and What to Do About It

According to Marketing Charts & NetLine’s 2025 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report, B2B marketers had a banner year. Registrations for eBooks, webinars, white papers, and more topped 8 million; the highest number of first-party leads ever tracked by the platform. Music to our ears at Catalyst—and for our B2B clients.

But there’s a catch: even as demand surged, actual consumption stalled.

NetLine calls this the “consumption gap”—the lag between when someone requests your content and when they actually engage with it. In 2024, that gap stretched an additional 7 hours, with the average delay hitting 39 hours. So yes, your prospects are filling out the form. But no, they’re not reading it right away.

And that delay comes with cost. Because without strategic follow-up, that moment of interest (when curiosity is at its peak) can fade fast.

At Catalyst, we see this all the time: top-of-funnel interest without a middle-of-funnel plan. Here are three takeaways from the report every growth-stage marketer should pay attention to, and what actions you can take to capitalize.

Content Is Still Queen, But Format Matters More Than Ever

EBooks were the most requested content format of the year, accounting for more than half of all gated content submissions. They were:

6 times more likely to be downloaded than guides
12 times more likely than white papers
49 times more likely than playbooks

That’s good news for brand visibility. But not necessarily for revenue.

NetLine’s intent scoring found that eBook leads were 12% less likely to convert within a year compared to other formats. Meanwhile, playbooks, case studies, and infographics far outperformed eBooks in terms of buyer intent. Playbooks, for example, were 115% more likely to indicate a purchase decision.

The lesson? Format must follow function. Use eBooks for attraction, but guide prospects down the funnel with modular, actionable content. At Catalyst, we build multi-format ecosystems that treat content like a journey—each step earning the next.

The Delay Is The Data

The 39-hour delay between registration and engagement isn’t just noise; it’s a signal. It tells us that intent is real, but attention is fractured.

We’re not just competing with other brands. We’re competing with Slack pings, meetings, kids, notifications, and the endless scroll. If your follow up strategy doesn’t account for that, you lose momentum.

Our approach: use the delay as a window. Trigger a nurturing sequence that adds value before the content is even opened. Reinforce the premise. Tease the insight. Remind them why they were curious in the first place.

And don’t just follow up once. NetLine found that leads who engaged with 2–3 pieces of content were significantly more likely to convert than one-and-done readers.

No More Disconnected Content

Here’s the hidden culprit: most teams are still producing content in silos.

Designers don’t know what the sales team is pitching. Paid media doesn’t know what organic content is performing. The blog and the white paper were written by two different agencies with no shared data.

Disconnected marketing is a tech problem, but it’s also a workflow problem.

That’s why at Catalyst, we build AI-powered marketing ecosystems that eliminate these blind spots. Tools don’t just sit in the stack—they communicate, share intelligence, and reinforce a common narrative.

Because content isn’t just an asset, it’s a system. And when that system is connected, buyers don’t just read—they respond.