NetLine's Latest Data Reveals How Business Professionals Actually Consume Content

Source:  NetLine Corporation

NetLine Corporation recently published its "2026 State of B2B Content Consumption & Demand Report." NetLine has been conducting this research for ten years, and its annual reports have consistently provided a wealth of real-world insights about how business professionals actually consume marketing content. 

NetLine operates a content syndication platform, and the 2026 report is based on data from 7.2 million content registrations on the platform in 2025. The NetLine research is particularly valuable for two reasons.

First, it captures the real-world content consumption behaviors of business professionals. The data used for the NetLine report was not derived from surveys or interviews, but rather from actual engagements with B2B marketing content.

And second, the report is based on first-party data. The business professionals who use the NetLine platform voluntarily share information about themselves and the organizations they work for in exchange for access to the content resources available on the platform.

For these reasons, the NetLine report provides detailed information about the business professionals who are consuming B2B marketing content and the actual consumption behaviors of those professionals. I encourage you to review the full 35-page report.

Content Consumption Declined in 2025

Overall B2B content consumption fell 8.6% in 2025 compared to 2024, as measured by registrations on the NetLine platform. However, NetLine's data shows that total demand for B2B gated marketing content has grown 57.6% since 2021.

Content consumption by C-level executives increased in 2025, up 4% year-over-year. In 2025, C-level executives accounted for 14.5% of the total demand on the NetLine platform.

Demand for content about artificial intelligence continued its dramatic growth in 2025. The explosive growth began in 2023 when demand for AI-related content increased 6.6x compared to 2022. In 2025, demand for such content grew 28.5% year-over-year.

Most Popular Content Formats

The ten most requested content formats in 2025 were:

1. eBooks
2. Cheat Sheets
3. Guides
4. White Papers
5. Research Reports
6. Articles
7. Tips and Tricks Guides
8. On-Demand Webinars
9. Live Webinars
10. Playbooks

NetLine noted in its report that six of the ten most popular content formats saw year-over-year declines in registration volume in 2025. Registrations for eBooks, the most popular format, fell 16.7% last year, but they still accounted for nearly half (48.8%) of all 2025 content registrations.

Among the ten most popular formats, on-demand webinars had the largest increase in demand in 2025, with the number of registrations growing by 46.2%

The Consumption Gap Widens

One of the most useful insights provided by the NetLine report relates to the consumption gap, which is defined as the time between the moment a content resource is requested and the moment it's opened for consumption. This data point is important because it provides a guide for timing follow-up contact with potential buyers.

In 2025, the average consumption gap was 47.7 hours, up from 38.5 hours in 2024. The consumption gap has varied over the years. Before 2024, the largest gap recorded by NetLine was 33.3 hours in 2021, and the smallest was 27.1 hours in 2018. The lesson here is that you should wait at least two days before you try to follow up with people who have requested your content via NetLine. 

Purchase Timing

Overall, the B2B professionals using the Netline platform in 2025 were 17.7% more likely to indicate they would probably make a purchase within the next 12 months, compared to 2024. The purchase time frame that saw the largest year-over-year increase was 6 - 12 months, which grew 78.6% in 2025.

Content Consumption and Buyer Purchase Intent

For the past few years, NetLine's research has revealed correlations between the content format a potential buyer chooses to consume and purchase timing. In the 2025 report, NetLine identified five content formats that are more likely to be associated with a buying decision within the next 12 months - trend reports, playbooks, case studies, newsletters, and infographics.

One format that is notably absent from this list is eBooks. Despite being the most frequently requested type of content in 2025, eBooks were not strongly associated with shorter-term purchase intent. This shouldn't be surprising because most eBooks are designed to appeal to potential buyers who are in the earlier stages of their buying journey.

Surveyed CEOs Paint a Mixed Picture of CMO Performance

Source:  Boathouse Group, Inc.

Surveyed CEOs gave their CMO high marks for alignment with CEO and business objectives, effectiveness at building cross-functional relationships, and understanding company financials. But, on the critical business issues of strategy and growth, the reviews were more mixed.

That's the central message of "The Boathouse Fifth Annual CEO Study" by Boathouse Group, Inc., a marketing agency based in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About the Study

Boathouse has been conducting this research since 2021. The fifth edition (2026) of the study is based on a survey of 150 CEOs at U.S. companies. Survey respondents led companies having annual revenue that ranged from $250 million to more than $1 billion.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of the respondents were with companies having more than 1,000 employees. Respondents were affiliated with companies operating in 16 industry verticals, with healthcare being the largest cohort (19% of all respondents).

The survey was conducted January 6 - 26, 2026.

The primary goal of this research was to capture the perspectives of CEOs regarding their CMO and their company's marketing organization. The 2026 survey also included questions about how CEOs shape strategy and about their investment in, adoption of, and objectives for artificial intelligence.

The Boathouse study has two obvious limitations. First, the study is based on a survey with a relatively small number of respondents. And second, Boathouse does not claim that its survey panel is a representative sample of all CEOs. Therefore, the quantitative survey findings cannot be "projected" to all CEOs.

Where CMOs are Performing Well

Most of the CEOs surveyed by Boathouse were positive on several aspects of their CMO's performance. For example:

• 79% of the survey respondents said their CMO shows a strong commitment to the CEO and Board of Directors. That was up slightly from 76% in the 2025 survey.

• 72% said their CMO understands their company's financials, up substantially from 61% in the 2025 survey.

• 85% said their CMO builds trust within their company, down only slightly from 87% in the 2025 survey.

In addition, 59% of the surveyed CEOs said their CMO understands their company's business goals, and 70% said the metrics used by marketing are fully (12%) or mostly (58%) aligned with their company's primary business metrics.

Mixed Reviews on Strategy

 The CEOs participating in the Boathouse survey gave mixed reviews to their CMO when it comes to strategy.

First, the good news. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the survey respondents said their CMO leads (8%) or actively contributes to (60%) the formulation of their company's strategy. This finding suggests that many CMOs have successfully won a seat at the strategy table.

However, just under 20% of the surveyed CEOs gave their CMO a grade of "A" on strategy. That was down from nearly 35% in the 2025 edition of the survey.

The survey report doesn't provide an explanation for the declining percentage of "A" grades, but it may be due to rising expectations. As more CEOs include their CMO in the strategy development process, some will have high expectations for the quality of the CMO's contribution.

The Good and Not-So-Good News on Driving Growth

The CEOs surveyed by Boathouse also gave mixed reviews to their CMO (and their marketing organization) on driving revenue growth.

The survey findings clearly show that CEOs view growth as a critical business issue. Thirty-two percent (32%) of the survey respondents identified "growth performance" as the area of their business where they feel most personally exposed or vulnerable as CEO. The next highest percentage (21%) was for "competitive threats."

CEOs also see growth as the primary mandate of their marketing organization, with 65% of the survey respondents citing "drive sales growth and/or grow market shares" as marketing's top priority.

The good news is that 59% of the surveyed CEOs indicated they are "confident" in marketing's ability to make a "meaningful" contribution to growth.

The not-so-good news is that only 13% of the survey respondents said they are "very confident" that their marketing organization can demonstrate the incremental lift provided by marketing investments.

While a general feeling of confidence is good, it may not be sufficient to persuade CEOs to prioritize marketing spending when difficult capital allocation decisions must be made. So, CMOs and other marketing leaders must keep working to provide credible proof of the financial impacts of their marketing activities and programs.