Content is at the core of many a modern-day marketing master plan, but just how prevalent is a strategy around content in the business-to-business world?
How many companies have a documented content marketing plan that moves past create and distribute? Of those, how many have a dedicated department for the purposes of content marketing? When they do content marketing, what methods and channels are they finding most effective?
These are some of the questions that the fifth annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America report seeks to answer. A collaboration between the Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs, and sponsored by Brightcove, it surveyed more than 5,000 marketers in 109 countries, and 1,820 specifically in North America. Here’s a quick peek at some of the most interesting findings and the entire report embedded for your perusing pleasure.
- Who is using content marketing? A full 86 per cent of B2B companies say they are, when content marketing is defined as “creation and distribution of educational and/or compelling content in multiple media formats to attract and/or retain customers.” But just 38 per cent say they are effective at it and only 35 per cent have a documented strategy.
- Why do B2B companies engage in content marketing? The most popular reason at 84 per cent was brand awareness, followed closely by lead generation at 83 per cent and engagement at 81 per cent.
- Where does content marketing take place? For 92 per cent of companies, it’s on social media. Other popular channels include e-mail newsletters (83 per cent), website articles (81 per cent), and blogs (80 per cent). LinkedIn is the most popular social network to use.
- When does content marketing get published? Pretty frequently – 16 per cent say daily, and 26 per cent say multiple times per week.
- How much do companies spend on it? Surprisingly, 23 per cent don’t know how much of their budget is spent on this. One in four companies spend between one and nine per cent, and about one in five companies spend 10 to 24 per cent of their budget.
