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An amazing 91 percent of respondents said they were using content marketing, which means almost everyone now is doing content marketing in some way, shape, or form. While this number has grown steadily over the years, this year’s response saw a huge jump—18 percent, to be exact—from the 2017 B2B Content Marketing survey. As Lisa Murton Beets and Ann Handley, the report’s coauthors, reveal in their introduction, this huge leap now shows that “content marketing is no longer the shiny new object.” Instead, it’s now officially a fully established practice that is widely recognized and adopted.
Lowlight: Most Content Marketers Are Still Flying Solo
53 percent of respondents said that their entire organization’s content marketing efforts rest solely on a small or one-person team. While it’s nice to be seen as the content marketing superhero (or superheroes) of the organization, small or one-person teams can also lead to overworked employees that lack the resources and budget to really plan, execute, and measure efforts properly. It can also lead to higher outsourcing expenses. Just ask the 56 percent of respondents who said they outsource at least one content marketing activity, which is most likely to be content creation and content promotion.
Highlight: Content Quality Wins Over Quantity
70 percent of respondents said they always or frequently prioritize delivering content quality over content quantity. In addition, 72 percent said they always or frequently consider how content will impact the overall experience a person has with their organization. For far too long, the industry has been chanting, “Don’t create content for the sake of creating content,” and it looks like everyone is finally on board with that mantra.
Content marketing is at a critical inflection point. For it to serve as the fuel and infrastructure for modern marketing departments, some things need to change. Brands are not getting much of a return on that investment. We know this thanks to a survey of 252 marketing leaders at Fortune 500 conducted by BrightEdge (one of my clients). Some key findings: - 71% of marketers say that less than half of their content is being consumed - Fewer than 9% of marketers report three-quarters or more of the content they produce is engaged with - The B2C content consumption rate was slightly better than B2B.
Email is among the most powerful marketing channels available, but as brands work to grow their email lists, they’re finding that the most effective tactics can also be some of the most difficult to rely on. A March 2017 survey of marketing professionals worldwide from digital marketing research firm Ascend2 showed 42% of respondents said content marketing is the most effective email list growth tactic, while 50% said it’s the toughest to execute. But that doesn’t mean content marketing is innately challenging. Marketers may simply not have the time or manpower to work on it in-house. In fact, according to separate data from digital asset management company Widen Enterprises, 43% of US creative and marketing professionals surveyed said that having enough bandwidth to create content is the top content marketing challenge....
If you ask us, there are three things that we marketing nerds might love more than anything else: History, visual content, and the 1985 film Back to the Future. So when it came to our attention that our friends at Uberflip combined all three of them, we were thrilled, to say the least. An infographic that uses our most beloved 1980s movie characters to explain the history of content? Be still, our beating hearts. In all seriousness, have you ever thought about where this whole idea of content marketing really began? Perhaps you've wondered what its earliest forms looked like, before there was social media, blogs, or even -- gasp! -- the internet. After all, it's the very thing that, for many of us, can make or break an online presence. So who do we have to thank for it? This fun infographic has the answer, pointing out some of the most important landmarks and developments in content marketing's history along the way. Let's hop back in time, and figure how we got to the present -- something that was once a rather futuristic vision....
Why do companies invest in content marketing strategies? This is a question CopyPress wanted to answer in its annual State of Content Marketing survey. CopyPress interviewed more than 300 agencies, in-house marketers, and freelance creatives to learn why people are invested in this field and how they hope it will change over the next few years. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there?
So when it comes to creating content, what are the most effective content types for companies? And what are the top priorities, goals, metrics, and tactics businesses are using? Here’s what’s trending in content marketing strategy for 2017, according to a survey of 300 marketers at U.S. enterprise companies. The survey was conducted by Clutch, which provides research and reviews on advertising and marketing agencies, as well as other types of firms....
With 2016 coming to a close, now is the time to look ahead and start planning for the lap around the sun. And as the content marketing landscape continues to rapidly evolve, it makes sense to look to research to identify trends and patterns that can help guide your strategy. That’s why we’ve gathered 25 content marketing stats all in one place – so you can start thinking about how this data will inform your plans for 2017. Let’s dive in and explore these stats to get a firm grasp on what’s new within this realm....
Content marketing is one of the best long-term marketing strategies for businesses. Not convinced? If so, you’re not alone. The benefits and impacts of content marketing can be easily overlooked or just plain unclear to many marketers and business owners. But here’s why it’s time to start taking notice of the value of content marketing and what it can do for your digital marketing efforts — as well as for your brand and business....
51% of B2B marketers say they plan to increase their investment in content marketing over the next year. (Content Marketing Institute) your buyers are drowning in content. 83% of buyers feel overwhelmed by the amount of content available to them (2016 Content Preferences Survey: Demand GEN Report) They don't trust what you're cranking out. Only 9% of B2B buyers say they trust vendor content like white papers. (CMO Council) Buyers are not happy with vendors. Their contenT [tends to be] over-technical, product-centric and self-serving. (CMO Council)...
For six years, the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) has studied the evolution of content marketing. Sometimes, the numbers from its reports are encouraging for the industry. Other times, not so much. One statistic frequently thrown around is that, in both B2B and B2C, the majority of marketers do not use documented content strategies. Of course, CMI loves playing up that stat because the organization can help you build a strategy. But it is legitimately a problem for marketers—or anyone in business, really—to pursue an initiative without a documented strategy. Otherwise, you’re just shooting in the dark, not knowing if what you’re doing actually works. Despite proof that these blueprints are effective, CMI’s latest study doesn’t inspire much hope that marketers are getting any better at content strategy. Below, you’ll find out why, in addition to five other major takeaways from CMI’s reports on B2B and B2C marketing....
At Buffer, we love to see new stats and research about how to best share to social media and drive engagement. And as a brand on social media ourselves, we know just how challenging it can be to post engaging content across multiple channels.
To learn more about how brands are tackling social media in 2016, and importantly, to discover what’s working, we decided to study what types of posts brands were sharing the most of on social media.
We examined over 100,000 accounts, which consisted of over 14 million tweets and two million Facebook updates to figure out how brands have been sharing to social media over the past 12 months.
Here’s how it broke down…
A content audit helps you assess your current content as well as shape your future content strategy.
In this post, I’m going to show you a 5-step content audit that you can follow (although there are many other effective content audit processes).
As recently as October 2014, for example, only 42 percent of B2B marketers thought their content was effective, while among B2C marketers, confidence rates were even lower at just 34 percent.
When it comes to explaining this underwhelming performance, the marketing community often cites a lack of strategy as the main culprit. In fact, according to research from AltimeterGroup, 70 percent of marketers lack a consistent or integrated content strategy.
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Marketers have discovered that they need to approach the consumer differently. We can’t serve up the same old ads anymore and expect results similar to 30 or 40 years ago. Instead, we must add value to consumers’ lives to make them want to give us the time of day. Hence, the fundamentals behind content marketing – relationship-building, focusing on the customer versus the brand – were born in response. This approach – oh boy, does it work. For some excellent proof, let these nine statistics do the rest of the talking. They really do speak for themselves. Prepare to persuade....
With Content Marketing World 2017 happening this week in Cleveland, Ohio we analyzed the social and blog conversations around ‘Content Marketing’ from January 2017 to look at the most hotly debated topics and who the key influencers are.
Influence is topical and so someone who is influential on SEO is not necessarily the expert on influencer marketing or video content creation. We went deeper into the specific sub-categories and tracks at CMWorld2017 to call out the influencers who are driving engagement within the influencer community on these niche topics.
You can use this blog post to understand what is driving the online debate and who is most influential in the focus area that you really care about in your role whether it is Social Media, Lead Generation, Branding, Video Creation, Sales or Influencer Marketing for example.
I’ve written plenty of content in this vein, including posts (and infographics) to help you generate video marketing ideas, infographics, and lead magnets, such as eBooks.
In this post, rather than GIVE you content marketing ideas, I’m going to tell you how (or where) to GET them.
Mostly, you “steal” them. But as I hope you know, I don’t mean you plagiarize the content other brands publish. That’ll get you nowhere. What I mean is marketing ideas are inspired by a myriad of resources—online and off.
The long list that follows explains exactly what I mean. I rely on these resources and you should too.
Marketers may be investing heavily in content marketing, but their efforts may not be very memorable to people who come across it. An April 2017 study of internet users in the UK, conducted by software company Prezi and Censuswide, found that eight in 10 respondents forgot the branded content they had seen just three days prior. What’s more, roughly half couldn’t remember a single detail about it. But there are attributes that can help consumers remember the content they see—and they’re not at all surprising. Roughly a quarter of respondents said that if they saw content that told them something new—or if it taught them something new—then that would help them better remember it. Branded content that inspires, entertains or even shocks would also be more memorable....
Sure, we’re still interested in tactics … but there is so much more to consider now. Content marketing has grown into a complex business discipline composed of many distinct areas — content creation, strategy, distribution, paid promotion, and measurement, to name a few. Managers have to determine the best ways to organize content marketing across the enterprise, how much budget they need, and the mix of roles required to pull it off. There’s always something new to learn. Here are five key insights based on the responses of 1,102 B2B marketers in North America — representing a wide range of industries, company sizes, and content marketing maturity levels — as reported in B2B Content Marketing 2017 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America....
In their study, ClearVoice analyzed more than 640,000 articles/blog posts/infographics/etc across 14 specific industries (fashion, business, arts, etc). The results were striking. The type of content marketing that works best in each industry varies considerably. Much more than I thought. For example, infographics are the most effective content format in more than one-third of the industries. Also, long-form content succeeds in tech, home and garden, beauty, and travel. But How-To content is a better bet for arts, and for hospitality....
Last year, the results of our annual content marketing survey indicated that manufacturing marketers were stuck when it came to content marketing. Fewer than 20% said their organization was effective at content marketing or that they had a documented content marketing strategy. What a difference a year makes! Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why manufacturers have made progress over the last year with content marketing, as reported in today’s release of Manufacturing Content Marketing: 2017 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America, sponsored by IEEE Engineering360 Media Solutions....
Our content marketing infographic series covers three challenges that most marketers face today: scaling content production, creating a distribution strategy, and earning your audience.
This infographic, “Earn Your Audience,” details how to reach your target audience through engaging content. Marketers understand that they need to provide tangible value in their customers’ lives, and content is one of the last mediums left to effectively do this. Instead of allocating a large portion of marketing budget to traditional advertising, successful marketers are opting to think like consumers and deliver engaging content that creates a two-way conversation with their audiences.
Take a look at the infographic below for more on how to build and retain meaningful relationships with your audience
B2B Content marketing is hot.But while every business claims to be working with content marketing, there’s a world of difference between having a plan on paper, and actually implementing an effective content marketing strategy. Content marketing isn’t easy. It requires commitment, perseverance and a structured strategy with defined objectives. In a nutshell: behind a good content marketing strategy, there is a budget. And to allocate the budget, it is necessary to firmly believe in the potential of content.So why invest in content marketing in the first place?Simple…
Sixty-two percent of B2B marketers in North America say that compared to one year ago, their organization’s overall approach to content marketing has been much more or somewhat more successful.
This was just one of the findings in Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs’ B2B Content Marketing 2017: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America sponsored by Brightcove.
To what factors do marketers attribute this increased success? The top two factors are: doing a better job with content creation (85%) and developing or adjusting their content marketing strategy (72%)....
This past year, we've seen the importance of visual content emphasized by the changes that occurred across almost every major social network, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. At the same time, both video and infographics have become powerful tools for brands looking to communicate more easily with their readers.
To help you keep pace with these trends, let's take a look at some statistics that demonstrate the impact visual content has on reach, engagement, and sales....
Convincing your CMO to give you budget for content marketing isn’t easy. When it comes down to it, you need to prove ROI before you even get started.
So what makes it so hard? Content marketing is not a short term game — it’s a long term strategy with long term results. Investing in content requires an entirely different mindset than what traditional marketers are used to. It requires CMOs to move away from the crutch of traditional digital advertising, and instead move towards a more customer-centric, value-led approach to marketing. Convincing your team to challenge the status quo means that YOU need to become the change agent in your organization.
In order to get the budget and support you need, it’s your job to prove that content marketing actually works and will drive real business impact. I’m talking about the things your CMO actually cares about: brand loyalty, revenue, operational efficiencies, and cost savings.
At NewsCred, we want to make this conversation easy for you. Below, you’ll find the strongest proof points, grouped into business themes, that will give you the ammunition necessary to build your next presentation, present to your exec team and boss, and get the budget you need....
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![Manufacturing Marketers See Content Marketing Breakthrough [Research] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/8-ugEWLidIuBq9WzLRMjHzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
CMI report highlights content marketing trends and practices.