B2b content marketing trends

B2B Content Marketing:2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America

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http://contentmarketinginstitute.com

http://marketingprofs.com

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FOREWORD

Greetings Content Marketers,

Welcome to this year’s report on the content marketing practices of business-to-business (B2B) technology marketers in North America.

In this report, we highlight key areas of difference between the most effective technology marketers and their less effective peers. We also show some differences between those who have a documented content strategy and those who do not. For example:

The most effective technology marketers allocate more budget to content marketing when compared with the overall sample of technology marketers (35% vs. 28%)

Only 39% of technology marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing, however having a documented strategy dramatically increases confidence (62% of those with a strategy say they are effective)

Technology marketers use a good mix of tactics and continue to invest in content marketing, with 58% planning to increase spend over the next 12 months. We look forward to seeing how this continued investment pays off over the next year.

On with the content marketing revolution…

Joe PulizziFounderContent Marketing Institute


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2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

39% of technology marketers say they are effective at content marketing.

OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS

Confidence rises when a technology marketer has a documented content strategy (62% of those with a documented strategy say they are effective).

How Technology Marketers Rate the Effectiveness of

Their Organization’s Use of Content Marketing

8%31%

50%11%

1%

Very Effective

Not At All Effective

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

54321


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EFFECTIVENESS

Comparison of Most Effective Technology Marketers with Least Effective Technology Marketers

Most Effective Overall/Average Least Effective

75% 46% 10%

• “Most Effective” = Respondents who rated their organization’s use of content marketing as 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)• “Least Effective” = Respondents who rated their organization’s use of content marketing as 1 or 2 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “Not At All Effective”)

Has a documented content strategy

Has someone who oversees content marketing strategy

Average number of tactics used

Average number of social media platforms used

Percentage of marketing budget spent on content marketing

Plans to increase content marketing spend over next 12 months

Challenged with producing engaging content

Challenged with producing a variety of content

7 6 6

63% 58% 50%35% 28% 26%

31% 42% 47%

16 15 12

86% 73% 53%

46% 55% 73%


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46% of technology marketers have a documented content strategy.

Technology marketers who have a documented content strategy—when compared with those who do not—are more effective in all areas of content marketing and face fewer content marketing challenges.


Percentage of Technology Marketers Who Have a Documented

Content Strategy

46%

Yes46%

No

6%

Unsure

STRATEGY


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STRATEGY

Comparison of Technology Marketers Who Have aDocumented Content Strategy with Those Who Do Not

DocumentedStrategy Overall/Average No Documented

Strategy

62% 39% 14%Considers organization to be effective at content marketing

Average number of tactics used

Average number of social media platforms used

Producing more content compared with one year ago

Percentage of marketing budget spent on content marketing

Plans to increase content marketing spend over next 12 months

Percentage that outsources content creation

Challenged with producing a variety of content

82% 78% 73%

63% 58% 57%31% 28% 25%

35% 42% 51%

7 6 6

16 15 13

63% 57% 49%


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73% of technology companies have someone in place who oversees content marketing strategy.

STRATEGY

86% of the most effective technology marketers say their company has someone in place who oversees content marketing strategy.


Percentage of Technology Organizations with Someone Who Oversees

Content Marketing Strategy

73%

Yes

23%

No

5%

Unsure


http://www.idg.com/





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78% of technology marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago.

CONTENT VOLUME

The most effective technology marketers are creating more content when compared with the overall sample (83% vs. 78%).

Technology marketers who don’t have a documented content strategy increased their content production by nearly as much as those who do have a strategy (73% vs. 82%).


Change in Amount of Content Creation Among Technology Marketers

(Over Last 12 Months)

35%

SignificantlyMore

43%

More

19%

Same Amount

1%

Less


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TACTIC USAGE

Technology marketers use an average of 15 content marketing tactics.

Content Marketing Usage Among Technology Marketers (by Tactic)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Socia

l Med

ia C

onte

nt - O

ther

Than

Blo

gs

Case

Stud

ies

Vide

os

Blog

s

In-p

erso

n Eve

nts

Artic

les o

n You

r Web

site

Web

inar

s/W

ebca

sts

eNew

slette

rs

Whi

te Pa

pers

Onlin

e Pre

sent

atio

ns

Rese

arch

Rep

orts

eBoo

ks

Info

grap

hics

Micr

osite

s

Bran

ded C

onte

nt To

ols

Book

s

Mobi

le C

onte

nt

Virtu

al C

onfe

renc

es

Mobi

le Ap

ps

Podc

asts

Prin

t New

slette

rs

Digi

tal M

agaz

ines

Licen

sed/

Synd

icate

d Con

tent

Gam

es/G

amific

ation

91%

84%

78%

Artic

les o

n Oth

er W

ebsit

es

75%

51%

45%43%

32%36%

32%

Annu

al R

epor

ts

28%30%

15%22% 10%

82%80%

86% 86%

80%

69%

40%

29% 29%

22%

85%

58%

Prin

t Mag

azin

es

The most effective technology marketers use all of the tactics shown here more frequently than their peers, especially:

Articles on other websites: 87% vs. 75% Online presentations: 79% vs. 69% Infographics: 71% vs. 58% Research reports: 63% vs. 51% eBooks: 60% vs. 45%


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TACTIC EFFECTIVENESS

Technology marketers say webinars and videos are the most effective tactics they use.

Social media content (other than blogs) is not one of the top 10 effective tactics (and is not shown on this chart); however, the most effective marketers gave it a much higher rating (64% vs. 46%).

Effectiveness Ratings of Tactics Among Technology Manufacturers Who Use Them

70% 30%32%

34%39%

42%44%

39%

44%

68%

66%61%61%

58%56%56%

Say It’s Effective* Say It’s Less Effective

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Webinars/Webcasts

Videos

In-Person Events

34%66% Case Studies

40%60%White Papers

Research Reports

eNewsletters

Infographics

eBooks

Blogs

* Percentage of respondents who rated these tactics as a 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)



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SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

Nearly all technology marketers, regardless of company size or effectiveness, use LinkedIn to distribute content.

The most effective technology marketers use all of these platforms more frequently when compared with their peers.

Technology marketers cite LinkedIn as the social media platform they use most often to distribute content.


0 20 40 60 80 100

97%92%

85%83%

60%

32%

19%

46%

17%16%

12%12%12%

25%Vimeo

StumbleUpon

TumblrFoursquare

YouTubeTwitterLinkedIn

Google+SlideShare

Flickr

Pinterest

Instagram

Vine

Percentage of Technology Marketers Who Use Various Social Media

Platforms to Distribute Content

Facebook


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SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVENESS

The most effective technology marketers have more confidence in all of these platforms, and they especially rate Twitter higher (70% vs. 55%).


Although adoption rates for social media are high, technology marketers are unsure of its effectiveness.

Effectiveness Ratings of Social Media PlatformsAmong Technology Marketers Who Use Them

63% 37%45%48%

56%

55%52%

44%

Say It’s Effective* Say It’s Less Effective

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

SlideShare

60%74%

40%26%

Vimeo

Facebook

82%85%

18%15%

Google+

Pinterest

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

*Percentage of respondents who rated these tactics as a 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)


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ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

Whereas most other B2B marketers (across all industry segments) cite brand awareness as their top goal for content marketing, technology marketers cite lead generation.

The most effective technology marketers place higher emphasis on thought leadership when compared with the overall sample (81% vs. 75%).


Technology marketers say lead generation is their top goal for content marketing.

Organizational Goals forContent Marketing(Technology Marketers)

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Lead Generation

Brand Awareness

Customer Acquisition

Thought Leadership

Website Traffic

Lead Management/Nurturing

Engagement

Customer Retention/Loyalty

Sales

86%82%

77%75%

66%65%

63%58%

49%


http://www.idg.com/





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MEASUREMENT

Like most other B2B marketers (across all industry segments), technology marketers say Website traffic is their top goal.

Technology marketers cite Website traffic as their top metric for content marketing success.

Metrics for Content Marketing Success

(Technology Marketers)

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Website Traffic 69%Sales Lead Quality 64%Sales Lead Quantity 63%Social Media Sharing 57%SEO Ranking 54%Inbound Links 42%Direct Sales 40%Time Spent on Website 40%Subscriber Growth 33%Qualitative Feedback from Customers 30%Benchmark Li� of Company Awareness 26%Benchmark Li� of Product/Service Awareness 22%



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BUDGET

The most effective technology marketers are more likely than their peers to say they will increase spend over the next 12 months (63% vs. 58%).

2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

58% of technology marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months.

Content Marketing SpendingAmong Technology Marketers

(Over Next 12 Months)

10%

SignificantlyIncrease

48%

Increase29%

Remain theSame

10%

Unsure

2%

Decrease


http://www.idg.com/





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BUDGET

The most effective technology marketers allocate more budget to content marketing when compared with the overall sample (35% vs. 28%).

On average, technology marketers allocate 28% of their total budget to content marketing.


Percentage of Marketing Budget Spent on Content Marketing

(Technology Marketers)

5%10%

15%26%

14%9%

0%20%

0%

0 10 20 30

100%

75%-99%

50%-74%

25%-49%

10%-24%

5%-9%

1%-4%

0%

Unsure

Average Spent: 28%


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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING

Technology marketers who have a documented content strategy are more likely to outsource content creation when compared with the overall sample (63% vs. 57%).

57% of technology marketers outsource content creation.


Insourcing vs. Outsourcingof Content Creation(Technology Marketers)

In-house Only

Outsourced Only

Both

43%

1%56%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70


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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING

As is the case with other B2B marketers across all industry segments, writing and design are the top two functions that technology marketers outsource.

Writing and design are the functions that technology marketers are most likely to outsource.


Functions that TechnologyMarketers Outsource

74%51%

34%22%

9%7%

5%

Writing

Design

Content Distribution/Syndication

Editing

Buyer Persona Creation

Content Planning & Strategy

Measurement/Analytics

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100


http://www.idg.com/





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SEGMENTATION

The most effective technology marketers tailor content more frequently in each of these areas when compared with their peers.

Technology marketers tailor content most often by industry trends.


How Technology MarketersTailor Content

63%58%

57%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Profile of Individual Decision Makers

69%Industry Trends

Company Characteristics

5%None

Stage in the Buying Cycle

12%Competitors’ Content

12%Personalized Content Preferences


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CHALLENGES

72% of the most effective technology marketers are challenged with a lack of time; however, they are less challenged in all other areas shown here, especially with producing engaging content (46% vs. 55%) and producing a variety of content (31% vs. 42%).

Time and content production issues top the list ofchallenges that technology marketers face.


100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Challenges thatTechnology Marketers Face

Lack of Time

Producing Enough Content

Producing the Kind of Content that Engages

Producing a Variety of Content

Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness

Lack of Budget

Inability to Collect Information from SMEs

Lack of Integration Across Marketing

Lack of Knowledge and Training

Lack of Buy-in/Vision

Lack of Integration Across HR

Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals

69%58%

55%42%

40%40%

32%28%

23%22%

17%13%


http://www.idg.com/





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CHALLENGES

The most effective technology marketers are more likely than their peers to say that lack of time is their biggest challenge (35% vs. 25%).


7%

6%5%

3%

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Biggest Content Marketing Challenge for

Technology MarketersLack of Time

Producing the Kind of Content that Engages

Producing Enough Content

Lack of Budget

Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness

Lack of Buy-in/Vision

Inability to Collect Information from SMEs

Lack of Integration Across Marketing

Producing a Variety of Content

7%

14%13%

25%

10%


http://www.idg.com/





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DEMOGRAPHICS

B2B Technology Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends–North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and sponsored by International Data Group (IDG). It is based on the responses of a subset of 270 business-to-business (B2B) technology marketers located in North America who replied to the fourth annual Content Marketing Survey.

Sections of this report compare the technology respondents with the overall sample of 1,217 B2B marketers in North America, whose responses were previously reported on in the CMI/MarketingProfs study, B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America.

The fourth annual Content Marketing Survey was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers using lists from CMI, MarketingProfs, Brightcove, Blackbaud, King Content, The Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising (ADMA), the Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA), Industry Week, and New Equipment Digest. A total of 4,397 recipients from around the globe—representing a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes—responded throughout July and August 2013.


Size of B2BTechnology Company

(by Employees)

Micro(Fewer than

10 Employees)

15%

Small(10-99 Employees)

35%Midsize(100-999

Employees)

29%

Large(1,000+ Employees)

22%

B2B TechnologyJob Title/Function

7%General

Management

Marketing/Advertising/

Communications/PR Management

56%

Marketing Administration/

Support11%

7% 4%Content Creation/

Management Other

Corporate Management/Owner

15%


http://www.idg.com/





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About Content Marketing Institute:Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is the leading global content marketing education and training organization.

CMI teaches enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September, and Content Marketing World Sydney, every March. CMI also produces the quarterly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a 2012 and 2013 Inc. 500 company.

View all original CMI research at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research. Learn how to create a documented content marketing strategy, a key component for improving overall content marketing effectiveness.

About International Data Group (IDG):International Data Group (IDG™) is the world’s leading technology media, events, and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries.

IDG Communications’ global media brands include ChannelWorld®, CIO®, CITEworld, CSO®, Computerworld®, GamePro®, InfoWorld®, ITworld®, Macworld®, Network World®, PCWorld®, TechHive® and TechWorld®.

International Data Corporation (IDC), a subsidiary of IDG, has more than 1,000 analysts who provide expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries.

Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.

To learn more, attend a full-dayTechnology/Software Industry Lab

at Content Marketing World on September 11, 2014.


http://www.idg.com/






http://contentmarketingworld.com

http://sydney.contentmarketingworld.com

http://sydney.contentmarketingworld.com

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/chief-content-officer/

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/chief-content-officer/

http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/the-essentials-of-a-documented-content-marketing-strategy-36-questions-to-answer/

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/the-essentials-of-a-documented-content-marketing-strategy-36-questions-to-answer/

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B2b content marketing trends

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