Spotlight RepoRt

TechnologyMarketing

Group Partner Sponsored by

CoNteNtMarketing

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 2

INTRODUCTION

B2B marketers are increasingly using content marketing to better engage B2B buyers and to educate,

inform, entertain and guide them along their customer journey.

The 2014 Content Marketing Report is based on 600+ survey responses from marketing professionals to

better understand the current state of content marketing and to identify new trends and key challenges

as well as best practices.

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this survey!

We hope you will enjoy this report.

top 5 results

Content is Used for Lead Generation

Content Strategy Lacks Documentation

Documentation Drives Content Effectiveness

Marketing Automation Increases Need for Content

Content is Most Effective When it is Relevant

1

2

3

4

5

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 3

1 CONTeNT Is UseD fOR LeaD GeNeRaTION

Lead generation

Thought leadership / market education

Brand awareness

Lead nurturing

Engagement

Customer acquisition

Website traffic

Customer loyalty / retention

Revenue

Social media engagement

Channel enablement

Other

0% 20%10% 30% 50%40% 60%

43%40%

33%28%28%

24%17%16%

9%3%1%

59%

Survey respondents identified lead generation as the number one goal of content marketing (59 percent) for a second year in a row. Thought leadership and market education followed with a distant 43 percent. This finding indicates that marketers measure the effectiveness of content by the number of new leads who fill out forms or request more information. It also indicates that in order to increase lead generation, the rate of content creation and publication must also be increased.

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 4

2 CONTeNT sTRaTeGy LaCks DOCUmeNTaTION

7% | Not sure

42% | Yes – it is not documented

30% | Yes – it is documented

Have a content marketing strategy,but it is not documented.

21% | No

42%

To support lead generation goals, a whopping 72 percent of marketers have a content strategy in place, but only 30 percent have it formally documented. Survey responses also showed a strong positive correlation between having a documented content strategy and a dedicated content marketing budget. This finding is a bit unsurprising because management typically requires planning and regular reports from budget holders. Therefore, content marketing growth and optimization starts in the strategy and documentation phase.

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 5

3 DOCUmeNTaTION DRIves CONTeNT effeCTIveNess

Not at all effective

Slightly effective

Somewhat effective

Very effective

Extremely effective

Not sure

0% 20%10% 30% 50%40%

Companies with a documented content strategyCompanies without a documented content strategy

49%

29%

7%

9%

9%

2%

12%

27%

41%

11%

0%

4%

Interestingly, companies with documented content strategies are much more likely to be very or extremely effective (36 percent) in their content marketing efforts than those without documented strategies (11 percent). The survey responses indicate that most companies consider their content marketing at least somewhat effective. For those looking to grow their content marketing, the recommendation from this survey is to create a documented content marketing strategy, if only for department purposes.

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 6

4 maRkeTING aUTOmaTION INCReases NeeD fOR CONTeNT

Companies with a documented content marketing strategy are also much more likely to use marketing automation. As marketing automation helps marketers better target segments and personas with personalized content experiences, there is naturally an increased demand for content to fill those experiences. Similarly, a majority of companies without a content strategy don’t use marketing automation (58 percent).

We actively create content to feedautomated campaigns

We use marketing automationto nurture leads

We use marketing automationto generate leads

We use marketing automationto engage with customers

We don't use marketing automation

We sporadically use content formarketing automation campaigns

Other

0% 20%10% 30% 50% 60%40%

Companies with a documented content strategyCompanies without a documented content strategy

14%

58%

11%

0%

26%

16%

44%

1%

14%47%

23%46%

35%

31%

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 7

5 CONTeNT Is mOsT effeCTIve WheN IT Is ReLevaNT

Audience relevance

Engaging and compelling storytelling

Triggers a response / action

Effectively delivers message

Search optimized (SEO)

Originality

Re-usable

Personalized content

Well-edited copy

Easy to produce

Low cost

Other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

57%54%

37%23%

22%18%

14%10%

5%4%

2%

58%

Content marketing success starts with audience relevance (58 percent), followed by engaging and compelling storytelling (57 percent) that triggers a specific response (54 percent). These priorities have not changed when compared to survey responses in previous years; however, the technology that enables content effectiveness is constantly evolving.

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 8

CONCLUsION

For content marketers, the ultimate goal of content marketing is lead generation. Videos, blogs and social media are just a few of the dozens of content formats they’re using to achieve that goal.

The pressure to produce so much content in so many formats is their biggest challenge. And it appears that the challenge is an urgent one — more than 3/4 of respondents plan on increasing content production in the next year.

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DemOGRaphICs & meThODOLOGy

This survey was conducted from July through September 2014. We collected 634 responses from B2B marketing professionals. Here is a detailed breakdown of the demographics.

Corporate Marketing

Marketing Communications

Content Marketing

Marketing Operations

Product or Solutions Marketing

0% 10% 20% 30%

JOB FUNCTION

0% 10% 20%

INDUSTRY

Software

High-Tech

Advertising / Marketing

Consulting

Manufacturing

COMPANY SIZE (EMPLOYEES)

25% | 11-100

30% | 1-10

10% | 101-250

8% | 251-500

6% | 501-1000

4% | 1001-2500

3% | 2501-5000

4% | 5001-10K

9% | 10K+

0% 20%10% 30% 50%40% 70%60%

JOB TITLE

Marketing/Advertising/Communications/PR

CEO/President/Owner

Consultant

Sales

Operations

CONTENT MarkETiNg rEPOrT 10

spONsOR

We would like to thank our sponsor for supporting the Content Marketing Report 2014

BrightTALK | www.brighttalk.com

BrightTALK provides webinars and videos for professionals and their communities. At BrightTALK, we believe that people learn the most when they hear directly from those who know the subject best. We also believe that this experience is enhanced through a dialog between speakers and the audience. Every day thousands of thought leaders are actively sharing their insights, their ideas and their most up-to-date knowledge with professionals all over the globe through the video and webinar technologies that BrightTALK has created. Our online event tools offer a dynamic environment for everyone involved. It is the interactions we witness and the advancement of knowledge in our online communities that excites us the most.