Commentary

Document And Follow is Best Content Marketing Strategy For Max Results

According to a recent study today by the Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends,” 86% of b-to-b marketers use content marketing as part of their strategic marketing efforts. However, 48% say they have a content-marketing strategy but don't document it, and only 35% say they have a documented content-management strategy.

Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, says "… starting to find out what makes an effective content marketer… documenting the strategy… following the strategy closely…"

B-to-b marketers now spend an average of 28% of their total marketing budgets on content marketing. However, the most effective marketers allocate an average of 37% of their budgets to content marketing, and the least effective marketers allocate only 16% of their budgets to content marketing, says the report.

Percentage of B2B Marketers With Content Marketing Strategy

  • 35% say YES and it’s documented
  • 48% say Yes, but it’s not documented
  • 14% say no
  • 3% are unsure

Source (All Data): Content Marketing, October 2014

60% of b-to-b marketers that have a documented strategy rate themselves highly in content-marketing effectiveness, compared with only 32% of those who rate themselves highly with only a verbal content strategy, says the report. In terms of effectiveness, the top content-marketing tactics are in-person events (69%), webinars or webcasts (64%), videos (60%) and blogs (60%).

Pulizzi said "… it's not digital… everyone focuses on digital, yet in-person events are the most effective… "

The Top Content-Marketing Tactics In Terms Of Usage Are:

  • Social media (92%)
  • Enewsletters (83%)
  • Articles on the company's website (81%)
  • Blogs (80%)
  • In-person events (77%)
  • Case studies (77%)
  • Videos (76%)

Of 13 content-marketing tactics tracked, usage either increased or stayed flat over last year, says the report. The top social media platform used for content marketing by b-to-b marketers is:

  • LinkedIn (94%)
  • Twitter (88%)
  • Facebook (84%)
  • YouTube (72%)
  • Google+ (64%)

LinkedIn was rated the most effective social media platform by b-to-b marketers (63%), followed by

  • Twitter (55%)
  • YouTube (48%)
  • SlideShare (42%)

Despite these challenges, 70% of b-to-b marketers are creating more content than they did a year ago, and 55% of marketers plan to increase budgets for content marketing over the next 12 months, including those who say they are least effective at content marketing, says the report.

"Get ready for even more horrible content out there not based on any strategy," Concludes Pulizzi.

For more information from Content Marketing, please visit here.

 

 

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