• by Ray Schultz , February 6, 2019

Email is the top content delivery tool for enterprise marketers, according to Enterprise Content Marketing 2019, a study by the Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs, sponsored by Seismic. 

Of 236 marketers polled, 93% say their firms distribute content by email, versus 91% that use social media platforms and 67% that produce blogs. 

In addition, email is the main nurturing tool, with 86% using email for that purpose. Second is educational content.

Email’s importance is also apparent in the technology used.  Email marketing software is deployed by 81%, second only to social media publishing/analytics, which is deployed by 83% 

In addition, 39% make use of partner emails to promote their content (i.e., ebooks and webinars).

Among paid distribution methods, however, email ranks behind sponsored content on social media (71%), banner ads promoting content (68%), search engine marketing/pay-per-click (68%) and native advertising (45%). 

All that said, enterprise content marketers appear to be gaining in confidence and maturity. For instance, 36% rate themselves as mature and 7% see themselves as sophisticated.

Another 28% are self-described as adolescent, and 24% as young. And 5% say they are taking first steps.

Moreover, 72% have a content marketing strategy, although that’s split between firms that have documented their plan and those that haven’t. Another 22% plan to have a strategy within 12 months.

Overall, 61% are very or extremely committed to content marketing, and 35% somewhat so.

When it comes to content marketing technology, 62% describe themselves at least moderately proficient, with 38% they are intermediate, 20% advanced and 4% expert.

In addition, the study found that: 68% are more successful with content marketing than they were one year ago, with 12% reporting serious gains.

The main challenge, cited by 74%, is coordinating content marketing efforts among multiple departments and brands. Second, specified by 60%, is siloization.

Only 26% of the firms in the sample have a centralized content group, and 14% have individual teams or each brand/product/department. In addition, 19% have a one-person team for the entire company.

Of those polled, 34% use account-based marketing (ABM), and 21% planned to do so by the end of 2018. If that proved true, 58% would have been using ABM by January.   

Here are the methods used for audience nurturing:

• Email/email campaigns — 86%
• Educational content — 70% 
• In-person events — 67%
• Clear calls to action or next steps — 47%
• Storytelling/relating to the audience — 41%
• Offers/incentives — 35%
• Community building/audience participation — 18% 
• Membership perks (9%) 
• Predictive technology — 9%
• Other methods — 3%