Commentary

B2B Block: Most Firms Aren't Monetizing Content, And Lack Management Tools

Content is apparently a loss leader in B2B companies. 

Only 10% monetize their content, while 77% do not and 13% are unsure, according to B2B Content Marketing, a study by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, sponsored by ON24.  

In addition, only 28% have the right technology in place to manage content across the organization. Another 31% have the technology but aren’t using it to its potential, and 30% lack it entirely. Another 11% are unsure.  

Despite all that, 71% say content marketing is more important than it was in the last year, and 25% feel it is about the same. Only 4% believe it is less important.  

Of firms that monetize their content, they do it in these ways:

  • Sponsorships/advertising — 52% 
  • Paid or premium content — 48% 
  • Affiliate relationships — 39%
  • Other — 16% 

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In addition, 40% have a documented content strategy in place, while 33% have one that is not documented. Another 20% plan to have a strategy in the next 12 months, and only 7% have no such plans. 

Of the most successful firms surveyed, 64% have a strategy in place. 

How successful are the respondents? They claim they are:

  • Extremely successful — 4% 
  • Very successful — 25% 
  • Moderately successful — 56%
  • Minimally successful — 14%
  • Not at all successful — 1% 

Email newsletters are among the top three channels for distributing B2B content.

Newsletters have been used by 69% of B2B marketers in the last 12 months, exceeded only by their company websites (90%) and blogs (76%).

Of those polled, 83% produce their newsletters entirely in-house, while 2% publish through a social platform and 15% do both.  

Email also is used in evaluating content performance. In the last 12 months, B2B firms have used these metrics: 

  • Website traffic — 86% 
  • Email engagement — 83% 
  • Website engagement — 83% 
  • Conversions — 79%
  • Social media analytics — 74%
  • Email subscriber numbers — 59% 
  • Search rankings — 59%
  • Quantity of leads — 57% 
  • Cost to acquire a lead, subscriber and/or customer — 45% 
  • Other — 2%

Overall, 81% measure content performance, while the remaining 19% do not.  

In general, the top metrics are:

  • Conversions — 70% 
  • Quality of leads — 60% 
  • Website engagement — 57% 
  • Website traffic — 49% 
  • Email engagement — 47% 
  • Search rankings — 41% 
  • Social media analytics — 37% 
  • Cost to acquire a lead, subscriber, and/or customer — 34%
  • Quantity of leads — 34% 
  • Email subscriber numbers — 22% 

As for technology, B2B organizations use these tech offerings to manage content, although few say they have the right ones: 

  • Analytics tools (e.g., web analytics, dashboards) — 84%
  • Social media publishing/analytics — 71% 
  • Email marketing software — 68% 
  • Content creation/calendaring/collaborations/workflow — 65% 
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) system — 51%
  • Content management system (CMS) — 50% 
  • Marketing automation system (MAS) — 32%
  • Sales enablement platform — 17% 
  • Digital asset management (DAM) system — 15% 
  • Content distribution platform — 14% 
  • Content performance/recommendation tools — 12%
  • Other — 2% 

What kind of content are firms producing? Here are the content assets B2B firms have created/used in the last 12 months:

  • Short articles (fewer than 1,500 words) — 89%
  • Videos (of any length/format) — 75% 
  • Case studies — 67% 
  • Virtual events/webinars/online courses — 62%
  • Infographics/charts/data viz/3D models — 61%
  • Long articles/posts (more than 1,500 words)—61%
  • E-books/white papers — 59% 
  • In-person events — 49%
  • Podcasts and audio content—33% 
  • Research reports — 30% 
  • Print magazines or books — 17%
  • Livestreaming content — 16%
  • Other — 8%

The list of content assets that produced the best results is slightly different: 

  • In-person events — 48%
  • Virtual events/webinars/online courses — 47% 
  • Research reports — 46% 
  • E-books/white papers — 43% 
  • Short articles/posts (fewer than 1,500 words) — 39% 
  • Case studies — 36% 
  • Videos (of any length format) — 36%
  • Long articles/posts (more than 1,500 words) — 32% 
  • Podcasts and other audio content — 21% 
  • Infographics/charts/data viz/3D models — 20% 
  • Livestreaming content — 19% 
  • Print magazines or books — 18% 

The Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs surveyed 1,104 B2B marketers worldwide.

 

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