As a person who works primarily with words, it’s amazing how the numbers recently released on B2B content marketing have impacted me. I find the some of the statistics collected by the Content Marketing Institute both surprising and promising.
The gaps these facts expose underscore that companies are finally understanding the value of B2B marketing through content, but don’t yet know how to execute efficiently or measure success. The survey results point to a big picture that I’ll paint like this:
:: People now comprehend what content marketing is but are unclear about how to define or analyze their efforts
:: Businesses have some taken some initial, yet often undocumented, steps toward establishing long-term content marketing strategies
:: Companies continue to struggle with finding resources, managing output and measuring the effectiveness of content
:: B2B marketers know they have to keep producing helpful content, but they need more helpful people and tools to do that job better
72%
of B2B marketers continue to be heavily focused on creating engaging content, citing it as the top priority for their internal content creators over the next year.
30%
of B2B marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing. Last year that number was 8% higher.
44%
of B2B marketers say their organization is clear on what content marketing success or effectiveness looks like; however the majority are unclear or unsure.
32%
of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy (even though research consistently shows that those who document their strategy are more effective in nearly all areas of content marketing).
28%
of B2B marketers’ total marketing budget, on average, is going to content marketing. The most effective allocate 42%, and the most sophisticated/mature allocate 46%.
Clearly, these statistics show a massive gap between the decisive need to produce engaging content—to build loyalty, show thought leadership, improve website traffic, garner new sales leads and convert more deals—and the capacity to accomplish that effectively. The missing piece may be a content-marketing partner who can execute on both fronts: planning, producing and powering content, but also guiding companies in understanding how to measure success.