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B2B Content Marketing 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs
The document summarizes key findings from a report on content marketing trends among B2B marketers in North America in 2014. Some of the main findings include: - 42% of B2B marketers consider themselves effective at content marketing, up from 36% the previous year. Having a documented content strategy and person overseeing strategy are linked to increased effectiveness. - Common goals of B2B content include brand awareness, lead generation, and customer acquisition. The most effective marketers prioritize lead generation more. - Popular tactics include social media, articles, blogs, videos and more. Best-in-class marketers rate blogs as most effective while others rate in-person events highest.
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B2B Content Marketing 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs
- 1. Content Marketing SponSored by B2B Benchmarks,Budgets, and Trends–North America2014
- 2. 2 SponSored by Overview: TheState of B2B Content Marketing IN NORTH AMERICA Greetings Content Marketers, We have good news to report! B2B content marketers in North America are making strides: 42% consider themselves effective, up from 36% last year. Moreover, we also can begin to understand why marketers are feeling more confident: For the first time, we asked marketers whether they have a documented content strategy (44% do) and a person who oversees content marketing strategy (73% do). Our findings tell us that there are distinct differences between those who have a strategy and those who do not. Marketers who do are not only more effective but also less challenged with every aspect of content marketing. Even though we’ve made great strides, the industry is clearly still in the early adoption phase. However, some marketers are seeing substantial success. Read on to find out what a best-in-class content marketer does differently and delve into many other findings as well. On with the content marketing revolution! Ann Handley Chief Content Officer MarketingProfs Joe Pulizzi Founder Content Marketing Institute
- 3. 3 SponSored by Percentage ofB2B Marketers Using Content Marketing 93%use content marketing 7%do not use content marketing 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs 93% of B2B marketers use content marketing. USAGE Last year, 91% of B2B marketers said they used content marketing.
- 4. 4 SponSored by 42% ofB2B marketers say they are effective at content marketing. Last year, 36% of B2B marketers said they were effective at content marketing. OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS How B2B Marketers Rate the Effectiveness of Their Organization’s Use of Content Marketing 9% 33% 41% 14% 2% Very Effective Not At All Effective 100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 5 4 3 2 1 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 5. 5 SponSored by Profile ofa best-in-class B2B content marketer. OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS Comparison of Most Effective B2B ContentMarketers with Least Effective B2B ContentMarketers Hasadocumentedcontentstrategy Hassomeonewhooversees contentmarketingstrategy Averagenumberoftacticsused Averagenumberof socialmediaplatformsused Percentofmarketingbudget spentoncontentmarketing Challengedwithproducing engagingcontent MostEffective Overall/Average LeastEffective 66% 44% 11% 86% 73% 46% 15 13 10 7 6 4 39% 30% 16% 35% 47% 61% • “Most Effective” = Respondents who rated their organization’s use of content marketing as 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”) • “Least Effective” = Respondents who rated their organization’s use of content marketing as 1 or 2 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “Not At All Effective”) 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 6. 6 SponSored by 44% ofB2B marketers have a documented content strategy. B2B marketers who have a documented content strategy are far more likely to consider themselves effective (66% vs. 11%). 48% of smaller B2B organizations (10-99 employees) have a documented content strategy, compared with 41% of large organizations (1,000+ employees). STRATEGY Percentage of B2B Marketers Who Have a Documented Content Strategy 44%Yes 49%No 6%Unsure 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 7. 7 SponSored by 73% ofB2B organizations have someone in place to oversee content marketing strategy. The majority of the most effective B2B marketers (86%) have someone who oversees content marketing strategy; however, only 46% of less effective marketers do. Small companies (10-99 employees) are more likely than large companies (1,000+ employees) to have someone who oversees content marketing strategy (78% vs. 58%). STRATEGY Percentage of B2B Marketers with Someone Who Oversees Content Marketing Strategy 73%Yes 22%No 5%Unsure 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 8. 8 SponSored by 73% ofB2B content marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago. 78% of the most effective B2B marketers are creating more content than they did one year ago, compared with 57% of their least effective peers. B2B marketers who have a documented content strategy are creating more content than they did one year ago, compared with those who do not have a documented strategy (80% vs. 66%). CONTENT VOLUME Change in Amount of B2B Content Creation (Over Last 12 Months) 32%Significantly More 41%More 20%Same Amount 5%Less 2%Unsure 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 9. 9 SponSored by B2B marketersuse an average of 13 content marketing tactics. Tactic usage has remained relatively consistent when compared with last year. Infographics has seen the largest year-over- year increase in usage. Last year, 38% of B2B marketers were using infographics, compared with 51% this year. TACTIC USAGE B2B Content Marketing Usage (by Tactic) 0 20 40 60 80 100 SocialMedia–OtherthanBlogs ArticlesonYourWebsite eNewsletters Blogs CaseStudies Videos ArticlesonOtherWebsites In-personEvents WhitePapers Webinars/Webcasts ResearchReports Microsites Infographics BrandedContentTools MobileContent eBooks PrintMagazines Books Podcasts MobileApps DigitalMagazines PrintNewsletters AnnualReports Licensed/SyndicatedContent Games/Gamification 87% 76% 76% 64% OnlinePresentations 63% 44% 40% 51% 38% 34%35% 30% VirtualConferences 25% 28% 22% 24% 10% 73% 73% 81% 80% 68% 62% 38% 27% 26% 25% 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 10. 10 SponSored by B2B contentmarketers have increasing confidence with most tactics. For the fourth year in a row, B2B marketers overall have rated in-person events as the most effective tactic they use. Best-in-class B2B marketers, however, rate blogs as the most effective tactic (79%), which surpasses how they rate in-person events (76%); only 29% of their least effective peers rate blogs as effective. TACTIC EFFECTIVENESS Confidence Gap Effectiveness Ratings of Tactics Among B2B Users 70% 30% 35% 37% 38% 41% 41% 40% 42% 43% 65% 63% 62% 60% 59% 59% 58% 57% BelieveIt’sEffective BelieveIt’sLessEffective 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 In-personEvents CaseStudies Webinars/Webcasts 37%63% Videos Blogs eNewsletters ResearchReports WhitePapers eBooks ArticlesonYourWebsite 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 11. 11 SponSored by B2B marketersare using social media more frequently than last year. B2B content marketers use an average of 6 social media platforms, up from 5 last year. B2B content marketers are using every social media platform listed here more often than they did last year. Social media platforms that had the biggest increase in use from last year to this year are SlideShare, Google+, and Instagram. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE 0 20 40 60 80 100 91% 85% 81% 73% 55% 34% 22% 40% 16% 15% 14% 22% 14% LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+ Pinterest SlideShare Vimeo Flickr StumbleUpon Foursquare Instagram Tumblr 14% Vine B2B 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 12. 12 SponSored by Although adoptionrates for social media are high, B2B marketers are unsure of its effectiveness. After LinkedIn, large companies (1,000+ employees) consider YouTube to be second most effective, whereas small companies (10-99 employees) say SlideShare and Twitter are second most effective. 49% of small companies consider SlideShare effective, compared with 38% of large companies. SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVENESS Confidence Gap Effectiveness Ratings of Social Media Platforms Among B2B Users 62% 38% 50% 52% 55% 70% 74% 60% 77% 78% 79% 50% 48% 45% 40% 30% 26% 23% 22% 21% BelieveIt’sEffective BelieveIt’sLessEffective 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 LinkedIn Twitter YouTube SlideShare Vimeo Facebook Pinterest Vine Google+ Instagram 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 13. 13 SponSored by Brand awarenesscontinues to be the top organizational goal for B2B content marketing. B2B marketers have consistently cited brand awareness as their top goal for the last four years. 80% of the most effective B2B content marketers cite lead generation as a goal, compared with 64% of their least effective peers. ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS Organizational Goals for B2B Content Marketing 82% 74% 71% 57% 68% 64% 57% 47% 45% BrandAwareness LeadGeneration CustomerAcquisition CustomerRetention/Loyalty ThoughtLeadership Engagement WebsiteTraffic Sales Lead Management/Nurturing 100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 14. 14 SponSored by B2B marketershave cited Web traffic and sales lead quality as their top content marketing metrics for the last three years. B2B marketers cited each of these criterion a bit more frequently than they did last year, with the exception of direct sales, qualitative feedback from customers, inbound links, and increased customer loyalty, all of which decreased slightly. Subscriber growth was a new option. The least effective B2B marketers place more importance on direct sales, citing it as their fourth top criterion (tied with social media sharing). The most effective marketers rank direct sales as their eighth most important criterion. Over the last four years, direct sales has consistently gone down in importance as a measurement criterion. MEASUREMENT 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs Metrics for B2B Content Marketing Success 54% 50% 48% 39% 39% 44% 40% 34% 29% 21% 24% 14% 6% 63% 100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 WebTraffic SalesLeadQuality SocialMediaSharing SalesLead Quantity DirectSales SEORanking InboundLinks 32%SubscriberGrowth Cross-selling CostSavings BenchmarkLiftofCompanyAwareness IncreasedCustomerLoyalty BenchmarkLiftofProduct/ServiceAwareness Time Spenton Website Qualitative Feedback from Customers
- 15. 15 SponSored by 58% ofB2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months. More B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budgets this year, compared with last year (54%). All B2B marketers plan to increase content marketing spending at similar rates, even those who rate themselves as least effective. Moresmallcompanies(10-99employees) thanlargecompanies(1,000+employees) plan to increase their content marketing budgets over the next 12 months (60% vs. 52%). BUDGET B2B Content Marketing Spending (Over Next 12 Months) 10%Significantly Increase 48%Increase 32%Remain the Same 8%Unsure 1%Decrease 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 16. 16 SponSored by On average,30% of B2B marketing budgets are allocated to content marketing. The average amount allocated to B2B content marketing rose from 26% in 2012 to 33% in 2013, and has now settled firmly in between. The most effective B2B marketers spend a higher percentage (39%) of their budgets on content marketing than their least effective peers do (16%). BUDGET Percent of Total Marketing Budget Spent on B2B Content Marketing 5% 11% 15% 21% 12% 11% 2% 20% 2% 0 10 20 30 100% 75%-99% 50%-74% 25%-49% 10%-24% 5%-9% 1%-4% 0% Unsure Average Spent: 30% 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 17. 17 SponSored by Large B2Bcompanies outsource content creation more frequently than small companies. There has been no change from last yearinhowmuchcontentB2Bmarketers create in-house and how much they outsource. There are no real differences between how much content the most effective and the least effective B2B marketers outsource. INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING Insourcing vs. Outsourcing of B2B Content Creation In-houseOnly OutsourcedOnly Both Overall/Average LargeCompanies (1,000+Employees) SmallCompanies (10-99Employees) 56% 28% 66% 1% 1% 1% 43% 72% 33% 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 18. 18 SponSored by Writing anddesign are the two functions most likely to be outsourced. INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING Functionsthat B2B Marketers Outsource 64% 54% 30% 22% 13% 8% 5% Writing Design ContentDistribution/Syndication Editing Measurement/Analytics ContentPlanning&Strategy BuyerPersonaCreation 100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 19. 19 SponSored by B2B marketersmost often tailor content based on industry trends. Nearly all (95%) B2B marketers segment their content in at least one way. The most effective B2B marketers tailor content more often by every category listed here. SEGMENTATION How B2B Organizations Tailor Content 59% 55% 43% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 ProfileofIndividualDecisionMakers 65%IndustryTrends CompanyCharacteristics 4%None StageintheBuyingCycle 11%Competitors’Content 21%PersonalizedContentPreferences 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 20. 20 SponSored by Challenges haveremained fairly consistent year over year. Aside from lack of time, B2B marketers consistently cite producing enough content and producing the kind of content that engages as their top challenges. Challenges are fairly similar to those of years past; however, B2B marketers are gaining strides in their ability to produce a variety of content. CHALLENGES Challengesthat B2B Content Marketers Face 69% 55% 47% 39% 38% 33% 26% 25% 25% 23% 10% 15% LackofTime ProducingEnoughContent ProducingtheKindofContentthatEngages LackofBudget ProducingaVarietyofContent InabilitytoMeasureContentEffectiveness LackofIntegrationAcrossMarketing InabilitytoCollectInformationfromSMEs LackofKnowledgeandTraining LackofBuy-in/Vision LackofIntegrationAcrossHR FindingTrainedContentMarketingProfessionals 100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 21. 21 SponSored by Marketers atlarge companies face different challenges than marketers at small companies. CHALLENGES Biggest B2B Content Marketing Challenge (by Company Size) LargeCompanies (1,000+Employees) SmallCompanies (10-99Employees) 16% 15% 13% 11% 7% 5% 4% 4% 2% 1% 1% 8% 1% 9% 8% 13% 34% 5% 13% 6% 2% 3% 2% 2% ProducingtheKindof ContentthatEngages LackofIntegration AcrossMarketing LackofBudget LackofTime LackofBuy-in/Vision InabilitytoCollectInformation fromSMEs ProducingEnoughContent InabilitytoMeasure ContentEffectiveness LackofKnowledgeandTraining ProducingaVarietyofContent FindingTrained ContentMarketingProfessionals LackofIntegrationAcrossHR 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
- 22. 22 SponSored by B2B ContentMarketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs and sponsored by Brightcove. The fourth annual Content Marketing Survey, from which the results of this report were generated, was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers using lists from Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs, Brightcove, Blackbaud, King Content, The Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising (ADMA), the Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA), Industry Week, and New Equipment Digest. A total of 4,397 recipients from around the globe—representing a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes—responded throughout July and August 2013. B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America reports on the findings from 1,217 (out of the total 4,397) respondents who identified themselves as B2B marketers in North America. B2B Industry Classification Advertising/ Marketing 27% Other 18% Consulting Software Manufacturing Internet/Online Services Publishing/ Media 11% 12% 10% 5% 5% 5% 4% 3% Business Services (Other) Healthcare/Medical/ Pharmaceutical Banking/Accounting/ Financial Size of B2B Company (by Employees) Micro (Fewer than 10 Employees) 30% Small (10-99 Employees) 31% Midsize (100-999 Employees) Large (1,000+ Employees) 22% 19% B2B Job Title/Function 7% 6% 4% 4% Sales/Business Management Consultant Advertising/Marketing Communications/PR 40% Corporate Management/Owner 25% 9% Content Creation/ Management Marketing Administration/ Support General Management Other 5%
- 23. 23 SponSored by About ContentMarketing Institute: Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is the leading global content marketing education and training organization. CMI teaches enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September, and Content Marketing World Sydney, every March. CMI also produces the quarterly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a 2012 and 2013 Inc. 500 company. View all original CMI research at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research. About MarketingProfs: MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs.com) is a marketing education and training company that offers actionable know-how designed to make you a smarter marketer. More than 600,000 MarketingProfs members rely on our free daily publications, virtual conferences, and more to stay up-to-date on the most important trends in marketing—and how to apply them to their businesses. About Brightcove: Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV), a leading global provider of cloud services for video, offers a family of products used to revolutionize the way organizations deliver video experiences. The company’s products include Video Cloud, the market-leading online video platform and Zencoder, a leading cloud-based media processing service and HTML5 video player technology. Brightcove has more than 6,300 customers in over 65 countries that rely on Brightcove cloud content services to build and operate video experiences across PCs, smartphones, tablets, and connected TVs. For more information, visit http://www.brightcove.com.