B2B Content Marketing 2014
Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends–North America
SponSored by VIEW & SHARE
Overview: The State 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!
Joe Pulizzi
Founder Content Marketing Institute
Ann Handley Chief Content Officer MarketingProfs
SponSored by
2
VIEW & SHARE
USAGE
93% of B2B marketers use content marketing. Percentage of B2B Marketers Using Content Marketing
7%
do not use content marketing
î‚Š Last year, 91% of B2B marketers said they used content marketing.
93% use content marketing
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
3
VIEW & SHARE
OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS
42% of B2B marketers say they are effective at content marketing. How B2B Marketers Rate the Effectiveness of Their Organization’s Use of Content Marketing
5 4 3
Very Effective
9% 33% 41%
Last year, 36% of B2B marketers said they were effective at content marketing.
14%
2 1
Not At All Effective 0
10 20 30
2%
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
4
VIEW & SHARE
OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS
Profile of a best-in-class B2B content marketer. Comparison of Most Effective B2B Content Marketers with Least Effective B2B Content Marketers Most Effective
Overall/Average
Least Effective
Has a documented content strategy
66%
44%
11%
Has someone who oversees content marketing strategy
86%
73%
46%
15
13
10
Average number of social media platforms used
7
6
4
Percent of marketing budget spent on content marketing
39%
30%
16%
Challenged with producing engaging content
35%
47%
61%
Average number of tactics used
• “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 SponSored by
5
VIEW & SHARE
STRATEGY
44% of B2B marketers have a documented content strategy.
Percentage of B2B Marketers Who Have a Documented Content Strategy
6%
B2B marketers who have a documented content strategy are far more likely to consider themselves effective (66% vs. 11%).
Unsure
49%
44% Yes
48% of smaller B2B organizations (10-99 employees) have a documented content strategy, compared with 41% of large organizations (1,000+ employees).
No
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
6
VIEW & SHARE
STRATEGY
73% of B2B organizations have someone in place to oversee content marketing strategy. Percentage of B2B Marketers with Someone Who Oversees Content Marketing Strategy
5% Unsure
22% No
73% Yes
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%).
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
7
VIEW & SHARE
CONTENT VOLUME
73% of B2B content marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago. Change in Amount of B2B Content Creation (Over Last 12 Months)
2% Unsure 5% Less
20% Same Amount
32% Significantly More
41% More
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%).
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
8
VIEW & SHARE
TACTIC USAGE
B2B marketers use an average of 13 content marketing tactics. B2B Content Marketing Usage
100
(by Tactic)
87% 81%80%
80
Tactic usage has remained relatively consistent when compared with last year.
76% 76%
73% 73%
68% 64% 63% 62%
60
51%
35% 34%
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
9
VIEW & SHARE
Games/Gamification
Print Newsletters
Annual Reports
25%24% 22% 10% Virtual Conferences
26%
Licensed/Syndicated Content
25%
27%
Podcasts
Mobile Apps
Books
eBooks
Print Magazines
Mobile Content
Branded Content Tools
Microsites
Research Reports
Infographics
Webinars/Webcasts
Online Presentations
30%28%
White Papers
Articles on Other Websites
Videos
Case Studies
In-person Events
Blogs
eNewsletters
0
Articles on Your Website
20
Social Media – Other than Blogs
40
Digital Magazines
44% 40% % % 38 38
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.
SponSored by
TACTIC EFFECTIVENESS
B2B content marketers have increasing confidence with most tactics. Confidence Gap
Effectiveness Ratings of Tactics Among B2B Users Believe It’s Effective
70% 65% 63% 63% 62% 60% 59% 59% 58% 57%
Believe It’s Less Effective
In-person Events Case Studies Videos Webinars/Webcasts Blogs eNewsletters Research Reports White Papers Articles on Your Website eBooks
30% 35% 37% 37% 38% 40% 41% 41%
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.
42% 43%
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
10
VIEW & SHARE
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
B2B marketers are using social media more frequently than last year. B2B LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+ SlideShare Pinterest Instagram 22% Vimeo 22% Flickr 16%
40% 34%
55%
91% 85% 81% 73%
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.
15% StumbleUpon 14% Foursquare 14% Tumblr 14% Vine
0
20
40
B2B content marketers use an average of 6 social media platforms, up from 5 last year.
60
80
100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
11
VIEW & SHARE
SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVENESS
Although adoption rates for social media are high, B2B marketers are unsure of its effectiveness. Confidence Gap
Effectiveness Ratings of Social Media Platforms Among B2B Users Believe It’s Effective
62% 50%
Believe It’s Less Effective
LinkedIn Twitter
YouTube 48% 45% SlideShare Vimeo 40% 30% Facebook 26% Pinterest 23% Instagram 22% Vine
21%
Google+
38% 50% 52% 55% 60% 70% 74%
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.
77% 78% 79%
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
12
VIEW & SHARE
ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
Brand awareness continues to be the top organizational goal for B2B content marketing. Organizational Goals for B2B Content Marketing 82% Lead Generation 74% Customer Acquisition 71% Thought Leadership 68% Engagement 64% Customer Retention/Loyalty 57% Website Traffic 57% Lead Management/Nurturing 47% Sales 45% Brand Awareness
0
10 20 30
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.
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
13
VIEW & SHARE
MEASUREMENT
B2B marketers have cited Web traffic and sales lead quality as their top content marketing metrics for the last three years. Metrics for B2B Content Marketing Success 63% Sales Lead Quality 54% Social Media Sharing 50% Sales Lead Quantity 48% SEO Ranking 44% Time Spent on Website 40% Direct Sales 39% Web Traffic
Qualitative Feedback from Customers
34% Subscriber Growth 32%
39%
Inbound Links
Benchmark Lift of Company Awareness 29% Benchmark Lift of Product/Service Awareness Increased Customer Loyalty
14% Cost Savings 6%
21%
24%
Cross-selling
0
10 20 30
VIEW & SHARE
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.
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
14
SponSored by
BUDGET
58% of B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months. B2B Content Marketing Spending (Over Next 12 Months)
1% Decrease
10% Significantly 8% Unsure
Increase
48% Increase
32% Remain the Same
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.
More small companies (10-99 employees) than large companies (1,000+ employees) plan to increase their content marketing budgets over the next 12 months (60% vs. 52%).
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
15
VIEW & SHARE
BUDGET
On average, 30% of B2B marketing budgets are allocated to content marketing. Percent of Total Marketing Budget Spent on B2B Content Marketing 2% 5% 11% 15%
100% 75%-99% 50%-74% 25%-49% 10%-24% 5%-9% 1%-4%
2%
0%
12% 11%
21%
The most effective B2B marketers spend a higher percentage (39%) of their budgets on content marketing than their least effective peers do (16%).
20%
Unsure 0
The average amount allocated to B2B content marketing rose from 26% in 2012 to 33% in 2013, and has now settled firmly in between.
10
20
30
Average Spent: 30% 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
16
VIEW & SHARE
INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING
Large B2B companies outsource content creation more frequently than small companies. Insourcing vs. Outsourcing of B2B Content Creation Overall/Average
Large Companies (1,000+ Employees)
Small Companies (10-99 Employees)
In-house Only
56%
28%
66%
Outsourced Only
1%
1%
1%
Both
43%
72%
33%
There has been no change from last year in how much content B2B marketers 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.
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
17
VIEW & SHARE
INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING
Writing and design are the two functions most likely to be outsourced. Functions that B2B Marketers Outsource 64% 54%
Writing Design
Content Distribution/Syndication 30% Editing
22%
Measurement/Analytics 13%
Content Planning & Strategy 8% Buyer Persona Creation 5% 0
10 20 30
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends窶年orth America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
18
VIEW & SHARE
SEGMENTATION
B2B marketers most often tailor content based on industry trends. How B2B Organizations Tailor Content 65%
Industry Trends Company Characteristics
43%
Stage in the Buying Cycle Personalized Content Preferences Competitors’ Content None
0
4% 10
20
The most effective B2B marketers tailor content more often by every category listed here.
59%
Profile of Individual Decision Makers
Nearly all (95%) B2B marketers segment their content in at least one way.
55%
21%
11% 30
40
50
60
70
80
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
SponSored by
19
VIEW & SHARE
CHALLENGES
Challenges have remained fairly consistent year over year. Challenges that B2B Content Marketers Face 69% Producing Enough Content 55% Lack of Time
Producing the Kind of Content that Engages Lack of Budget
39%
Producing a Variety of Content
47%
38%
33% Lack of Integration Across Marketing 26% Inability to Collect Information from SMEs 25% Lack of Knowledge and Training 25% Lack of Buy-in/Vision 23% Lack of Integration Across HR 15% Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals 10% Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness
0
10 20 30
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.
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
20
VIEW & SHARE
CHALLENGES
Marketers at large companies face different challenges than marketers at small companies. Biggest B2B Content Marketing Challenge (by Company Size) Large Companies
Small Companies
Producing the Kind of Content that Engages
16%
8%
Lack of Integration Across Marketing
15%
1%
Lack of Budget
13%
9%
Lack of Time
13%
34%
Lack of Buy-in/Vision
11%
8%
Inability to Collect Information from SMEs
7%
5%
Producing Enough Content
5%
13%
Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness
4%
6%
Lack of Knowledge and Training
4%
2%
Producing a Variety of Content
2%
3%
Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals
1%
2%
Lack of Integration Across HR
1%
2%
(1,000+ Employees)
(10-99 Employees)
2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends窶年orth America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SponSored by
21
VIEW & SHARE
B2B Content Marketing: 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 Banking/Accounting/ Financial
3%
Other
Advertising/ Marketing
18%
27%
Healthcare/Medical/ Pharmaceutical
4%
Software
Business Services (Other)
Consulting
5%
11%
Manufacturing
Publishing/ Media
5%
10%
Internet/Online Services
5%
12%
Size of B2B Company (by Employees)
Large
(1,000+ Employees)
19%
Midsize
Micro
(Fewer than 10 Employees)
B2B Job Title/Function Advertising/Marketing Communications/PR
40%
30%
(100-999 Employees)
22%
Small
(10-99 Employees)
31%
Corporate Management/Owner
25%
Content Creation/ Management
9%
Other
5%
Marketing Administration/ Sales/Business Support Management General Consultant Management
4%
4%
6%
7%
SponSored by
22
VIEW & SHARE
About Content Marketing 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.
SponSored by
23
VIEW & SHARE