b2b content marketing trends
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B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North AmericaTRANSCRIPT
B2B Content Marketing:2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America
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FOREWORD
Greetings Content Marketers,
Welcome to this year’s report on the content marketing practices of business-to-business (B2B) technology marketers in North America.
In this report, we highlight key areas of difference between the most effective technology marketers and their less effective peers. We also show some differences between those who have a documented content strategy and those who do not. For example:
The most effective technology marketers allocate more budget to content marketing when compared with the overall sample of technology marketers (35% vs. 28%)
Only 39% of technology marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing, however having a documented strategy dramatically increases confidence (62% of those with a strategy say they are effective)
Technology marketers use a good mix of tactics and continue to invest in content marketing, with 58% planning to increase spend over the next 12 months. We look forward to seeing how this continued investment pays off over the next year.
On with the content marketing revolution…
Joe PulizziFounderContent Marketing Institute
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2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
39% of technology marketers say they are effective at content marketing.
OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS
Confidence rises when a technology marketer has a documented content strategy (62% of those with a documented strategy say they are effective).
How Technology Marketers Rate the Effectiveness of
Their Organization’s Use of Content Marketing
8%31%
50%11%
1%
Very Effective
Not At All Effective
100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
54321
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2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
EFFECTIVENESS
Comparison of Most Effective Technology Marketers with Least Effective Technology Marketers
Most Effective Overall/Average Least Effective
75% 46% 10%
• “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”)
Has a documented content strategy
Has someone who oversees content marketing strategy
Average number of tactics used
Average number of social media platforms used
Percentage of marketing budget spent on content marketing
Plans to increase content marketing spend over next 12 months
Challenged with producing engaging content
Challenged with producing a variety of content
7 6 6
63% 58% 50%35% 28% 26%
31% 42% 47%
16 15 12
86% 73% 53%
46% 55% 73%
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46% of technology marketers have a documented content strategy.
Technology marketers who have a documented content strategy—when compared with those who do not—are more effective in all areas of content marketing and face fewer content marketing challenges.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Percentage of Technology Marketers Who Have a Documented
Content Strategy
46%
Yes46%
No
6%
Unsure
STRATEGY
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2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
STRATEGY
Comparison of Technology Marketers Who Have aDocumented Content Strategy with Those Who Do Not
DocumentedStrategy Overall/Average No Documented
Strategy
62% 39% 14%Considers organization to be effective at content marketing
Average number of tactics used
Average number of social media platforms used
Producing more content compared with one year ago
Percentage of marketing budget spent on content marketing
Plans to increase content marketing spend over next 12 months
Percentage that outsources content creation
Challenged with producing a variety of content
82% 78% 73%
63% 58% 57%31% 28% 25%
35% 42% 51%
7 6 6
16 15 13
63% 57% 49%
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73% of technology companies have someone in place who oversees content marketing strategy.
STRATEGY
86% of the most effective technology marketers say their company has someone in place who oversees content marketing strategy.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Percentage of Technology Organizations with Someone Who Oversees
Content Marketing Strategy
73%
Yes
23%
No
5%
Unsure
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78% of technology marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago.
CONTENT VOLUME
The most effective technology marketers are creating more content when compared with the overall sample (83% vs. 78%).
Technology marketers who don’t have a documented content strategy increased their content production by nearly as much as those who do have a strategy (73% vs. 82%).
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Change in Amount of Content Creation Among Technology Marketers
(Over Last 12 Months)
35%
SignificantlyMore
43%
More
19%
Same Amount
1%
Less
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2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
TACTIC USAGE
Technology marketers use an average of 15 content marketing tactics.
Content Marketing Usage Among Technology Marketers (by Tactic)
0
20
40
60
80
100
Socia
l Med
ia C
onte
nt - O
ther
Than
Blo
gs
Case
Stud
ies
Vide
os
Blog
s
In-p
erso
n Eve
nts
Artic
les o
n You
r Web
site
Web
inar
s/W
ebca
sts
eNew
slette
rs
Whi
te Pa
pers
Onlin
e Pre
sent
atio
ns
Rese
arch
Rep
orts
eBoo
ks
Info
grap
hics
Micr
osite
s
Bran
ded C
onte
nt To
ols
Book
s
Mobi
le C
onte
nt
Virtu
al C
onfe
renc
es
Mobi
le Ap
ps
Podc
asts
Prin
t New
slette
rs
Digi
tal M
agaz
ines
Licen
sed/
Synd
icate
d Con
tent
Gam
es/G
amific
ation
91%
84%
78%
Artic
les o
n Oth
er W
ebsit
es
75%
51%
45%43%
32%36%
32%
Annu
al R
epor
ts
28%30%
15%22% 10%
82%80%
86% 86%
80%
69%
40%
29% 29%
22%
85%
58%
Prin
t Mag
azin
es
The most effective technology marketers use all of the tactics shown here more frequently than their peers, especially:
Articles on other websites: 87% vs. 75% Online presentations: 79% vs. 69% Infographics: 71% vs. 58% Research reports: 63% vs. 51% eBooks: 60% vs. 45%
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TACTIC EFFECTIVENESS
Technology marketers say webinars and videos are the most effective tactics they use.
Social media content (other than blogs) is not one of the top 10 effective tactics (and is not shown on this chart); however, the most effective marketers gave it a much higher rating (64% vs. 46%).
Effectiveness Ratings of Tactics Among Technology Manufacturers Who Use Them
70% 30%32%
34%39%
42%44%
39%
44%
68%
66%61%61%
58%56%56%
Say It’s Effective* Say It’s Less Effective
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Webinars/Webcasts
Videos
In-Person Events
34%66% Case Studies
40%60%White Papers
Research Reports
eNewsletters
Infographics
eBooks
Blogs
* Percentage of respondents who rated these tactics as a 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
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SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
Nearly all technology marketers, regardless of company size or effectiveness, use LinkedIn to distribute content.
The most effective technology marketers use all of these platforms more frequently when compared with their peers.
Technology marketers cite LinkedIn as the social media platform they use most often to distribute content.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
0 20 40 60 80 100
97%92%
85%83%
60%
32%
19%
46%
17%16%
12%12%12%
25%Vimeo
StumbleUpon
TumblrFoursquare
YouTubeTwitterLinkedIn
Google+SlideShare
Flickr
Vine
Percentage of Technology Marketers Who Use Various Social Media
Platforms to Distribute Content
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SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVENESS
The most effective technology marketers have more confidence in all of these platforms, and they especially rate Twitter higher (70% vs. 55%).
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Although adoption rates for social media are high, technology marketers are unsure of its effectiveness.
Effectiveness Ratings of Social Media PlatformsAmong Technology Marketers Who Use Them
63% 37%45%48%
56%
55%52%
44%
Say It’s Effective* Say It’s Less Effective
YouTube
SlideShare
60%74%
40%26%
Vimeo
82%85%
18%15%
Google+
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
*Percentage of respondents who rated these tactics as a 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)
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ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
Whereas most other B2B marketers (across all industry segments) cite brand awareness as their top goal for content marketing, technology marketers cite lead generation.
The most effective technology marketers place higher emphasis on thought leadership when compared with the overall sample (81% vs. 75%).
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Technology marketers say lead generation is their top goal for content marketing.
Organizational Goals forContent Marketing(Technology Marketers)
100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Lead Generation
Brand Awareness
Customer Acquisition
Thought Leadership
Website Traffic
Lead Management/Nurturing
Engagement
Customer Retention/Loyalty
Sales
86%82%
77%75%
66%65%
63%58%
49%
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MEASUREMENT
Like most other B2B marketers (across all industry segments), technology marketers say Website traffic is their top goal.
Technology marketers cite Website traffic as their top metric for content marketing success.
Metrics for Content Marketing Success
(Technology Marketers)
100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Website Traffic 69%Sales Lead Quality 64%Sales Lead Quantity 63%Social Media Sharing 57%SEO Ranking 54%Inbound Links 42%Direct Sales 40%Time Spent on Website 40%Subscriber Growth 33%Qualitative Feedback from Customers 30%Benchmark Li� of Company Awareness 26%Benchmark Li� of Product/Service Awareness 22%
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
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BUDGET
The most effective technology marketers are more likely than their peers to say they will increase spend over the next 12 months (63% vs. 58%).
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
58% of technology marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months.
Content Marketing SpendingAmong Technology Marketers
(Over Next 12 Months)
10%
SignificantlyIncrease
48%
Increase29%
Remain theSame
10%
Unsure
2%
Decrease
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BUDGET
The most effective technology marketers allocate more budget to content marketing when compared with the overall sample (35% vs. 28%).
On average, technology marketers allocate 28% of their total budget to content marketing.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Percentage of Marketing Budget Spent on Content Marketing
(Technology Marketers)
5%10%
15%26%
14%9%
0%20%
0%
0 10 20 30
100%
75%-99%
50%-74%
25%-49%
10%-24%
5%-9%
1%-4%
0%
Unsure
Average Spent: 28%
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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING
Technology marketers who have a documented content strategy are more likely to outsource content creation when compared with the overall sample (63% vs. 57%).
57% of technology marketers outsource content creation.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Insourcing vs. Outsourcingof Content Creation(Technology Marketers)
In-house Only
Outsourced Only
Both
43%
1%56%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING
As is the case with other B2B marketers across all industry segments, writing and design are the top two functions that technology marketers outsource.
Writing and design are the functions that technology marketers are most likely to outsource.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Functions that TechnologyMarketers Outsource
74%51%
34%22%
9%7%
5%
Writing
Design
Content Distribution/Syndication
Editing
Buyer Persona Creation
Content Planning & Strategy
Measurement/Analytics
100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
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SEGMENTATION
The most effective technology marketers tailor content more frequently in each of these areas when compared with their peers.
Technology marketers tailor content most often by industry trends.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
How Technology MarketersTailor Content
63%58%
57%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Profile of Individual Decision Makers
69%Industry Trends
Company Characteristics
5%None
Stage in the Buying Cycle
12%Competitors’ Content
12%Personalized Content Preferences
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CHALLENGES
72% of the most effective technology marketers are challenged with a lack of time; however, they are less challenged in all other areas shown here, especially with producing engaging content (46% vs. 55%) and producing a variety of content (31% vs. 42%).
Time and content production issues top the list ofchallenges that technology marketers face.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Challenges thatTechnology Marketers Face
Lack of Time
Producing Enough Content
Producing the Kind of Content that Engages
Producing a Variety of Content
Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness
Lack of Budget
Inability to Collect Information from SMEs
Lack of Integration Across Marketing
Lack of Knowledge and Training
Lack of Buy-in/Vision
Lack of Integration Across HR
Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals
69%58%
55%42%
40%40%
32%28%
23%22%
17%13%
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CHALLENGES
The most effective technology marketers are more likely than their peers to say that lack of time is their biggest challenge (35% vs. 25%).
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America:Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
7%
6%5%
3%
100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Biggest Content Marketing Challenge for
Technology MarketersLack of Time
Producing the Kind of Content that Engages
Producing Enough Content
Lack of Budget
Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness
Lack of Buy-in/Vision
Inability to Collect Information from SMEs
Lack of Integration Across Marketing
Producing a Variety of Content
7%
14%13%
25%
10%
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DEMOGRAPHICS
B2B Technology Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends–North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and sponsored by International Data Group (IDG). It is based on the responses of a subset of 270 business-to-business (B2B) technology marketers located in North America who replied to the fourth annual Content Marketing Survey.
Sections of this report compare the technology respondents with the overall sample of 1,217 B2B marketers in North America, whose responses were previously reported on in the CMI/MarketingProfs study, B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America.
The fourth annual Content Marketing Survey was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers using lists from CMI, 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.
2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Size of B2BTechnology Company
(by Employees)
Micro(Fewer than
10 Employees)
15%
Small(10-99 Employees)
35%Midsize(100-999
Employees)
29%
Large(1,000+ Employees)
22%
B2B TechnologyJob Title/Function
7%General
Management
Marketing/Advertising/
Communications/PR Management
56%
Marketing Administration/
Support11%
7% 4%Content Creation/
Management Other
Corporate Management/Owner
15%
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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. Learn how to create a documented content marketing strategy, a key component for improving overall content marketing effectiveness.
About International Data Group (IDG):International Data Group (IDG™) is the world’s leading technology media, events, and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries.
IDG Communications’ global media brands include ChannelWorld®, CIO®, CITEworld, CSO®, Computerworld®, GamePro®, InfoWorld®, ITworld®, Macworld®, Network World®, PCWorld®, TechHive® and TechWorld®.
International Data Corporation (IDC), a subsidiary of IDG, has more than 1,000 analysts who provide expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries.
Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.
To learn more, attend a full-dayTechnology/Software Industry Lab
at Content Marketing World on September 11, 2014.