online mkt for software_research_2013_cmi1.pdf

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B2B Software Content Marketing:2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends North America
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FOREWORD

Hello Soware Marketers!

Welcome to B2B SowareContent Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and TrendsNorth America.

When we recently surveyed 1,416 business-to-business (B2B) marketers from North America (United States and Canada) representing a

full range of industries, we found that in many ways, soware companies have adopted content marketing with more gusto than their B2B

peers overall.* For instance, 99% of soware marketers use content marketing, they use more content marketing tactics than their peers,

and they use those tactics with greater frequency, indicating their willingness to try dierent things.

Here are some other key ndings:

On average, soware marketers allocate 29% of their total budget to content marketing.53% say they will increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months.Soware marketers cite lead generation as their top goal and put more emphasis on thought leadership than other B2B marketers do.Like their B2B peers overall, soware marketers are challenged with eectiveness: just 38% believe they are eective at content marketing.

However, they are no less challenged with lack of budget and executive buy-in than their B2B peers overall and yet they have the highest

adoption rate of content marketing which indicates that soware marketers are especially resourceful. Over time, we expect their

condence in their eectiveness to grow with more experience.

On with the content marketing revolution

Joe PulizziFounder

Content Marketing Institute

*See page 19 for study demographics.
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2013 B2B Soware Content Marketing TrendsNorth America:

Content Marketing Institute/International Data Group

99% of soware marketers use content marketing.

OVERVIEW

Percentage of Soware MarketersUsing Content Marketing

99%use contentmarketing

1%do notuse content

marketing
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Soware marketers use an average of14 content marketing tactics.

CONTENT MARKETING BY TACTIC

Number of Tactics Soware Marketers Use

13%

21%

23%

22%

15%

0 10 20 30 40

3%

20+ Tactics

16-19 Tactics

13-15 Tactics

10-12 Tactics

5-9 Tactics

1-4 Tactics Average: 14

Soware marketers use more tacticsthan their B2B peers, who use anaverage of 12.




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2013 B2B Soware Content Marketing TrendsNorth America: Content Marketing Institute/International Data Group

CONTENT MARKETING BY TACTIC

ArticlesonYourWebs

ite

83%

Content Marketing Among Soware Marketers

(by Tactic)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Videos

Webinars/Webcasts

CaseStudies

WhitePapers

ResearchReports

In-personEvents

ArticlesonOtherWebsites

Microsites

BrandedContentToo

ls

Infographics

VirtualConferences

eBooks

Licensed/Syndicated

Content

Podcasts

Books

MobileContent

PrintMagazines

MobileApps

PrintNewsletters

DigitalMagazines

Games/Gamification

87%

SocialMedia

OtherthanBlogs

93%

88%

86%

eNewsletters

82%80%

85%

79%

72%

60%

47%45%

51%

33%36%34%

29% 29%32%

28%28%

23%

AnnualReports

16%

22%10%

Blogs

Social media (other than blogs) isthe most popular tactic amongsoware marketers (93%) and theirB2B peers (87%).

Soware marketers use all but one ofthe top 15 tactics shown here moreoen than their B2B peers. Theexception is articles on your website,which 83% of both groups report using.


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TACTIC EFFECTIVENESS

While B2B marketers overall considerin-person events to be the most eectivecontent marketing tactic (67%), sowaremarketers say they get better results withwebinars than their peers do (71% vs. 61%).

Soware marketers consider these tacticsless eective than their B2B peers do: videos(50% vs. 58%), social media (39% vs. 49%),and articles on other websites (36% vs. 50%).

Soware marketers consider these tacticsmore eective than their B2B peers do: white

papers (65% vs. 57%), research reports (63%vs. 57%), ebooks (60% vs. 55%), andmicrosites (57% vs. 50%).

Confidence GapEffectiveness Ratings of Tactics Among

Soware Marketers

71%

65%

65%

63%

63%

60%

58%

57%

54%

53%

51%

29%

35%

35%

37%

37%

40%

42%

43%

46%

47%

49%

Believe Its Effective Believe Its Less Effective

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Webinars/Webcasts

Case Studies

White Papers

Research Reports

eBooks

In-person Events

Blogs

Microsites

eNewsletters

Articles on Your Website

Videos




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SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

89%

87%

82%

69%

21%

33%

6%

29%

16%

3%

6%

3%

6%

7%

Twitter

LinkedIn

Facebook

YouTube

Pinterest

Google+

SlideShare

Flickr

Vimeo

Tumblr

Instagram

Foursquare

StumbleUpon

Quora

Percentage of Soware Marketers WhoUse Various Social Media Platforms

to Distribute Content

0 20 40 60 80 100

Soware marketers, like their B2Bpeers, use an average of ve socialmedia platforms to distribute content.

Soware marketers use theseplatforms more oen than their B2Bpeers do: Twitter (89% vs. 80%),LinkedIn (87% vs. 83%), Facebook(82% vs. 80%), YouTube (69% vs. 61%),and SlideShare (29% vs. 23%).

Soware marketers use theseplatforms less oen than their

B2B peers do: Google+ (33% vs. 39%)and Pinterest (21% vs. 26%).




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Soware marketers cite lead generation as theirtop goal for content marketing.

ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS FOR CONTENT MARKETING

The following goals are moreimportant to soware marketers thanthey are to their B2B peers:

Lead generation (82% vs. 71%)

Thought leadership (79% vs. 64%)

Lead management/nurturing(66% vs. 45%)

Thought leadership is an importantgoal even for soware marketerswho rate themselves as least eectiveat content marketing, with 82% of thatgroup citing it as a top goal.

Organizational Goals forContent Marketing

(Soware Companies)

82%

80%

79%

78%

66%

64%

63%

58%

50%

Lead Generation

Brand Awareness

Thought Leadership

Customer Acquisition

Lead Management/Nurturing

Website Traffic

Engagement

Sales

Customer Retention/Loyalty

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100




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2013 B2B Soware Content Marketing TrendsNorth America


MEASUREMENT CRITERIA FOR CONTENT MARKETING SUCCESS

Soware marketers most oen usesales lead quality to measure success,whereas their B2B peers most oenuse website traic.

Soware marketers most oen use sales lead qualityto measure content marketing success.

Measurement Criteria forContent Marketing Success

(Soware Companies)

69%

63%

60%

45%

43%

42%

37%

36%

36%

23%

21%

20%

9%

4%

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Sales Lead Quality

Website Traffic

Sales Lead Quantity

Social Media Sharing

SEO Ranking

Inbound Links

Direct Sales

Time Spent on Website

Qualitative Feedback from Customers

Benchmark Li of Company Awareness

Benchmark Li of Product/Service Awareness

Increased Customer Loyalty

Cross-selling

Cost Savings


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BUDGET

More than half of soware marketers plan to increase theircontent marketing budget over the next 12 months (2012-2013).

53% of soware marketers say theywill increase their content marketingspending.

The spending patterns shown hereclosely resemble the patterns of B2B

marketers overall.



Content Marketing SpendingAmong Soware Marketers

(Over Next 12 Months)

46%

Increase

7%

SignificantlyIncrease

34%

Remain theSame

Unsure

10%

Decrease2%


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BUDGET

Soware marketers allocate slightlyless of their marketing budgets forcontent marketing (29%) than theirB2B peers (33%) do.

On average, soware marketers allocate 29% of theirbudget to content marketing.



Percentage of Marketing BudgetSpent on Content Marketing

(Soware Companies)

1%

5%

7%

18%

21%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

100%

75-99%

10-24%

8%5-9%

10%

2%

1-4%

27% Average: 29%Did Not Answer/Unsure

0%

50-74%

25-49%


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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING

Soware marketers outsourcecontent creation more frequently thantheir B2B peers (43%) do.


Insourcing vs. Outsourcingof Content Creation

(Soware Companies)45%

0%

54%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

In-House Only

Outsourced Only

Both

54% of soware marketers outsource content creation.


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SEGMENTATION

94% of soware marketers tailor theircontent in at least one way, comparedwith 91% of B2B marketers overall.

Soware marketers are more likelythan their B2B peers to tailor contentby prole of individual decisionmaker (67% vs. 59%), companycharacteristics (59% vs. 52%), and

stage in the buying cycle (56% vs. 42%).

Soware marketers are less likely thantheir B2B peers to tailor content bypersonalized content preferences(13% vs. 23%).

How Soware Marketers

Tailor Content

59%

56%

67%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Company Characteristics

Personalized Content Preferences

6%None

4%Other

Profile of Individual Decision Makers

13%

Stage in the Buying Cycle


Nearly all soware marketers segment their content.


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CONTENT MARKETING CHALLENGES

Soware marketers are slightly morechallenged with producing enoughcontent (69% vs. 64%) and producingthe kind of content that engages(58% vs. 52%) than their B2B peers are.

Lack of integration across marketing isa particular area of challenge forsoware marketers, when comparedwith their B2B peers (36% vs. 25%).

Producing enough content is the top challenge facedby soware marketers.

Challenges that SowareContent Marketers Face

69%

58%

13%

Producing the Kind of Content that Engages

Producing Enough Content

38%

25%

32%

Lack of Budget

36%

Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals

28%

Lack of Integration Across Marketing

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Producing a Variety of Content 47%

Lack of Knowledge, Training, and Resources

Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness

Lack of Buy-in/Vision




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CONTENT MARKETING CHALLENGES

Like their B2B peers, the two biggestchallenges soware marketers faceare producing enough content andproducing the kind of content thatengages.



Biggest Content Marketing

Challenge for Soware Marketers34%

19%

10%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Producing the Kind of Content that Engages

Lack of Budget

9%Lack of Buy-in/Vision

Producing Enough Content

6%

6%

2%

Lack of Integration Across Marketing

6%

Producing a Variety of Content

1%Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals

Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness

Lack of Knowledge, Training, and Resources


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OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS

Slightly more soware marketers(38%) rate their organizations aseective at content marketing,when compared with their B2Bpeers (36%) overall.

Just 38% of soware marketers believe they areeective at content marketing.

How Soware Marketers Rate theEffectiveness of Their Organizations

Use of Content Marketing

5%

33%

45%

13%

3%

Very Effective

Not At All Effective

100 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

5

4

3

21




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Most Eective = Respondents who rated their organizations use of content marketing as 4 or 5 in terms ofeectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being Very Eective)

Least Eective = Respondents who rated their organizations use of content marketing as 1 or 2 in terms ofeectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being Not at all Eective)

Prole of a best-in-class B2B content marketer.

Comparison of Most Effective Soware Content Marketerswith Least Effective Soware Content Marketers

Percentage of marketing budgetallocated to content marketing

Average number of tactics used

Average number of social platforms usedPlan to increase content marketingspend in the next year

Tailor content to profile ofdecision maker

Challenged with producingengaging content

Challenged with producing

enough content

Most Effective Overall/Average Least Effective

37% 29% 13%

16 14 10

5 5 4

54% 53% 42%

87% 67% 35%

40% 58% 77%

65% 69% 85%



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Like their best-in-class B2B peers, the most eective soware marketers:

Allocate a greater percentage of their marketing budget to content marketing Use more content marketing tactics Use more social media platforms to deliver content Tailor content to specic proles/personas much more frequently Are far less challenged with producing engaging content Are less challenged with producing enough content

Prole of a best-in-class B2B content marketer.


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DEMOGRAPHICS

B2B Software Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and TrendsNorth America was produced by

Content Marketing Institute and sponsored by International Data Group (IDG).

This report is based on the responses of 165 software marketers who were part of a larger business-to-business (B2B) North America (United States and Canada) survey, from which the overall comparisons in this

report were drawn (for more information, see B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends

North America). The electronic survey was mailed to a sample of B2B marketers from among subscribers of

MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute in August 2012. A total of 1,416 B2B marketers from North

America responded, representing a full range of industries (advertising/marketing, software, consulting,

manufacturing, healthcare, finance, and others), functional areas, and company sizes. Special thanks to

MarketingProfs for their participation in the overall B2B North American comparisons used in this report.

Industry Classification, Soware

Soware Design/

Development/Distribution100%

Size of Company, Soware(by Employees)

Small(10-99 Employees)

40%Midsize(100-999Employees)

31%

Large(1000+ Employees)

22%

Micro(Fewer than

10 Employees)

7%

Job Title/Function, SowareGeneralManagement

Other

4% 2%

Marketing/Advertising/Communications/PR

59%

CorporateManagement/Owner

Sales/BusinessManagement

6%

MarketingAdministration/Support

12%

10%

ContentCreation/Management

7%



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About the Content Marketing Institute:

The 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.

CMIs Content Marketing Worldevent is the largest content marketing-focused

event. CMI also produces the quarterly magazine Chief Content Oicer, andprovides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the

best-known brands in the world. Get more content marketing resources at

ContentMarketingInstitute.com. CMI is a division of Z Squared Media,

a 2012 Inc. 500 company. View all content marketing researchfrom CMI.

About International Data Group (IDG):

IDG is the leading technology media, events, and research company reaching more than 280 million technology buyers in

97 countries.

IDG Enterprisesmedia brands include Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CIO, CSO, ITworld, CFOworld, and

CITEworld. IDGs Consumer & SMBbrands are Macworld, PCWorld, and TechHiveTM. This media network spans business

technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment, and video games. The IDG TechNetworkrepresents more than

550 independent websites in an ad network and exchange.

With expertise in digital branding, lead generation, and social media marketing, IDG Global Solutionsdelivers

multinational programs to inuence technology vendor prospects.

IDG also produces more than 700 technology and entertainment conferences and events worldwide.

View additional content marketingresearchat the CMI website. For more

insights on content marketing in thesoware industry, register for the

Content Marketing World Tech Summitbeing held September 12, 2013 in Cleveland.
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