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The state of B2B content marketing

MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute released The State of B2B Content Marketing in North America. The report reveals insights into how B2B marketers are using content marketing, as well as the biggest challenges they face.

Their survey found that 91 percent of respondents are doing some form of content marketing — but a whopping 82 percent do not find their efforts to be significantly more successful as compared to the previous year.

And while most people (78 percent) attribute improved marketing results to creating content more efficiently and at higher quality, the vast majority (83 percent) still didn’t agree that they were able to create less content and still see better results.

We don’t agree that quantity trumps quality — and so this merits discussing whether businesses are really producing top-quality content, and why it might be difficult for them to produce truly outstanding insights.

(The Sprk’d team helped a small patent law firm boost its web traffic by almost 1,000% within just eight months. Here’s how we did it.)

This may be in part because firms are generally not dedicating enough resources to their content marketing efforts. 67 percent of the survey’s respondents said that they haven’t bothered with documenting their content strategy because their team is “small.”

But this is a mistake: A strong content strategy encourages smart content building and internal linking, and so ensures you’re not simply “spraying and praying.”

(If you need strategic help, our Foundation Formula™ offers you a documented, data-driven marketing strategy for your business — in just four weeks.)

Additionally, 65 per cent of marketers don’t have a clear plan for documenting their content ROI. The top reasons cited? They don’t know a good way to do it, or else they just don’t have a formal justification for it.

But knowing how your content is performing is instrumental towards refining your strategy and crafting stuff that actually converts. There’s no sense putting stuff out into the world if you don’t know whether that’s what your customers actually want! We recommend using the S.M.A.R.T. framework to set concrete goals to measure your marketing success.

And if you’re more of a visual learner, MDG Advertising has compiled similar data in its infographic, The State of B2B Content MarketingAs a bonus, the infographic takes a closer look at what types of content are actually resonating with consumers — so be sure to check it out!

(Click the image to enlarge it!)

Infographic
by MDG Advertising

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in June 2013. It has since been updated to reflect new data.

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