SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 25
Download to read offline
20 12 SURVE Y RESULT S




                    Marketing Trends                                         Sponsored by




by Holger Schulze           NetProspex | Optify | Maximizer Software | Solution Publishing
twitter     Linkedin




  INTRODUCTION
         Content marketing is a big buzz word in 2012. Most marketers
         will agree that the purpose of content marketing is to engage      B2B buyer behavior has
         B2B buyers with compelling content to educate, inform,             been changing dramatically
         entertain and guide them along their buying journey. And           over the last few years
         while you want to help buyers make pragmatic and informed          as buyers become more
         decisions, your ultimate goal is to persuade them to select your   sophisticated, find new
         solution over competing alternatives.                              ways to gather information
                                                                            online and via social media.
         But what’s behind the buzz? We conducted a survey with the         90% of business buyers say
         30,000+ member B2B Technology Marketing Community on               when they’re ready to buy,
                                                                            they’ll find you.
         LinkedIn to get answers to key questions like:
                                                                            *DemandGen Reports

            What’s working and what’s not?
            Who is creating content and what are they creating?
            How do you measure content marketing results?

         We received over 740 responses in less than 3 weeks and are
         happy to share the results with you.


         Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey!
         Holger Schulze
B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                1
twitter     Linkedin




  SURVE Y HIGHLIGHTS
         Top-5 Trends in Content Marketing

         1. Content marketing is expanding dramatically in terms of tactics, forms and volume of content.
            • 84 percent of marketers say content production is on the rise
            • Over half of the participants are using 10 or more formats and tactics that they deem “effective”
            • These same respondents are spreading content creation across 6 different functional roles

         2. Content is at the heart of B2B marketers top 3 goals—lead generation, market education and
            brand awareness.

         3. The fastest growing content format is Infographics, whose use increased 1.5x from last year.

         4. Biggest challenge for marketers is time and bandwidth to create content.
             • 94 percent of B2B marketers create new content from scratch

         5. Most B2B marketers are trying to measure content engagement.
             • Web traffic, views & downloads and lead quantity & quality are the top 3 measurements




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                           2
twitter          Linkedin




       WHAT ARE THE GOALS
Q1     OF CONTENT MARKETING?
        #1 Lead Generation                                           #3 Brand Awareness
        For 68 percent of respondents, the top goal for content      Brand awareness, for 39 percent of respondents
        marketing is lead generation. This is up from 62 percent     (up from 34 percent last year), has replaced last
        in last year’s survey. No major surprises here considering   year’s number three content marketing goal, lead
        that content marketing has emerged as a critical B2B         nurturing.
        strategy to drive inbound lead generation (in response to
        outbound B2B tactics becoming increasingly ineffective).
        In other words, lead generation is the ultimate promise of
                                                                                       What are your top-3-goals for content marketing?
        content marketing.
                                                                                Lead generation
                                                                             Thought leadership
        #2 Thought Leadership & Market Education                             / market education
                                                                               Brand awareness

        The next highest content marketing goal is thought                        Lead nurturing

                                                                            Customer acquisition
        leadership and market education with 50 percent of                                 Sales
        responses (up from 37 percent in last year’s survey). This                Website traffic

        pattern is also consistent with the promise of content                  Customer loyalty
                                                                                      / retention

        marketing as a strategy to educate and influence buyer          Social media engagement

                                                                            Channel enablement
        behavior in the vendor’s favor.
                                                                                                    0%   20%       40%         60%        80%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                     3
twitter           Linkedin




       WHAT CONTENT MARKETING E?
Q2     TACTICS DO YOU ACTIVELY US
         The leading content marketing tactics are case
         studies (62 percent) followed by white papers /        What tactics and forms of content marketing do you actively use?

         ebooks (61 percent) and press releases (58 percent).                 Case studies -

         In contrast, the least commonly used content               White papers / ebooks -

                                                                            Press releases -
         marketing tactics are advertorials (11 percent),                    e-newsletters -
         community management & threading (12 percent),                           Blogging -

         and virtual events (18 percent).                                         Webinars -

                                                                                    Videos -

                                                                            Social content -

                                                                          In-person events -

                                                                             Online articles -

                                                                                 Slideware -

                                                                           Product demos -

                                                                     Infographics / images -

                                                                         Polling / research -

                                                                     Virtual / online events -
                                                                  Community management -
                                                                             & threading
                                                                            Advertorials -

                                                                                            0%   20%          40%          60%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                        4
twitter                   Linkedin




       HOW EFFECTIVE ARE CONTENT TS?
Q3     M ARKETING TACTICS & FORMA
         These content formats are considered
         most effective in engaging prospects                              How effective are the following content marketing tactics and formats?


         and delivering message.                                             Case studies

                                                                   White papers / ebooks

                                                                         In-person events
         Marketers consider case studies most effective                     Online articles

         (78 percent) — unchanged compared to last year’s                          Videos

                                                                                 Webinars
         survey. This is also the most commonly used tactic
                                                                          Product demos
         (see previous chart). White papers take the number                 e-newsletters

         two spot with 73 percent (up from number three last                     Blogging

                                                                           Press releases
         year), followed by live, in person events (72 percent                  Slideware

         and down from the number two spot last year). The                  Social content

         least effective content formats are advertorials (18       Infographics / images

                                                                        Polling / research
         percent), community management & threading (20             Virtual / online events

         percent), and virtual events (31 percent). The fastest   Community management
                                                                             & threading

         rising content format are infographics with 43                       Advertorials

                                                                                              0%   20%      40%         60%             80%             100%
         percent compared to 28 percent last year.
                                                                                                           Effective     Ineffective          I don’t use it




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                                    5
twitter     Linkedin




            ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT
Q4     WHAT
       ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE CONTENT ?
         So what are the ingredients
         of successful content?

         It starts with engaging and compelling
         storytelling (81 percent), originality (52 percent)
         and customized content (50 percent), followed
         by professional writing (39 percent).

                                                               What do you consider the three most important elements of effective content?

                                                               Engaging and compelling storytelling
                                                                                         Originality
                                                                                   Custom content
                                                                                  Well edited copy
                                                                               Professional writing
                                                                                   Written for SEO
                                                                                         Low cost
                                                                           High volume production

                                                                                                       0%   20%   40%   60%        80%   100%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                     6
twitter           Linkedin




            SOCIAL MEDIA PL ATFORMS DO YOU?
Q5     WHAT
       USE TO DELIVER CONTENT TO AUDIENCES
         LinkedIn tops the list of social media platforms
         with 85 percent (although this number is likely
         skewed considering the majority of survey
         respondents came from the B2B Technology
         Marketing Community on LinkedIn). The runner
         ups are Twitter (70 percent), Facebook (54
         percent) and YouTube (53 percent).


                                                              What social media plataforms do you use to deliver content to audiences?

                                                                          LinkedIn

                                                                            Twitter

                                                                         Facebook

                                                                          YouTube

                                                                         Sideshare
                                                                  Custom developed
                                                                       communities
                                                                          Google+

                                                                          Pinterest

                                                                             Flickr

                                                                                      0%   25%       50%         75%         100%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                              7
twitter          Linkedin




Q6     HOW DO YOU CREATE CONTENT ?

         The vast majority of B2B marketers create
         content from scratch (94 percent). Other
         tactics include curating third party content
         (39 percent), re-using existing content (32
         percent) and encouraging user-generated
         content (30 percent).




                                                                                         How do you create content?

                                                                    Create content from scratch

                                                                      Curate third party content

                                                               License / re-use existing content

                                                              Encourage user generated content


                                                                                                   0%   20%   40%   60%         80%   100%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                  8
twitter          Linkedin




            METRICS DO YOU USE TO MEASURE
Q7     WHAT
       THE SUCCESS OF YOUR CONTENT ?
         Web traffic (64 percent) is the number one
         metric used by marketers to measure the
         success of content marketing. The next most
         popular metric is views and downloads (59
         percent), followed by lead quantity and lead                           What metrics do you use to measure the success
                                                                                     of your content marketing program?
         quality (tied with 52 percent each).
                                                                           Web traffic

                                                                    Views / downloads

                                                                         Lead quantity

                                                                          Lead quality

                                                                              Inquires

                                                                         Opportunities

                                                                      Sales / revenue

                                                                   Customer feedback

                                                                      Search rankings

                                                              Social media engagement

                                                                         Inbound links

                                                                 Share of conversation

                                                                       Don’t measure

                                                                                         0%   20%       40%         60%          80%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                            9
twitter         Linkedin




       WHO DETERMINES CONTENT
Q8     MARKETING STRATEGY?
         The next question is to find out where in
         the organization content marketing strategy
         is determined. In most companies
         (55 percent), Corporate marketing sets
         content strategy, followed by Product
         marketing (38 percent), and the CEO /
         President / Owner (37 percent) in smaller
         companies that often don’t have a                    Who determines content marketing strategy at your company?
         dedicated marketing department.
                                                                      Corporate marketing

                                                                        Product marketing

                                                                CEO / President / Owner

                                                                    PR / Communications

                                                                                    Sales

                                                                      Demand generation

                                                                     Product management

                                                                           Field marketing

                                                              External agency / Freelancer

                                                                                             0%   10%   20%   30%     40%     50%   60%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                               10
twitter         Linkedin




       WHO CREATES CONTENT ?

         Corporate marketing is also the number
         one creator of content in most companies
         (55 percent), followed by Product marketing
         (47 percent) and PR / Communications
         (38 percent). About one in three companies
         relies on external agencies and freelancers
         to create content.
                                                                                     Who creates content at your company?


                                                                      Corporate marketing

                                                                        Product marketing

                                                                    PR / Communications

                                                              External agency / Freelancer

                                                                     Product management

                                                                CEO / President / Owner

                                                                           Field marketing

                                                                                    Sales

                                                                      Demand generation

                                                                                             0%   10%   20%   30%     40%     50%   60%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                               11
twitter           Linkedin




                CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS
Q10        WHAT
           DO MARKETERS OUTSOURCE?
          The most outsourced form of content
          are videos (33 percent). They are hard
          to produce and most companies don’t
          have the required capabilities in-house.
          Videos are followed by white papers /                          Which types of marketing content or tactis do you currently outsource,
                                                                                         or expect to outsource in the future?
          ebooks (32 percent) and case studies
                                                                                 Videos
          (26 percent). In contrast, the least                   White papers / ebooks

          outsourced tactics are product demos                             Case studies
                                                                         Press releases
          (6 percent), community management &                     Infographics / images
                                                                          Online articles
          threading (6 percent) and slideware /                                Webinars

          presentations (6 percent).                                           Blogging
                                                                      Polling / research
                                                                          E-newsletters
                                                                          Social content
                                                                            Advertorials
                                                                  Virtual / online events
                                                                       In-person events
                                                               Slideware / presentations
                                                               Community management
                                                                             & threading
                                                                         Product demos
                                                                We don’t outsource any

                                                                                        0%   5%      10%      15%       20%      25%      30%      35%




 B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                             12
twitter         Linkedin




         WHO OWNS THE CONTENT
Q11      MARKETING BUDGET ?
          For 51 percent of companies, the
          corporate marketing function owns content
          marketing funds, followed by the CEO /
          President / Owner (35 percent) in smaller
          companies. Product marketing owns the
          content marketing budget in 22 percent of
          companies. Now let’s look at who clearly
          doesn’t own content marketing budgets                                     Who owns the content marketing budget?
          in most companies: external agencies and
          freelancers (1 percent), sales (5 percent), and              Corporate marketing

                                                                 CEO / President / Owner
          product management (6 percent).
                                                                         Product marketing

                                                                     PR / Communications

                                                                            Field marketing

                                                                       Demand generation

                                                                      Product management

                                                                                     Sales

                                                               External agency / Freelancer

                                                                                              0%   10%   20%   30%|      40%    50%   60%




 B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                13
twitter           Linkedin



                                    T IS
          WHAT PERCENTAGE OF BUDGEKETING?
Q12       A LLOCATED TO CONTENT MAR
         One of the most telling indicators of
         the increasing importance of content
         marketing is budget allocation. Last year’s
         survey showed that the most frequent
         budget allocation was 20 percent. In
         our latest survey, it has moved up to 30
                                                              What percentage of your marketing budget is allocated to content marketing?
         percent indicating a strong shift toward
                                                                  25%
         content marketing.

                                                                  20%




                                                                  15%




                                                                  10%




                                                                  5%




                                                                  0%
                                                                         0%    10%   20%   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%   80%   90%   100%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                    14
twitter          Linkedin




          WHAT CONTENT MARKETING ?
Q13       TACTICS IS BUDGET SPENT ON
         Now that we know that content marketing
         spend is going up, let’s take a look at
         what tactics receive the most budget.
         The largest share of budget is allocated
         to tradeshows and in-person events (23
         percent). This is followed by the company
         website (21 percent) and email marketing
         (17 percent).                                        What percentage of your budget do you allocate to content distribution channels.


                                                               Tradeshows & in-person events
                                                                           Company website
                                                                                       Email
                                                                                 Print media
                                                                                Social media
                                                                          PPC / Paid search
                                                                                         PR
                                                                                    Webinar
                                                                                        Blog
                                                                             Organic search
                                                                          Online Display Ads
                                                                           Online directories

                                                                                            0%   5%     10%        15%        20%       25%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                      15
twitter                  Linkedin




               IS CONTENT PRODUCTION VOLTHSE
                                         UM
Q14        HOW
           CHANGING OVER THE NEX T 12 MON ?
          Over 84 percent of marketers are
          increasing content production over the
          next 12 months, over 30 percent of them
          significantly so. 14 percent of marketers
          expect volume to stay flat. In contrast, last
          year, over 71 percent of respondents saw
          an increase in content production — looks
          like the pace of content production is
          picking up steam.
                                                               How is your content production volume going to change
                                                                             over the next 12 months?


                                                                                                 53.0% | Increases

                                                                                                 30.5% | Increases significantly

                                                                                                 15.0% | Stays flat

                                                                                                 1.5% | Decreases
                              percent of marketers                                               0.0% | Decreases significantly
                              say content production
                              is on the rise.




 B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                       16
twitter         Linkedin




                ARE YOUR BIGGEST CONTENT
Q15        WHAT
           MARKETING CHALLENGES?
          Top Challenges
          Content marketing is complex and requires a very
          different approach and skill set compared to traditional
          outbound marketing tactics. We asked our marketing
          community what they consider the biggest content
          marketing challenges – here are the results:                             What are your biggest content marketing challenges?

                                                                       Time / bandwidth to create content

          The number one challenge is having enough time and             Producing truly engaging content
                                                                               Producing enough content
          bandwidth to create content (56 percent), replacing last                      Measuring results
                                                                               Talent to produce content
          years top challenge: producing truly engaging content (53          Getting content delivered to
                                                                                      the right audiences
          percent). The next biggest content marketing challenge           No consistent content strategy
                                                                       Creating segment-specific content
          is producing enough content to serve the needs of your       Lack of budget to produce content
                                                                           Understanding buyer personas
          marketing programs (45 percent). This points to a lack                      and decision stages
                                                                        Finding enough targeted contacts
                                                                                        to offer content to
          of resources in B2B marketing organizations, which is                           Lack of process
                                                                          Buyers don’t want to register to
                                                                                         consume content
          confirmed by 33 percent of respondents who selected              Buyers’ attention span too short
                                                                                     Localizing content for
          lack of talent as their marketing challenge. The least                     international markets
                                                                                 Getting executive buy-in

          pressing problem for marketers is poor content quality                  Finding domain experts
                                                                                      Poor content quality
          (12 percent) tied with finding domain experts (12 percent).                                          0%   20%       40%          60%




 B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                    17
twitter               Linkedin




           HOW DO MARKETERS SEGMENT
Q16        A ND PERSONALIZE CONTENT ?
          There are many different ways to slice and
          organize marketing content. Should you
          segment by product, pain point, buyer
          persona, buying stage, or vertical – or all of                                How do you segment and personalize your content?
          the above? Here is what the B2B marketing            60%

          community thinks:


          The most popular segmentation dimension
          is product category (50 percent), followed           40%


          by vertical (36 percent) and buyer persona
          (28 percent).


          The least popular segmentation dimension is          20%


          company size with 16 percent. And 20 percent
          of marketers don’t systematically segment
          content at all.
                                                               0%
                                                                        Product /         Vertical    Buyer    Pain point     Stage in      Company      We don’t
                                                                     service category                persona                buying cycle      size     systematically
                                                                                                                                                      segment content




 B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                                            18
twitter   Linkedin




          MANAGING THE COMPLEXIT Y
Q17       OF B2B CONTENT MARKETING
          B2B content marketing is not trivial. Consider
          the multitude of market segments you serve,
          with multiple products, each with different buyer
          personas that influence the buying decision.
          And each buying process comprises a number
          of stages that require content to guide buyers
          to the next stage.


          If you wanted to address all possible
          intersections of products, markets, buyer                So what is a manageable number
          personas, buying stages (and have multiple
                                                                   of segments, personas, and stages
          white papers, webcasts, eBooks, blog posts
          for each intersection) – you would quickly               B2B marketers can support?
          be overwhelmed by the sheer amount and
          complexity of content and associated
          marketing programs.
                                                               We asked our B2B marketing community
                                                                        and the magic number is …




 B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                19
twitter                Linkedin




          INTEGRATION WITH
Q18       MARKETING AUTOMATION
         One of the emerging trends related
         to content marketing is marketing
         automation as a way to get targeted
         content in front of buying audiences. And
         while adoption of marketing automation is
         growing, only 26 percent of B2B marketers
         are actively creating content to feed their
         marketing automation campaign.
                                                              How do you integrate content marketing
         57 percent don’t use marketing                         with marketing automation (MA)?
         automation at all.
                                                                                           57.3% | Don’t use MA

                                                                                           25.5% | Actively create content to feed
                                                                                                   automated campaigns

                                                                                           19.0% | Sporadically use content
                                                                                                   for MA campaigns




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                          20
twitter                 Linkedin




  SURVEY METHODOLOGY
         The survey was completed by 740 marketers in 2012. Here is a detailed breakdown of the survey
         participant demographics.



                                     What is the size of your company (employees)?                                                          What industry is your company in?

                                                                                                                         High-tech
                             Fewer than 10
                                                                                                                          Software
                                                                                                            Advertising / Marketing
                                     10-99
                                                                                                                 Business services
                                                                                                              Professional services
                                  100-999
                                                                                                                    Manufacturing

                              1,000-10,000                                                                      Telecommunication
                                                                                                                 Financial services
                                  10,000+                                                                               Helathcare
                                                                                                                       Government
                                             0%           5%    10%    15%         20%   25%   30%
                                                                                                                                      0%         5%         10%      15%            20%         25%




                                                          What is your role in your company?                                                        What is your job title?


                                       Marketing                                                                           Manager


                         Owner / CEO / President                                                                           Director

                                             Sales
                                                                                                           Owner / CEO / President
                            Product Management
                                                                                                                                VP
                                      Consultant
                                                                                                                          Specialist
                                     Engineering

                                                     0%         20%          40%         60%         80%                               0%      5%     10%    15%    20%       25%         30%   35%




B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                                                                              21
twitter         Linkedin




  SPONSORS                             We would like to thank our sponsors for supporting the
                                       2012 B2B Content Marketing Report:



                          IDG Enterprise | www.idgenterprise.com
                          IDG Enterprise brings together the unique brands (Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CIO, DEMO, CSO, CIO
                          Executive Council, ITworld, and CFOworld) to serve the information needs of our IT and security-focused audiences. By
                          leveraging the strengths of each individual brand, while simultaneously harnessing their collective reach and audience
                          affinity, we provide market leadership and media best practices for our marketing customers to engage their customers
                          across our portfolio.


                          NetProspex | www.netprospex.com
                          NetProspex drives B2B lead generation by providing marketers with targeted prospect lists, data cleansing, and powerful
                          analytics to understand their data.


                          Optify | www.optify.net
                          Optify helps professional B2B marketers reach more buyers and generate more demand. Optify’s Inbound Marketing Suite
                          brings together enterprise-class SEO, social marketing, website analytics and tools that B2B marketers need to increase
                          awareness, influence buyers across social networks, and engage with prospects at the earliest point of their buyer’s journey.


                          Maximizer Software | www.maximizer.com
                          Maximizer Software delivers Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to meet the needs, budgets and access
                          requirements of entrepreneurs, medium and small businesses and divisions of large enterprises. Easily configurable for
                          organizations in any industry, Maximizer CRM optimizes sales processes, enhances marketing initiatives, and, improves
                          customer service to ultimately boost productivity and revenue.


                          Solution Publishing | www.solpub.com
                          Solution Publishing utilizes proprietary semantic technologies to deliver exceptionally relevant content to its permission
                          based B-to-B audiences. Technology professionals and business leaders value our IT Solution Journal as a customized
                          research department they rely on to remain current and explore business solutions. Technology marketers use IT Solution
                          Journal for high quality lead and demand generation.


B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                                                        22
twitter           Linkedin




  THANK YOU                                                                                         Technology
                                                                                                              Group Partner



                                                                                                     Marketing

          Many thanks to everybody who participated in this survey.
          If you are interested in co-sponsoring upcoming surveys, or creating your
          own survey report, please contact Holger Schulze at hhschulze@gmail.com.


          Bottom line:
          Content marketing is rapidly moving along the adoption
          life cycle and best practices are rapidly emerging. I hope
          you enjoyed this survey report and found the data points
          helpful for your own content marketing efforts.



          About the B2B Technology
          Marketing Community
          With over 30,000 members, the B2B Technology
                                                                                      Join the
          Marketing Community is the single largest LinkedIn group                    B2B TECHNOLOGY
          exclusively focused on B2B technology marketing. This
                                                                                      MARKETING
                                                                                      COMMUNITY
          group is for marketing professionals in B2B high-tech
          industries to enable networking, sharing of ideas, best                     on LinkedIn
          practices and opportunities.



B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                               23
twitter       Linkedin




  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
                          Holger Schulze is the author of the syndicated blog
                          Everything Technology Marketing.




          Our goal is to inform and educate B2B marketers
          about new trends, share marketing ideas and
                                                                   Email
          best practices, and make it easier for you to find
                                                                   hhschulze@gmail.com
          the information you care about to do your jobs
          successfully.
                                                                   Follow Holger on Twitter
                                                                   http://twitter.com/holgerschulze
          Holger Schulze is a B2B technology marketing
          executive delivering demand, brand awareness,
          and revenue growth for high-tech companies.              Subscribe to Holger’s
                                                                   Technology Marketing Blog
          A prolific blogger and online community builder,         http://everythingtechnologymarketing.blogspot.com

          Holger manages the B2B Technology Marketing
          Community on LinkedIn with over 30,000+ members.



B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS                                                        24

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

2.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 0111
2.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 01112.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 0111
2.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 0111natashabowen
 
ARIN Customer Survey Results
ARIN Customer Survey ResultsARIN Customer Survey Results
ARIN Customer Survey ResultsARIN
 
Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014
Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014
Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014eCommerce Institute
 
Find Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplace
Find Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplaceFind Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplace
Find Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplaceKaren McCullough
 
10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List
10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List
10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check ListJohn Coldwell
 
Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.
Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.
Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.Thomas Webster
 
Measuring Customer Satisfaction
Measuring Customer SatisfactionMeasuring Customer Satisfaction
Measuring Customer SatisfactionHenry John Nueva
 
Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6
Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6
Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6Salesforce Marketing Cloud
 

Viewers also liked (8)

2.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 0111
2.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 01112.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 0111
2.06.10 Strategic Business Concept 0111
 
ARIN Customer Survey Results
ARIN Customer Survey ResultsARIN Customer Survey Results
ARIN Customer Survey Results
 
Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014
Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014
Resumen Plan de Accion eInstituto 2014
 
Find Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplace
Find Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplaceFind Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplace
Find Your Voice: The importance of Strategic HR in today’s workplace
 
10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List
10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List
10-step B2B Customer Satisfaction Survey Pre-Survey Check List
 
Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.
Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.
Digital Marketing for B2B:
 Introduction and Steps to Get Started.
 
Measuring Customer Satisfaction
Measuring Customer SatisfactionMeasuring Customer Satisfaction
Measuring Customer Satisfaction
 
Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6
Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6
Summary Analysis of LeWeb 2012 in Paris, December 3 - 6
 

Recently uploaded

Anyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agency
Anyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agencyAnyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agency
Anyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agencyHanna Klim
 
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZMihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZKanakChauhan5
 
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003believeminhh
 
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John MeulemansBCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John MeulemansBBPMedia1
 
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdfChicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdfSourav Sikder
 
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês  em formato pptPlano de marketing- inglês  em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato pptElizangelaSoaresdaCo
 
MoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor Presentation
MoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor PresentationMoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor Presentation
MoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor Presentationbaron83
 
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking ApplicationsUpgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking ApplicationsIntellect Design Arena Ltd
 
MC Heights construction company in Jhang
MC Heights construction company in JhangMC Heights construction company in Jhang
MC Heights construction company in Jhangmcgroupjeya
 
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdfAMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdfJohnCarloValencia4
 
Data skills for Agile Teams- Killing story points
Data skills for Agile Teams- Killing story pointsData skills for Agile Teams- Killing story points
Data skills for Agile Teams- Killing story pointsyasinnathani
 
7movierulz.uk
7movierulz.uk7movierulz.uk
7movierulz.ukaroemirsr
 
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...Brian Solis
 
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)Lviv Startup Club
 
Fabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and Festivals
Fabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and FestivalsFabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and Festivals
Fabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and FestivalsWristbands Ireland
 
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access
 
Slicing Work on Business Agility Meetup Berlin
Slicing Work on Business Agility Meetup BerlinSlicing Work on Business Agility Meetup Berlin
Slicing Work on Business Agility Meetup BerlinAnton Skornyakov
 
Tata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerak
Tata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerakTata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerak
Tata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerakEditores1
 
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdfGraham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdfAnhNguyen97152
 
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access
 

Recently uploaded (20)

Anyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agency
Anyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agencyAnyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agency
Anyhr.io | Presentation HR&Recruiting agency
 
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZMihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
 
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
 
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John MeulemansBCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
 
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdfChicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
 
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês  em formato pptPlano de marketing- inglês  em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato ppt
 
MoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor Presentation
MoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor PresentationMoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor Presentation
MoneyBridge Pitch Deck - Investor Presentation
 
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking ApplicationsUpgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
 
MC Heights construction company in Jhang
MC Heights construction company in JhangMC Heights construction company in Jhang
MC Heights construction company in Jhang
 
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdfAMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
 
Data skills for Agile Teams- Killing story points
Data skills for Agile Teams- Killing story pointsData skills for Agile Teams- Killing story points
Data skills for Agile Teams- Killing story points
 
7movierulz.uk
7movierulz.uk7movierulz.uk
7movierulz.uk
 
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...
 
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
 
Fabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and Festivals
Fabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and FestivalsFabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and Festivals
Fabric RFID Wristbands in Ireland for Events and Festivals
 
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
 
Slicing Work on Business Agility Meetup Berlin
Slicing Work on Business Agility Meetup BerlinSlicing Work on Business Agility Meetup Berlin
Slicing Work on Business Agility Meetup Berlin
 
Tata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerak
Tata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerakTata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerak
Tata Kelola Bisnis perushaan yang bergerak
 
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdfGraham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
 
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
 

B2B Content Marketing Trends 2012

  • 1. 20 12 SURVE Y RESULT S Marketing Trends Sponsored by by Holger Schulze NetProspex | Optify | Maximizer Software | Solution Publishing
  • 2. twitter Linkedin INTRODUCTION Content marketing is a big buzz word in 2012. Most marketers will agree that the purpose of content marketing is to engage B2B buyer behavior has B2B buyers with compelling content to educate, inform, been changing dramatically entertain and guide them along their buying journey. And over the last few years while you want to help buyers make pragmatic and informed as buyers become more decisions, your ultimate goal is to persuade them to select your sophisticated, find new solution over competing alternatives. ways to gather information online and via social media. But what’s behind the buzz? We conducted a survey with the 90% of business buyers say 30,000+ member B2B Technology Marketing Community on when they’re ready to buy, they’ll find you. LinkedIn to get answers to key questions like: *DemandGen Reports What’s working and what’s not? Who is creating content and what are they creating? How do you measure content marketing results? We received over 740 responses in less than 3 weeks and are happy to share the results with you. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey! Holger Schulze B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 1
  • 3. twitter Linkedin SURVE Y HIGHLIGHTS Top-5 Trends in Content Marketing 1. Content marketing is expanding dramatically in terms of tactics, forms and volume of content. • 84 percent of marketers say content production is on the rise • Over half of the participants are using 10 or more formats and tactics that they deem “effective” • These same respondents are spreading content creation across 6 different functional roles 2. Content is at the heart of B2B marketers top 3 goals—lead generation, market education and brand awareness. 3. The fastest growing content format is Infographics, whose use increased 1.5x from last year. 4. Biggest challenge for marketers is time and bandwidth to create content. • 94 percent of B2B marketers create new content from scratch 5. Most B2B marketers are trying to measure content engagement. • Web traffic, views & downloads and lead quantity & quality are the top 3 measurements B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 2
  • 4. twitter Linkedin WHAT ARE THE GOALS Q1 OF CONTENT MARKETING? #1 Lead Generation #3 Brand Awareness For 68 percent of respondents, the top goal for content Brand awareness, for 39 percent of respondents marketing is lead generation. This is up from 62 percent (up from 34 percent last year), has replaced last in last year’s survey. No major surprises here considering year’s number three content marketing goal, lead that content marketing has emerged as a critical B2B nurturing. strategy to drive inbound lead generation (in response to outbound B2B tactics becoming increasingly ineffective). In other words, lead generation is the ultimate promise of What are your top-3-goals for content marketing? content marketing. Lead generation Thought leadership #2 Thought Leadership & Market Education / market education Brand awareness The next highest content marketing goal is thought Lead nurturing Customer acquisition leadership and market education with 50 percent of Sales responses (up from 37 percent in last year’s survey). This Website traffic pattern is also consistent with the promise of content Customer loyalty / retention marketing as a strategy to educate and influence buyer Social media engagement Channel enablement behavior in the vendor’s favor. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 3
  • 5. twitter Linkedin WHAT CONTENT MARKETING E? Q2 TACTICS DO YOU ACTIVELY US The leading content marketing tactics are case studies (62 percent) followed by white papers / What tactics and forms of content marketing do you actively use? ebooks (61 percent) and press releases (58 percent). Case studies - In contrast, the least commonly used content White papers / ebooks - Press releases - marketing tactics are advertorials (11 percent), e-newsletters - community management & threading (12 percent), Blogging - and virtual events (18 percent). Webinars - Videos - Social content - In-person events - Online articles - Slideware - Product demos - Infographics / images - Polling / research - Virtual / online events - Community management - & threading Advertorials - 0% 20% 40% 60% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 4
  • 6. twitter Linkedin HOW EFFECTIVE ARE CONTENT TS? Q3 M ARKETING TACTICS & FORMA These content formats are considered most effective in engaging prospects How effective are the following content marketing tactics and formats? and delivering message. Case studies White papers / ebooks In-person events Marketers consider case studies most effective Online articles (78 percent) — unchanged compared to last year’s Videos Webinars survey. This is also the most commonly used tactic Product demos (see previous chart). White papers take the number e-newsletters two spot with 73 percent (up from number three last Blogging Press releases year), followed by live, in person events (72 percent Slideware and down from the number two spot last year). The Social content least effective content formats are advertorials (18 Infographics / images Polling / research percent), community management & threading (20 Virtual / online events percent), and virtual events (31 percent). The fastest Community management & threading rising content format are infographics with 43 Advertorials 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% percent compared to 28 percent last year. Effective Ineffective I don’t use it B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 5
  • 7. twitter Linkedin ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT Q4 WHAT ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE CONTENT ? So what are the ingredients of successful content? It starts with engaging and compelling storytelling (81 percent), originality (52 percent) and customized content (50 percent), followed by professional writing (39 percent). What do you consider the three most important elements of effective content? Engaging and compelling storytelling Originality Custom content Well edited copy Professional writing Written for SEO Low cost High volume production 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 6
  • 8. twitter Linkedin SOCIAL MEDIA PL ATFORMS DO YOU? Q5 WHAT USE TO DELIVER CONTENT TO AUDIENCES LinkedIn tops the list of social media platforms with 85 percent (although this number is likely skewed considering the majority of survey respondents came from the B2B Technology Marketing Community on LinkedIn). The runner ups are Twitter (70 percent), Facebook (54 percent) and YouTube (53 percent). What social media plataforms do you use to deliver content to audiences? LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Sideshare Custom developed communities Google+ Pinterest Flickr 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 7
  • 9. twitter Linkedin Q6 HOW DO YOU CREATE CONTENT ? The vast majority of B2B marketers create content from scratch (94 percent). Other tactics include curating third party content (39 percent), re-using existing content (32 percent) and encouraging user-generated content (30 percent). How do you create content? Create content from scratch Curate third party content License / re-use existing content Encourage user generated content 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 8
  • 10. twitter Linkedin METRICS DO YOU USE TO MEASURE Q7 WHAT THE SUCCESS OF YOUR CONTENT ? Web traffic (64 percent) is the number one metric used by marketers to measure the success of content marketing. The next most popular metric is views and downloads (59 percent), followed by lead quantity and lead What metrics do you use to measure the success of your content marketing program? quality (tied with 52 percent each). Web traffic Views / downloads Lead quantity Lead quality Inquires Opportunities Sales / revenue Customer feedback Search rankings Social media engagement Inbound links Share of conversation Don’t measure 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 9
  • 11. twitter Linkedin WHO DETERMINES CONTENT Q8 MARKETING STRATEGY? The next question is to find out where in the organization content marketing strategy is determined. In most companies (55 percent), Corporate marketing sets content strategy, followed by Product marketing (38 percent), and the CEO / President / Owner (37 percent) in smaller companies that often don’t have a Who determines content marketing strategy at your company? dedicated marketing department. Corporate marketing Product marketing CEO / President / Owner PR / Communications Sales Demand generation Product management Field marketing External agency / Freelancer 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 10
  • 12. twitter Linkedin WHO CREATES CONTENT ? Corporate marketing is also the number one creator of content in most companies (55 percent), followed by Product marketing (47 percent) and PR / Communications (38 percent). About one in three companies relies on external agencies and freelancers to create content. Who creates content at your company? Corporate marketing Product marketing PR / Communications External agency / Freelancer Product management CEO / President / Owner Field marketing Sales Demand generation 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 11
  • 13. twitter Linkedin CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS Q10 WHAT DO MARKETERS OUTSOURCE? The most outsourced form of content are videos (33 percent). They are hard to produce and most companies don’t have the required capabilities in-house. Videos are followed by white papers / Which types of marketing content or tactis do you currently outsource, or expect to outsource in the future? ebooks (32 percent) and case studies Videos (26 percent). In contrast, the least White papers / ebooks outsourced tactics are product demos Case studies Press releases (6 percent), community management & Infographics / images Online articles threading (6 percent) and slideware / Webinars presentations (6 percent). Blogging Polling / research E-newsletters Social content Advertorials Virtual / online events In-person events Slideware / presentations Community management & threading Product demos We don’t outsource any 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 12
  • 14. twitter Linkedin WHO OWNS THE CONTENT Q11 MARKETING BUDGET ? For 51 percent of companies, the corporate marketing function owns content marketing funds, followed by the CEO / President / Owner (35 percent) in smaller companies. Product marketing owns the content marketing budget in 22 percent of companies. Now let’s look at who clearly doesn’t own content marketing budgets Who owns the content marketing budget? in most companies: external agencies and freelancers (1 percent), sales (5 percent), and Corporate marketing CEO / President / Owner product management (6 percent). Product marketing PR / Communications Field marketing Demand generation Product management Sales External agency / Freelancer 0% 10% 20% 30%| 40% 50% 60% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 13
  • 15. twitter Linkedin T IS WHAT PERCENTAGE OF BUDGEKETING? Q12 A LLOCATED TO CONTENT MAR One of the most telling indicators of the increasing importance of content marketing is budget allocation. Last year’s survey showed that the most frequent budget allocation was 20 percent. In our latest survey, it has moved up to 30 What percentage of your marketing budget is allocated to content marketing? percent indicating a strong shift toward 25% content marketing. 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 14
  • 16. twitter Linkedin WHAT CONTENT MARKETING ? Q13 TACTICS IS BUDGET SPENT ON Now that we know that content marketing spend is going up, let’s take a look at what tactics receive the most budget. The largest share of budget is allocated to tradeshows and in-person events (23 percent). This is followed by the company website (21 percent) and email marketing (17 percent). What percentage of your budget do you allocate to content distribution channels. Tradeshows & in-person events Company website Email Print media Social media PPC / Paid search PR Webinar Blog Organic search Online Display Ads Online directories 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 15
  • 17. twitter Linkedin IS CONTENT PRODUCTION VOLTHSE UM Q14 HOW CHANGING OVER THE NEX T 12 MON ? Over 84 percent of marketers are increasing content production over the next 12 months, over 30 percent of them significantly so. 14 percent of marketers expect volume to stay flat. In contrast, last year, over 71 percent of respondents saw an increase in content production — looks like the pace of content production is picking up steam. How is your content production volume going to change over the next 12 months? 53.0% | Increases 30.5% | Increases significantly 15.0% | Stays flat 1.5% | Decreases percent of marketers 0.0% | Decreases significantly say content production is on the rise. B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 16
  • 18. twitter Linkedin ARE YOUR BIGGEST CONTENT Q15 WHAT MARKETING CHALLENGES? Top Challenges Content marketing is complex and requires a very different approach and skill set compared to traditional outbound marketing tactics. We asked our marketing community what they consider the biggest content marketing challenges – here are the results: What are your biggest content marketing challenges? Time / bandwidth to create content The number one challenge is having enough time and Producing truly engaging content Producing enough content bandwidth to create content (56 percent), replacing last Measuring results Talent to produce content years top challenge: producing truly engaging content (53 Getting content delivered to the right audiences percent). The next biggest content marketing challenge No consistent content strategy Creating segment-specific content is producing enough content to serve the needs of your Lack of budget to produce content Understanding buyer personas marketing programs (45 percent). This points to a lack and decision stages Finding enough targeted contacts to offer content to of resources in B2B marketing organizations, which is Lack of process Buyers don’t want to register to consume content confirmed by 33 percent of respondents who selected Buyers’ attention span too short Localizing content for lack of talent as their marketing challenge. The least international markets Getting executive buy-in pressing problem for marketers is poor content quality Finding domain experts Poor content quality (12 percent) tied with finding domain experts (12 percent). 0% 20% 40% 60% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 17
  • 19. twitter Linkedin HOW DO MARKETERS SEGMENT Q16 A ND PERSONALIZE CONTENT ? There are many different ways to slice and organize marketing content. Should you segment by product, pain point, buyer persona, buying stage, or vertical – or all of How do you segment and personalize your content? the above? Here is what the B2B marketing 60% community thinks: The most popular segmentation dimension is product category (50 percent), followed 40% by vertical (36 percent) and buyer persona (28 percent). The least popular segmentation dimension is 20% company size with 16 percent. And 20 percent of marketers don’t systematically segment content at all. 0% Product / Vertical Buyer Pain point Stage in Company We don’t service category persona buying cycle size systematically segment content B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 18
  • 20. twitter Linkedin MANAGING THE COMPLEXIT Y Q17 OF B2B CONTENT MARKETING B2B content marketing is not trivial. Consider the multitude of market segments you serve, with multiple products, each with different buyer personas that influence the buying decision. And each buying process comprises a number of stages that require content to guide buyers to the next stage. If you wanted to address all possible intersections of products, markets, buyer So what is a manageable number personas, buying stages (and have multiple of segments, personas, and stages white papers, webcasts, eBooks, blog posts for each intersection) – you would quickly B2B marketers can support? be overwhelmed by the sheer amount and complexity of content and associated marketing programs. We asked our B2B marketing community and the magic number is … B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 19
  • 21. twitter Linkedin INTEGRATION WITH Q18 MARKETING AUTOMATION One of the emerging trends related to content marketing is marketing automation as a way to get targeted content in front of buying audiences. And while adoption of marketing automation is growing, only 26 percent of B2B marketers are actively creating content to feed their marketing automation campaign. How do you integrate content marketing 57 percent don’t use marketing with marketing automation (MA)? automation at all. 57.3% | Don’t use MA 25.5% | Actively create content to feed automated campaigns 19.0% | Sporadically use content for MA campaigns B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 20
  • 22. twitter Linkedin SURVEY METHODOLOGY The survey was completed by 740 marketers in 2012. Here is a detailed breakdown of the survey participant demographics. What is the size of your company (employees)? What industry is your company in? High-tech Fewer than 10 Software Advertising / Marketing 10-99 Business services Professional services 100-999 Manufacturing 1,000-10,000 Telecommunication Financial services 10,000+ Helathcare Government 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% What is your role in your company? What is your job title? Marketing Manager Owner / CEO / President Director Sales Owner / CEO / President Product Management VP Consultant Specialist Engineering 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 21
  • 23. twitter Linkedin SPONSORS We would like to thank our sponsors for supporting the 2012 B2B Content Marketing Report: IDG Enterprise | www.idgenterprise.com IDG Enterprise brings together the unique brands (Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CIO, DEMO, CSO, CIO Executive Council, ITworld, and CFOworld) to serve the information needs of our IT and security-focused audiences. By leveraging the strengths of each individual brand, while simultaneously harnessing their collective reach and audience affinity, we provide market leadership and media best practices for our marketing customers to engage their customers across our portfolio. NetProspex | www.netprospex.com NetProspex drives B2B lead generation by providing marketers with targeted prospect lists, data cleansing, and powerful analytics to understand their data. Optify | www.optify.net Optify helps professional B2B marketers reach more buyers and generate more demand. Optify’s Inbound Marketing Suite brings together enterprise-class SEO, social marketing, website analytics and tools that B2B marketers need to increase awareness, influence buyers across social networks, and engage with prospects at the earliest point of their buyer’s journey. Maximizer Software | www.maximizer.com Maximizer Software delivers Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to meet the needs, budgets and access requirements of entrepreneurs, medium and small businesses and divisions of large enterprises. Easily configurable for organizations in any industry, Maximizer CRM optimizes sales processes, enhances marketing initiatives, and, improves customer service to ultimately boost productivity and revenue. Solution Publishing | www.solpub.com Solution Publishing utilizes proprietary semantic technologies to deliver exceptionally relevant content to its permission based B-to-B audiences. Technology professionals and business leaders value our IT Solution Journal as a customized research department they rely on to remain current and explore business solutions. Technology marketers use IT Solution Journal for high quality lead and demand generation. B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 22
  • 24. twitter Linkedin THANK YOU Technology Group Partner Marketing Many thanks to everybody who participated in this survey. If you are interested in co-sponsoring upcoming surveys, or creating your own survey report, please contact Holger Schulze at hhschulze@gmail.com. Bottom line: Content marketing is rapidly moving along the adoption life cycle and best practices are rapidly emerging. I hope you enjoyed this survey report and found the data points helpful for your own content marketing efforts. About the B2B Technology Marketing Community With over 30,000 members, the B2B Technology Join the Marketing Community is the single largest LinkedIn group B2B TECHNOLOGY exclusively focused on B2B technology marketing. This MARKETING COMMUNITY group is for marketing professionals in B2B high-tech industries to enable networking, sharing of ideas, best on LinkedIn practices and opportunities. B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 23
  • 25. twitter Linkedin ABOUT THE AUTHOR Holger Schulze is the author of the syndicated blog Everything Technology Marketing. Our goal is to inform and educate B2B marketers about new trends, share marketing ideas and Email best practices, and make it easier for you to find hhschulze@gmail.com the information you care about to do your jobs successfully. Follow Holger on Twitter http://twitter.com/holgerschulze Holger Schulze is a B2B technology marketing executive delivering demand, brand awareness, and revenue growth for high-tech companies. Subscribe to Holger’s Technology Marketing Blog A prolific blogger and online community builder, http://everythingtechnologymarketing.blogspot.com Holger manages the B2B Technology Marketing Community on LinkedIn with over 30,000+ members. B2B CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS | READ THE 2012 SURVEY RESULTS 24