We have once again partnered with Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs to conduct a comprehensive survey of more than 1,800 B2B marketers in North America to learn how they use content as part of the marketing mix and what their challenges and initiatives are. The results are in and this year’s survey shows that B2B marketers want their content to drive stronger results, specifically in terms of engagement and conversion.
In B2B Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, the survey reports that 69% of B2B marketers rank creating more engaging/higher-quality content as their top initiative, with better website conversions right behind at 63%. Creating engaging content has been the top challenge for marketers year-over-year, so it’s a promising step that they are starting to focus on it as an initiative.
Although these are pain points for the majority of marketers, we can’t help but be excited since we know video has the power to solve both of these problems! And we think marketers are catching on since, according to the study, video as a tactic is on the rise, growing from 70% in 2013 to 76% in 2015. As marketers start shifting their focus from tactical content marketing to strategic content marketing, we foresee video becoming the top tactic of choice.
The survey compiled many other interesting facts, which are illustrated in the infographic below, and include that although 86% of B2B marketers use content marketing, only 38% say that are effective at it. Additionally, even though the majority (83%) say that have a strategy, only 35% have it documented; and the 35% who have a documented strategy are more effective in all aspects of content marketing than those who have not.
You can find all that and more in the full research report. We are also hosting a free live video stream with Joe Pulizzi, founder of CMI, and Steve Rotter, global vice president of digital marketing for Brightcove, where they will unveil highlights from the report and discuss the future of content marketing. Sign up today!
