The evolution of B2B content marketing

Didit Editorial

9 years ago

June 13, 2016: The Content Marketing Institute just released its annual report on the state of content marketing. Compiled from survey data submitted by 1521 North American B2B respondents, the report sheds light on how B2Bs are using content marketing and whether they’re happy with the results it supplies them. Here are some highlights:

1. Content marketing is becoming a nearly ubiquitous B2B tactic. 88% of marketers surveyed reported using content marketing, up slightly from last year’s 86% usage rate. The most important reasons for doing so include lead generation (85A%), sales (84%) and lead nurturing (78%)

2. B2Bs are producing more content than ever. Content production rates have been growing significantly, especially in the past two years, leading some observers to fear a coming “content winter” in which supply exceeds demand. Today, 76% of marketers surveyed intended to produce more content in 2016 than they did in 2015.

3. Marketers are becoming less sure that their content marketing is working. Last year, 38% of those surveyed reported that they their content marketing campaigns were “effective.” This year, only 30% did. It’s not clear from the survey why confidence in the tactic is dropping.

4. LinkedIn is the #1 B2B content distribution platform. 94 percent of marketers surveyed reported using LinkedIn; 87% used Twitter, 84% used Facebook, and 74% used YouTube. Interestingly 62% reported using Google Plus – a higher number than expected given Google’s de-emphasis of the platform over the past 12 months. SlideShare (37%), Instagram (29%), and Pinterest (25%) were far less popular.

5. Paid Search (66%) remains the most popular method to promote B2B content, followed by print/offline (57%) and traditional display ads (55 percent) led the pack. Promoted social posts and social display ads were used by about half of responding marketers.

6. Newsletters dominate subscription content. 72 percent of respondent marketers used newsletters as a lure to get prospects to opt into their marketing, followed by blogs (56%), online communities (22%) and video content (12%).

7. Creating engaging content is a challenge for most B2Bs. 60% percent of responding marketers reported that their top challenge was producing “engaging content.” Other top challenges included measuring content’s effectiveness (57%), producing content consistently (57%), and measuring content marketing ROI (52%).

The takeaway for marketers

While content marketing has become a nearly universally-adopted tactic among B2Bs, it’s somewhat troubling to learn that only 30 percent believe that their efforts are “effective.” According to the Content Marketing Institute, “ineffective” campaigns often arise when content practices are not carefully thought out in advance. These processes include:

An editorial mission
Regular team meetings
A documented content marketing strategy
Clarity and agreement on content marketing goals
Sufficient budget and senior management buy-in to execute the plan

It’s clear that the actual process of creating content that’s of sufficient quality to actually engage the desired B2B target audience remains a continually daunting chore for many B2Bs.