2014 Content MarketingTrends and Analysis

Highlights of TechValidate research with 236 B2B Marketers

236

11-25

Late 2013

TechValidate

B2B Marketing Professionals

Median Marketing Team Size

Surveyed in

Research Conducted By

Median Marketing Team Size

1.Budget growth is slowing while ContentMarketing remains as important as ever.In 2011, everyone was talking about Content Marketing, but not everyone was doing it. Budgets were growing quickly. Today, while budgets have stabilized, nearly everyone sees content marketing as critical.

2.Lead generation is still the primary driver for creating content, but the amount of people citing lead nurturing as their main reason for creating content has increased over 5x. Because it emphasizes long-term relationships, lead nurturing often requires more content and a longer term plan.

Lead generation remains important, but lead nurturing is growing.

3.With budgets not growing as quickly as the need for content, creating relevant content requires carefully balancing the effectiveness of content with the cost and time it takes to create. Testimonials and case studies provide high value while being relatively easy to create, compared to microsites, videos, etc.

Customer testomonials and case studies are effective and relatively easy to create.

Key Takeaways 2

What is the 2014 Content Marketing and Trends and Analysis Study?

How was this research conducted?

In late 2013, TechValidate, a content automation platform, conducted a survey of 236 B2B Marketing Professionals. These respondents contributed to new findings on the growing importance of the content marketing space in integrated marketing campaigns, demand generation and awareness programs.

We’ll highlight findings from our research showing the challenges B2B marketers face with rapidly changing programs and budget constraints, and innovative ways best-in-class marketers have found to scale and report the success of their content marketing campaigns.

TechValidate emailed a number of professionals already working in the B2B Marketing space. These marketers were asked to complete a survey on how they were creating marketing content, where they were using it, and the challenges they’ve had.

3

Research Powered by

Table of ContentsImportance of Content Marketing 5

12

17

23

Most B2B companies rely on Content MarketingContent Marketing budget growth has drastically slowedPrimary drivers to create contentLead nurturing is growing in importanceSocial media usage is widespreadLinkedIn is the most used social platform, but others are close

6789

1011

13141516

Most common challengers: time, labor, and getting customers to talkWhat are content marketers saying about their challengesContent marketing is time consumingBusinesses are using a wide range of methods to create targeted content

1819202122

Customer content demonstrates clear value to prospectsHow do different types of content compare?Effective lead generation content is also effective for lead nurturingMarketers are using a wide variety of content for lead generation/nurturingContent with the best ROI

242526

Learn more on our blogRoles and Responsibilities of the 236 Surveyed RespondentsMarketing team sizes of participants

Challenges of Creating and Publishing Content

Creating Effective and Meaningful Content

Appendix

4

Chapter 1

Importance of Content Marketing

Is Content Marketing a major objective for your organization?

Most B2B companies rely on Content MarketingSince we did our last State of Content Marketing survey in 2011, the focus on content marketing has grown quickly at enterprise marketing organizations. In our latest survey, 76% of respondents reported that content marketing was a “Major Objective” at their organization.

No

Yes

24%

76%

6

Growing Imprtance, Tighter BudgetsLearn More on Our Blog:

Content Marketing budget growth has drastically slowed

Amount of content marketing budgets that are remaining the same or decreasing.

The average allocation of funds to content production has slowed. Over half of content marketing budgets will see no increase this year. This underscores the need to get more efficient at creating effective content and exploring options beyond traditional techniques.

2.5xIncrease

2011 2013

55.2%

20.0%

7

Growing Importance, Tighter BudgetsLearn More on Our Blog:

Lead generation is the most common driver of content generation.

Primary drivers to create content

Lead generation activities are still the largest driving force for creating new and compelling content, but we saw the percentage drop over two years from 52% in 2011 to 44% in 2013. Product launches, PR, and sales requests are less common reasons marketers are creating content.

Lead Generation

Lead Nurturing

Other

44.3%

40.1%

15.6%

8

Primary Drivers to Create ContentLearn More on Our Blog:

Lead nurturing is growing in importance

5.4xIncrease

Percentage of respondents who identify lead nurturing as the primary driver for creating new content.

Lead nurturing is the fastest growing content driver for B2B marketers. The jump in demand for lead nurturing content took away from other driving factors – such as product launches, sales requests and lead generation. This suggests a growing importance and emphasis on lead nurturing campaigns by B2B marketing teams over other initiatives.

2.9%

15.6%

2011 2013

9

Primary Drivers to Create ContentLearn More on Our Blog:

Number of social media services used:

Social media usage is widespread

Social media allows much wider visibility for your content. 94.7% of B2B marketers using social media are using multiple platforms to share content.

45.8%

23.3%

17.2%

8.4%5.3%

OneTwo

Three

Four

5 or More

10

Percentage of B2B Marketers who use each service:

LinkedIn is the most used social platform, but others are close

LinkedIn and Twitter are the most used for B2B marketing efforts. Facebook and YouTube are also used often, but other services are used much less frequently.

Pinterest, SlideShare, Vimeo, etc. are also used, but to a lesser extent.

72.5%

89.3% 87.8%80.2%

Twitt

er

Face

book

YouT

ube

Goog

le+

Link

edIn

43.5%

11

Chapter 2

Challenges of Creating Content

Top Challenges Content Marketers face:

Most common challenges: time, labor, and getting customers to talkCompared to our last survey of B2B marketers in 2011, lack of time and the cost of content creation were the two challenges that grew the most. Trouble getting specific stats/metrics, finding enough customers to go on record, and shortfall of content for all use cases all increased moderately.

Time Intensive (61%)

Labor intensive (38%)

Can’t get customers to talk (38%)

Expensive (28%)

Lack the expertise (15%)

Can’t get specific stats/metrics (32%)

Need additional content types (35%)

13

Top Content Creation ChallengesLearn More on Our Blog:

What are content marketers saying about their challenges?

“Our top challenge is time vs. the marketing roadmap. We have a very aggressive timeline in place, and not enough resources.

“Getting work done [is the biggest challenge.] People will buy into marketing but getting the work done is hard as most people are too busy with client work.

14

Top Content Creation Challenges / Time Spent Creating Content

Learn More on Our Blog:

Time commitment for specific content types:

Content Marketing is time consuming42% of respondents said that each piece of content takes between 2-5 weeks to produce, while 13% said it takes them 10 weeks or more to produce a finished piece of content.

The marketers we surveyed viewed producing case studies and testimonials as more time consuming than creating sales presentations, data sheets, and product collateral.

Thought Leadership white papers

Microsites

White papers

Case studies

Sales Presentation

Solution Collateral

Blog posts

Least Time Consuming Most Time Consuming

15

Time Spent Creating ContentLearn More on Our Blog:

What targeted content resonates?

Businesses are using a wide range of methods to create targeted content

True to human psychology principles, social proof from customers with whom prospects can identify with turns out to be the most compelling. It’s common for a prospect to assume they are unique – customer proof from the same industry can be the most analogous to what will happen at their company if they choose to adopt a specific product or service.

64.4%

77.0%

Solu

tion

or U

sage

Mod

el

Verti

cal /

Indu

stry

Many businesses segment content by Vertical/ Industry (77.0%) and by Solution or Usage Model (64.4%). Role/Persona (45.9%) and Size of Business (28.9%) segmentation are also commonly used.

16

Create Targeted ContentLearn More on Our Blog:

Chapter 3

Creating Effective Content

94% of marketers found customer sourced content like case studies and testimonials “Very Effective” or “Extremely Effective.”

Customer content demonstrates clear value to prospectsCompared to content written in-house or by 3rd-party analysts, customer-sourced content is the clear winner in proving your value to prospects. This underscores a common refrain that social proof lends a great deal of credibility to a company’s marketing message.

56%

45%

94%

3rd-

party

Ana

lyst

s

In-h

ouse

Sour

ced

from

cus

tom

ers

18

Which Type of Content is Most Effective?Learn More on Our Blog:

Highly Effective

Customer testimonials(54.8%)

Case studies(55.3%)

Videos(48.8%)

White papers(43.6%)

Microsites(14.8%)

Product collateral(18.8%)

Blog posts(14.1%)

Somewhat Effective Least Effective

How do different types of content compare?

White papers and videos are also effective, but most companies report that they are more time consuming and costly to produce.

Percentage of marketers who found each content type “Very Effective” or “Extremely Effective” for lead generation and lead nurturing.

19

Most Effective Content for Lead Generation / Most Effective Content for Lead Nurturing

Learn More on Our Blog:

Testimonials, case studies, videos, and whitepapers are rated the most effective types of content for both lead generation and lead nurturing.

Effective lead generation content is also effective for lead nurturing

The lowest effectiveness ratings went to microsites, blog posts, and product collateral.

Testimonials Case Studies Videos Whitepapers

63.6%

54.8%

63.6%

55.3% 54.5%

45.1%48.8%

43.6%

Lead Generation vs. Lead Nurturing Effectiveness:

Lead

Gen

erat

ion

Lead

Nur

turin

g

Lead

Gen

erat

ion

Lead

Nur

turin

g

Lead

Gen

erat

ion

Lead

Nur

turin

g

Lead

Gen

erat

ion

Lead

Nur

turin

g

20

Most Effective Content for Lead Generation / Most Effective Content for Lead Nurturing

Learn More on Our Blog:

Four least used types of content for lead generation/nurturing

Marketers are using a variety of content for lead generation/nurturingLess than 10% of people surveyed said they were not using customer testimonials, case studies, or product collateral. Even microsites (the least used content type) are used by nearly 3/4 of marketers. Microsites, videos, and whitepapers often require a large investment of time and money leading them to be used less.

Amout of people who aren’t using these content types:

20.2%

15.6%12.7%

27.2%

Vide

os

Blog

Pos

ts

Whi

tepa

pers

Mic

rosit

es21

Most Effective Content for Lead Generation / Most Effective Content for Lead Nurturing

Learn More on Our Blog:

Testimonials

Case Studies

Whitepapers

Blog PostsVideos

Microsites

Content with the best ROI

Effort / Effectiveness has been calculated by comparing how often something was considered “Very Effective” or better versus how often it is considered “Very Time Consuming” and “Very Costly.”

Content Marketing Effort / Effectiveness Ratio

1.95 1.47 .90 .89 .89 .78

22

What B2B Content Delivers the Best ROI?Learn More on Our Blog:

Chapter 4

Appendix

Learn more on our blog

Growing Importance, Tighter Budgets

Primary Drivers to Create Content

Top Content Creation Challenges

Time Spent Creating Content

Time Spent Creating Case Studies

Create Targeted Content

Which Type of Content is Most Effective?

Most Effective Content for Lead Generation

Most Effective Content for Lead Nurturing

What B2B Content Delivers the Best ROI?

24

Importance of Content Marketing

Challenges of Creating Content

Creating Effective Content

Roles and Responsibilities of the 236 Surveyed Respondents

Mar

ketin

g Co

mm

unic

atio

ns

57.4%

51.9% 51.5%

39.1% 37.4%

31.1%27.2%

13.6%9.8%

6.8% 5.5% 4.7%

39.6%

Mar

ketin

g M

anag

emen

t

Mar

ketin

g Pr

ogra

ms /

Le

ad G

ener

atio

n

Corp

orat

e M

arke

ting

Soci

al M

edia

Prod

uct M

arke

ting

Mar

ketin

g O

pera

tions

Publ

ic R

elat

ions

Cust

omer

Ref

eren

ce /

Prog

ram

s

Anal

yst R

elat

ions

Sale

s Ope

ratio

ns

Sale

s

Sale

s Man

agem

ent

25

Marketing team sizes of participants25

0+

51-2

50

26-5

0

11-2

5

6-10 3-

5 2 1

14.7%15.6%

11.7%

17.3%

14.3%

19.0%

4.3%

3.0%

26

Thanks for taking the time to learn about the trends of B2B Content Marketing in 2014

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