The results are in! The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs have published the third annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America and an overwhelming 91% of B2B Marketers are using content marketing! Below we will share some key findings from the report including usage, confidence, distribution, and challenges. For more information, read the full report: B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America.
Content Marketing Tactics
On average, B2B content marketers use 12 of the tactics listed above. On the other hand, the 2012 and 2011 studies only reported 8 tactics. Social media (other than blogs), articles on a website, eNewsletters, blogs, and case studies are the top 5 most used tactics whereas games, annual reports, and print newsletters are the least utilized content marketing tactics.
Notably, the use of all tactics has increased over last year, except for print magazines, which stayed the same. What has seen the biggest increase from last year? Research reports, virtual conferences, and mobile content to name a few.
Confidence in Content Marketing Tactics
Despite the increasing number of tactics being used, there is still debate on how effective each tactic is. Overall, in-person events, case studies, and webinars/webcasts are believed to be the most effective content marketing tactics.
Distributing Content
Respondents were asked which social media sites they use to distribute their content. It was discovered that overall 87 percent of marketers use social media to distribute their content (up from 74 percent last year). The 87 percent of marketers using social media to distribute their content use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+ most frequently. Also note that LinkedIn has removed Twitter from the top spot!
Content Marketing Challenges
The number one challenge B2B content marketers face is producing enough content! If coming up with content ideas is the source of your inability to produce enough content, check out Blogging For Success (Part 2): Content & Promotion, for 25 content ideas.
What is your favorite content marketing tactic? How effective do you find your content marketing to be? What social media sites do you use to distribute your content? And finally what is your biggest content marketing challenges? Let us know in the comment box below!
Thanks to the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs for this great report. You can view it in its entirety below:
Check Out The Other Blogs In Our Content Marketing Series:
Content Marketing Definitions, Tips, and Strategies
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