B2B - Content Marketing Institute

B2B Content Marketing:

2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America SPONSORED BY:

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FOREWORD Greetings Content Marketers,

Welcome to this year’s report on the content marketing practices of business-to-business (B2B) technology marketers in North America. In this report, we highlight key areas of difference between the most effective technology marketers and their less effective peers. We also show some differences between those who have a documented content strategy and those who do not. For example:  The most effective technology marketers allocate more budget to content marketing when compared with the overall sample of technology marketers (35% vs. 28%)  Only 39% of technology marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing, however having a documented strategy dramatically increases confidence (62% of those with a strategy say they are effective) Technology marketers use a good mix of tactics and continue to invest in content marketing, with 58% planning to increase spend over the next 12 months. We look forward to seeing how this continued investment pays off over the next year. On with the content marketing revolution…

Joe Pulizzi

Founder Content Marketing Institute SPONSORED BY:

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OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS

39% of technology marketers say they are effective at content marketing. How Technology Marketers Rate the Effectiveness of Their Organization’s Use of Content Marketing

8% 31%

5 4 3

Very Effective

50% 11%

2 1

Not At All Effective 0

10 20 30

 Confidence rises when a technology

marketer has a documented content strategy (62% of those with a documented strategy say they are effective).

1%

40 50 60 70 80 90 100

2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs SPONSORED BY:

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EFFECTIVENESS

Comparison of Most Effective Technology Marketers with Least Effective Technology Marketers Most Effective

Overall/Average

Least Effective

Has a documented content strategy

75%

46%

10%

Has someone who oversees content marketing strategy

86%

73%

53%

Average number of tactics used

16

15

12

Average number of social media platforms used

7

6

6

Percentage of marketing budget spent on content marketing

35%

28%

26%

Plans to increase content marketing spend over next 12 months

63%

58%

50%

Challenged with producing engaging content

46%

55%

73%

Challenged with producing a variety of content

31%

42%

47%

• “Most Effective” = Respondents who rated their organization’s use of content marketing as 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”) • “Least Effective” = Respondents who rated their organization’s use of content marketing as 1 or 2 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “Not At All Effective”) 2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

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STRATEGY

46% of technology marketers have a documented content strategy. Percentage of Technology Marketers Who Have a Documented Content Strategy

6%

 Technology marketers who have a

Unsure

46%

46% Yes

documented content strategy—when compared with those who do not—are more effective in all areas of content marketing and face fewer content marketing challenges.

No


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STRATEGY

Comparison of Technology Marketers Who Have a Documented Content Strategy with Those Who Do Not Documented Strategy Considers organization to be effective at content marketing

Overall/Average No Documented Strategy

62%

39%

14%

Average number of tactics used

16

15

13

Average number of social media platforms used

7

6

6

Producing more content compared with one year ago

82%

78%

73%

Percentage of marketing budget spent on content marketing

31%

28%

25%

Plans to increase content marketing spend over next 12 months

63%

58%

57%

Percentage that outsources content creation

63%

57%

49%

Challenged with producing a variety of content

35%

42%

51%

2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

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STRATEGY

73% of technology companies have someone in place who oversees content marketing strategy. Percentage of Technology Organizations with Someone Who Oversees Content Marketing Strategy

5% Unsure

23% No

 86% of the most effective technology

73% Yes


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marketers say their company has someone in place who oversees content marketing strategy.

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CONTENT VOLUME

78% of technology marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago. Change in Amount of Content Creation Among Technology Marketers (Over Last 12 Months)

1% Less

19% Same Amount

35% Significantly More

43% More

 The most effective technology

marketers are creating more content when compared with the overall sample (83% vs. 78%).

 Technology marketers who don’t have

a documented content strategy increased their content production by nearly as much as those who do have a strategy (73% vs. 82%).


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TACTIC USAGE

Technology marketers use an average of 15 content marketing tactics. Content Marketing Usage Among Technology Marketers (by Tactic)

91%

80

80% 80% 78%

 The most effective technology marketers use 75%

69% 58%

60

51%

 Articles on other websites: 87% vs. 75%

 Online presentations: 79% vs. 69%

 Infographics: 71% vs. 58%

 Research reports: 63% vs. 51%

 eBooks: 60% vs. 45%

Annual Reports

Print Magazines

Virtual Conferences

Podcasts

Mobile Apps

Licensed/Syndicated Content

Books

Mobile Content

Branded Content Tools

Microsites

eBooks

Research Reports

Infographics

22% 22% 10% 15%


9

32% 32% 30% 29% 29% 28%

Online Presentations

Articles on Other Websites

White Papers

Webinars/Webcasts

Articles on Your Website

In-person Events

eNewsletters

Blogs

0

Videos

20

43% 40%

all of the tactics shown here more frequently than their peers, especially:

36%

Case Studies

40

Social Media Content - Other Than Blogs

45%

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Games/Gamification

84%82%

Print Newsletters

86% 86%85%

Digital Magazines

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TACTIC EFFECTIVENESS

Technology marketers say webinars and videos are the most effective tactics they use. Effectiveness Ratings of Tactics Among Technology Manufacturers Who Use Them Say It’s Effective* Webinars/Webcasts 70% Videos 68% Case Studies 66% In-Person Events 66% Blogs 61% White Papers 61% 60% Research Reports eBooks 58% eNewsletters 56% Infographics 56%

Say It’s Less Effective

30% 32% 34% 34% 39% 39% 40% 42% 44%

 Social media content (other than

blogs) is not one of the top 10 effective tactics (and is not shown on this chart); however, the most effective marketers gave it a much higher rating (64% vs. 46%).

44%

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 * Percentage of respondents who rated these tactics as a 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)


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SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

Technology marketers cite LinkedIn as the social media platform they use most often to distribute content. Percentage of Technology Marketers Who Use Various Social Media Platforms to Distribute Content LinkedIn Twitter

85% 83%

YouTube Facebook Google+ SlideShare

46%

60%

97% 92%

32% Vimeo 25% 19% Instagram 17% Flickr 16% StumbleUpon 12% Foursquare 12% Tumblr 12% Vine 20

40

60

80


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regardless of company size or effectiveness, use LinkedIn to distribute content.


marketers use all of these platforms more frequently when compared with their peers.

Pinterest

0

 Nearly all technology marketers,

100 SPONSORED BY:

SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVENESS

Although adoption rates for social media are high, technology marketers are unsure of its effectiveness. Effectiveness Ratings of Social Media Platforms Among Technology Marketers Who Use Them Say It’s Effective*

63% 55%

Say It’s Less Effective

LinkedIn Twitter

52%

YouTube

44% 40%

SlideShare Vimeo

26% Facebook 18% Google+ 15%

37% 45%


48% 56% 60% 74%

Pinterest

marketers have more confidence in all of these platforms, and they especially rate Twitter higher (70% vs. 55%).

82% 85%

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 *Percentage of respondents who rated these tactics as a 4 or 5 in terms of effectiveness (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective”)


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ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

Technology marketers say lead generation is their top goal for content marketing. Organizational Goals for Content Marketing (Technology Marketers) 86% Lead Generation Brand Awareness 82% Customer Acquisition 77% Thought Leadership 75% Website Traffic 66% Lead Management/Nurturing 65% Engagement 63% Customer Retention/Loyalty 58% Sales 49%

0

10 20 30

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(across all industry segments) cite brand awareness as their top goal for content marketing, technology marketers cite lead generation.


marketers place higher emphasis on thought leadership when compared with the overall sample (81% vs. 75%).

40 50 60 70 80 90 100


13

 Whereas most other B2B marketers

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MEASUREMENT

Technology marketers cite Website traffic as their top metric for content marketing success. Metrics for Content Marketing Success (Technology Marketers)

69% Sales Lead Quality 64% Sales Lead Quantity 63% Social Media Sharing 57% SEO Ranking 54% Inbound Links 42% Direct Sales 40% Time Spent on Website 40% Subscriber Growth 33% Website Traffic

30% Benchmark Lift of Company Awareness 26%

 Like most other B2B marketers (across

all industry segments), technology marketers say Website traffic is their top goal.

Qualitative Feedback from Customers

Benchmark Lift of Product/Service Awareness 0

10 20 30

22%

40 50 60 70 80 90 100


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BUDGET

58% of technology marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months. Content Marketing Spending Among Technology Marketers (Over Next 12 Months)

10% 10% Unsure Significantly Increase 2% Decrease

29% Remain the

48% Increase


marketers are more likely than their peers to say they will increase spend over the next 12 months (63% vs. 58%).

Same


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BUDGET

On average, technology marketers allocate 28% of their total budget to content marketing. Percentage of Marketing Budget Spent on Content Marketing (Technology Marketers) 0% 5% 10% 15%

100% 75%-99% 50%-74% 25%-49% 10%-24% 5%-9% 1%-4%

0%

0%

14% 9%

26%

marketers allocate more budget to content marketing when compared with the overall sample (35% vs. 28%).

20%

Unsure 0


10

20

30

Average Spent: 28% 2014 B2B Technology Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING

57% of technology marketers outsource content creation. Insourcing vs. Outsourcing of Content Creation (Technology Marketers)

43%

In-house Only Outsourced Only

10

1% 56%

Both 0

 Technology marketers who have a

20

30

40

50

60

documented content strategy are more likely to outsource content creation when compared with the overall sample (63% vs. 57%).

70


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INSOURCING VS. OUTSOURCING

Writing and design are the functions that technology marketers are most likely to outsource. Functions that Technology Marketers Outsource Writing

51%

Design

74%

Content Distribution/Syndication 34% Editing

22%

Buyer Persona Creation 9% Content Planning & Strategy Measurement/Analytics 5% 0

10 20 30

7%

 As is the case with other B2B

marketers across all industry segments, writing and design are the top two functions that technology marketers outsource.

40 50 60 70 80 90 100


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SEGMENTATION

Technology marketers tailor content most often by industry trends.

How Technology Marketers Tailor Content 69%

Industry Trends

63%

Profile of Individual Decision Makers

Stage in the Buying Cycle Personalized Content Preferences None

0

5% 10

20

marketers tailor content more frequently in each of these areas when compared with their peers.

58% 57%

Company Characteristics

Competitors’ Content


12%

12% 30

40

50

60

70

80


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CHALLENGES

Time and content production issues top the list of challenges that technology marketers face. Challenges that Technology Marketers Face 69%

Lack of Time Producing Enough Content

58%

Producing the Kind of Content that Engages

55%

Producing a Variety of Content 42% Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness Lack of Budget

40%

40%

Inability to Collect Information from SMEs Lack of Integration Across Marketing Lack of Knowledge and Training Lack of Buy-in/Vision

32%

 72% of the most effective technology

marketers are challenged with a lack of time; however, they are less challenged in all other areas shown here, especially with producing engaging content (46% vs. 55%) and producing a variety of content (31% vs. 42%).

28%

23%

22%

Lack of Integration Across HR

17%

Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals 13% 0

10 20 30

40 50 60 70 80 90 100


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CHALLENGES

Biggest Content Marketing Challenge for Technology Marketers Lack of Time

25%

Producing the Kind of Content that Engages Producing Enough Content Lack of Budget

14%

13%

10%

Inability to Measure Content Effectiveness Lack of Buy-in/Vision

7%

7%

Inability to Collect Information from SMEs


marketers are more likely than their peers to say that lack of time is their biggest challenge (35% vs. 25%).

6%

Lack of Integration Across Marketing 5% Producing a Variety of Content 3% 0

10 20 30

40 50 60 70 80 90 100


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DEMOGRAPHICS

B2B Technology Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends–North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and sponsored by International Data Group (IDG). It is based on the responses of a subset of 270 business-to-business (B2B) technology marketers located in North America who replied to the fourth annual Content Marketing Survey. Sections of this report compare the technology respondents with the overall sample of 1,217 B2B marketers in North America, whose responses were previously reported on in the CMI/MarketingProfs study, B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America. The fourth annual Content Marketing Survey was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers using lists from CMI, MarketingProfs, Brightcove, Blackbaud, King Content, The Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising (ADMA), the Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA), Industry Week, and New Equipment Digest. A total of 4,397 recipients from around the globe—representing a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes— responded throughout July and August 2013.

Size of B2B Technology Company

B2B Technology Job Title/Function

(by Employees)

Micro

(Fewer than 10 Employees)

Large

(1,000+ Employees)

22%

Midsize

(100-999 Employees)

29%

15%

Small

(10-99 Employees)

35%

Content Creation/ Management

Other

7%

4%

General Management

7%

Marketing Administration/ Support

11%

Corporate Management/Owner

Marketing/ Advertising/ Communications/ PR Management

56%

15%


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About Content Marketing Institute: Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is the leading global content marketing education and training organization. CMI teaches enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September, and Content Marketing World Sydney, every March. CMI also produces the quarterly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a 2012 and 2013 Inc. 500 company.

To learn more, attend a full-day Technology/Software Industry Lab at Content Marketing World on September 11, 2014.

View all original CMI research at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research. Learn how to create a documented content marketing strategy, a key component for improving overall content marketing effectiveness.

About International Data Group (IDG): International Data Group (IDG™) is the world’s leading technology media, events, and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries. IDG Communications’ global media brands include ChannelWorld®, CIO®, CITEworld, CSO®, Computerworld®, GamePro®, InfoWorld®, ITworld®, Macworld®, Network World®, PCWorld®, TechHive® and TechWorld®. International Data Corporation (IDC), a subsidiary of IDG, has more than 1,000 analysts who provide expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries. Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.

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