Content marketers are being rewarded for staying the course according to new research released in the USA last night. That’s especially good news for Australian marketers who tend to have skipped the trial and error phase experienced by early adopters. While the annual report from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs covered familiar territory, it also identified new trends relating to content marketing effectiveness.
Strategy + Commitment = Content Marketing Success
As content marketing takes hold as a discipline, data is mounting to show a long-term, strategic approach works. Starting with a documented strategy and sticking with a regular publishing schedule devoid of campaign-style initiatives is being rewarded. Encouragingly, 62% of the B2B marketers surveyed say their content marketing programs are more successful than in the previous year.
One thing stands out in this report. The most effective organisations are either extremely or very committed to content marketing.  An overwhelming 91% of the top performers and 63% overall make this claim. This commitment takes a variety of forms but 73% say their strategy “includes a plan to operate content marketing as an ongoing business process, not simply a campaign.�
 
It’s long been understood the most effective content marketers start with a documented strategy. The 2017 report shows strategy is as important as ever but so is content creation to success: content creation (85%) and strategy (72%).
The workhorses of any content program – blogs, email, and social media – are being viewed as the most important tactics for success in 2017. White papers, in-person events, webinars and high-quality video production round out the list.
Content marketers are making progress
It’s an encouraging report. Organisations who are committed to providing high-quality content on a regular basis are experiencing results. The most successful marketers are viewing it as a strategic undertaking and are focusing on providing their audience with positive experiences hinged on content. They’re also focusing on quality over quantity – more evidence to suggest content marketing is maturing.
One thing is certain; those organisations having success with content marketing are investing time and resources into their programs. They’re doing a better job of creating the content and have put processes in place to ensure they deliver with consistent frequency. B2B content marketers appear to be moving out of the experimentation and dabble phase into a full-blown business process.
View the full report here: B2B Content Marketing: 2017 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — North America by Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs. Sponsored by Brightcove.
Getting help with content creation
Like what you’ve read? Sign up to the Lush newsletter for fortnightly advice to help you market your business better, tips from our video production gurus, and a podcast or two from our favourite podcasting team, Brand Newsroom. In the meantime, you might enjoy reading these:
Build trust with you audience using content marketing
Lessons from the world’s best content marketing projects [podcast with show notes]
