On September 27, 2015, Yoav Vilner, Co-founder of Ranky, publicly declared in a blog post on Inc.com that Content Marketing Is Dead. While you might write this off to theatrical hyperbole, he makes a really valid point in that just about everyone is doing content marketing (even if they’re not doing it quite right).
What everyone wants to know is, in this environment, where everyone is doing Content Marketing, what works?
Earlier this year we created the Periodic Table of Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2015. Now that 2015 is almost gone, we’ve taken a look around to see what Content Marketing has worked, and what hasn’t. In addition, we’ve pulled together some of the most useful content marketing statistics from 2015, and assembled them in the interactive content marketing infographic below.
We don’t think content marketing is dead. We do think, however that marketers need to give their content a little extra push to get their content to stand out from the rest. Enjoy!
Visual Content Marketing
Visual Content Increases Conversions
Visuals in the form of videos increase website conversions by 86%. Via: EyeView
Successful B2B Media Types
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Video
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Written Copy
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Images
Video, written copy and images (in that order) are the most successful media types for B2B. Via: B2B Marketing
Video Content Marketing
Video Content Has Best ROI
51.9 percent of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI. Via: Adobe
B2B Buyers Using Video
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Video useful for B2B buyers
B2B buyers name video among the 3 most useful types of content for making work purchases. Via: Invodo
YouTube Video Platform of Choice
72% of marketers surveyed confirmed that YouTube was their video platform of choice to distribute content for lead generation and brand visibility purposes. Via: reelseo
Video Most Effective Form of Content
46% of marketers cite video as their most effective form of content. Via: KO Marketing Associates
Video Increases Conversions
Using videos on landing pages can increase conversions by 80%. Via: CodeFuel
Google Ranking Video
50
It’s 50x easier to get a video to rank on the first page of Google. Via: SlideShare
Work-Related Videos
75% of executives watch work-related videos at least once a week. Via: SlideShare
Infographics
Infographics
Infographics were the B2B content marketing tactic with the biggest increase from 2014 to 2015, up to 62% from 51%. Via: Content Marketing Institute
More Likely to Read Infographics
30
Users are 30 times more likely to read infographics than text. Via: HubSpot
Sharing Infographics
Buyers are most likely to share blog posts (40%), more than any other content form. Next most likely shared content form is infographics (39%). Via: Demand Gen Report
Content Marketing Strategy
Brand Awareness
#1 Goal
84% of enterprise marketers site brand awareness as their number one goal for content marketing Via: Marketo
Top 3 Challenges
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Creating engaging content
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Producing content consistently
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Measuring content effectiveness
Top 3 challenges of B2B content marketers: #1 Creating engaging content; #2 Producing content consistently; #3 Measuring content effectiveness. Via: DNB
Effective Content Marketing Tactics
The most effective B2B content marketing tactics are in-person events (cited by 69% of marketers), webinars/webcasts (64%), video (60%), and blogs (60%). Via: eMarketer
Tech Buyers Read More Content
Nearly 64% of B2B technology buyers indicated that they read between 2 to 5 pieces of content before making a purchase. Via: Ecccolo Media
Audiences Targeted
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4 – Average number of different audiences targeted
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13 – Average number of marketing initiatives worked on
The average number of different audiences B2B marketers target with separate content marketing strategies is 4. The average number of content marketing initiatives B2B marketers worked on at any given time is 13. Via: SlideShare
Content Creation
Inefficient Content Production
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$958M each year in excess spending
Inefficiency in content production results in an estimated $958M each year in excessive spend for mid-to-large B2B US companies. Via: Gleanster
Time Spent Creating Content
B2B firms with over 250 employees estimate that in an average month the marketing staff allocates about 62% of their time to content production. Via: Kapost
Annual Spend on Content Creation
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$5.2 billion spent on content creation
B2B firms spend over $5.2B a year on content creation efforts. Via: Gleanster
Blogging is Valuable
59
59% of B2B marketers consider blog the most valuable channel. Via: Demand Metric
Engaging, High-Quality Content
89% of marketers are focused on creating more engaging, higher-quality content over the next 12 months. Via: Marketo
Long-form Content
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1,500 words shared more often
Long-form content (over 1,500 words) is shared more often. Via: Imagine Pub
% of Fortune 500 Companies Blogging
31
Blogs are one of the most effective tools for increasing organic search traffic, and are highly influential with buyers. Yet just 31% of Fortune 500 enterprises now maintain an official blog. Via: Business2Community
Content Distribution
Creating More Content
70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did one year ago. Via: Content Marketing Institute
LinkedIn for Distributing Content
94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content, making it the social media platform used most often (they also say it’s the most effective social media platform). Via: Content Marketing Institute
Search Engine Marketing
58% of B2B marketers use search engine marketing, making it the paid method used most often to promote/distribute content (they also say it’s the most effective paid method). Via: Content Marketing Institute
Publish New Content Daily
42
42% of B2B marketers publish new content daily or multiple times per week. Via: Content Marketing Institute
Effective Marketers Distribute More Content
Over 50% of the most effective marketers put out new content for their readers at least several times a week, if not every single day. Via: Sprout Worth
Best Day to Share Content
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Thursdays
Content shared on Thursdays has the longest “link lifespan” (people still clicking on those links several days later). Via: SocialMediaToday
Educational Content
69% of people trust an organization’s educational content if it is discovered via a friend. Via: Imagine Pub
Case Studies Preferred
69% of B2B marketers chose case study as the preferred content type for their social media marketing in the pre-sale stage of the buying cycle. Via: Regalix
Buyer Personas
Confused by Buyer Personas
Nearly 80% of the respondents (State of Buyer Persona survey) indicated they were confused about what buyer personas were, what were the differences between profiling and buyer personas, what were the essential elements of buyer persona development, and the role of qualitative research methods. Via: Tony Zambito
Buyer Persona Effectiveness
Only 15% of the respondents of the State of Buyer Persona survey stated their buyer personas were very to significantly effective. Via: Tony Zambito
Social Media
ROI Tracking
#1 Challenge
The #1 challenge B2B marketers face with social media is tracking ROI. Via: B2B Marketing
Most Used Platforms
Twitter (93%) and LinkedIn (91%) are the most used social platforms for B2B marketers. Via: Regalix
Effective Social Media
64% of B2B marketers said LinkedIn is the most effective social media channel for customer engagement at the pre-sales stage of the buying cycle. Via: Regalix
Social Customer Care
7
Messages
7 in 8 messages to brands go unanswered within 72 hours Via: Sprout Social
Preferred Post-Sale Content Type
During the post-sale stage, blog post (59%) was the most chosen content type. Via: Regalix
Forums
5
Industry-specific forums are five times more popular than Twitter with B2B audiences. Via: Imagine Pub
Most Engaging Facebook Posts
93% of the most engaging posts on Facebook are photo posts. Via: Social Media Examiner
Search Engine Optimization
Video SEO
76% of B2B use some form of video in their content marketing with 60% confirming that this approach was very effective. Via: Content Marketing Institute
Content for SEO
45% of companies and 51% of agencies say content marketing is “highly integrated” with their SEO strategy. Via: HubSpot
Website Traffic
Website traffic is critical for B2B marketers – 63% say it’s the metric they review more than any other to evaluate success, according to CMI’s B2B Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends. Via: Content Marketing Institute
Average Content Length
2000
The average content length for a web page that ranks in the top 10 results for any keyword on Google has at least 2,000 words. The higher up you go on the search listings page, the more content each web page has. Via: Quicksprout
Predictive Analytics
Predictive Objectives
61% of B2B marketers say “improve conversion rates” is their objective for investing in predictive marketing. Via: Demand Gen Report
Big Data Projects
83% of business leaders have pursued Big Data projects in order to seize a competitive edge. Via: Cloud Computing
Content Marketing Budgets
Increased Content Marketing
59% of marketers expect their organization’s content marketing budget to increase spending in the next 12 months. Via: One Spot
Content Marketing Expense
62
Content marketing is 62% less expensive than traditional marketing. Via: Demand Metric
Effective B2B Marketers
51% of enterprise marketers say they will increase spending on content marketing. Via: Marketo
Content Budgets
28
B2B marketers spend 28% of their budgets on content marketing. Via: Content Marketing Institute
Increased Mobile Budgets
64% of B2B companies plan to increase their mobile marketing budgets in the next 12 months. Via: Marketing Charts
Increased Content Budgets
59
59% of marketers expect their organization’s content marketing budget to increase spending in the next 12 months. Via: OneSpot
Email Content Marketing
Email Campaigns Accessible on Mobile
For the first time, companies are more likely to state they are making email campaigns accessible on a mobile device. More than three in every five companies (61%) are optimizing email for mobile devices; an increase of 144% in just two years. Via: Adestra
Email Dominates
Email dominates all other methods of content sharing: 88% of B2B buyers use email to share content. LinkedIn is 2nd (43%) and Twitter is 3rd (35%). Via: Demand Gen Report
Email More Effective
40
Email remains a significantly more effective way to acquire customers than social media — nearly 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter combined. Via: McKinsey & Company
Fully Integrated Email
Instead of worrying about millennial behavioral trends, most companies see email as an integral part of their future marketing activities. More than five in every six companies (84%) see email as being fully integrated with other marketing channels within the next five years, with 76% believing all email communications will be completely personalized. Via: Adestra
Email Open Rates
45% of email opens occurred on mobile, compared to 36% on desktop. Via: emailmonday
Responsive Design for Email
48% of B2B marketers always/often use responsive design to build email campaigns. Via: Salesforce
Content Marketing for Lead Generation
Cost Per Lead Generated
74% of marketers spend more than $50 per lead generated, with 5% spending more than $1,000. Via: Mintigo
Common Lead Generation Strategies
The three most commonly used lead gen strategies are email marketing (78%), event marketing (73%), and content marketing (67%). Via: Direct Marketing News
Automation Software vs Email Software
2
Marketing automation software has generated twice as many leads as email marketing software in 2015 so far. Via: Statista
Lead Generation Goals
83% of B2B marketers use content marketing to achieve their lead generation goals. Via: Content Marketing Institute
Leads from Social Media
54% of B2B marketers have generated leads from social media. Via: Content Marketing Institute
Leads Generated from Social Media
More than 80% of B2B leads generated through social media are from LinkedIn. Via: Oktopost
Inbound Converts Leads
28
Inbound converts a lead to an opportunity 28% higher than paid marketing. Via: Marketo
Blogging For Leads
81% of businesses have reported their blog as “useful” or “critical” to B2B lead generation. Via: HubSpot
Marketing Automation
Worldwide Marketing Automation Usage
79% of B2B marketers worldwide use marketing automation, compared to only 55% in the US. Via: eMarketer
Implementing Automation
88% of B2B companies plan on implementing marketing automation in their organizations by the start of the 2017-2018 financial year. Via: B2B Marketing
Marketing Automation is Very Effective
67% of marketing automation-users listed the technology as “very effective/effective.” Via: Salesforce
Monthly “Marketing Automation” Searches
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12,100 searches in February 2014
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14,800 searches in January 2015
Monthly Google searches for “marketing automation” have grown by 22%, from 12,100 in Feb 2014 to 14,800 in January 2015. Via: Get Spokal
Increased Marketing Automation Budgets
63% of users plan to increase their marketing automation budget this year. Via: Marketo
Mobile Marketing
Mobile Display and Search Spending
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Mobile display ad spend will total $33.9 billion
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Mobile search ad spend will total $28.41 billion
Through 2019, both display and search will increase at a similar rate, with display widening the gap slightly by virtue of growing from a higher base. By the end of our forecast, mobile display ad spend will total $33.90 billion, while mobile search will be $28.41 billion. Via: eMarketer
Mobile is Core to Business
71% of marketers believe mobile marketing is core to their business. Via: Salesforce
Mobile Ad Spend in U.S.
In 2015, mobile ad spending in the US will increase 50.0%, reaching $28.72 billion and accounting for 49.0% of all digital ad spending. By 2019, mobile ad spending will rise to $65.87 billion, or 72.2% of total digital ad spend. Via: eMarketer
Critical for Products & Services
70% of marketers using mobile say it’s a critical enabler of products or services. Via: Salesforce
Global Website Traffic
73% of global traffic to B2B company sites originate from the search engines. Most will not go past the first page of Google. Via: E-Commerce & B2B
B2B E-commerce
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$5.5 trillion in sales worldwide in 2012
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$12 trillion in sales by 2020
B2B e-commerce projected to hit $12 trillion in sales worldwide by 2020, up from $5.5 trillion in 2012. Via: Internet Retailer
Dedicated Mobile Marketing Team
58% of marketers have a dedicated mobile marketing team. Via: Salesforce
Mobile Marketing
46
46% of marketers surveyed are using some form of mobile marketing—either SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, or location functionality. Via: Salesforce
Video on Mobile
Second quarter 2015 saw mobile video plays exceed 44%,
up 74% from a year ago. Via: Ooyala
Wearables
Wearables an Alternative to Smartphones
Within five years, 40% of wearables will have evolved into a viable consumer mass market alternative to smartphones. Via: IDC
Wearables Working with Mobile Devices
63% of consumers say wearable tech should work with any mobile device regardless of operating system (i.e. iOS, Android, Windows). Via: Startek
Wearable Forecast
150
Morgan Stanley Analysts forecast the marketplace for wearable technology to grow at a compound rate of over 150% through 2017, with a saturation level of 248 million devices at that point. Longer projections call for sales to reach 1 billion unit level by 2020. Via: Amac Advantage