Content Marketing Gets Social: Survey Reveals Strategies and Challenges

CONTENT MARKETING
GETS SOCIAL
2013 SURVEY ON CONTENT
MARKETING TRENDS

By Joseph McKendrick, Research Analyst
Produced by Unisphere Research,
a Division of Information Today, Inc.
September 2013

Sponsored by

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary��3
Content Marketing Now a Strategic Initiative��5
Social Media Emerges Within Multi-Channel Strategies��10
Content Gets an “A” for Originality��20
Needed: Greater Content Volume and Frequency��24
Measuring Progress��28
People, Process, and Technology��31
Demographics��37

CONTENT MARKETING GETS SOCIAL: 2013 Survey on Content Marketing Trends was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by Skyword. Unisphere Research is
the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division of Information Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters.
To review abstracts of our past reports, visit www.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701.

3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The survey uncovered these key findings:

n Comprehensive content marketing strategies are gaining
traction in enterprises. Close to half of enterprises in the
survey report they have formal content marketing strategies,
and 37% are considering such strategies. While a growing
number of companies have employed content strategies, more
measurement is needed. Only 25% actually measure the results
of their content marketing at the individual content level.
More than two-thirds of respondents indicate that the
n
primary objective of their content marketing program is
to engage customers and prospects. In addition, nearly half
respondents seek greater brand awareness was a primary
objective. These results show that B2B and B2C marketers
view content as a critical vehicle for developing and
maintaining lasting customer relationships and establishing
a trusted brand.

n Social media is an increasingly important element of
companies’ content discovery and amplification strategies.
Seven out of 10 executives report they are employing social
media to distribute content. Facebook and Twitter are now
the leading platforms for content marketing and customer
engagement. However, most companies are still only in the very
early stages of measuring return from social media marketing
activities and are not fully aware of the returns they are getting.
Most measurements tend to be more directly tied to specific
platform engagements, versus broader business value.

n Close to nine-tenths of marketers say they create their
own original content on-site. Marketers value informationrich delivery vehicles such as articles and videos, and they
are expanding the scope of their content beyond product
marketing. While product-oriented content is still the rule,
a majority of marketing managers are just as likely to be
developing in thought-leadership and other forms of valueadded content. By far, articles are the most common type of
digital content created as part of enterprise marketing efforts,
followed by videos and blogs.
n Marketers feel that content volume and frequency are too

low for today’s always-on economy. Executives report their
organizations currently produce 10 or fewer items a month,
but they would like to step this up to 50 pieces a month. Ten
items published a month equates to one fresh item every three
days. To fill the gaps, 78% report they repurpose their existing

t
t

Many businesses are struggling to connect with prospective
customers and prospects. The traditional marketing approaches
—exposing customers to product or service information within
sales or advertising channels—are no longer working. However,
the modern marketer is increasingly able to reach a targeted and
relevant audience by applying inbound and content marketing
best practices.
Today’s consumer has widespread access to information
through online search and social media that he is using to form
opinions and make purchase decisions long before he actually
begins a transaction. Enterprises are ramping up their content
marketing strategies to capture buyers’ attention through new
approaches and to provide prospects with relevant content to
improve thought leadership.
Providing the right content, at the right time, to the right
customer enables organizations to rise above the numerous
sites and digital pitches now competing for customer attention.
However, at this time, marketing executives are struggling with
ways to create more content, deliver it with greater frequency,
and streamline its delivery. In addition, few organizations are
measuring the results of their content marketing across emerging
social media channels.
These are some of the findings of a new survey of 217
marketing professionals, conducted by Unisphere Research,
a division of Information Today, Inc., sponsored by Skyword
Inc. The new research confirms a movement toward engaging
with a range of channels to better understand and interact with
customers and markets.
The survey looked at two sides of content marketing efforts:
first, how content is originated, and then how it is publicized or
distributed. Along with looking at overall content creation efforts,
we dove deep into the social media aspect and how that is shaping
content marketing.
Respondents to the survey—who are among the readership
base of CRM magazine and EContent magazine—represent
a range of organization types and sizes. A total of 24% are in
executive-level management, while another 17% are marketing
managers or directors. Project managers and business unit
managers are also heavily represented. About 15% of respondents
come from very large organizations with more than 5,000
employees, but there is also a significant contingent of small-tomedium-size businesses represented in the survey. In terms of
industry groups, the largest segment seen in this survey consists
of organizations involved in business or consumer services,
identified by 15% of respondents, with another 12% in the
information technology business. (See Figures 48–51 at the end
of this report.)


4
content. In today’s era, customers need to be engaged with a
regular, constant stream of content. The internet and social
media worlds are active on a 24x7 basis, every day of the month.
n wo-thirds of executives say their greatest challenge is to
T
produce more targeted, relevant content to engage audiences.
Another 53% say they can’t produce enough content to keep
audiences coming back on a regular basis. Lean staffing
resources may be part of the challenge—about half of
respondents indicated they have people or teams dedicated

to content marketing; however, for the most part, these teams
tend to be small. Still, enterprises with dedicated content
marketing managers or teams post more content more
frequently and report greater, measured benefits from their
content marketing.

The following results of this survey highlight the opportunities
and challenges marketing professionals face in generating and
distributing content to their audiences.


5
CONTENT MARKETING NOW A STRATEGIC INITIATIVE
Comprehensive content marketing strategies are gaining traction in enterprises: Close to half of enterprises in the survey report
they have formal content marketing strategies, and 37% are considering such strategies. About half also indicate they have people
or teams dedicated to content marketing. However, for the most part, these teams tend to be small, with no clear lines of authority.

For marketers, it’s all about the customer, and this is reflected
in the priorities explored in this survey. More than two-thirds,
68%, say their goal is to engage customers and prospects, while
close to half seek to enhance brand awareness. This suggests that
content marketing programs play a key role in maximizing the
marketing value of digital channels such as social media. (See
Figure 1.)
For another 38%, there is a direct bottom-line purpose— to
acquire leads. A similar percentage say their programs are intended
to acquire new customers and drive sales. This suggests there is still
a large focus on acquiring new customers and leads, indicating that
content is also linked to more concrete marketing objectives.
Many enterprises are coalescing their efforts around dedicated
teams or departments. Forty-six percent of respondents indicate
they have formal content marketing strategies within their
organizations. (See Figure 2.)
Effective content marketing programs are making a significant
difference in companies’ abilities to reach out to their customers
and increase brand awareness. Overall, close to half of marketing
executives say their efforts are delivering business benefits in the
form of greater engagement with their customers and prospects.
More than four out of 10 say they have seen gains in brand
awareness among their target audiences. Another 28% say their
efforts have helped acquire new customer leads. (See Figure 3.)
Companies with content marketing programs under way
are far more likely to see these benefits in a tangible way. The

“leaders” in the survey (those indicating they have a strategy) are
far more likely to report results, such as engaging customers (58%
versus 21%) or increasing brand awareness (50% versus 15%).
(See Figure 4.)
About half, 48%, have a dedicated content marketing manager.
The fact that half of respondents still do not have dedicated
managers in their organizations suggests that many lack clear
lines of responsibility for managing and overseeing content
marketing programs. (See Figure 5.) The presence of dedicated
teams and leadership is directly tied to the availability of a
comprehensive content marketing strategy as well. While 64% of
the “leaders” in the survey—defined as those with formal content
marketing programs—have such teams, only a handful, 9%, of
the laggards have such dedicated personnel in place. (See Figure
6.) A majority of organizations with more than 100 employees
have such positions in their ranks. (See Figure 7.)
Among enterprises with dedicated managers who oversee
content marketing initiatives, the most popular title conferred
is that of “content marketing manager.” At the same time, at
least 16% of the titles identified are more senior positions—11%
indicated the title of their team leader is director of content
strategy, while another 5% even have a “chief content officer.”
The prevalence of senior positions at about one out of six
enterprises indicates that a portion of companies are aligning
their content marketing efforts with the strategic focus of their
companies. (See Figure 8.)


6

Figure 1: rimary Objectives of Content Marketing Programs
P
Engage customers and prospects

68%

Increase brand awareness

44%

Acquire leads

38%

Acquire new customers

37%

Drive sales

35%

Educate the market

32%

Improve customer retention/loyalty

29%

Provide thought leadership

23%

Increase web traffic

22%

Engage customers socially

20%

Improve search rankings

12%

Not applicable
(Multiple responses permitted.)

5%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


7

Figure 2: Have Content Marketing Strategy?
Yes 46%

Don’t know/unsure 2%

Under development/
planning 37%

No 15%

Figure 3: usiness Benefits Gained From Content Marketing
B

48%


41%

Educate the market

29%


29%

Acquire leads

28%

Drive sales

26%

Improve customer retention/loyalty

21%

Increase web traffic

16%

Provide thought leadership

15%

Improve search rankings

14%

Engage customers socially

13%

Support SEO

11%

Not applicable

10%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


8

Figure 4: Business Benefits Gained—Leaders Versus Laggards

Leaders Laggards


58% 21%


50% 15%

Acquire leads

34% 15%

Educate the market

39% 12%


33% 15%


Figure 5: Have Dedicated Content Marketing Manager or Team?
Yes 48%

No 50%

Figure 6: Content Marketing Team—Leaders Versus Laggards

Leaders* Laggards

64%

9%

* Defined as those respondents with formal content marketing programs. “Laggards” have no programs in place or planned.


9

Figure 7: ave Dedicated Content Marketing Manager or Team?
H
—By Organization Size
(Percent responding “yes”)

1 to 100

39%

101 to 1, 000

54%

1,001 to 10,000

58%

10,000

57%
0

20

40

60

80

100

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100

Figure 8: ontent Marketing Leader Titles
C
(Among respondents with dedicated content marketing managers)

Content marketing manager

29%

Director of content strategy

11%

Chief content officer

5%

Content strategist

3%

Don’t know/unsure

25%

Other

26%


0

20

0 20 40 60 80 100


10
SOCIAL MEDIA EMERGES WITHIN MULTI-CHANNEL STRATEGIES
Social media is an increasingly important element of companies’ content discovery and amplification strategies: Seven out of 10
executives report they are employing social media to distribute content. Facebook and Twitter are now the leading platforms for
content marketing and customer engagement.
Socially promoting website content is now the name of the
game. More than seven out of 10 respondents say they actively
promote their website content through social media channels.
(See Figure 9.)
“Social media is very important to us,” says one respondent.
“We use it to build brand awareness and credibility. It increases
website traffic, generates leads, helps us convert more sales, and
more. Usually we track website traffic against social shares to
learn which pieces of content resonate with followers, so we
know what to produce in the future.”
In terms of social media initiatives, executives consider a
branded blog to be their most potent weapon in achieving a social
media presence, as cited by close to two-thirds of respondents.
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are vying for second place, with
about three-fifths favoring one or all of these social platforms.
(See Figure 10.)
On which channels do respondents promote their content?
Facebook and Twitter are now the leading choices, cited by about
four-fifths of respondents. Nearly two-thirds of respondents
depend on LinkedIn. (See Figure 11.) In terms of sources of actual
engagement, Facebook is clearly the leader, cited by a majority of
respondents (55%). Close to half also say Twitter has the highest
levels of engagement. (See Figure 12.) Facebook dominated as the
type of social button included on respondents’ sites or blogs to
promote social sharing of content. (See Figure 13.) In nine out of
10 cases, traffic for social media marketing comes from corporate
websites. (See Figure 14.)
Who do business-to-consumer marketers target in their social
media campaigns? The prime group at this time is Generation X
(those born between 1965 and 1980), targeted by close to half of
these executives. The Millennials (those born between 1980 and
2000) are next, targeted by 41% of B2Cs. Thirty-eight percent
of consumer-facing marketers seek engagement with the Baby
Boomers born between 1946 and 1964. (See Figure 15.) As one
respondent put it, the youngest generations approach technology
in a whole new way, and marketing must keep up: “Since our target
customers were born in the 1980s or after, and blog sharing and
online communities are part of their life, we are aware that social
media marketing is one of the most valuable ways to reach them.”
In terms of social media commitments, for the most part,
executives report they have social media teams with 10 or fewer
employees. (See Figure 16.) About one-fourth of respondents rely

on outsourcing arrangements for social media marketing support.
(See Figure 17.) Outsourcing is strongest among the largest
companies participating in the survey. (See Figure 18.)
Some respondents have robust efforts under way, and they
have been paying off. “Our community has more than two
million unique visitors every month,” says one respondent.
“We have a substantial team in place to support it. There’s also
another group that is solely responsible for social media that
supports the products and programs.”
Who handles respondents’ social media marketing in
outsourcing situations? The leading types of services used are
consultant/business partners or specialized digital marketing
agencies. (See Figure 19.)
Right now, only a small fraction of marketing dollars support
social media programs. The vast majority of respondents, 66%,
say they allocate less than 10% of their budgets to social media;
for the bulk of this group, that share represents less than 5%.
(See Figure 20.)
What are the most important channels for marketing fresh
content? Websites and email, which can now be considered more
traditional channels, having been in use for close to two decades
now, dominate as the leading vehicles for content distribution.
Corporate websites are still considered the main purveyor of
content, as indicated by nine-tenths of respondents. Websites are
also recognized as the engines driving the majority of leads for
companies.
Another three-fourths say they rely on email campaigns to get
the word out on content, and a similar number will send their
content through public relations channels. This data points to the
importance of a hub-and-spoke model for content marketing, in
which content ultimately directs consumers back to the corporate
website (including the blog) to perform a desired action. (See
Figure 21.)
Social media is also gaining a strong foothold as content
distribution reaches a higher priority level – two-thirds of
enterprise marketing managers consider this channel to be
“very important” or “important” in distributing content.
A majority of respondents, 56%, indicate that they now
pursue multi-channel strategies for content distribution. These
executives indicate they leverage the same content asset across
all marketing/media channels “all” or “most” of the time. (See
Figure 22.)


11

Figure 9: Publish Content to Website and Then Socially Promote It?


Yes 71%

No 21%

Figure 10: Value of Social Media Initiatives
(Percent rating value as either “extremely valuable” or “valuable”)

Branded blog

64%

LinkedIn

60%

Twitter

59%

Facebook

58%

Online communities

56%

YouTube

50%

LinkedIn Groups

48%

Google+

31%

Pinterest

24%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


12

Figure 11: Content Promotion Channels
Facebook

84%

Twitter

79%

LinkedIn

64%

Branded blog

55%

YouTube

50%

Online communities

45%

LinkedIn Groups

30%

Google+

29%

Pinterest

22%

Don’t know/unsure

1%

Other

4%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


13

Figure 12: ocial Media Platforms With Highest Levels
S
of Engagement
Facebook

55%

Twitter

45%

LinkedIn

39%

Branded blog

31%

Online communities

25%

YouTube

20%

LinkedIn Groups

19%

Google+

10%

Pinterest

8%

Other

3%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


14

Figure 13: Social Buttons Featured on Websites or Blogs
Facebook

81%

Twitter

74%

LinkedIn

58%

Google+

33%

YouTube

33%

Pinterest

20%

Other

4%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


Figure 14: Where Social Media Traffic Is Driven
Company website

89%

Company blog

44%

Microsite

20%

Partner site

12%

Other

6%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


15

Figure 15: Targeted Age Ranges of Social Media Marketing
(Among business-to-consumer marketers)

‘Mature/World War II’ generation
(born before 1946)

11%

Baby boomers (born 1946–1964)

38%

Gen X (1965–1980)

48%

Gen Y/Millennials (1980–2000)

41%

Not applicable

35%

Don’t know/unsure

4%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


Figure 16: Number of Employees in Social Media Marketing Team
None

12%

1 to 10

69%

11 to 19

8%

20 or more

9%

Don’t know/unsure

4%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


16

Figure 17: Outsource Any Aspects of Social Media Marketing?
Yes 23%

No 64%
Not applicable 4%

Figure 18: utsource Any Aspects of Social Media Marketing?
O

1 to 100

21%

101 to 1, 000

17%

1,001 to 10,000

28%

10,000

33%
0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


17

Figure 19: Who Handles Social Media Marketing?
(Among respondents using outsourcing services)

Consultant/business partner

38%

Digital marketing agency

36%

Contract specialists

29%

Internal social media group(s)

27%

PR/communications agency

24%

Decentralized throughout marketing

13%

Another business unit in your organization 11%
Other

4%

0

20

40

60

80

100

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


Figure 20: ercent of Annual Marketing Budget Allocated
P
to Social Media Marketing
None

13%

5%

44%

6% to 10%

22%

10%
Don’t know/unsure

8%
13%

0

20

40

60

0 20 40 60 80 100


18

Figure 21: Importance of Channels for Content Marketing
(Respondents indicating channel is either “extremely important” or “important.”)

Company website

88%

Email campaigns

73%

Public relations

70%

Social media

68%

Search (organic)

64%

Company blog

52%

Search (paid)

43%

Online advertising

40%

Microsites

39%

Channel partners

37%

Offline advertising

37%

Third-party sponsorships

27%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


19

Figure 22: requency of Leveraging Same Content Leveraged Across
F
All Marketing/Media Channels
All the time
Most of the time
Some of the time

56%

13%
43%
32%

Infrequently

6%

Not at all

2%

Don’t know/unsure

4%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


20
CONTENT GETS AN “A” FOR ORIGINALITY
Close to nine-tenths of marketers say they create their own original content on-site. Marketers value information-rich delivery
vehicles such as articles and videos and are expanding the scope of their content beyond product marketing. While productoriented content is still the rule, the majority of marketing managers are just as likely to be developing thought leadership and
other forms of value-added content. By far, articles are the most common type of digital content created as part of enterprise
marketing efforts, followed by videos and blogs.
Customized and original content is the most effective vehicle
for reaching and engaging customers. Most marketing managers
say they are producing their own original works, internally. Close
to nine-tenths say they create their own original content, and
about one-fourth also rely on their corporate communications
departments. Another one-fourth receive content written or
produced by contractors or outside services. (See Figure 23.)
While product-related content tops the list of content areas
most important to marketers—77% consider such content
to be either “extremely important” or “important” to their
organization—an almost equal number value best practices and
thought leadership content, tied at 71%. (See Figure 24.) This
indicates the importance of not only disseminating product
information, but connecting with customers through relevant
insight and information on important themes in the marketplace
as a key part of brand development and lead generation.
When asked about the types of content that deliver the greatest
value to their enterprises, marketing executives say that editorial
content is a very popular tactic. Articles top the list of content
created in respondents’ organizations, as cited by more than
three out of four respondents. Videos are also now a popular
form of content, produced by 60% of companies in the survey.
A majority, 58%, also see blog posting as an important form of
content creation. (See Figure 25.)

Overall, the most widely shared types of content across social
media pages, as cited by executives, consist of articles (82%),
video (60%), photos (54%), press releases (54%), and blog posts
(51%). (See Figure 26.)
Executives in the survey voiced a number of preferred
approaches to increasing their content’s visibility through social
media. Customer testimonials are seen as an area ripe with
opportunity, with 52% seeking to raise the level of this content—
up from 44% at present. There is also a desire to increase the
sharing of infographics—now used by 34% of respondents, with
42% preferring to increase adoption. The fact that marketers want
to increase the use of infographics shows recognition of the need to
deliver bite-sized content on the social web that is easy to consume.
Another 37% would like to increase their visibility through eBooks
and whitepapers, up from the current level of 27%.
There is very little impetus right now to use partner or
syndicated content for social media. A majority of respondents,
51%, indicate that they are creating original content for
distribution across their social media channels. There is a
recognition that marketing is all about differentiation, and it
is difficult to differentiate with curated content. Only 14% say
they are not employing any original content at all. (See Figure
27.) This is the same across all company-size categories. (See
Figure 28.)


21

Figure 23: ontent Sources
C
Creating own original content

87%

Corporate communications department

26%

Outsourced content producer

24%

Using curated content

17%

(co-branded white papers, etc.)

9%

Other

1%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


Figure 24: Content Areas
(Respondents indicating content area is either “extremely important” or “important.”)

Product-related

77%

Best practices

71%

Thought leadership

71%

Industry news

57%

Corporate news

56%

Audience lifestyle

46%

Promotional/fun

44%

“Out-of-brand” or entertainment-driven

28%


0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


22

Figure 25: ypes of Digital Content Created
T
Articles

76%

Videos

60%

Blog entries

58%

Slide shows

33%

Infographics

26%

Other

6%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100

Figure 26: Types of Content Shared on Social Pages

Current

Would like to increase

Articles

82% 53%

Video

60% 59%

Photos

54% 39%

Press releases

54% 37%

Blog post

51%

Infographics

34% 42%

Customer testimonials

44% 52%

Promotions

41% 37%

eNewsletters

34% 37%

eBooks/whitepapers

27% 37%

Other

6% 2%

44%



23

Figure 27: Creating Original Content for Social Media Channels?
Yes 51%


Under development/
planning 30%

No 14%

Figure 28: reating Original Content for Social Media Channels?
C

1 to 100

50%

101 to 1, 000

54%

1,001 to 10,000

54%

10,000

53%
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100


24
NEEDED: GREATER CONTENT VOLUME AND FREQUENCY
Content volume and frequency are too low for today’s always-on economy: Executives report that their organizations currently
produce 10 or fewer items a month but would like to step this up to 50 pieces a month. While 10 items published a month equates
to one item every three days, the internet and social media worlds are active on a 24x7 basis, every day of the month. In the digital
era, customers must be engaged with a regular, constant stream of content.
One of the keys to content marketing success is the ability to
post an impressive volume of content frequently. This remains
an area where many content managers struggle. A majority, 53%,
say they produce 10 or fewer content marketing assets a month
for posting across social media. However, a large segment, 44%,
would prefer to shift this quantity upward, onto the range of 11
to 50. Another 14% would like to increase their volume to more
than 50 a month—currently, only 4% have achieved this level.
(See Figure 29.)
Companies with more than 100 employees report greater
volume than their smaller counterparts. However, the largest
organizations in the survey do not post an appreciable amount
more than their mid-size counterparts, indicating that even large
organizations struggle to produce the amount of content they
would like to have. (See Figure 30.) Here, the identified leaders in
the survey (those with formal content marketing programs) have
an edge, with 41% producing more than 10 items a month—
versus 26% of the laggards. (See Figure 31.)

For the most part, respondents are posting new, fresh content
on a weekly basis. However, 40% would prefer to be able to post
fresh content on at least a daily basis. (See Figure 32.) The “leaders”
in the survey—those with formal content marketing programs —
are twice as likely as the laggards to post original content through
social channels at least once a day. (See Figure 33.)
Part of the approach in publishing frequent and fresh content is
to work smarter and be able to leverage existing content in multiple
ways. Seventy-eight percent of respondents says they repurpose or
re-post content at least some of the time. (See Figure 34.)
When it comes to frequency of posting content on all
marketing channels, social media—with its brief, 140-character
snippets (at least in the case of Twitter)—wins out. Close to half
the executives in the survey say they post to social media outlets
five or more times a week, compared to only 28% posting this
frequently to their corporate website, or 24% to blogs. (See Figure
35.) A marketer can post multiple snippets from one piece of
content to social media whereas the same asset usually
is posted only once to the website.

Figure 29: umber of Original Content Postings Per Month
N
Across Social Media

Current

Would like to increase

1 to 10 new content marketing assets per month

53% 23%

11 to 25 assets

17% 22%

26 to 50 assets

8% 22%

51 to 100 assets

1% 8%

100 assets

3% 6%

Not applicable

9% 9%

Don’t know/unsure

9% 11%


25

N

1–100 101–1,000 1,001–10,000 10,001

1 to 10 assets

65% 45%

44% 43%

10

21% 34%

36% 34%

N
—Leaders Versus Laggards

Leaders Laggards

1 to 10 assets

43% 48%

10

41% 26%

Figure 32: requency of Posting Fresh, Original Content
F

Current frequency

Ideal frequency

More than once a day

4% 17%

Daily

21% 33%

Weekly

46% 37%

Monthly

16% 8%

Every few months

8% 1%

Not posting any content

2% —

Don’t know/unsure

2% 3%


26

Figure 33: requency of Posting Fresh, Original Content
F

Leaders Laggards

Daily/more than once a day

36% 17%

Weekly

51% 23%

Monthly or less frequently

12% 43%

Figure 34: How Often Content is Re-purposed or Re-posted

Always 10%
Never 3%
Rarely 18%

Sometimes 68%

(Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.)


27

Figure 35: High-Frequency Posting
(Respondents posting five or more times per month)

Social media

44%

Company website

28%

Company blog

24%

Email campaigns

18%

Public relations

18%

Online advertising

17%

Search (paid)

15%

Offline advertising

12%

Microsites

11%

Channel partners

9%


6%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


28
MEASURING PROGRESS
Content marketing strategies provide an opportunity for competitive advantage, but more measurement is needed. Most
companies are still in the very early stages of measuring return from social media marketing activities and are not fully aware of
the returns they are getting. Most measurements tend to be more directly tied to specific platform engagements versus broader
business values.
While there is clearly recognition that employing social media
to amplify content is a key strategy in today’s connected world,
few organizations are able to comprehensively gauge the results
of social media efforts. Only one-fourth of respondents indicate
they are measuring the results of their social media content
marketing programs down to the level of individual pieces of
content. (See Figure 36.) As noted earlier in the report, a majority
of marketers are still relying on desktop productivity tools, such
as spreadsheets, to organize their content marketing. The use of
such manual methods means there is no “digital trail” with which
to effectively track and measure results.
Measuring social media is an underutilized approach across
companies of all sizes. While only 20% of the smallest companies
measure social media results, this jumps to 33% among mediumsize businesses. However, only 23% of the largest organizations in
the survey do this. (See Figure 37.)
The impetus to measure results is far greater among
enterprises that have a formal content marketing strategy under
their roofs. These leaders are three times as likely to be measuring
results—37% versus 11%. (See Figure 38.)
“There is a high expectation regarding social media but a very
low understanding around measures to determine ROI versus

activity,” says one respondent. “I’m looking forward to more
comprehensive tools to measure REAL performance.”
Even among respondents who do measure social media
performance, the measurements tend not to be tied directly
to business revenue or overall market share. Rather, they are
primarily related to more platform-specific metrics, such as levels
of engagement (67% count comments or shares), website traffic
(62%), and “likes” on Facebook or endorsements on LinkedIn
(47%). Only 42% begin to tie social media content success
directly to business gains, via direct responses or downloads, and
31% make a connection to sales and revenues. (See Figure 39.)
Direct responses and downloads provide a valuable means for
translating web activity into new business, one respondent states.
“The most important metric for us is conversions- how many
people downloaded a white paper or our product trial by clicking
through a link on a social channel,” the respondent explained.
Another summed up the importance of measuring
engagements on various levels. “We understand the value, but
need to prioritize our efforts in content development and sharing
across social networks, as well as measurement. We don’t do as
good a job at tracking the value of our efforts as we should be,”
the respondent admits.

Figure 36: easuring Results of Social Media Content Marketing
M
Programs Down to Individual Pieces of Content?
Yes 25%

Under development/
planning 33%

No 32%
(Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.)


29

M
Programs Down to Individual Pieces of Content

1 to 100

20%

101 to 1, 000

33%

1,001 to 10,000

28%

10,000

23%
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100

M
Programs Down to Individual Pieces of Content

Leaders Laggards

37%

11%


30

Figure 39: How Social Media Success is Defined
Engagement (comments and shares)

67%

Website traffic (page views,
unique visitors

62%

Number of Facebook and LinkedIn “likes” 47%
Direct responses/downloads

42%

Number of retweets on Twitter

36%

Tied to product or sales/revenues

31%

Daily/weekly/monthly shares of content 26%
in social media
Daily/weekly/monthly social media
16%
prospect lead conversions (forms completed)
Don’t know/unsure
Other

11%
2%
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100
0
100


31
PEOPLE, PROCESS, AND TECHNOLOGY
Two-thirds of executives say they want to produce more targeted, relevant content to engage audiences. Another 53% say
they can’t produce enough content to keep audiences coming back on a regular basis. Lean staffing resources may be part of the
challenge—about half of respondents indicated they have people or teams dedicated to content marketing; however, for the most
part, these teams tend to be small. Still, enterprises with dedicated content marketing managers or teams post more content more
frequently and report greater measured benefits from their content marketing.
Nearly all content marketers are creating content using basic
office tools including Microsoft Office and email, suggesting
that more education is needed in the market about customized
content marketing solutions. Almost nine-tenths of executives
employ Word or Excel in their work. A majority have also
migrated to online content publishing platforms, with tools such
as Quark, Adobe Professional, and WordPress. (See Figure 40.)
Effective targeting of audience segments is the most
challenging part of content marketing. When asked about the
greatest challenges to effectively producing online content
marketing efforts, two-thirds of executives say they want to
produce more targeted, relevant content to engage audiences.
Another 53% say they cannot produce enough content to keep
audiences coming back on a regular basis. As mentioned above,
most executives would prefer to cycle fresh content on at least a
weekly basis. The quality of content is also a significant concern.
(See Figure 41.)
How do executives gain insight into topics for targeted
content marketing? Half reach out to their markets to conduct
survey research to gather data on trends, while another 50% use

website and audience analytics to better segment their audiences.
Keyword research is another approach cited by close to half of
respondents. (See Figure 42.)
While nearly every company, 83%, has earmarked at least
some money specifically for content marketing, this tends to be
a small fraction of their overall marketing budgets. For the most
part, less than one-fourth of budgets go to content creation, as
indicated by the majority of respondents. (See Figure 43.)
Though content marketing staffs tend to be small, and budgets
limited, marketing managers overwhelmingly rely on their inhouse resources for most of their materials. A majority, 71%, say
most of their content is created in-house. (See Figure 44.) This is
the case regardless of organization size. (See Figure 45.)
Content marketing staff sizes are modest, usually with just
a handful of employees. A majority, 51% have relatively small
content marketing staffs—with no more than five employees. (See
Figure 46.) Larger staffs are seen among the largest organizations
in the survey—a majority of those respondents with organizations
of more than 10,000 employees report they have staffs of more
than 20 employees. (See Figure 47.)

Figure 40: pplications and Systems Used to Support Content Writers
A
Microsoft applications

89%

Online content publishing platforms

60%

Internally developed content development 25%
systems
Content production platforms

9%

Other

2%


0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


32

Figure 41: Challenges to Improving Branded Content Marketing
Producing targeted, relevant content to
engage audiences

66%

Producing enough content

53%

Challenges creating high-quality content 44%
Generating more sales leads

41%

Lack of budget

39%

Difficulty finding qualified writers

23%

Improving customer relationships

20%

Complex processes to manage writers

12%

Other

4%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


33

Figure 42: How Insight for Targeted Content Marketing Is Gained
Conduct surveys

50%

Website/audience analytics

50%

Search analytics/keyword research

46%

Sales teams

42%

Professional associations

42%

Analyst reports

40%

Professional networking groups

39%

Marketing personas

36%

Social listening tools

32%

Focus groups

31%

Other

4%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


34

Figure 43: Annual Marketing Budget Allocated to Content Creation
None

1%

10%

35%

10% to 25%

27%

25% to 50%

14%

50% to 75%

5%

75%

2%

Don’t know/unsure
Not applicable

12%
4%

0

20

40

60

80

100

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100

Figure 44: ercent of Content Created by Internal Staff
P
Versus Outside Resources
None

1%

10%

3%

10% to 25%

5%

25% to 50%

12%

50% to 75%

21%

75%

50%

Don’t know/unsure

5%

Not applicable

2%

0

20

40

60

0 20 40 60 80 100


35

Figure 45: ontent Created by Internal Staff—By Organization Size
C
(Percent indicating more than half content created in-house)

1 to 100

76%

101 to 1, 000

63%

1,001 to 10,000

65%

10,000

74%
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100

Figure 46: umber of Employees Engaged in Supporting
N
Content Marketing Initiatives
1 to 5

51%

6 to 10

15%

11 to 20

8%

20

17%

Don’t know/unsure

5%

Not applicable

3%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


36

Figure 47: umber of Employees Engaged in Supporting Content
N
Marketing Initiatives—By Organization Size

1–100 101–1,000 1,001–10,000 10,001

1 to 5

75% 39%

28% 27%

6 to 10

10% 33%

28% 0%

11 to 20

6% 13%

9% 7%

20

5% 8%

25% 56%


37
DEMOGRAPHICS

Figure 48: espondents’ Primary Job Titles
R
Executive management level

24%

Marketing manager/director

17%

Project manager

15%

Manager of a business unit

13%

Consultant

7%

Chief marketing officer

5%

Vice president marketing

5%

Vice president digital strategy

2%

Community manager

1%

Other

11%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100


38

Figure 49: Respondents’ Organization Sizes—By Employee Count
(Includes all locations, branches, and subsidiaries)

1 to 100 employees

41%

101 to 500 employees

17%

501 to 1,000 employees

7%

1,001 to 5,000 employees

12%


7%


8%

50,000 employees

7%

Don’t know/unsure/prefer not to answer

1%

0
100
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100

Figure 50: Respondents’ Organization Sizes—By Annual Revenue
$10 million

28%

$10 million to $50 million

21%


3%


6%


3%

$500 million to $1 billion

6%

$1 billion

17%

Don’t know/unsure/prefer not to answer 15%

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 20 40 60 80 100


39

Figure 51: espondents’ Primary Industries
R
Business or consumer services

15%

IT services/consulting/system integration 12%
Retail/distribution

9%

Software/application development

9%

Education (all levels)

8%

Financial services/insurance

8%

Media

7%

Healthcare/medical

5%

Manufacturing

5%

Utility/telecommunications/transportation 5%
Government (all levels)

2%

High-tech manufacturing

2%

Other

14%
0 20
20 40
40 60
60 80
80 100
0
100


Content Marketing Gets Social: Survey Reveals Strategies and Challenges

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