The Economist

1. Cracking the content code
Guidelines for maximizing content marketing ROI
#ContentCode

3. WE ARE MORE THAN A MAGAZINE

4. The Economist Group is a world-
renowned multinational media
company that inspires and connects
with the most influential audiences
across the globe.

5. Custom Content 5

6. Intelligence and Thought Leadership 6

7. Events and experiential 7

8. Content Marketing Kôn tentˈMar-ket-ing
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable,
relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to
drive profitable customer action.

12. Other brands catch on

16. SEA OF CONTENT

18. ‘The challenge for B2B content is
that it competes in a huge array of
media fighting for time against
other always-on entertainment.’
John Rudaizky,
Brand & Marketing Leader, Partner
EY

20. 2 in 3 global C-suite are confused or overwhelmed by
the volume of content
Audiences are reaching content overload 20

21. SEA OF SAMENESS

22. 22
40% of total
marketing
budgets spent
on content
B2B Content Marketing spend

23. 80%
of marketers plan to
increase the amount
of thought leadership
content they produce
Marketers keep churning it out
Yet marketers
estimate on
average only
26%
of current output
gets engagement
23

24. How are they spending? 24
56% on content creation
37% on staff
36% on distribution
29% on technology
21% on outsourcing

25. 75%
Of executives have
become more selective
about what thought
leadership they consume
80%
Cite volume of thought
leadership as the reason
They’re becoming more selective 25

26. It's much more complicated
today — and the trend is only
set to continue.
Over the next few years we’ll see a continued
evolution in how we make narratives even more
personalised and relevant, leaning more into
the behaviors and needs of the audience and
further offering a value exchange.
Alison Tyrrell
Head of content
Spark Foundry
“

27. We’re living in the economy of thought
Success is defined by the ability to turn ideas
into value faster than the competition

28. However, technology has also
made our understanding of
marketing’s effectiveness more
nuanced and meaningful

29. Our analytics and insights
team analyzed the performance
of our content marketing programs
produced over 12 months
This included more than 50 content marketing
programs created for clients across the US, EMEA
and APAC and all industries — luxury, consumer,
tech, financial services, professional services

30. Average session
duration, average time
on page, average
video play time
The metrics funnel
Pageviews, visits, unique
users, traffic sources, new vs
return visitors, visits by device
type, visits by country/region,
video views
Engaged view rate, average
pageviews/visit, video
quartiles, video completion
rate, bounce rate CTAs
Scroll depth %, downloads, social
shares, click to hyperlinks, navigation
bar, video starts, data tool interactions,
click to logo, click to banner, click to
CTAs

31. Five ways to achieve
more successful
content marketing
campaigns

32. times higher
than on-domain
media units
times higher
than off-domain
media units
Click-through rate on social promotions
Promotion in trusted environments performs
best for engagement
higher average time spent by
visitors driven to the site by on-
domain amplifications compared
with visitors coming from off-
domain or social amplifications
40%
3x 4x

33. A closer look
*session duration: Economist.com = 100

34. Lay off the sales pitch
34

35. While distribution capabilities are
important, publishers can also offer
unparalleled insights into their audience
and provide a psychographic match
through custom content.
We wanted to transcend
conventional
analytics conversations.
Jennifer Chase
Senior vice president
Global marketing and shared
services
SAS
Custom content delivers
the highest engagement
“

36. When asked about who was NOT involved in the planning of thought
leadership, but should be, marketers cited:
Involve outside experts
Media partners
All employees
Customers/other outside sources

37. Surprise! Text still matters.

38. Add paid social to achieve the content
‘sweet spot’: engagement and awareness

39. 61% of B2B marketers increased their use of social
compared with one year ago
61%

40. foodsustainability.eiu.com
Interactive data tools or video perform best
Following a six-month campaign,
the Food Sustainability Index
delivered more than
500,000 page views,
with an average session duration
two times longer
compared with the benchmark.

41. higher average completion
rate on custom videos
compared with the
benchmark
41%
higher average read time
on interactive indexes
compared with the benchmark
3x

42. reimaginethegame.economist.com
Leave room to experiment

43. Visit: contentcode.economist.com

44. Visit: contentcode.economist.com
Recap
Promote your content in trusted environments
Custom delivers highest engagement
Paid social: awareness and engagement
Interactivity and utility
Don’t forget to experiment!

45. Thank You!
Chris Shedd - VP Brand Partnerships
© The Economist 2019. These materials and their contents are confidential and the exclusive property of The Economist Newspaper Limited.
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