Looking for insight into how technology marketers are using content marketing? Check out our newest research report, 2014 B2B Technology Content Marketing Trends — Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends, North America, sponsored by International Data Group (IDG). (Note: You can directly download the PDF via the SlideShare link by selecting Save.)
The great news is that nearly every technology marketer we surveyed this past year currently uses content marketing. However, I’m concerned that while 46 percent of them have a documented content marketing strategy, the majority either does not or is not sure (click to tweet). Our research has shown time and again that marketers who have a documented strategy are more effective than their peers who do not — they face fewer content marketing challenges, as well.
Technology B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends North America from Content Marketing Institute
Confidence soars with a documented strategy
Thirty-nine percent of technology marketers overall say they are effective at content marketing; however, that number jumps to 62 percent if the marketer has a documented content strategy (click to tweet).
Technology marketers cite lead generation as their top goal
Based on our past research, we know that marketers across all industries usually cite brand awareness as their top goal for content marketing. Not so with technology marketers. While brand awareness did get high marks (82 percent), it ranked second in priority — behind lead generation (86 percent) (click to tweet).
A disconnect exists between tactics and effectiveness
Social media (other than blogs) is the content marketing tactic that technology marketers use most frequently. However, they don’t even rank it on their top 10 list of most effective tactics. Conversely, the tactic they do rate as most effective (webinars/webcasts) ranks as the eighth most frequently used tactic (click to tweet).
LinkedIn is their top-rated social media platform
Ninety-seven percent of technology marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content (see chart below). They also say LinkedIn is the most effective platform they use (63 percent) (click to tweet) and rate Twitter as second most effective (55 percent), followed by YouTube (52 percent).
Technology marketers outsource content more than their other B2B peers
Our broader research this year found that, on average, 44 percent of B2B marketers outsource content creation. Yet, a higher percentage of technology marketers rely on outsourcing (57 percent) (click to tweet). And that number rises even higher for the most effective technology marketers (59 percent), as well as for those who have a documented content marketing strategy (63 percent).
Here are the functions they outsource:
On the whole, technology marketers use a good mix of tactics and continue to invest in content marketing. I encourage those who haven’t documented their content marketing strategies yet to make that a priority — especially those who keep creating more content and allocating more budget to content marketing without a road map to guide them. To learn how, download our guide: The Essentials of a Documented Content Marketing Strategy: 36 Questions to Answer.
Download the full report, 2014 B2B Technology Content Marketing Trends — Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends, North America, to learn more about these and other findings, such as:
How do the most effective technology marketers compare with their less effective peers?
How do technology marketers measure success?
What are the biggest content marketing challenges they face?
To learn more about content marketing for technology marketers, attend a full-day Industry Lab at Content Marketing World on September 11, 2014.
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