The clocks are turned back. College football season is nearly over. Holiday-themed car commercials are (somehow) already running. That means it’s almost 2018 — and it’s time to crack open the annual B2B content marketing report from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.
This report is not only jam-packed with insight into how marketers see themselves in the current environment, but also how they see themselves evolving in the new year and reaching their goals and benchmarks for success.
Two key findings in particular stood out to me: one more positive and one that shows a lot of room for industry-wide improvement.
First, 75% of B2B marketers reported having a content marketing strategy, with roughly half of those responding that their strategy is documented. As you might guess, those with a documented strategy reported greater levels of success — and with nearly three-quarters of respondents without a documented strategy saying they plan to develop one in the next year — we can assume these numbers will rise as more companies reap the benefits of a sound content marketing strategy.
Another finding got my attention, but not in a good way. According to the report, 47% of B2B marketers do not measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts. One of the most common reasons cited was “we need an easier way to do this.”
Looking ahead to 2018 and beyond, it will be intriguing to see if a greater percentage of organizations will be able to measure their own success — and how they’ll achieve critical content marketing goals like this.
Of course, we’ll have to sit through a few more reindeer pulling cars on TV before we find out.
Having trouble keeping up with the fast-moving and ever-changing world of content marketing? Try these 5 reads to get you back in the saddle.
"*" indicates required fields
