Content Marketing Growing; Print Media a Top Vehicle
Content Marketing
January 14, 2013 -- According to a survey Ad Age conducted in late 2012 of nearly 600 U.S. marketers, content marketing is claiming a growing share of marketers' budgets -- 12% on average -- and more than half of marketers (55%) plan to spend even more in the coming year. Additional findings:
- Asked which types of content marketing they are using, most Ad Age survey respondents rely on existing social networks (80%) and print media (77%).
- Other avenues of distribution include blogs or digital articles (52%), video (49%), live events (43%), and targeted microsites (41%). About one-quarter are using branded entertainment (26%), white papers (24%), and webinars or virtual events (23%) and custom social communities (20%).
- When asked what percentage of their budget is dedicated to content marketing, one in 5 said 19-30% and nearly 10% said 30% or more – yet one in 5 are allocating less than 2%, and the same number of respondents say they don’t know.
- Ad Age notes that a challenge of content marketing is “it can be next to impossible to determine any sort of meaningful ROI” -- and thus the reason for a possible reluctance for organizations to commit budget dollars towards the tactic.
- Another challenge, marketers shared is determining “the right way to fund and distribute content.” According to the survey, while 55% of marketers will increase content-marketing budgets in 2013, “the vast majority of survey respondents rely on owned-and-earned channels to distribute content, rather than paid channels.” Less than half of marketers report they have dedicated budgets for content production and distribution.
- Less than one on 10 (8%) marketers told Ad Age they are "very satisfied" with their ability to understand the effectiveness of content marketing; 48% say they are "somewhat satisfied."
Source: Ad Age, Solving the Content Creation Conundrum, Jan. 14, 2013.
