A new survey looking at the current state of content marketing has been released by a UK service provider. It reveals how despite the commonly accepted value of content marketing, marketers are still finding it difficult to convince the decision makers of this.
A major point for many of the surveyed marketing professionals were the difficulties associated with
showing how their campaigns were actually effective. Some 42% of respondents complained that it was difficult to quantify the return on investment (ROI) for content marketing. In terms of metrics, three-quarters of those surveyed said they used web traffics, combined with 45% and 33% that considered search engine optimisation (SEO) rankings and brand lift, respectively.
A troubling finding is that despite the average marketing budget allocating 23% to content marketing, only about a fifth of those surveyed could confidently say their campaigns employed best practices.
In terms of the obstacles that marketers face, just over half (52%) also cited the challenge of creating engaging content, while 43% thought limited budgets were holding them back. Despite this, most (85%) expect to spend more on content next year, with 52% expecting it to be significantly more.
In terms of different media, written content remains dominant with 88% of respondents using it. Email, organic social, and SEO are also relatively popular, however, with 80%, 78%, and 75%, respectively. More than half (59%) said they used video, but newer technologies like virtual reality (6%) and voice search (3%) are still being largely overlooked.
The report concludes by detailing how marketers can prove the success of a content marketing strategy. It recommends that they first set clear marketing goals. With sufficient resources and effective planning through the entire project, they should then work to create content that meets their goals, with measurements of success being consistent throughout. How can this be achieved? Many copywriting companies opt to churn out content with little regard for quality, while freelancers can be unreliable. Choosing a content provider can be tricky, and so it’s important to research their pedigree as thoroughly as possible.
- New report hints how content can be successful - June 19, 2018
- Improve your web presence with help from Google - April 18, 2018
- Complementing your content marketing strategy with email - March 7, 2018
