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2016 B2B Report Final PDF
2016 B2B Report Final PDF
2016 B2B Report Final PDF
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome..................................................................................................................................................................3
Key Takeaways......................................................................................................................................................4
Section 1: Usage & Effectiveness.................................................................................................................6
Demographics................................................................................................................................................. 31
About.................................................................................................................................................................. 32
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WELCOME
Joe Pulizzi
Founder
Content Marketing Institute
Read on to learn about the state of content marketing in B2B organizations today and
how the most effective marketers stand out. For access to tools to help you become more
successful at content marketing, see the back of this report for ways to get in touch.
Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer
MarketingProfs
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
One key theme that emerged from this years B2B research is that
effective content marketers do several things differently:
They understand
what successful
content marketing
looks like
They document
their content
marketing
strategy
They document
their editorial
mission statement
They
communicate
frequently with
their team
Effectiveness levels are greater among respondents with documentation, clarity around success, good communication, and
experience.
4
4% of B2B marketers say their organization is clear on what content marketing success or effectiveness looks like;
4
4% of B2B marketers meet daily or weeklyeither in person or virtuallyto discuss the progress of their content marketing
program; however, the more effective the organization is at content marketing, the more often they meet (61% of the most
effective meet daily or weekly).
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
the research consistently shows that those who document their strategy are more effective in nearly all areas of content
marketing.
R
espondents content marketing maturity levels were roughly equally apportioned: approximately one-third were in the
early stages; one-third, in the adolescent stage; and one-third, in the sophisticated/mature stage. In general, marketers
become more effective as they gain experience, the findings show.
B
2B marketers allocate 28% of their total marketing budget, on average, to content marketingthe same percentage as last
year. The most effective allocate 42%, and the most sophisticated/mature allocate 46%.
L
ead generation (85%) and sales (84%) will be the most important goals for B2B content marketers over the next 12 months.
O
ver the last six years, B2B marketers have consistently cited website traffic as their most often used metric. This year,
however, we also asked them to rate metrics by importance. The most important metrics are sales lead quality (87%), sales
(84%), and higher conversion rates (82%).
B
2B marketers, as in years past, continue to be heavily focused on creating engaging content (72%), citing it as the top
priority for their internal content creators over the next year.
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12%
88%
SAY YES
No
88%
Yes
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24
29
27
11
MATURE
ADOLESCENT
YOUNG
FIRST STEPS
Doing some aspects of content,
but have not yet begun to make
content marketing a process
32%
SAY SOPHISTICATED
OR MATURE
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30%
5 6% Very Eective
4
24%
3 44%
2 22%
1
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In your organization,
is it clear what an effective
or successful content marketing
program looks like?
44%
SAY YES
Yes
No
Unsure
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32%
HAVE A DOCUMENTED
CONTENT MARKETING
STRATEGY
4% Unsure
Yes,
and it is
documented
No
16%
32%
48%
Yes, but
it is not
documented
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10
6%
Unsure
Yes, and it is
documented
28%
35%
No
30%
28%
HAVE A DOCUMENTED
EDITORIAL MISSION
STATEMENT
Yes, but
it is not
documented
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11
8%
Weekly
36%
11%
Biweekly
Monthly
16%
8%
6%
Quarterly
Other
44%
SAY DAILY
OR WEEKLY
14%
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12
19%
Very Valuable
35%
Somewhat Valuable
35%
54%
SAY MEETINGS
ARE VALUABLE
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13
Expected Change in
B2B Content Creation
(2015 vs. 2016)
Same Amount
More
76%
19%
2%
Unsure
76%
2%
Less
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14
93%
82%
81%
81%
81%
79%
79%
76%
71%
67%
Average
Number
66%
Used
13
65%
93%
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15
In-person Events
Webinars/Webcasts
Case Studies
White Papers
Videos
Research Reports
eNewsletters
Blogs
Infographics
Online Presentations
66%
65%
63%
62%
61%
60%
59%
58%
58%
75%
SAY IN-PERSON
EVENTS ARE
EFFECTIVE
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16
87%
84%
Twitter
Facebook
74%
62%
YouTube
Google+
SlideShare
Instagram
Pinterest
37%
29%
25%
Average
Number
Used
Note: Fewer than 25% of B2B marketers said they use the following social
media platforms: Vimeo (21%), iTunes (10%), Tumblr (9%), Vine (7%),
Medium (6%), Periscope (6%), and SnapChat (5%).
94%
USE LinkedIn
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17
55%
51%
Twitter
YouTube
41%
SlideShare
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Google+
30%
22%
20%
13%
66%
SAY LinkedIn
IS EFFECTIVE
SPONSORED BY
18
57%
52%
51%
Content
Discovery Tools
14%
66%
55%
Native Advertising
39%
Average
Number
Used
SPONSORED BY
19
48%
45%
45%
Native Advertising
40%
Print or Other
Oline Promotion
Traditional Online
Banner Ads
31%
29%
55%
SAY SEM IS
EFFECTIVE
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20
eNewsletters
56%
Blog
Online
Community
22%
Video
Series
12%
Digital
Magazines
10%
Print
Magazines
7%
Podcasts
7%
Other
72%
SAY eNEWSLETTERS
6%
Do Not
Extend Oers
12%
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85%
Sales
84%
78%
77%
Lead Nurturing
Brand Awareness
76%
74%
Engagement
Customer Retention/Loyalty
Customer Evangelism/
Creating Brand Advocates
Upsell/Cross-sell
61%
58%
85%
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22
84%
Sales
82%
71%
71%
69%
67%
66%
64%
62%
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23
31%
SAY SALES
LEAD QUALITY
31%
Other
13%
23%
3%
SEO Ranking
3%
5%
Subscriber Growth
Website Traic
6% 7%
Brand
Lift
Sales
9%
Sales
Lead
Quantity
Higher Conversion
Rates
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24
16%
50%-74%
100%
20%
4%
1%
22%
Unsure
28%
IS THE AVERAGE
10%-24%
10%
75%-99%
Approximately what
percentage of your
organizations total marketing
budget (not including staff) is
spent on content marketing?
23%
3%
1%-9%
0%
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25
3%
Unsure
Decrease
51%
11%
35%
51%
Increase
Remain
the Same
SPONSORED BY
26
60%
57%
57%
35%
35%
52%
SAY PRODUCING
ENGAGING CONTENT
SPONSORED BY
27
65%
57%
51%
41%
Better Understanding
of Audience
41%
28
COMPARISON CHART
Profile of a Best-in-Class
B2B Content Marketer
Most Effective
Average/Overall
Least Effective
79%
44%
23%
70%
32%
4%
61%
44%
25%
72%
54%
38%
53%
32%
13%
48%
28%
14%
15
13
11
42%
28%
15%
48%
51%
57%
Chart term definitions: A best-in-class content marketer (aka most effective) is one who rates his or her organization a 4 or 5 in effectiveness on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being
Very Effective and 1 being Not at All Effective. Those who rate their organization a 1 or 2 are least effective. The numbers under average/overall represent total respondents.
2016 B2B Content Marketing TrendsNorth America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
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COMPARISON CHART
B2B
B2C
88%
76%
30%
38%
Organization is clear on what an effective or successful content marketing program looks like
44%
43%
32%
37%
44%
48%
54%
59%
32%
37%
28%
39%
13
12
28%
32%
51%
50%
30
DEMOGRAPHICS
B2B Content Marketing: 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets, and TrendsNorth America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs
and sponsored by Brightcove.
The sixth annual content marketing survey, from which the results of this report were generated, was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers
using lists from Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs, the Business Marketing Association (BMA), Blackbaud, The Association for Data-driven
Marketing & Advertising (ADMA), Industry Week, New Equipment Digest, and WTWH Media.
A total of 3,714 recipients from around the globerepresenting a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizescompleted the survey
during July and August 2015. This report presents the findings from the 1,521 respondents who said they were B2B marketers in North America (1,334 of
whom said, yes, our organization uses content marketing), producing a +/-2.5% degree of accuracy at a 95% confidence level.
The B2C percentages shown in this report (p. 30) derive from the same research study. The full findings for B2C North America are available in a separate
report.
B2B Industry
Classification
17%
3%
3%
4%
4%
Writer
26%
22%
19%
32%
Website/Technology
29%
28%
Editorial Lead
Internal Content Curator
9%
20%
27%
31%
14%
Technology
Advertising/Marketing
Manufacturing
Consulting
Publishing/Media
Banking/Accounting/Financial
Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals
Engineering/Construction/Architecture
Other
60%
Community
Management
19%
15%
15%
Influencer
Relations
14%
Agency/Freelance
Relations
14%
13%
Sales
Other
27%
9%
31
ABOUT
Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs thank all the survey respondents
and distribution partners who made this survey possible.
About Content Marketing Institute (CMI)
Content Marketing Institute is the leading global content marketing education and training organization, teaching enterprise brands how
to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMIs Content Marketing World event, the largest content
marketing-focused event, is held every September in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and the Intelligent Content Conference event is held every spring.
CMI publishes the bi-monthly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of
the best-known brands in the world. CMI has been named an Inc. 5000 company for the last four years. Watch this video to learn more about
CMI. View all CMI research at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research.
About MarketingProfs
MarketingProfs offers real-world education for modern marketers. More than 600,000 marketing professionals worldwide rely on our free
daily publications, virtual conferences, MarketingProfs University, and more to stay up to date on the most important trends and tactics in
marketingand how to apply them to their businesses. Visit MarketingProfs.com for more.
For more than 90 years, the Business Marketing Association (BMA) has dedicated itself exclusively to the discipline of business-to-business
marketing. A division of the Association of National Advertisers, the BMA enriches the lives of B-to-B marketers by providing them with
a forum to learn about new trends and network with peers to exchange ideas. As the largest organization in the world dedicated to B-to-B
marketing, the BMAs 17 chapters and 2,500 members represent corporate professionals, agencies, small businesses, and suppliers committed
to advancing the practice of B-to-B marketing. To learn more, visit www.marketing.org.
About Brightcove
Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOV) is the leading global provider of powerful cloud solutions for delivering and monetizing video across
connected devices. The company offers a full suite of products and services that reduce the cost and complexity associated with
publishing, distributing, measuring, and monetizing video across devices. Brightcove has more than 5,000 customers in over 70 countries
that rely on the companys cloud solutions to successfully publish high-quality video experiences to audiences everywhere. To learn more,
visit www.brightcove.com.
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