13+ B2B Content Marketing Statistics to Guide Your 2020 Strategy
It’s that time of year again: As 2019 comes to a close, marketing teams are gearing up to outline their 2020 content marketing strategy.
For many, creating a new year’s strategy starts by looking back at the previous one. Which strategies worked and which didn’t? What should we try next year that we didn’t have the resources for before? How can we improve our current processes to drive even more success?
As you’re reviewing your own successes and failures, don’t forget to look at the industry as a whole. What are other companies doing that you can integrate into your content program?
In this post, we’ve highlighted 7 tips and 13+ statistics from the content industry to guide your strategy in 2020.
Start With the Right Strategy
This section may seem self-explanatory given the title of the post, but 24 percent of marketing teams don’t take a strategic approach to content marketing.
69% of the “most successful” content marketers have a documented strategy in place.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
This is your reminder: the right strategy is the key to success. Without it, you might end up writing content that doesn’t have a clear purpose, and therefore doesn’t perform the way you want it to. Don’t know where to start? We have a few resources to help:
Establish Clear Program Goals
Improving brand awareness is the primary objective for 55% of content marketers; however, this is also the most critical challenge for 42% of respondents.
Source: Ascend2
64% of marketers cite increasing leads/sales prospects as the top priority for their marketing strategy.
Source: Ascend2
Whatever your program goals are – boosting sales, increasing leads, improving brand awareness, or even just publishing a few times a month – set them at the beginning of the new year and make sure your team is clear on how to measure success (see below).
Define Success & How to Measure It
69% of marketers are not confident in their content measurement strategy and delivering ROI.
Source: PAN Communications
If the goal of your content program is anything other than “create content”, you need to have the right tracking and analytics in place to actually showcase success. Here are 5 metrics you should know to measure content marketing ROI.
Focus on Interactive Content
Video can be a great asset for B2B content marketers:
86% of buyers prefer interactive content they can access on demand.
Source: DemandGen
Consumers will even spend up to 20 minutes watching a brand’s video, according to DemandGen. As with most things, what’s holding a lot of marketers back from creating video content is a combination of time and resources.
89% of marketers are now using video in their content strategy, and on average, marketers publish between one and two videos per month.
Source: Wibbitz
The good news is, technology has evolved and made it easier than ever to create pretty high-quality videos without a whole camera crew. Check out Kelsey Jones’ awesome post covering best practices for video marketing if you’re still not sure where to begin.
Improve Efficiency to Scale Content Programs
One of the keys to a successful content marketing strategy is consistency; regularly producing and publishing new content increases brand visibility and can help establish trust with your audiences.
61% of respondents are now publishing content multiple times per week. Furthermore, 89% of those marketers cited higher quality leads through content marketing, versus other tactics.
Source: ContentWriters
Case in point, take this ContentWriters stat: publishing content more than once a week can bring in higher quality leads.
Time is the number one obstacle for content marketers, followed by creating content, content quality and writing.
Source: ClearVoice
The only problem is, creating quality content at that cadence takes time, energy, and resources. In 2020, strive to make your content production more efficient. Here are some ideas:
- Utilize an editorial calendar to keep your whole team on track
- Draft outlines ahead of time to save time in the writing process
- Avoid distractions to cut down on writing time
Keep Your Target Audience Top of Mind
Creating content that doesn’t serve your audience is like shouting your brand messaging into the wind. If it’s not resonating, you need to switch gears.
92% of B2B marketing leaders claim that content plays a critical role in the decision-making process. However, 1 in 2 of these individuals believes that the content they receive is irrelevant to their pain points, challenges and responsibilities.
Source: Heinz Marketing and PathFactory
Think about pain points and responsibilities of who you’re trying to reach and create content that speaks directly to them and helps solve their day-to-day challenges.
93% of companies with an advanced personalization strategy have experienced revenue growth. 78% of those with a full or partially personalization strategy have also seen growth in revenue.
Source: Monetate
Monetate’s stat also speaks to the powerful nature of personalized content strategies. Creating a 1:1 relationship with consumers goes a long way in establishing brand trust (and increasing revenue, apparently). Here are a few resources to help you get started on the personalization journey:
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Stop Thinking About Personalized Content as an Extra: Content Marketing Institute
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Here’s How & Why You Should Create Personalized Content: Search Engine Journal
Use Marketing Budgets Wisely
Marketing budget growth is expected to remain strong with an 8.7% growth rate over the next 12 months.
Source: The CMO Survey
Marketing budgets are growing: Make sure to invest in strategies that are working, and don’t underestimate the power of investing in the right people, tools, and processes to get the job done.
Almost three out of four (73%) agencies say they are extremely/very successful in achieving their clients’ content marketing goals.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
Depending on your resources, outsourcing content production can be a good move. If you’re considering the agency route, Casie Gillette wrote a solid piece last year on how to build a successful relationship: communication, transparency, and trust are critical.
Final Thoughts
With the end of the year quickly approaching, now is the time to start thinking about your content marketing strategy for 2020. Take a moment to step back, see where the industry is at today, and use that as a guide for your own strategy.
What tactics are you integrating into your 2020 content marketing strategy? Share with us on Twitter @KoMarketing!