CMI-2021年B2B内容营销报告（英文）-2020.10-49页_3mb

B2B Content Marketing Summary Report

Core Content Marketing Overview

Content marketing remains a critical strategy for B2B organizations, with a focus on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a defined audience, ultimately driving profitable customer action. The 11th Annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report highlights the resilience of content marketers during the pandemic and outlines key trends in team structure, content creation, and performance metrics.

Key Findings

Top Performers vs. All Respondents

Pandemic Response

• Adaptation: 83% of B2B marketers said their organization made quick changes to content marketing due to the pandemic.
• Effectiveness: 80% felt these changes were effective.
• Long-term Impact: 86% expected some changes to remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
• Success Rate: 31% of B2B marketers reported their organization was extremely or very successful with content marketing in the last 12 months.

Factors Contributing to Success

• Content Value: 83% of top performers attributed success to the value of their content.
• Website Changes: 60% cited website changes as a key success factor.

Factors Hindering Success

• Content Creation Challenges: 63% of least successful marketers cited this as a primary issue.
• Strategy Issues: 51% reported problems with their content marketing strategy.

Team Structure and Outsourcing

• Team Size:
  • 57% of respondents reported no change in team size.
  • 31% said their team size increased.
  • 6% reported a decrease due to the pandemic.
  • 35% said their organization does not have a full-time content marketing person.
• Company Size Trends:
  • Small companies (1-99 employees): 50% have no full-time content marketer.
  • Large companies (1,000+ employees): 19% have no full-time content marketer.
• Outsourcing:
  • 49% of B2B marketers outsource at least one content marketing activity.
  • Large companies are more likely to outsource (61%).
  • The most outsourced activity is content creation (82%).

Challenges with Outsourcing

• Topic Expertise: 69% of respondents identified this as the top challenge.
• Budget Constraints: 51% reported budget issues.
• Audience Understanding: 43% struggled to find partners who understand their audience.

Content Creation and Distribution

Content Types

• Top Content Types:
  • Blog posts/short articles (83%).
  • Virtual events/webinars/online courses (67%).
  • Livestreaming (29%).
• Changes Over Time:
  • In-person events decreased from 73% to 42%.
  • Guest posts in third-party publications decreased from 48% to 38%.

Distribution Channels

• Organic Distribution:
  • Social media platforms (89%).
  • Email (87%).
  • Website/blog (86%).
• Paid Distribution:
  • Social media advertising/promoted posts increased to 83% from 60%.
  • Search engine marketing (SEM)/pay-per-click increased to 65% from 51%.
  • LinkedIn is the most used platform for both organic and paid distribution.

Top Technologies

• Analytics Tools: 88%.
• Social Media Publishing/Analytics: 81%.
• Email Marketing Software: 78%.
• Content Creation/Collaboration/Workflow Technologies: Increased to 58% from 48%.

Editorial Tools

• Keyword Research Tools: 78%.
• Fact-checking Procedures/Tools: Only 22% use them.

Metrics and Goals

• Use of Metrics: 81% of B2B marketers use metrics to measure content performance.
• Most Used Metric: Website traffic (90%).
• Content Marketing Goals:
  • Create brand awareness: 87% (up from 86% last year).
  • Build credibility/trust: 81% (up from 75% last year).
  • Nurture subscribers/audiences/leads: 60% (down from 68% last year).
  • Generate sales/revenue: 51% (down from 53% last year).

Budgets and Spending

• Budget Allocation:
  • 68% of B2B marketers had a documented content marketing budget.
  • 53% reported no change in spending due to the pandemic.
  • 29% reported a decrease.
  • 18% reported an increase.
• Future Spending:
  • 33% expected to increase spending in H2 2020 compared to H1.
  • 67% expected spending to remain flat.
• Challenges:
  • Some marketers expect budget cuts in 2021 depending on economic conditions.
  • Start-ups are investing heavily in content and SEO due to the pandemic.

Conclusion

The report underscores the adaptability and resilience of B2B content marketers amid the pandemic. While challenges such as limited resources and competition persist, top performers continue to emphasize the value of content and the importance of strategic adjustments. The shift to digital platforms, increased use of analytics and SEO tools, and the growing role of virtual events are significant trends. However, the lack of fact-checking and the difficulty in linking content marketing to revenue remain pressing issues for many organizations.