What were your successes and failures, in terms of your content strategy, over the past year? If you find yourself shrugging your shoulders at that question, your reviewing process clearly needs a tweak. For those results are what should form the basis of how you go about building your plan for next year.
Those marketers that find themselves in such a predicament might consider it wise to seek out some statistics to ensure they´re not left standing in a cloud of dust by their rivals.
That´s not to say that stats alone will be enough to propel next year´s strategy to where you want it to be, but these figures compiled by Business2Community should act as a welcome nudge.
1. B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that do not blog.
Is your blog up and running and suitably signposted? If you believe so, is the content tailored to keep customers where you want them?
2. 37% of marketers say blogs are the most valuable type of content marketing.
If your answers to the previous questions were “no”, you´re unlikely to be one of the third of brands who cherish their blog. Given that the more you can provide value, the easier it is to get people to click around the site, you should probably look to turn those answers into “yes”.
3. 72% of marketers think that branded content is more effective than magazine advertisements. 69% say it´s superior to direct mail and PR.
The hard sell doesn´t sit too well with customers online, where they have the resources to do their research. Helpful branded content is what hits the mark these days.
4. Interactive content – such as apps, assessments, calculators and quizzes – generates conversions moderately or very well 70% of the time, compared to just 36% of the time for passive content.
More people are browsing on their smartphone or tablet, so don´t bombard them with pages of passive content, which look even more daunting on smaller screens.
5. By 2017, online video will make up nearly 70% of consumer Internet traffic.
As important as written content is, variety in the form of video is vital as some people simply respond better to visual communication.
What other stats have you seen that document the power of content? What trends do you see emerging in content marketing over the next 12 months?