Search

BLOG

EditorialPR Musings
Content Marketing Blog

Keep up to date with the latest content marketing tips and news.
Aimee
16/Dec/2019
EPR.jpg
Content Marketing

Mature B2C marketers are using content to constantly engage customers

Mature B2C content marketing teams are more capable of using articles, blogs and videos to keep customers engaged through an entire cycle or journey, according to a new comprehensive study on marketing practices published by Content Marketing Institute (CMI).

The ‘B2C Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends’ report for 2020 found that marketing teams are enjoying greater success with their campaigns but that the majority of efforts are still focused at the top of the funnel.

CMI believes that brands must attempt to find more of a balance to really transform results next year.

When asked about the most important marketing goals for the previous 12 months, 84% of respondents said ‘creating brand awareness’, making it the most popular overall ahead of ‘educating audiences’ (75%) and ‘building credibility and trust’ (65%).

In contrast, the lower part of the funnel gets short shrift, with just a third of respondents saying that they are using content to support deeper journeys with the aim of building a solid base of subscribers.

A similar number are currently trying to nurture audiences for the longer term.

B2C marketers would be served well by a pivot to more balanced strategies, as CMI found that goals such as building subscribers are often the key to moving performance from merely good to excellent.

Forging deeper relationships can really pay off, and content is a conduit for helping that lofty objective to be achieved.

Despite the lop-sided nature of content output, 75% of B2C marketers believe that their organisations are currently either ‘moderately’, ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ successful, which is encouraging as content continues to play a greater role in the marketing mix.

Perhaps most importantly, campaigns are improving: the majority of respondents said that they are delivering better returns and are ‘somewhat’ or ‘much’ more successful compared to the same time last year.

CMI’s Chief Strategy Advisor Robert Rose said that the findings are “exciting” and show that particularly in B2C environments, content marketing “is alive and well” and will be a force for good as the new decade rolls in.

He did add a word of caution though: “However, when we look at B2C companies that are in the sophisticated/mature phase of content marketing, one of the biggest reasons they are successful is because their organization provides customers with optimal experiences across the entire engagement journey.”

Heading into 2020, agencies are in a position to take advantage of the content boom as the majority of B2C marketing teams are now outsourcing a single activity or more as they look to expert outside assistance to support different aspects of campaigns.

Creating written and visual content is an ongoing challenge, and 80% of those outsourcing are handing over content creation to agencies.

The desire to outsource is closely linked to B2C marketers’ list of goals for 2020.

Half of respondents said that a focus on content quality and quantity will be a top priority in the new year, which is something that third parties are particularly adept at supporting over time.

The same number have also set their sights on improving the quality and conversion of audiences.

CONTINUE READING
Aimee
25/Jun/2018
Travel-brands-using-content-to-deliver-personalised-messages-EPR-250618.jpg
Content MarketingNewsSEOSocial

Travel brands using content to deliver personalised messages

Brands in the travel and hospitality industry are turning to content marketing to deliver more personalised messages to audiences, according to new research by digital enterprises MailCharts, Liveclicker, SmarterHQ and Cheetah Digital.

The study, titled “Marketers Are on a Mission: The State of B2C Marketing,” takes an in-depth look at the various marketing activities that brands in the travel industry are leveraging to connect and engage with customers. There is currently a laser focus on content, as it allows brands to deliver higher-quality ads and messages compared to “mass marketing” methods, such as email.

Almost three-quarters of millennials are frustrated at the number of “irrelevant” emails they receive each day, so it is perhaps no surprise that brands are looking to use more engaging and innovative forms of communication to appeal to both young and older audiences. In fact, two-thirds of B2C marketers in travel are now aiming to provide personalised messages rather than a one-size-fits-all message.

“While ‘personalization’ has been a buzzword with marketers for years, it’s clear that brands have yet to master tailored messaging; as consumers are growing increasingly frustrated by generic communications that don’t align to their specific tastes, interests, or behaviors,” SmarterHQ CEO Michael Osborne said.

Data has been a headline topic in recent months with the arrival of GDPR, and travel brands are eager to make use of the growing mass of information they collect to serve up better content to people across the web. More than half of the respondents said personalisation was a priority; however critically, the report noted that brands still must get better at using data to support their marketing objectives.

“When it comes to personalization, data is paramount,” Cheetah Digital’s executive vice president for global marketing, Judd Marcello said. “Customer data is typically underused or used inefficiently. It tells brands, especially retailers, so much about where they can improve or what their customers want, and they can use that data to make a big impact on their business.”

There are now a variety of digital touchpoints available for brands to engage with audiences. In fact, almost one-fifth of marketers are planning to spend more to improve their multi-channel content output, with social media and mobile apps among the most popular platforms. Marketers are also investing more in running ads across a variety of channels rather than opting for a single channel approach.

While customers often see email marketing as a nuisance, 54% of the brands surveyed said it still delivers the best return on investment overall. The technology has been in place for some time now, making it a cost-effective and consistent means for getting in touch with customers. Behavioural emails will take centre stage in the future, with 30% of the brands planning to spend more in this area, which again shows the need to make better use of big data and analytics. Around 30% of the brands are also turning to cutting-edge technology, such as artificial intelligence, to improve their marketing methods.

CONTINUE READING
Aimee
11/Dec/2017
EPR-20171211.jpg
Content Marketing

CMI and MarketingProfs release 2018 B2C content report

Content marketers are now devising strategies and campaigns for 2018. With this in mind, CMI and MarketingProfs have just published their newest Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report to provide an overview of the latest trends among other useful information to help B2C brands plan and budget accordingly for the next 12 months.

Content is becoming more of an asset to modern enterprises with each passing year, so brands will be heartened to hear that two-thirds of B2C marketers believe they are achieving either “somewhat more” or “much more” success with their content marketing endeavours compared to a year ago. Almost nine out of ten respondents said they are now leveraging content in some form to achieve critical goals and objectives.

One of the most interesting takeaways is that the craft required to create high-quality content is now valued much higher by brands, as a sizeable 79% agreed that their organisation now places a greater emphasis on creative and production, which is a notable uptick from the 69% that said so during last year’s report.

Previous reports have cited a strong link between the most successful content marketers being more committed to the practice alongside having a documented strategy in place, and this again rings true. 93% of the top performers said their enterprise is either “very committed” or “extremely committed” to content, and of this successful group, 59% have a written strategy. In contrast, just 18% of the least successful marketers have a documented strategy.

However, the growing value of content appears to have resulted in an emerging trend of unrealistic expectations, as just 55% said their organisation has set realistic goals and targets for what can be achieved, which is well below the 68% that said so 12 months ago. Despite this, more than three-quarters believe their overall approach can be considered as anything from “moderately successful” to “extremely successful”.

“66% of B2C marketers surveyed said they’re more successful with content marketing compared with one year ago,” Content Marketing Institute’s Research Director, Lisa Murton Beets said. “At the same time, fewer B2C marketers than last year agreed that their organization has realistic expectations about what content marketing can achieve. One of the best ways content marketers can set appropriate expectations is to document their strategy. This will help stretched teams — even those that perform very well — focus on the priorities that matter most to their organization, and give teams that want to do more a starting point for building a business case for additional resources.”

MarketingProfs Chief Content Officer Ann Handley added: “Our research shows that B2C content marketers are placing a higher value on creativity and craft in content creation and production compared with one year ago.”

Marketers are using a variety of content formats to drive engagement, but social media posts topped the list of most popular resources, while videos, illustrations and photos, infographics, interactive tools and white papers rounded out the top six. Meanwhile, 79% agree that these resources have increased audience engagement during the last year, while 68% and 58% say content has driven lead generation and sales, respectively.

CONTINUE READING