A recent study conducted by Ascend2 found that a lack of resources for content creation was a major obstacle for marketing and sales professionals around the world in finding success with their content marketing goals. Video marketing, in particular was reported to be a difficult medium to work with, even though respondents conveyed confidence in its success as a marketing tool.
The study found that business professionals reported having trouble with the creation of the following types of content:
- Video – 59%
- Online Events/Webinars – 50%
- White Papers – 50%
- Infographics – 34%
- Articles/Case Studies – 31%
- eNewsletters – 13%
- Photos/Illustrations – 8%
- News Releases – 6%
When asked about which types of content were the most effective, respondents said:
- Articles/Case Studies – 54%
- Videos – 46%
- Infographics – 43%
- White Papers – 36%
- Online Events/Webinars – 30%
- eNewsletters – 28%
- Photos/Illustrations – 24%
- News Releases – 10%
These findings are similar to a study Regalix conducted that found that 81% of respondents from B2B companies believed video was going to be their most important type of content for 2015. Only 76% of respondents placed that level of importance on case studies, making video creation paramount for achieving 2015 content marketing goals. Respondents also believed that videos would be crucial for creating brand and product awareness, while case studies would help buyers in the consideration phase of the buying process.
In addition to its findings regarding the effectiveness of video marketing despite the difficulty associated in creating it, the Ascend2 study also shed light on other areas:
- Nearly 90% of respondents considered their content marketing to be successful
- Roughly half of respondents had plans to increase their marketing budgets for 2015
Interestingly, respondents reported low confidence in their in-house resources for content creation, leading to 75% using a combination of in-house and outsourced content creation strategies. When measuring the performance of content marketing, respondents cited conversion rate, quality of leads and website traffic as their most useful metrics.
When asked about what they considered to be the most important goal in content marketing, Ascend2 found that increasing lead generation and enhancing customer engagement were, unsurprisingly, at the top of the list.
Note: Companies with fewer than 50 employees represented over half of respondents.
Source:
MarketingCharts. Video Considered Difficult – but Effective – Content Marketing Tactic. March 17, 2015.
