According to a new Executive Brief released by Loyalty360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association, over half of marketers anticipate that the budget allocated to content marketing will grow in the next fiscal year. The study also shows that accurately capturing the value that content provides an organization and keeping up with consumers’ expectations for content are challenges reported by over one-third of marketers.
“In many of the conversations our association is having with brands about their content marketing, we are hearing that creating and executing on a successful content strategy is a challenge. Monetizing content is becoming a big priority, but a big hurdle,” says Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360. “Brands are hiring so-called visionaries to consult with them about their content strategies, which is a sign that they are overthinking it. Our Executive Brief takes a step back and provides some insights and guidance to those who are working to make sense of the enormous potential of content.”
Loyalty360 surveyed 124 marketing professionals across a wide range of industries and sizes to evaluate current trends in content marketing, including budgets, goals and channel strategies. The brief also includes insights from industry experts and brand marketers on the potential for content to impact consumer behavior, critical attributes to get right for a successful content strategy and guidance for future planning.
Over 60% of marketers surveyed reported they are doing a “good” or “excellent” job on content, but the research also indicated widespread challenges in nearly all stages of the content process from creation and/or curation, to delivery, and to measurement. Two issues that directly impact the consumer experience were cited as the biggest challenges by our survey respondents: Quality & Quantity (in other words, keeping content fresh and engaging) and Relevancy.
An alarming portion of the marketers surveyed (38%) said that the metrics being used are not accurately capturing the value of content.
“There is pressure for marketers to show that content is driving sales, but attribution is difficult to measure accurately,” Johnson adds. “It’s more realistic to expect results in the long term, rather than short term. The goal of any content strategy should be to provide value to consumers. When that’s accomplished, sales and revenue follow naturally.”
Sharing their insights are representatives from Sephora, Chipotle, Red Roof Inn, GNC, Maritz, and dunnhumby.
Download your copy of “Content: An Executive Brief by Loyalty360” today!