More than half (52%) of companies plan to increase their content budgets between 10% and 50% over the next year, according to preliminary results from a study conducted by Content4Demand, a content marketing consultancy and solutions provider.
The findings were analyzed during a recent webinar hosted by Content4Demand. A majority of the findings highlighted that there has been some growth in the way content marketers are budgeting and planning their strategies for 2016. The study shows that 78% have a content calendar aligned to company goals, while 73% have a budget to promote targeted messaging throughout the year. The study also shows that 64% of respondents coordinate their content plans with creative and promotional teams.
“The way that marketers define their content strategy varies,” said Alicia Fiorletta, Content Strategist at Content4Demand, during the webinar session. “It shows that marketers have grown to be creative with their marketing efforts. It no longer works to create an E-book here and a whitepaper there.”
While there has been growth, content marketers still face some common struggles. The study shows that fewer than 50% of businesses have done a thorough audit and identified content gaps, or aligned content to all phases of the buyer’s journey.
“These all point to two gaping holes: for one, if you don’t map content to your buyer’s journey, you risk delivering insight and messaging at the wrong time or delivering irrelevant insight when they don’t need it at that point in time,” Fiorletta noted. “This means your attempt to engage your buyer will essentially fall flat, and your content will not reach its full potential.”
Other bumps in the road for content strategies include:
- Insufficient staff (57%);
- Insufficient budget (40%); and
- Insufficient content volume to meet demand (37%).
“While content budgets are shown to be improving, it is still not enough to meet the needs of some content marketing teams — and especially their prospective buyers,” Fiorletta added.
However, content marketers plan to step up their game, according the presenters. 52% of respondents noted that the plan to create content more consistently throughout the year, and the same percentage said they plan to develop and execute nurture programs more consistently to meet buyer needs.
“This is where the value of having an implemented content strategy comes into play,” Fiorletta noted. “You have an established plan or calendar to refer to and guide you through the year. Now instead of panicking because you haven’t produced a nurture campaign in a few weeks, there is a consistent plan in place and you have a way to move forward throughout the year.”
Click here for an on-demand version of the webinar.
