Introduction
In the State of Content Marketing 2022 Global Report by Semrush, 1,500 content marketers were surveyed from across a wide range of industries. (“Using Buyer Personas to Inform Your Marketing Content …”)
In this article, we analyse the key factors that paint the content marketing landscape to understand and capitalise on this growing marketing trend.
The Use of Content Marketing
Statistics bear out that content marketing is a recognised strategy for brand growth and awareness as we move further into 2022.
In fact, 97% of those asked in the survey confirmed that it was an important part of their overall marketing strategy.
Although this does sound quite definitive, a breakdown of those statistics showed that only nineteen percent had an advanced content marketing strategy, while forty-two percent reported they are only now taking their first steps in content marketing.
Key Takeaway – As many businesses start taking their first steps into content marketing, the opportunities to excel are open for everyone to embrace.
Structuring Content Marketing Strategies
When trying to pinpoint what delivers success, it was clear that having a documented content marketing strategy reaped reward.
Over 70% of companies that actively invest in content marketing were satisfied with their results, and many of these plans to increase budgets in 2022.
Key Takeaway –having a documented strategy and budgeted financial resources to support content marketing yields positive returns in brand growth and awareness.
Continual Improvement of Content Quality
For 2022 and beyond, over 55% of companies stated that they would invest in improving the quality of their content.
Around half of these stated they would focus on improvements in optimising around keywords and search engine ranking, with the other half believing video would yield better returns on their investment.
Key Takeaway – focus investment on improving content in whatever way reaches the target demographic.
Challenges in Content Marketing
As more businesses reach out to their audiences through online spaces, the competition will intensify.
The longer a brand or business delays moves towards content marketing, the harder it will become for them to establish a foothold.
Although quality of content is clearly one ranking factor, having established a presence over time is another important factor.
Wherever possible, first steps should be taken sooner rather than later, and efforts should focus on providing value to the consumer beyond a single sale or point of contact.
Key takeaway – Many businesses plan to expand their teams and invest more in content marketing. This means that adoption of a content framework should not be delayed.
Establishing Content Budgets
Failing to budget for content comes at a cost. Companies who spent less than 5% of their marketing budget on content felt that their campaigns were unsuccessful. Those who allocated a specific budget saw much greater success.
In fact, only 2% of companies intended to decrease their budget. This demonstrates quite clearly that content marketing works.
Key takeaway – companies recognise that it can take time for positive results to filter through. It is however undoubtedly clear that most companies do intend to allocate more resources to content marketing in 2022 and beyond.
Which Content Wins
When trying to quantify the measurement of content performance, it was surprising to find that only two-thirds of brands claim to measure the ROI (Return on Investment).
Those who do measure, stated that they analyse organic traffic, search rankings and inbound leads.
- Sixty-five percent of companies that succeed in content marketing run content audits at least twice a year.
- Forty-six percent of companies whose content marketing was unsuccessful in 2021 never ran content audits.
Key takeaway – If you are not performing frequent content audits you might be setting a path for failure.
Successful Content Types
The highest user-engagement was with video, success stories and case studies.
Original research and authentic content are most compelling and lead to a higher sense of customer loyalty and trust.
Key takeaway – if you are ready to learn more about creating successful content marketing campaigns, reach out to CommonSenSEO on 0800 086 8660.
We have a wealth of knowledge about content, have skilled authors on our team, and are happy to explore your own content strategies with no commitment or cost to call.
