Content Marketing Benchmark Report

Executive Summary

Content is an essential component of marketing.

Buyers self-educate more deeply into the sales cycle than every before. Content marketing is an essential strategy to attracting, engaging and acquiring customers during this self-education process. Yet only 13% of respondents believe their content strategy is very successful at achieving important objectives.

What will content marketing success look like in the year ahead and how will marketers achieve it?

To find out, Demand Metric in partnership with Ascend2 fielded the Content Marketing Survey and completed interviews with 521 marketing and sales decision-makers and practitioners from around the world. We thank these busy professionals for sharing their valuable insights with you.

The charts in this report compare the strategies and practices of small and mid-size businesses (SMB) with large enterprises.

This research has been produced for your use. Put it to work in your own marketing strategy planning and presentation materials. Clip the charts and write about them in your blog or post them on social media. Please share this research credited as published.

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary
2. Content Marketing Objectives
3. Current Content Marketing Success
4. Obstacles to Content Marketing Success
5. Premium Content Usage
6. Content Type Effectiveness
7. Content Type Execution
8. Content Campaign Resources
9. Content Marketing Software Usage
10. Channel Effectiveness for Content
11. Content & The Sale Cycle
12. About Marketo
13. About Demand Metric & Ascend2
14. Appendix - Survey Background

Research Methodology

Surveys are conducted online from a panel of more than 50,000 Ascend2 research subscribers, representing US and international marketing and sales decision-makers and practitioners in a range of contact roles, company types, sizes and geographic regions.

The questionnaire used incorporates standardized research practices across all studies while maintaining a proven 3-minute survey format. Survey findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and reported objectively.

The Demand Metric and Ascend2 2014 Content Marketing Benchmark Report was administered online in January 2014. During this period, 521 responses were collected that were qualified and complete enough for inclusion in the analysis.