content marketing in the uk 2015: benchmarks, budgets & trends by cma and dma sponsored by axonn

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Content Marketing intHe Uk 2015:

benchmarkS, budgetS, and trendS

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com

http://www.dma.org.uk

http://www.axonn.co.uk

2

Welcome ................................................................................................................................................ 3

Usage & Overall Effectiveness ............................................................................................................. 4

Strategy & Organization ....................................................................................................................... 6

Goals & Metrics .................................................................................................................................... 10

Content Creation & Distribution ....................................................................................................... 13

Budgets & Spending ........................................................................................................................... 22

Challenges & Initiatives ..................................................................................................................... 24

Comparison Chart: Documented vs. Verbal-Only Content Marketing Strategy ......................... 29

Demographics ..................................................................................................................................... 30

About .................................................................................................................................................... 31

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Hello Content Marketers,

Welcome to the third annual Content Marketing in the UK 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends. This year, we look at how UK for-profit marketers (both B2B and B2C) approach content marketing as compared with last year.

One of the most prominent findings this year is that UK marketers have become much more focused on their goals for content marketing—and those goals have changed. The percentage of marketers who say lead nurturing is a goal, for example, has nearly tripled. Engagement has surpassed brand awareness as the most often cited goal. Even so, creating engaging content is the top challenge for UK marketers; yet, many are working on initiatives to improve in that regard.

As was the case last year, UK marketers feel more effective at content marketing when compared with many North American and Australian marketers, which are groups that Content Marketing Institute (CMI) also reports on. As CMI found with all groups, having a documented content marketing strategy is an important key to success.

Best wishes on your continued content marketing journey.

Yours in content,

Joe & Chris

Joe PulizziFounder

content marketing Institute

Chris Combemaleexecutive director

dma uk

3

WELCOME

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4

USAGE & OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS Does your organizationuse content marketing?85% say yesLast year, 88% of UK respondents said they use content marketing. Back then, we defined content marketing as the “creation and distribution of educational and/or compelling content in multiple media formats to attract and/or retain customers.”

This year, we defined content marketing as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The new definition—crafted by Content Marketing Institute in early 2014—better reflects how content marketing has grown from the mere “creation and distribution” of content to a formal business discipline.

Percentage of UK RespondentsUsing Content Marketing

85%Yes

15%No

Content Marketing in the UK 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Content Marketing Institute/DMA UK




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USAGE & OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS

Overall, how effective is your organization at content marketing?

42% say they are effective

Note: For purposes of our annual survey, we define effectiveness as “accomplishing your overall objectives.” Those who rate their organizations a 4 or 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “Very Effective” and 1 being “Not at all Effective”) are the “most effective” or “best-in-class.” The 1s and 2s are considered the “least effective,” while the 3s are neutral.

Last year, 48% of UK marketers said they were effective. Having a documented content marketing strategy helps in this regard: 71% of those who possess one say they are effective.

How UK Marketers Rate theEffectiveness of Their Organization’s

Use of Content Marketing

0 10 20 30 40 50

Very Effective 6%

36%

37%

18%

Not At All Effective 3%

5

4

3

2

1





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STRATEGY & ORGANIZATION

Does your organization have a content marketing strategy?

36% say they have a documented strategy

Last year, we asked marketers for the first time whether or not they had a documented content marketing strategy. The high percentage who said no (49%) left us wondering whether some had a strategy but simply had not taken the time to document it. So this year we worded the question differently and discovered that 51% have a verbal-only strategy. The 36% who have documented their strategy are more effective in nearly all aspects of content marketing when compared with those who have not.Content Marketing in the UK 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Content Marketing Institute/DMA UK

Percentage of UK MarketersWho Have a Content Marketing Strategy

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Yes, and it is documented 36%

Yes, but it is not documented 51%

No 11%

Unsure 2%




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How closely does your content marketing strategy guide your organization’s content marketing efforts?

44% say very closely

Having a strategy is one thing—following it is another. The more effective the UK marketer, the more likely it is that his or her organization follows the strategy very closely (65% of the most effective follow their strategy very closely).


Percentage of UK MarketersWho Say Strategy Guides Efforts

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Very closely 44%

Somewhat 53%

We rarely use it 3%

Unsure 0%




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Does your organization have a dedicated content marketing group?

45% say yes

This is a new question on our annual survey. The most effective marketers are more likely to have a dedicated group (66%) when compared with the total sample (45%). The same is true for those who have a documented content marketing strategy (68%).


Percentage of UK Marketers WhoHave a Dedicated Content Marketing Group

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Yes, and it functions independently as its own unit 18%

Yes, and it works horizontally across the organization silos 27%

No, but planning to have one 23%

No, and no plans to have one that I know of 31%




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Which area in your organization is accountable for content marketing?

It often depends on company size

In small UK companies (10-99 employees), content marketers are more likely to report to the owner/C-level. In enterprise companies (1,000+ employees), content marketing is more likely to be part of the demand-gen marketing group.


Areas Accountable forUK Content Marketing

Owner/C-level

Demand Gen Marketing

Product Marketing

Social Team/Social CRM

PR/Corporate Communications

Information Technology

Other

No One, Unsure, or No Answer

26%

18%14%

11%

2%

5%

14%

10%




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GOALS & METRICSHow important is each of the following content marketing goals to your organization?

More focus on engagement, leads, and sales this yearNote: Percentages shown represent marketers who rated each goal a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale where 5 = “Very Important” and 1 = “Not at all Important.”

UK marketers cited each of these goals more frequently than they did last year. Some of the biggest increases were for sales (+29%), lead generation (+21%), and engagement (+17%).

The greatest increase, however, was for lead nurturing. Last year, 30% cited it as a goal, compared with 85% this year.

Customer evangelism was a new option on the survey this year.

Organizational Goals forUK Content Marketing

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Engagement

Lead Nurturing

Lead Generation

Brand Awareness

Sales

Customer Retention/Loyalty

Upsell/Cross-sell

Customer Evangelism

91%85%84%83%

77%73%

57%56%





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Which metrics does your organization use to assess content marketing success?

61% say website traffic

Note: Fewer than 30% cited the following metrics: Benchmark Lift of Company Awareness (26%), Customer Renewal Rates (21%), Benchmark Lift of Product/Service Awareness (19%), and Cost Savings (8%).

Regardless of how effective they are at content marketing, UK marketers cite website traffic as the metric they use most often to gauge content marketing success. Website traffic topped this list last year as well.

GOALS & METRICS

Metrics for UKContent Marketing Success

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Website Traffic

Higher Conversion Rates

Sales

Sales Lead Quality

SEO Ranking

Time Spent on Website

Inbound Links

Subscriber Growth

Qualitative Feedback from Customers

Sales Lead Quantity

61%47%

44%41%

40%40%40%

33%33%

32%31%





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12

How successful is your organization at tracking the ROI of its content marketing program?

28% say they are successful

As these percentages show, tracking ROI can be a challenge. Having a documented content marketing strategy helps, though, as 46% of those who possess one are successful in this area, compared with the 28% average for the total sample.

GOALS & METRICS

How UK Marketers Rate Their Organization’s Success

at Tracking ROI

0 10 20 30 40 50

Very Successful 7%

21%

34%

21%

Not At All Successful 5%

We Do Not Track 11%

5

4

3

2

1





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13

Compared with one year ago, how much content is your organization creating?

78% are creating more

Last year, 76% said they were creating more content.

CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION


Change in UK Content Creation(Over Last 12 Months)

Significantly More

More

Same Amount

Less

Unsure

32%

46%

18%

1%3%




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How many different audiences does your organization target with separate content marketing strategies?

The average number is 4

In general, the larger the UK organization, the more audiences it targets. Enterprise companies (1,000+ employees) target an average of 5.


Number of Audiencesthat UK Marketers Target

0 10 20 30 40 50

8%

3%

20%

48%

11%

10%

10+

7-10

4-6

2-3

1

Unsure





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Which content marketing tactics does your organization use?

eNewsletters had the biggest increase this yearAverage Number Used: 12

Note: Fewer than 50% said they use the following tactics: Branded Content Tools (46%), Microsites (46%), Research Reports (45%), eBooks (42%), Webinars (41%), Print Magazines (36%), Books (34%), Digital Magazines (33%), Mobile Apps (32%), Print Newsletters (25%), Games/Gamification (23%), Virtual Conferences (23%), and Podcasts (22%).

UK marketers, in total, use an average of 12 content marketing tactics, compared with 14 last year. The most effective and those who have a documented content marketing strategy use an average of 14.

The percentages shown on the chart are similar to last year’s. The biggest increase was with eNewsletters (82% last year vs. 88% this year). The biggest decrease is with online presentations (57% last year vs. 50% this year).

Illlustrations/photos was a new option on the survey this year.


UK Content Marketing Tactic Usage

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Social Media Content – other than blogs

eNewsletters

Blogs

Articles on Your Website

Case Studies

Videos

In-person Events

Illustrations/Photos

Infographics

Online Presentations

White Papers

89%88%

85%82%

80%73%72%

63%61%

50%50%





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How effective are the following tactics that you use?

72% say in-person events are effective

These are the 10 tactics that UK marketers find most effective. Once again this year, marketers said in-person events are the most effective tactic.

UK marketers rated only one of these tactics as more effective than they did last year: blogs (67% vs. 63% last year).

Confidence in the other tactics decreased slightly.

Infographics is new to the top 10 effective list this year.


In-person Events

Blogs

Social Media Content – other than blogs

Case Studies

Webinars

eNewsletters

Articles on Your Website

Videos

White Papers

Infographics

Effectiveness Ratings for UK Tactics

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

72%67%

64%63%

60%58%57%57%56%55%





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Which social media platforms does your organization use to distribute content?

96% use LinkedInAverage Number Used: 6

Note: Fewer than 25% said they use the following platforms: Instagram (24%), Vimeo (24%), StumbleUpon (18%), Flickr (17%), Vine (15%), Foursquare (11%), Tumblr (11%), and SnapChat (6%).

As with last year, UK marketers use an average of 6 social media platforms.

Compared with last year, the biggest increases in usage are LinkedIn (96% vs. 85%) and Google+ (68% vs. 55%). Usage of Twitter has remained the same. Usage of the other platforms has increased or decreased slightly.


LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

Google+

YouTube

Pinterest

SlideShare

UK Content MarketingSocial Media Platform Usage

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

96%89%

69%68%68%

37%36%





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How effective are the social media platforms that you use?

75% say Twitter is effective

These are the 7 social media platforms that UK marketers find most effective.

Twitter has replaced LinkedIn as the social media platform that UK marketers say is most effective. Last year, 61% said Twitter was effective (compared with 75% this year) and 66% said LinkedIn was effective (compared with 61% this year).

The biggest decrease in confidence was with Google+ (29% last year vs. 19% this year).

Effectiveness ratings for the other social media platforms shown here are similar to last year.


Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

SlideShare

Facebook

Pinterest

Google+

Effectiveness Ratings for UK Social Media Platforms

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

75%61%

50%37%

29%24%

19%





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How often does your organization publish new content that supports its content marketing program?

42% say daily or multiple times per weekThe most effective UK marketers publish new content even more frequently than the percentages shown here (63% of the most effective UK marketers publish new content daily or multiple times per week).


How Often UK MarketersPublish New Content

Daily

Multiple Times per Week

Weekly

Multiple Times per Month

Monthly

Less than Once per Month

Unsure

15%

27%

16%

20%

13%7%

2%





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20

Which paid advertising methods do you use to promote/distribute content?Search engine marketing (SEM) and print or other offline promotion are cited most oftenAverage Number Used: 3

This was a new question on the survey this year. The most effective UK marketers use almost all of these paid methods more frequently when compared with the total sample. The exceptions are SEM and print or other offline promotion, which they all use at about the same rate.

In addition, there is a correlation between company size and the number of paid methods used. For example, small companies (10-99 employees) use an average of 2 paid methods, whereas enterprise companies (1,000+ employees) use an average of 5.


UK Paid Advertising Usage

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Print or Other Offline Promotion

Social Ads (e.g., LinkedIn ads)

Traditional Online Banner Ads

Promoted Posts (e.g., promoted Tweets)

Native Advertising

Content Discovery Tools

54%54%

48%38%

34%31%

18%





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How effective are the paid advertising methods that you use to distribute content?

SEM, social ads, and promoted posts are considered the most effective

Note: Percentages shown represent marketers who rated each method a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale where 5 = “Very Effective” and 1 = “Not at all Effective.”

Search engine marketing (SEM) is not only the paid method that UK marketers use most often to promote content, it’s also one of the methods they say is most effective.


Effectiveness Ratings forUK Paid Advertising Methods

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Social Ads (e.g., LinkedIn ads)

Promoted Posts (e.g., promoted Tweets)

Content Discovery Tools

Print or Other Offline Promotion

Traditional Online Banner Ads

Native Advertising

46%44%

44%35%

34%23%

20%





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22

Approximately what percentage of your organization’s total marketing budget (not including staff) is spent on content marketing?

The average is 26%

Last year, UK marketers spent an average of 31% of their budget on content marketing.

The most effective UK marketers and those who have a documented content marketing strategy spend more (33% and 40% respectively) when compared with the total sample.

BUDGETS & SPENDING

Percentage of Total Marketing BudgetSpent on UK Content Marketing

0 10 20 30 40 50

100%

75-99%

50-74%

25-49%

10-24%

1-9%

0%

Unsure

1%5%

12%7%

20%28%

5%22%





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How do you expect your organization’s content marketing budget to change in the next 12 months?

64% say they will increase spending

Last year, 56% of UK marketers said they would increase spending vs. 64% this year.

BUDGETS & SPENDING

UK Content Marketing Spending(Over Next 12 Months)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Significantly Increase 13%

Decrease 1%

Increase

Remain the Same

51%

26%

Unsure 8%





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With regard to content marketing, how challenged are you with each of the following?

51% say producing engaging content is a challenge

UK marketers are more challenged this year than last in every area shown here except for lack of buy-in (22% last year). Technology-related challenges is new to the list this year, and producing content consistently has replaced producing enough content.

Finding trained content marketing professionals (14% last year vs. 27% this year) and measuring content effectiveness (28% last year vs. 40% this year) increased the most.

CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES

Challenges that UK Marketers Face

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Producing Engaging Content

Producing Content Consistently

Lack of Budget

Measuring Content Effectiveness

Producing a Variety of Content

Technology-related Challenges

Gaps in Knowledge and Skills of Internal Team

Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals

Lack of Integration Across Marketing

Lack of Buy-in/Vision from Higher-Ups

51%46%

46%40%

34%29%

27%27%

26%18%





25


Which content marketing initiatives are you working on?A high percentage are focused on creating visual content and creating more engaging content.

New this year, we presented marketers with a list of 28 initiatives. We asked them to select one of three options for each: working on now, plan to begin working on within 12 months, and not a priority.

UK marketers are working on an average of 14 initiatives, and plan to begin working on 8 more, on average, over the next12 months.

The highest percentages of UK marketers are presently working on: Creating visual content: 70% Creating more engaging/higher-quality content: 69% Better converting visitors on your website: 65% Organizing content on your website: 65% Better understanding of your audience: 63%

As for which they plan to begin working on within 12 months, the highest percentages selected:

Better mobile strategy: 39% Leveraging user- or fan-based generated content: 35% Measuring content marketing ROI: 35% Content personalization: 34% Creating a channel plan for social media: 33%

The initiatives appearing on the following pages are the 10 that received the highest combined percentages of “working on now” and “plan to begin working on within 12 months.”

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Creating More Engaging/Higher-Quality Content

CreatingVisual Content

Creating aGreater Variety of Content

Now Within 12 Months Not a Priority No Answer

69% 60%31% 70%19%

6% 8%

22%

6%3% 3% 3%


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Better ConvertingVisitors on Website

Optimizing Content

Better Understandingof Audience

Now Within 12 Months Not a Priority No Answer

65% 63%25% 60%28%

10% 10%

23%

9%3% 2% 2%


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Better Understanding of WhatContent is Effective—and What Isn’t

MeasuringContent Marketing ROI

Organizing Contenton Website

Now Within 12 Months

Not a Priority No Answer

60% 65%22% 48%

35%

11% 14%

27%

11%2%

Tying Content to Business Goals

61%22%

14%

3%

2% 3%


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COMPARISON CHART

Considers organization to be effective at content marketing ............................................................................................. 71% .................. 33%

Content marketing strategy very closely guides efforts ...................................................................................................... 78% .................. 21%

Has a dedicated content marketing group .......................................................................................................................... 68% .................. 38%

Is successful at tracking ROI ................................................................................................................................................. 51% .................. 18%

Average number of tactics used ............................................................................................................................................. 14 ...................... 10

Average number of social media platforms used ................................................................................................................... 7 ........................ 5

Publishes new content daily or multiple times per week ................................................................................................... 57% .................. 38%

Percentage of total budget allocated to content marketing ............................................................................................... 40% .................. 20%

Challenged with producing engaging content .................................................................................................................... 29% .................. 62%

Challenged with lack of budget ............................................................................................................................................ 22% .................. 57%

Average number of initiatives working on now ..................................................................................................................... 17 ...................... 12

Average number of initiatives planning to begin working on within 12 months .................................................................. 7 ........................ 9

DocumentedStrategy

Documented vs. Verbal-Only Content Marketing Strategy Verbal

Strategy


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DEMOGRAPHICS

Content Marketing in the UK 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends is produced by Content Marketing Institute in partnership with the DMA UK and sponsored by Axonn Media.

The fifth annual content marketing survey, from which the results of this third annual UK report were generated, was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers using lists from Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs, Brightcove, Blackbaud, the Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA), the Business Marketing Association (BMA), EnVeritas Group (EVG), The Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising (ADMA), Industry Week, New Equipment Digest, WTWH Media, and Corporate Financial Group.

A total of 5,167 recipients from around the globe—representing a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes—responded to the annual survey throughout July and August 2014. This report presents the findings from the 134 respondents who said they were for-profit marketers in the UK (99 B2B, 10 B2C, and 25 both B2B+B2C). Additional reports based on the annual survey are available at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research. Special thanks to MarketingProfs for their assistance with the annual survey and the B2B North America and B2C North America reports.

UK Industry Classification UK Job Title/FunctionSize of UK Company

(by Employees)

28%31% 40%

24%

12%

8%

16%

37%

13%

18%

14%

11%10%

6%

31%

■ Advertising/Communications/ Marketing/PR■ Technology■ Publishing/Media■ Consulting■ Banking/Accounting/Financial■ Other

■ Marketing/Advertising/ Communications/PR Management■ Corporate Management/Owner■ Content Creation/Management■ Marketing Administration/Support■ Other

■ Micro (Fewer than 10 Employees)■ Small (10-99 Employees)■ Midsize (100-999 Employees)■ Large (1,000+ Employees)

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31

ABOUT

About Content Marketing InstituteContent Marketing Institute (CMI) is the leading global content marketing education and training organization. CMI teaches enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World event, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September, and Content Marketing Sydney, every March. CMI also produces the quarterly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a 2012, 2013, and 2014 Inc. 500 company. View all CMI research at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research. Learn how to create a documented content marketing strategy, a key component for improving overall content marketing effectiveness.

About the DMA UKThe DMA UK aims to connect, enable, and inspire its members to drive business growth through one-to-one to millions communications.

The DMA helps brands, agencies, and suppliers put the customer at the heart of their one-to-one communications through providing opportunities, advice, support, networks and tools to ensure that each business can grow prosperously to be enjoyed, prized, and ultimately sustained by their markets.

About Axonn MediaAxonn Media’s mission is to simplify content marketing for everyone. We work with clients across Europe, adding value through our content strategy, creation, and technology services (and never-ending supply of great ideas and commitment to results!).

Our core values drive us: 1. If better is possible, good is not enough2. Take personal responsibility for success3. Embrace and drive creative ideas4. Make good things happen5. Love to learn and share6. Make it FUn!

We’ve loved working with CMI on this report and seeing how the UK content marketing industry continues to develop.

Listen to our CEO Fergus Parker and CMI founder Joe Pulizzi discuss the report in more detail in a webinar: http://www.axonn.co.uk/webinars.

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http://contentmarketingworld.com

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/chief-content-officer/

http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/the-essentials-of-a-documented-content-marketing-strategy-36-questions-to-answer/


http://www.axonn.co.uk/webinars


