What’s the profile of a modern, best-in-class content marketer? Bymodern I mean someone who is using new tools and resources (social media, video and data) in concert with traditional marketing programs. And by best in class I mean someone who is driving real results.
So what does that look like? What might great content marketers know that you don’t? And more important: What can you steal from them in order to replicate their successes at your own company?
MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute wanted to find out. On Oct. 1 we released our fifth annual study, “B2B Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends—North America,” looking at more than 5,000 marketers in 109 countries. Here are some key points that emerged.
Great content marketers have a documented strategy and follow it closely. Just 35 percent of content marketers actually have a documented strategy (48 percent say they have one, but it’s not documented), according to the study. Sixty percent of those who have a documented strategy rate themselves as being effective content marketers, vs. just 7 percent of those who have no strategy, written or otherwise.
Idea you can steal: Define a content marketing strategy for yourself, record it and refer back to it frequently. Don’t leave it on a metaphorical shelf gathering dust. Start by answering some basic questions about your company and your audience: Who do you want to reach? What value can you provide? How are you going to deliver that information? Who is going to manage the process? How will you measure success and refine your efforts?
