“Content Is King,” is the phrase we’ve heard everywhere for the last five to seven years. (Though the dictum is 18 years old, first coined by Bill Gates back in 1996.)
But if content is king, why is content marketing not working for so many businesses? Wouldn’t the methodical, practiced dissemination of “content” – one definition you might give to “content marketing” – be an obvious homerun with marketing departments of all shape and size? You would think.
A Whole Lot of Talk. Not A Lot of Action.
While many marketers talk a big game in content marketing… many are failing miserably. I’d like to share with you with a brand new infographic from Axonn Media about the current and future state of content marketing in 2015. I found the reports in this infographic very disheartening, as I’ve briefly summarized below. (I’d be very interested to hear your reaction to the data in the comments section below.)
Content Marketing Is Not Working for Most Marketers
- 58% of marketers believe the effectiveness of their use of content marketing is neutral, not very effective, or not at all effective.
- 51% of marketers have a content strategy and admit to not documenting it.
- 60% of marketers rate their ROI as neutral or unsuccessful.
- 51% of marketers say they are challenged by the task of producing engaging content.
You get the idea. See the infographic below for more insights.
The truly surprising part is that despite these failures, uncertainties, and “neutral” to “bad” results, content marketers essentially plan to do the exact same thing in 2015 that they did in 2014! (A commonly cited definition for insanity – “repeating behavior while expecting different results” – comes to mind.)
Everyone’s Thrilled About Content Marketing … and Failing Miserably [INFOGRAPHIC]
