Content Marketing Said Capturing 12% of Budgets

January 14, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Brand Metrics | Creative & Formats | Digital | Social Media

AdAge-Content-Marketing-Budget-Allocation-Jan2013Marketers are spending an average of 12% of their budgets on content marketing, according to results from an Ad Age survey conducted in late 2012 among close to 600 marketers. 1 in 5 respondents said they are dedicating 19% or more of their budgets to content marketing, but a similar proportion are allocating less than 2%. That’s despite recent survey results from Econsultancy and Adobe showing that content marketing is the top priority for digital marketers this year.

One reason why marketers may be reluctant to devote more funds to content marketing might be uncertainty concerning how to measure its effectiveness. Only 8% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with how they understand the effectiveness of their content marketing, with far more (48%) saying they are “somewhat satisfied.” Even so, 55% plan to increase their spending on content marketing this year.

SocNets, Print Media the Most Popular Types

Asked which types of content marketing they are using, most Ad Age survey respondents pointed to existing social networks (80%) and print media (77%).

Also relatively popular, but used by fewer, are blogs or digital articles (52%), video (49%), live events (43%), and targeted microsites (41%). Only about one-quarter are using branded entertainment (26%), white papers (24%), and webinars or virtual events (23%). The least popular content marketing type is custom social communities, used by 1 in 5 respondents.

Survey results from MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute released late last year also found social media to be the most widespread content marketing tactic, for both B2C and B2B companies.

Other Findings:

  • A minority of Ad Age survey respondents said they have an allocated budget for content production and distribution.
  • While only 30% of respondents report spending their content-creation budgets on internal staffing, respondents also claimed to only have 30% of their content creation handled by 3rd party partners. That suggests that internal staff members are having to create content as an add-on job responsibility.
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