A study conducted by PRNewsWire earlier this year found that more than half of B2B companies and nearly 35 percent of those in both B2B and B2C sectors use content marketing.
White paper marketing is one of the most popular forms of content marketing among companies focused on boosting search visibility. With more than 50 percent of respondents reporting that that they use content marketing to improve thought leadership, the creation of white papers is an ideal method. The versatility of white papers is a major benefit for the long-form content. Statistics and information included can be used as email marketing or social media content, which would also include a link to the full-length publication.
Absent from the list of content formats was news content marketing. While white papers, case studies and interactive content can help improve thought leadership, developing original content based on industry news is a way to signal that a business keeps up with all the latest trends in its sector, and daily news updates are a valuable way to boost SEO rankings. With more than 54 percent of respondents pointing to SERP improvements as a goal, the use of news content marketing could offer value moving forward.
Ss the way prospects use the web continues to evolve, SEO becomes more critical to enhance a company’s visibility throughout the web. Search ranked as the primary content distribution method for more than 34 percent of survey respondents. Additonally, social media marketing was a popular outlet with 57.3 percent saying they use Facebook to promote content and 54.8 percent turning to Twitter.
In terms of challenges standing in the way of producing quality content, allocating resources – both financial and human – appears to be one of the biggest issues. Some business have the funds, but can’t find the right content writers(L), while others have strong in-house content staff but lack the tiime, PRNewsWire’s study relays.
Businesses outsourcing their content production and other parts of their marketing strategies has increased. Brafton reported last week that more than 40 percent of businesses dedicate one-quarter of their market budget to hiring third-party services.
