Welcome one, welcome all to that weird stretch of the early year between Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s where nothing really happens — unless we get a Leap Day, when anything goes! PURGE RULES! — and there’s not a ton to look forward to until winter ends.
Longing for something to fill the hours while we wait on the return of longer days and later sunsets? You came to the right place. This latest edition of the Content Marketing Weekly features some hot new items from the world of content marketing, search engines and beyond to keep you abuzz and abreast of the latest.
New Research Pulls Back the Curtain on Enterprise Content Marketing in 2019
If enterprise marketers are looking for some good news, they got some with this latest report from the Content Marketing Institute. Research shows that marketers working for the largest companies are succeeding despite challenges others don’t face at smaller scale. Some highlights include:
- 68 percent believe their organization’s content marketing efforts were somewhat or much more successful than a year prior.
- 61 percent feel their organization is extremely or very committed to content marketing.
- 71 percent thought their content marketing tech is delivering them better insights.
While some wins were notched, there was room for improvement expressed across respondents. For instance, only 43 percent rated their organization’s content marketing as sophisticated or mature.
Read more about the results here.
55% of Marketers Say ‘Better Use of Data’ for Audience Targeting is a Priority in 2019
In a global survey of marketers, Econsultancy and Adobe found most are excited about new opportunities to leverage data across interactions and engagement, particularly as it regards personalizing the customer experience.
When asked to rank their top three most exciting prospects for 2019, marketers chose:
- Data-driven audience segmentation that makes for more effective targeting (55 percent).
- Deeper insights that build a more holistic view of the customer (42 percent).
- Efficient integration of martech that improves workflows (42 percent).
When asked about their greatest challenges, however, marketers responded with:
- Difficulty in getting a full view of customers culled across interactions (44 percent).
- Problems with tracking marketing effectiveness and dollar spend on media (41 percent).
- Trouble ensuring a consistent experience throughout the customer lifecycle (40 percent).
Visit Econsultancy for more survey findings here.
Google May Use Different Ranking Weights for YMYL-Type Queries
Big news on the search engine front is the fact Google has revealed results for YMYL-type queries are generated using different ranking weights. What is YMYL? No it’s not related to YOLO or any other millennial slang: YMYL has become SEO-speak for “your money, your life” searches that relate to topics like personal finances, vacation travel and well-being.
In short, Google will give greater consideration to EAT qualities when returning search results for YMYL queries. Yet more Alphabet soup, EAT stands for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. The algorithm change was uncovered by search engine journalist stalwart Barry Schwartz, who read a recently published Google white paper and turned up this nugget, which will interest content marketers from all industries.
“Again, this document confirms that Google can and does adjust the weights they use for various signals in their ranking algorithm based on the type of query,” Schwartz wrote. “Understanding this proves that SEO work done on one type of site that achieves success, can’t just be replicated on another type of site in a different industry and be assumed to achieve success.”
Read more about the change here.
Forms Aren’t Dead: The State of Email Lead Capture in 2019
Despite the rampant popularity of social media, marketers still have a lot of love for the ol’ standbys. There’s no better evidence of the thriving state of traditional strategies than the latest numbers from HubSpot, which indicate, among other things, web forms are the most used and most effective lead-capture tool.
In a survey of marketers from all business types and sizes, nearly three-quarters identified web forms as their No. 1 lead generator, while almost half said such forms were their most effective tool. Both numbers far outpaced those of comparable options, like chatbots and quizzes or surveys.
Other key findings include:
- The average length of a web form in 2019 was five questions (with eight respondents responding more than 10).
- A/B testing, analytics and other data-driven approaches can drive conversion rates higher.
- Marketers favor using eBooks as “lead magnets,” or resources sent to a lead after a form registration has been completed.
Get the full picture from HubSpot here.
Here’s to hoping this installment of the Content Marketing Weekly will tide you over through the dull early year. Check back next week for more insights and tips from leaders, thinkers and doers in content marketing. Let us know what you think about some of the above stories in the comments below, and thanks for reading!
