Content marketing goals evolve as consumers engage on the web in different ways.

Technology continues to speed down an increasingly faster highway, expanding and evolving so rapidly that marketers are at its mercy. It’s jarring that the standard SMS message just turned 20 years old, but new audience targeting tools give marketers an even greater edge, and makes text messages look somewhat obsolete.

Content Marketing CustomizationAs Brafton reports, 87 percent of B2B marketers allocate resources toward content marketing as a way to build brand awareness online. However, only 43 percent of survey respondents say their programs worked. While content creation continues to be an important aspect of lead generation, the practice has shifted gears and requires users to adapt to emerging trends.

In Curata’s “B2B Marketing Trends Survey” report, marketers’ objectives have changed to mirror how consumers use and embrace media on the web. Survey respondents indicate that engaging with customers (81 percent) is their top priority, but other benchmarks are quickly reaching similar levels of importance among B2B marketers. According to the report, 56 percent of B2B marketers say leadership is a key objective – up from 43 percent in 2011. Forty-seven percent indicate consumer education is a main objective, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year, and 24 percent highlight SEO as a top priority, which is up 19 percent year-over-year.

Of course, goals such as driving sales (82 percent), thought leadership (42 percent), brand awareness (40 percent) and web traffic (32 percent) are all benchmarks B2B marketers use to measure the success of their inbound marketing efforts. Focusing on publishing a diverse array of custom content helps professionals reach new marketsThe appropriate benchmarks can be set and achieved.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.