Content Marketing Made Simple

Study Says Content Marketing Is On The Rise

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Just in case you were thinking that it’s just us telling you that content marketing is a good idea—the Custom Content Council recently released preliminary results of a study on custom content marketing, in which marketers and consumers were polled on their perceptions about CM.

[By the way, “custom content” was an early name for content marketing and is still used by many marketers to describe branded content (content that helps to establish a brand). “Branded content” is another word for content marketing, as is custom publishing, custom media…ok, you get the picture.]

The 2011 CMO and Consumer Attitude study is revealing in that it indicates a growing acceptance over the past 5 years of content marketing as a valuable marketing tool. In 2006 the CCC performed the original study, which gives us a kind of baseline for both marketer and consumer opinions about content marketing. Here are some comparative results:

Is content marketing the future of marketing?

2006: 19% of Chief Marketing Officers say yes

2011: 35% of Chief Marketing Officers say yes

Is content marketing a valuable part of marketing campaigns?

2006: 72% of CMOs say yes

2011: 87% of CMOs say yes

Consumer opinion is also following the trend toward content marketing. We all know that typical consumers are primarily looking for information when surfing the Web. They are, in fact, on the front lines of the online information war, the decision-makers who ultimately control marketing strategy. So, their opinions and perceptions about CM are especially important. Here’s what the study reveals:

• 78% believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with customers
• 73% of consumers prefer to get information in the form of articles rather than advertisements
• 69% of consumers like the targeted nature of content marketing
• 67% feel that custom content from a company is valuable.
• 61% feel more positive about a company that delivers custom content and, in turn, are more likely to buy from that company

Lori Rosen, Executive Director of the Custom Content Council, says. “Like social media, custom media is no longer an option. It is a mainstay of every smart marketing campaign.” Or should be.

As the use of custom content, content marketing, or whatever you want to call it (how about value-added content?) grows among marketers, we’ll start seeing larger portions of marketing budgets spent on this type of marketing.

If consumer opinion means anything--and I think it does-- that is probably a very good thing.