Content Marketing for B2B: Act Now Before Your Competitors Do!

It seems there's no way to avoid it. The demand and power of content as a formal marketing tactic has taken over, and those who are dedicated to a strategic approach with their content marketing efforts are dominating the online world. If there's continued proof that the creation of great content is one of the best ways to increase your rank in online search and attract qualified leads, why are so many B2B businesses still standing by the sidelines? 

Here's a look at how quickly content marketing as a marketing discipline is growing and the average ROI that's driving the growth.

Content Marketing Growth

Based on the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs 2012 B2B Content Marketing Study, content marketing continues to see tremendous growth as a top priority among B2B marketers. Here's some of the highlights of this study along with a graphic showing the increase in content marketing spending.

• 9 out of 10 organizations surveyed market with content marketing
• On average, B2B marketers employ eight different content marketing tactics to achieve their goals
• This includes Blogs (usage up 27%), White Papers (up 19%) and Videos (up 27%) 
• Marketers, on average, spend more than a quarter of their marketing budget on content marketing
• 62% of B2B marketers use a mix of insourced and outsourced content 

Content Marketing ROI

• While traditional outbound marketing tactics can still generate new leads, the average cost per lead via inbound tactics (such as content marketing) is 61% less, based on HubSpot's 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report
• Companies who create, optimize and promote their blogs get 55% more traffic and 70% more leads than those that don’t
• Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links than those that don’t (read more: The Key to Obtaining Free & Credible Inbound Links)
• 65% of B2B companies report they have acquired a customer through LinkedIn

Summary

Sure, a disciplined content marketing approach, especially one within a larger Inbound Marketing strategy, may require more time commitment on your internal marketing team than other traditional marketing tactics. But the reality is marketing tactics of the past are becoming much less effective and aren't getting any cheaper. As time goes on, more and more B2B companies are embracing the power of content and those who are waiting around will have a hell of a time catching up!

It's also reality that Google continues to improve their search algorithm to reward those who are producing the most useful content, that address the need of those searching for an answer or solution. Unless you're feeding this need with your own original content, you can say goodbye to your ability to maintain a favorable search rank for keywords you may have ranked for in the past. 

If you're now inspired but need some tools to get you in a content publishing mindset, check out our 5 Content Creation Templates.