Social media demands that consumer goods brands create interesting and relevant content for their audiences on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the rest. The same holds true for business-to-business organizations as well.
And they get it. A recent study by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs found that B2B marketers are spending more, using more tactics and distributing their content on more social networks than they have in years past. But this rise in content marketing has also resulted in more uncertainty. B2B marketers are second-guessing their branded content efforts.
The study found that 91 percent of B2B companies are using content to get their message to consumers. Furthermore, the average number of tactics is about 13 per company. The report defines tactics as things like microsites, articles on your own website and other websites, eBooks, white papers, videos, blogs, webinars and webcasts. Nearly all B2B companies use social media to distribute content. The platforms B2B places most emphasis on are Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google Plus and Pinterest, respectively.
“Brand awareness, customer acquisition, and lead generation remain the top B2B content marketing goals,” the study says. “Compared with last year, more B2B marketers are using content marketing to achieve all of these goals, with one exception: Slightly fewer are using content marketing to generate sales.”
More than half of B2B marketers say they will increase their content marketing spend in 2013.
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