It’s the most wonderful time of the year:
No, we don’t mean Christmas (even if we are ready to marathon-watch Die Hard and Home Alone).
We mean the B2B marketer’s most wonderful time of the year: Time to unpack the 13th annual B2B content marketing report from the Content Marketing Institute. A report chock full of insights into content marketing benchmarks in 2022 and trends for 2023.
We recommend reading the whole dang thing, but here are some of the highlights:
Content marketing is more important than ever before
Surprise! (Just kidding; nobody’s surprised.) Content marketing continues to grow in importance year over year. A hefty 71% of marketers said content marketing has become more important to their business in the last year. For another 25%, content’s importance held steady. And just 4% said content marketing’s importance was waning.
We hate to keep banging the same drum (okay, okay, actually we love it; we will beat this drum ‘til you pry it from our cold, dead fingers), but content marketing is always going to have a huge place in marketing strategy. Whatever the format, the trends, the flavor of the month—from TikTok to blogs to microsites—brands must have something to say to their audiences if they want to garner attention.
And yet…still just 40% of marketers have a documented strategy
Yep. Even in 2022, more than half of marketing teams are either trying to hold a whole strategy in their heads or throwing content like darts at a dartboard…blindfolded…hoping something sticks.
As content marketing grows in importance, this stat feels ever more ridiculous. If you don’t have a documented strategy, you are leaving money on the table. No, actually, it’s worse than that: you’re handing money to your competitors.
If you don’t have a documented strategy, it’s time to knock that up to #1 on your priority list.
It’s time to build your contractor list
As many of us know all too well, the Great Resignation is still hitting pretty hard. People burned the candle at both ends during the pandemic and then up and quit their jobs. And that domino effect keeps on knocking its way through the employee ranks.
So it’s another non-surprise for us to see that nearly half of those surveyed said they’ll be hiring or contracting out in 2023. Internal employees need the support if you are going to hang onto them, and as content demands grow, ad agencies (oh hey, like us) and contractors can be the most pain-free way to pick up the slack.
In-person events are back with a vengeance
In 2022, 49% of marketers said in-person events were part of their strategy. And thrillingly, the results solidly supported this increase, with marketers reporting events as the #1 results-generating tactic of the year. Accordingly, 52% said investment in events will rise in 2023.
Diversity and inclusion correlate to success
We should all be prioritizing diversity and inclusion because it’s the right thing to do. But also: it comes with business rewards. The most successful marketers in the survey overwhelmingly (70%) said that diversity and inclusion play a key part in the organization’s decision-making.
This tracks with past research by Gartner that says diverse teams perform 30% better and a study by McKinsey that found diverse companies are 36% more profitable than homogenous ones.
What will your 2023 content marketing look like?
Armed with these insights, it’s a good time to take a look at your 2023 plan and ask how you can incorporate the benchmarks and trends that surfaced in this year’s survey.
And if you need a little help? Well, that’s what we’re here for. Whether you need someone to document your content marketing strategy or help you find talent to fill out your team, we’ve got you.
