I just finished reading through CMI’s new report, “Technology Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2023,” and wanted to summarize a few findings that I thought were important. I have been reading the reports for years and consider them staple research for referencing trends in content marketing, especially within B2B and the technology sector.
These B2B tech insights or just scratching the surface of the full report.
B2B & Tech Content Marketing Insights
So, basically, data suggests that the pandemic made us realize we need to get back to the basics of content marketing. And surprise, surprise – the insights below show that it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. Marketers should have been focusing on these areas all along instead of chasing after the latest trends.
A Summary of My Key Insights
- LinkedIn is the most effective platform for B2B and tech marketing: Across both organic and paid social media platforms, LinkedIn is consistently viewed as the most effective platform for helping technology companies achieve their content marketing goals.
- Tech companies may need to be strategic with social media: While some social media platforms are viewed as more effective than others for content marketing, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Technology companies may need to carefully consider which platforms will most likely reach their target audience and develop a tailored social media strategy accordingly.
- Measuring content performance is a challenge: There is a consistent theme of difficulty in accurately measuring content performance. Technology companies may need to invest in more effective measurement tools or strategies to better understand the impact of their content and improve their content marketing efforts.
Key Insights from Content Marketing Institute
B2B tech marketers focus on quality. The tech brands that excel with contact differentiation are attributed to more focus and high-quality content, topics, and themes. Perhaps this should always be the focus.
In-person events have made a comeback. In-person events have re-emerged for technology and B2B brands as opportunities to capture quality content, with 62% of marketers stating they used them to engage their audiences, a significant increase from the previous year’s 17%. Additionally, 57% anticipate their organization’s investment in in-person events to rise in 2023 compared to their 2022 budget.
Investments in video content are expected to keep growing. A staggering 87% of B2B and tech marketers reported using videos in the last 12 months, and 84% indicated that their organization would maintain or increase investments in video content in 2023. Video content is the leading area of content marketing investment.
B2B tech marketers intend to invest in social media and community building. In 2023, 54% of respondents plan to invest in social media and community building, an increase from the previous year’s 37%.
The utilization of paid content distribution channels has declined. The proportion of B2B/Tech marketers employing one or more paid distribution channels dropped to 82%, down from 93% the previous year. Among those using a paid media strategy, 88% leveraged paid social media advertising.
Tech marketers struggle with content marketing technology. A new section in the survey inquired about the adequacy of content management systems. Among those who indicated their tech needed to be improved, 32% of respondents said they possessed the technology but failed to utilize it fully, while 29% reported not having acquired the right tech in place.
B2B tech marketers face difficulties crafting content for the buyer’s journey and aligning content efforts between sales and marketing. These were identified as the top two content marketing challenges for B2B/Tech marketers. Additional concerns included achieving consistent measurement and effective internal communication.
B2B Content Creation & Distribution Insights
The data suggest that while there are strengths in content creation and production within these technology companies, there’s room for improvement with content integration, producing content aimed at the customer journey, diversity and inclusion in content decision-making, and accurate measurement of content performance.
Creativity and craft are highly valued in content creation and production. Most respondents (83%) either strongly agree or somewhat agree that their organization values creativity and skill in content creation and production, suggesting a focus on high-quality content within these technology companies.
Consistency across the customer engagement journey is a challenge. While over half of the respondents (51%) somewhat agree that their organization provides customers with a consistent experience across their engagement journey, only 11% strongly agree, suggesting room for improvement in ensuring a consistent customer experience.
Diversity and inclusion are important, but there is room for improvement. While just over half of respondents (51%) either somewhat agree or strongly agree that diversity and inclusion play an integral role in their organization’s content decision-making and creative processes, nearly a third (29%) neither agree nor disagree, suggesting there may be room for improvement in this area.
Accurate measurement of content performance is a challenge. Most respondents (56%) either somewhat disagree or strongly disagree that their organization measures content performance accurately. This suggests that there may be a need for more effective methods of measuring content performance within these technology companies.
B2B Organic Social Media’s Contribution to Goals & Objectives
Overall, the data suggest that LinkedIn and YouTube are perceived as the most effective organic social media platforms for helping tech companies reach their content marketing goals. At the same time, Twitter and Instagram may require more strategic use. Meanwhile, Facebook is seen as the least effective platform for content marketing among the technology marketers surveyed.
LinkedIn is the most effective organic social media platform for content marketing. Most respondents (63%) consider LinkedIn to be very effective or highly effective in helping their technology organization reach its content marketing goals. This suggests that LinkedIn may be a particularly valuable platform for technology companies looking to promote their content.
YouTube is also perceived as somewhat effective. While fewer respondents consider it very effective or extremely effective (42%), the majority still view it as somewhat effective (40%). This suggests that YouTube may also be a useful platform for technology companies, albeit potentially less effective than LinkedIn.
Twitter and Instagram are seen as less effective. While a sizable proportion of respondents view Twitter (45%) and Instagram (42%) as somewhat effective for content marketing, relatively few view them as very or extremely effective. As a result, technology companies may need to use these platforms strategically to achieve their content marketing goals.
Facebook is seen as the least effective platform. The majority of respondents (77%) view Facebook as either not very effective or ineffective for content marketing. As a result, technology companies may want to focus their efforts on other social media platforms rather than Facebook.
B2B Organic Paid Contribution to Goals & Objectives
Overall, the data suggest that technology companies may need to approach paid social media advertising cautiously, as the perceived effectiveness of paid platforms is generally lower than that of organic platforms. However, LinkedIn is viewed as the most effective paid platform, with YouTube and Twitter are also seen as fairly effective. Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram are considered less effective for paid social media advertising among the technology marketers surveyed
Paid social media platforms are seen as less effective overall than organic platforms. Across all platforms, the proportion of respondents who view paid social media platforms as very or extremely effective is smaller than the proportion who view organic platforms this way. Technology companies may need to approach paid social media advertising cautiously and carefully.
LinkedIn is seen as the most effective paid social media platform. While fewer respondents view paid social media platforms as very or extremely effective, LinkedIn still has the largest proportion of respondents who view it this way (47%). This suggests that LinkedIn may be a strong choice for technology companies investing in paid social media advertising.
YouTube and Twitter are also viewed as fairly effective. While the proportions of respondents who view YouTube (41%) and Twitter (34%) as very or extremely effective are lower than for LinkedIn, they are still relatively high compared to the other platforms. This suggests that these platforms are worth considering for paid social media advertising.
Facebook and Instagram are viewed as less effective. While a sizeable proportion of respondents view Facebook (28%) and Instagram (27%) as somewhat effective for paid social media advertising, relatively few view them as very or extremely effective. As a result, technology companies may want to consider the ROI of paid social media advertising on these platforms.
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