Content is apparently a loss leader in B2B companies. 

Only 10% monetize their content, while 77% do not and 13% are unsure, according to B2B Content Marketing, a study by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, sponsored by ON24.  

In addition, only 28% have the right technology in place to manage content across the organization. Another 31% have the technology but aren’t using it to its potential, and 30% lack it entirely. Another 11% are unsure.  

Despite all that, 71% say content marketing is more important than it was in the last year, and 25% feel it is about the same. Only 4% believe it is less important.  

Of firms that monetize their content, they do it in these ways:

• Sponsorships/advertising — 52% 
  
• Paid or premium content — 48% 
  
• Affiliate relationships — 39%
  
• Other — 16% 

In addition, 40% have a documented content strategy in place, while 33% have one that is not documented. Another 20% plan to have a strategy in the next 12 months, and only 7% have no such plans. 

Of the most successful firms surveyed, 64% have a strategy in place. 

How successful are the respondents? They claim they are:

• Extremely successful — 4% 
  
• Very successful — 25% 
  
• Moderately successful — 56%
  
• Minimally successful — 14%
  
• Not at all successful — 1% 

Email newsletters are among the top three channels for distributing B2B content.

Newsletters have been used by 69% of B2B marketers in the last 12 months, exceeded only by their company websites (90%) and blogs (76%).

Of those polled, 83% produce their newsletters entirely in-house, while 2% publish through a social platform and 15% do both.  

Email also is used in evaluating content performance. In the last 12 months, B2B firms have used these metrics: 

• Website traffic — 86% 
  
• Email engagement — 83% 
  
• Website engagement — 83% 
  
• Conversions — 79%
  
• Social media analytics — 74%
  
• Email subscriber numbers — 59% 
  
• Search rankings — 59%
  
• Quantity of leads — 57% 
  
• Cost to acquire a lead, subscriber and/or customer — 45% 
  
• Other — 2%

Overall, 81% measure content performance, while the remaining 19% do not.  

In general, the top metrics are:

• Conversions — 70% 
  
• Quality of leads — 60% 
  
• Website engagement — 57% 
  
• Website traffic — 49% 
  
• Email engagement — 47% 
  
• Search rankings — 41% 
  
• Social media analytics — 37% 
  
• Cost to acquire a lead, subscriber, and/or customer — 34%
  
• Quantity of leads — 34% 
  
• Email subscriber numbers — 22% 

As for technology, B2B organizations use these tech offerings to manage content, although few say they have the right ones: 

• Analytics tools (e.g., web analytics, dashboards) — 84%
  
• Social media publishing/analytics — 71% 
  
• Email marketing software — 68% 
  
• Content creation/calendaring/collaborations/workflow — 65% 
  
• Customer relationship management (CRM) system — 51%
  
• Content management system (CMS) — 50% 
  
• Marketing automation system (MAS) — 32%
  
• Sales enablement platform — 17% 
  
• Digital asset management (DAM) system — 15% 
  
• Content distribution platform — 14% 
  
• Content performance/recommendation tools — 12%
  
• Other — 2% 

What kind of content are firms producing? Here are the content assets B2B firms have created/used in the last 12 months:

• Short articles (fewer than 1,500 words) — 89%
  
• Videos (of any length/format) — 75% 
  
• Case studies — 67% 
  
• Virtual events/webinars/online courses — 62%
  
• Infographics/charts/data viz/3D models — 61%
  
• Long articles/posts (more than 1,500 words)—61%
  
• E-books/white papers — 59% 
  
• In-person events — 49%
  
• Podcasts and audio content—33% 
  
• Research reports — 30% 
  
• Print magazines or books — 17%
  
• Livestreaming content — 16%
  
• Other — 8%

The list of content assets that produced the best results is slightly different: 

• In-person events — 48%
  
• Virtual events/webinars/online courses — 47% 
  
• Research reports — 46% 
  
• E-books/white papers — 43% 
  
• Short articles/posts (fewer than 1,500 words) — 39% 
  
• Case studies — 36% 
  
• Videos (of any length format) — 36%
  
• Long articles/posts (more than 1,500 words) — 32% 
  
• Podcasts and other audio content — 21% 
  
• Infographics/charts/data viz/3D models — 20% 
  
• Livestreaming content — 19% 
  
• Print magazines or books — 18% 

The Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs surveyed 1,104 B2B marketers worldwide.

 

But most B2B marketers say content marketing is more important than it was last year, the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs report.