Content Marketing Institute Releases New 2019 Research on State of Business-To-Consumer Content Marketing

Content marketing may have caught on first with B2B marketers, but B2C marketers have plenty of skin in the game too: 81% say their organization is concerned with creating content that builds loyalty with existing customers. That’s according to new research from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, presented in B2C Content Marketing 2019: Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends.

The research shows B2C organizations that have a strong commitment to content marketing are more likely to use it successfully to build that customer loyalty, as well as achieve other goals such as educating their audience, an important tenet of content marketing.

Also Read: Data Storytelling: An Emerging BI Tech You Can’t Miss in 2019

Key Findings:

• 64% of B2C marketers reported their organization is extremely/very committed to content marketing.
• 57% of B2C marketers surveyed expect their 2019 content marketing budget to increase over 2018, and 29% of those expect it to increase by more than 9%.
• Among the B2C marketers who increased content marketing spending in the last 12 months, 56% did so in the area of content creation, making it the top area of increased spending.
• 77% of B2C marketers who use paid methods to distribute content for content marketing purposes use sponsored content on social media, making it the top paid method.

Also Read: AI Beyond 2020: What Makes the Tech Tick?

“B2C marketers have for many years reported that brand awareness is a top goal for content marketing,” says Lisa Murton Beets, research director, Content Marketing Institute. “It’s still an important goal, but now we also see a strong concern for using content to build loyalty. B2C marketers realize that while it is important to drive people to their content, it’s just as important to keep them coming back for more.”

“There are many types of content that B2C marketers can apply their creativity toward to nurture relationships,” says Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs, and author of Everybody Writes. “Consider the power of videos that tell stories, in-person events that build a sense of community, newsletters that inform, podcasts that inspire – the possibilities are endless.”

Recommended Read: 20 Free Marketing Tools for Every Marketer