A quarter of B2C marketers have spent more on outsourcing content marketing to agencies and other third parties this year, according to the latest “Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” report for the industry released by Content Marketing Institute.
Content marketing will continue to be a primary focus for brands in 2019 as 57% are planning to invest more in the discipline. Big-budget hikes are also in the offing as 29% will increase their spend on editorial articles, eye-catching infographics and informative blogs by 9% or more.
With the quality and quantity of these resources being so important to brands, it is perhaps no surprise that 56% spent more on content creation in 2018. This area was the biggest by some margin, with paid distribution, marketing staff and new technology also attracting a larger slice of budgets.
Content is now being used to support a myriad of positive business outcomes, but building brand loyalty and boosting credibility are particularly popular for B2C marketers. 81% said that they either “somewhat” or “strongly agree” that content helps them to achieve these objectives.
Content Marketing Institute’s Research Director Lisa Murton Beets added: “B2C marketers have for many years reported that brand awareness is a top goal for content marketing. 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.”
