The numbers are in and all the experts and your peers believe that 2013 is the year that content marketing is going to cross the chasm and become a requirement to compete and win. This article is a quick recap of several studies from the past six months. If you have not started integrating and embedding a content marketing process as a strategy to support your sales and lead generation effort yet, now is a good time to start. Here is some of the most recent data to consider:
Your Competition Has Committed to Content Marketing
A study of 440 B2B marketing professionals points to a commitment to content marketing with two-thirds of the respondents stating they will be either “very” or “fully” engaged in content marketing by next year. This represents a 100% increase (66% to 33%) over 2012 to 2013.
Content Marketing is Now the Number 1 Tactic for B2B Lead Generation
From the same study, according to marketing professionals surveyed, over 51% see content marketing as the most important tool for B2B lead generation.
Content Helps Your Sales Team with Higher Quality Leads
What’s even more dramatic is the shift that we now see in marketers’ understanding that content is critical for helping them to improve the performance of their lead generation, now that a full 50% of lead generation specialists are embracing the use of content marketing to help generate better quality leads.
Content Marketing Challenges
Content marketing requires a commitment and, according to a Marketing Sherpa study earlier this year surveying early adopters and champions, the biggest challenges you will face if you have not yet embedded a content marketing practice into your organization are outlined in the chart below:
This is where an outsourced sales and marketing organization like Gabriel Sales can help. To learn more about how we use content marketing to help your organization improve its B2B lead generation, sales qualification and sales education process, feel free to check out our blog series: Digital Content to Automate your Sale, which is a crash course in integrating sales and marketing efforts. Also, check out our Quick video overview that explains “How to Build a Demand Gen Engine”. If you are ready to chat, request a quick review to see if we can help.
Additional Blogs in this Series:
Part 1 – Increasing Your B2B Sales Volume and Revenue – What’s Changed?
Part 2 – What Does Your B2B Sales and Marketing Culture Need to Look Like?
Part 3 – What Core Competencies do I Need From My Marketing and Lead Generation Team?
Part 4 – How Can Marketing Automation Improve My B2B Sales Performance?
Part 5 – Why is Content Marketing is Now Required for Quality B2B Lead Generation?
