Some 86% of B2C marketers in North America are using content marketing, employing 12 individual tactics on average; but, as is the case with B2B content marketing, B2C content marketers are struggling with the effectiveness of their content marketing, according to the findings of the first B2C content marketing study from MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute.
Among the highlights of the "B2C Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America" study:
- B2B marketers use social media more often than their B2C counterparts; however, B2C marketers consider it more effective (57% of B2C marketers think social media is effective vs. 49% of B2B marketers).
- On average, B2C marketers use four social media platforms, compared with five used by B2B marketers.
- On average, 28% of B2C marketing budgets are allocated to content marketing, and 55% of consumer marketers plan to increase their content marketing spend.
Below, additional findings from the CMI and MarketingProfs study, "B2C Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America."
B2C Content Marketing Tactics
In general, the larger the B2C company, the more tactics used: Companies with 10,000 or more employees use an average of 16 tactics, whereas the smallest companies use an average of 10.
Compared with their B2B counterparts, B2C marketers use more mobile content, mobile apps, print magazines, and print newsletters; however, B2C marketers use far fewer case studies, whitepapers, webinars/webcasts, and research reports.
B2C Content Marketing Challenges
Lack of budget is the challenge most cited by B2C content marketers: 52% (vs. 39% of B2B content marketers). Nearly an equal proportion cite producing enough content (51%) and producing the kind of content that engages (49%) as challenges they face.
That trio of challenges also makes up the Top 3 biggest challenges cited:
- 23% of B2C marketers said lack of budget is their biggest challenge (vs. 14% of B2B marketers).
- 15% said producing enough content is their biggest challenge (vs. 15% of B2B marketers).
- 15% said producing the kind of content that engages is their biggest challenge (vs. 18% of B2B marketers).
Effectiveness of Tactics
B2C marketers and B2B marketer agree on the primacy of in-person events as a content marketing tactic: 62% of B2C marketers say it's an effective tactic, as do 67% of B2B marketers.
More B2C marketers than B2B marketers rank social media as “effective” or “very effective”: 57% of B2C marketers vs. 49% of B2B marketers.
More B2C marketers than B2B marketers rank print materials (magazines as well as newsletters) as “effective” or “very effective”: 51% of B2C marketers vs. 34% of B2B marketers for print magazines, and 42% of B2C marketers vs. 28% of B2B marketers for print newsletters.
Budgets
The average share of marketing budget spent on B2C content marketing is 28% (on average, B2B marketers allocate a bit more: 33%).
Some 55% of B2C marketers say they will increase their content marketing spend over the next 12 months.
Use of Social Media for Content Distribution
B2C marketers use an average of four social media sites to distribute content, whereas B2B marketers use an average of five.
B2C marketers most often use Facebook, whereas B2B marketers most often use LinkedIn.
See a SlideShare presentation of the study findings, below:
About the study: B2C Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends–North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs and sponsored by Pace. The survey was mailed electronically to a sample of B2C marketers from among members and subscribers of MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute. A total of 354 responded from North American companies in August 2012, representing a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes.
