Research shows that all the talk about the importance of content marketing isn't just talk. Some 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing, and more than two-thirds of CMOs plan to increase their content marketing budget in 2013.

Why is content marketing so important? The top three reasons that companies use content marketing are to engage customers/prospects (82%); drive sales (55%); and educate the market (44%).

To achieve those objectives as well as to build thought leadership, increase Web traffic, achieve SEO, and stay up to date with competitors, companies are using the following tactics:

1. Social media (87%)

2. Articles on their website (83%)

3. E-newsletters (78%)

4. Blogs (77%)

5. Case studies (71%)

Uberflip created the following infographic by compiling results of various content marketing studies: