91% of B2B marketing leaders anticipate budget increases, which will ultimately increase content production by 3X to 5X, new research revealed. “The Engagement Equation: How B2B Tech Marketers Are Creating & Delivering Content That Captivates In 2024” — conducted by B2B tech communications and content agency 10Fold — revealed how content has become a central driver of sales success.
With 48% of respondents indicating that they plan to publish content daily, it’s clear that content is an increasingly prominent aspect of B2B marketing strategies. With the increased pressure to produce more content, 81% of marketers are alleviating that burden by using AI to streamline content creation, while 93% leveraged third parties to create and distribute content.
“The marketing leaders we engaged through Sapio Research have clearly dedicated substantial budgets and resources to their content strategies,” said Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold Communications, in a statement, “Our year-over-year data shows a strong trend: Marketers are not only open to adopting new technologies and innovative approaches but are also willing to overhaul their entire strategies, processes, and content formats. This commitment is driven by the goal to produce high-quality content that truly resonates with and reaches their target customer profiles.”
Marketers Scale Budgets To Fuel Content Boom
Throughout the research, marketers acknowledged the vital role of content marketing — and they’re responding in kind to boost its growth. When asked about increasing budgets, 46% invested at least $500,000 annually, which aligns with the global trend of heightened content creation. Specifically, 92% of marketers reported producing more content compared to the previous year, and nearly 40% have increased their output by 3X to 5X.
AI & External Resources Fuel Content Boom
When questioned about AI’s role in content creation, 81% of marketers confirmed using AI (36% frequently, 45% occasionally), while just 19% said they rarely or never use AI for content creation. Another content efficiency boost in content creation and delivery was the use of third parties such as agencies and contractors, as 93% of marketing leaders used third-party resources. In terms of tapping in third parties to create content, 31% of companies outsourced 50% to 74% of their content development, while 53% outsourced 50% to 100% of their content development.
The Power Couple: Social Media & Video
Social media content topped the list of preferred content preferences, with 46% of marketing leaders prioritizing this content format for 2024, with video a close second (41%). For marketers with budgetary constraints, social media offered a cost-effective approach to scaling content and aligns with growing audience preference for shorter formats – compared to resource-intensive, longer formats like E-books and white papers (used by less than 15% of marketers).
Data-Driven Content: Leveraging Analytics
The marketing landscape is saturated with content, placing immense pressure on generating marketing qualified leads. Nearly half (48%) of global companies are now making content creation a part of their routine. Notably, this trend is especially prominent among B2B organizations (37%) and those with larger budgets.
While Google Analytics remains the primary tool (42%) for measuring content effectiveness, other website and CRM tools are a strong second (36%). Interestingly, these same website analytics combined with research, trigger decisions for new content for at least 50% of marketers making content decisions.
To view the full findings of “The Engagement Equation: How B2B Tech Marketers Are Creating and Delivering Content That Captivates in 2024,” download the full report now.