Finished with Christmas for another year, and enjoying some fresh air with January sunshine, it’s a good time to take a high-level view of what opportunities you are ready to chase in 2015. If you have not been clear on your content marketing focus, reviewing or establishing the bigger picture will help ensure you will see measurable results over the coming months.
I have never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions, or of the idea that the middle of winter is the perfect time to try to re-energise, but one seasonal benefit is the wealth of information that is available, as reviews of the past year and the inevitable predictions for the new one fill your online spaces.
The Content Marketing Institute’s yearly benchmarking exercise throws up some particularly valuable content; you can find the full details on the CMI Slideshare Channel, with some great UK-focused insights, as well as insights for other countries.
CMI benchmark findings
This is the third year that the CMI have published this type of report, and this time it seems that UK marketers are feeling confident and comfortable that their use of content marketing will continue, with 85% of respondents saying they were using content marketing, albeit with only 42% believing their efforts are as effective as they might be.
One agreed key to success is the need for a documented content marketing strategy, as content marketing and its components start to form a formal business discipline. 45% of respondents said their organisation has a dedicated content marketing group.
Content marketing focus has changed however, and people are looking for genuine commercial results, with lead nurturing as a goal tripling from last year, and engagement becoming a more prominent goal than brand awareness.
78% of organisations in the survey are creating more content than ever before, and the top challenge for them is creating engaging content, on a consistent basis. For both content creation and the subsequent marketing of that content, a high level view and a plan that can be followed and measured is key to ongoing success. It’s hard to create great content, and even great content will go unnoticed without effective promotion.
What is your content marketing focus for 2015?
Establishing, documenting and following a coherent content marketing strategy will crystallize your efforts and ensure that you see a return on those efforts, whether you are at a stage where brand awareness is key to your online presence, or if you are looking for more tangible results on lead generation and engagement.
Is yours one of the 58% of organisations believing their content marketing efforts are ineffective? We would love to help you set out and document your content marketing strategy, and to support a successful implementation of your content marketing focus for 2015.
Are you in the 55% of companies without a dedicated content marketing team? We can help you to structure such a team effectively for the best results, and we can supplement or act as that team either on a short or long term basis.
Are you confident that you will be able to create and promote consistently good content that will generate solid business results for your company? If not, or if you aren’t sure where to start with this, we can help you to source and enhance existing content, and to create new and compelling content that can be promoted and repurposed across online channels as a key driver to your 2015 success.
With experience across the range of content creation and content marketing, we can review your current plans, help you to define an effective strategy and position you and your company to succeed with your content marketing focus right through 2015 and beyond.
We are recharged and energised by that early January sunshine, and we can see lots of ways we can help you succeed with your 2015 plans, so why not call us today on 01491 614994, or get in touch by email at info@marketingondemand.co.uk, and we can start talking.
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