The popularity of content marketing has grown dramatically over the last few years. More and more companies are shifting budget away from traditional paid advertising towards inbound marketing. Content is at the core of a successful inbound funnel. But what makes one company successful at content marketing, where another fails? HubSpot and Smart Insights joined forces to find out what has been going on in content marketing in Europe. We surveyed 2600+ marketers to discover their common challenges, and plans for 2014. Want to see how stacks up against them? Get your copy of the report here http://offers.hubspot.com/driving-content-success-in-2014

1. RevealingInsightsFrom
EuropeanMarketers
9
DRIVING CONTENT SUCCESS IN 2014

2. thewaytheypurchase
goodsandservices.
Wealreadyknowpeoplehave...

3. Theconsumerisnow
incompletecontrolof
whenandhowthey
buyfromyou.

4. SO HOW DO MARKETERS
dapta

5. MANY HAVE.

6. HUBSPOT AND SMART INSIGHTS
SURVEYED MARKETERS, CMOS, AND
AGENCIES ALL ACROSS EUROPE.

7. THEN SHAREDTHE RESULTSWITH
TOP MARKETINGTHOUGHT LEADERS
ACROSSTHE GLOBE.

8. WE’RE EXCITEDTO SHARE
WHATWE LEARNED…

9. SOWE CREATED...

10. HubSpot&SmartInsights
DRIVING CONTENT
MARKETING SUCCESS
EuropeanEdition
Download Report

11. HERE ARE THE REPORT’S MOST
REMARKABLEDISCOVERIES…

12. Thegrowthof
CONTENT
MARKETING
inEurope
PART I

13. 1 Marketersarestrugglingwithcontent
adoptionwithintheircompanies.
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

14. ofEuropeancompanies’adoption
ofcontentmarketinghasbeen
inconsistentorworse.
71%
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

15. How has your organisation embraced content marketing?
None-limited use
We make little use of content marketing and there is little senior
management support.
Basic use of content marketing
We make some investment in content marketing, but senior management
doesn’t support further investments.
Inconsistent
We invest sufficiently in some areas and have good capabilities with management
support, but other areas aren’t committed to or integrated sufficiently.
Advanced
We invest in content marketing as needed with management support, but
could optimise and integrate further.
Optimised.
We invest in content as needed, have well-developed capabilities, and are
optimising them further.
9%
20%
36%
22%
13%
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

16. Themajorityofmarketersareonly
spendingasmallportionoftheir
budgetoncontentmarketing.
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
2

17. ofmarketersinEuropespend0-20%oftheir
marketingbudgetoncontentmarketing.
49%
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

18. Whatpercentofthemarketing
budgetwillyouspendon
contentmarketingin2014?
0 - 20%
3%
7%
12%
13%
16%
49%
80 - 100%
60 - 80%
40 - 60%
Don’tKnow
20 - 40%
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

19. Marketersareinvestingtheirbudget
increatinganinternalcontentteam
versususinganexternalresource.
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
3

20. ofEuropeanmarketersareincreasing
theirspendoninternalheadcountin2014.
55%
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

21. THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
Howwillyourinvestmentinthesecontentmarketingactivitieschangein2014?
ContentCreation(ExternalResource) 40.3% 36.5% 7.1%
INCREASE
STAY THE SAME
DECREASE
PaidAdWordsorAdvertising
NetworkPromotion 37.7% 37.4% 11.1%
Paid social distribution ( e.g. through
social networks)
37.2% 41.2% 7.2%
Contentpromotionthroughearned
media(socialmediaandPR)
69.0% 24.3% 2.7%
Contentcreation(internal-headcount) 55.1% 37.2%
Strategyandeditorial 57.7% 33.7%
1.9%
2.5%
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

22. Marketersarefocusingtheirbudgeton
creatinganinboundmachinetohelp
promotetheircontent.
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
4

23. ofEuropeanmarketersareincreasing
theirinvestmentinpromotingtheircontent
throughearnedmedia(Social&PR).
69%
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

24. TheEffectivenessof
CONTENT
MARKETING
inEurope
PART II

25. Marketersrecognisedhoweffective
contentmarketingcanbefor
achievingtheirbusinessgoals.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
5

26. Haveseenareturnontheirinvestmentincontent
marketing.
49%
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

27. Howiscontentmarketing
valuedinyourcompany?
44.4%
6.6%
49%
I AM CONVINCED OF THE VALUE THAT INVESTMENTS
IN CONTENT CAN DELIVER AND THAT IT CAN BE A
MEASURABLE ROI
I SEE OPPORTUNITES FROM SOME CONTENT
MARKETING CHANNELS BUT MEASUREMENT OF
ROI IS LIMITED
I’M NOT CONVINCED OF THE POTENTIAL OF
CONTENT MARKETING TO DELIVER VALUE AND SEE
IT AS DIFFICULT TO MEASURE ROI

28. Creatingandimplementingacontent
strategyispivotaltoseeingsuccess
withcontentmarketing.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
6

29. Foundtheircontenttobemuchmore
effectivewithacontentstrategyinplace.
58%
THE GROWTH OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

30. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
Whichofthesecontentmarketingtechniqueshaveyoufoundmosteffective?
Creating a content marketing strategy 58.3%
Customer and buyer personas
Customer journey mapping
Editorial calendars
41.3%
Content ROI and value assessment (via analytics)
45.2%
37.5%
35.2%
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

31. Contentmarketingworksforlead
generationandcustomeracquisition.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
7

32. Havegeneratedleadsorcustomersthrough
blogging.
42%
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

33. Whichofthesecontentmarketingassetshasgeneratedleadsorsalesforyourcompany?
Blogpostsorarticles 42.4%
Enewslettersoronlinemagazines 37.8%
Owncommunityorforum 25.6%
Animatedexplainervideos 25.1%
Brandedengagementandviralvideos 23.5%
WhitepapersorEbooks 23.4%
Infographics 21.5%
Industryorconsumerresearchreports
20.1%
Webinars
19.9%
19.8%
10.8%
15.3%
10.5%
7.1%
19.8%
Mobilespecificappsorengagementtools
Competitions
Quizzes
Games
Calculatorsandinterativetools
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

34. ThePlanningof
CONTENT
MARKETING
inEurope
PART III

35. Europeanmarketersarestruggling
tomeasuretheROIoftheir
contentmarketing.
THE PLANNING OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
8

36. Whataresomeofthemajorchallengeswithcontentmarketing?
Measurement-measuringROIandeffectiveness 15.5%
Contentstrategy-choosingqualitycontenttoengage 15.5%
Contentquality-Creatingsufficientqualitycontent 15.3%
Contentfrequency-Developingsufficientcontent 15.3%
Budgetandmakingthecase-insufficientbudgetorbuy-in 10.8%
Outreach-formingandmanagingpartnershipstosharecontent 9.7%
Integration-integratingcontentmarketingintootheractivities 8.9%
Skills-lackofspecificcontentmarketingskills 8.3%
Other 0.8%

37. Don’thaveanykindofdefinedstrategyinplaceyet.
56%
THE PLANNING OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

38. Doesyourorganisationhavea
clearlydefinedcontent
marketingstrategyorplan?
32.3%
11.7%
56%
YES - IT’S INTEGRATED INTO OUR MARKETING COM-
MUNICATIONS INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY
YES - IT’S DEFINED IN A SEPARATE DOCUMENT
NO - WE ARE DOING CONTENT MARKETING, BUT NO
DEFINED STRATEGY
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

39. HOWEVER...

40. Ratedstrategyasatoppriorityfor2014,followingcontent
promotion.
58%
THE PLANNING OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

41. Howwillyourinvestmentinthesecontentmarketingactivitieschangein2014?
ContentCreation(ExternalResource) 40.3% 36.5% 7.1%
INCREASE
STAY THE SAME
DECREASE
PaidAdWordsorAdvertising
NetworkPromotion 37.7% 37.4% 11.1%
Paid social distribution ( e.g. through
social networks)
37.2% 41.2% 7.2%
Contentpromotionthroughearned
media(socialmediaandPR)
69.0% 24.3% 2.7%
Contentcreation(internal-headcount) 55.1% 37.2%
Strategyandeditorial 57.7% 33.7%
1.9%
2.5%
Responses that were N/A have been removed from this graph

42. Planningcontentinadvanceisan
areathatneedsimprovement.
THE PLANNING OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
9

43. Onlyplantheircontentonacampaignorquarterly
basisatbest.
42%
THE PLANNING OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE

44. THE PLANNING OF CONTENT MARKETING IN EUROPE
Howfarintothefutureiscontentmarketingplanned?
One year or more vision and strategic initiatives 9%
Annual plans maximium 20%
Campaign and quarterly plans maximum 42%
Mainly day-to-day, week-to-week planning 29%

45. Downloadthefullreport
andseehowyourstrategy
stacksupagainstothers
inyourindustry.
Download Report