2024 was a “meh” yr for content material and advertising and marketing.
That pronouncement comes from entrepreneurs, not grumpy, underwhelmed enterprise execs. After all, that doesn’t imply nice work didn’t occur. Loads of firms produced spectacular content material. Simply take a look at these award-winning examples.
Lots of the practically 1,200 entrepreneurs surveyed for our annual B2B Content material Advertising and marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Tendencies examine, carried out with MarketingProfs and sponsored by Storyblok, didn’t really feel nice about their methods or outcomes.
They didn’t really feel horrible, both. They simply felt “meh.”
However what if we glance solely at entrepreneurs who work for organizations with greater than 1,000 workers? Absolutely, enterprise entrepreneurs with their bigger groups and doubtlessly bigger budgets assume extra positively about their work final yr?
Sadly, they don’t.
Like their B2B friends who work at firms of all sizes, lots of the 310 enterprise entrepreneurs within the examine felt simply common about their content material methods.
Let’s dig into why and what elements distinguish enterprise content material and advertising and marketing success, spending, and different plans for 2025.
What retains content material methods caught at ‘reasonably’ efficient?
An efficient technique underlies any success. But solely 28% of enterprise entrepreneurs say their content material technique is extraordinarily or very efficient. Sixty-one % say it’s reasonably efficient. Eleven % say it’s not very efficient. The excellent news is that nobody says their technique is by no means efficient.
Let’s take a look at areas the place enterprise entrepreneurs wrestle.
Lack of clear targets
Why do enterprise entrepreneurs wrestle with technique? Forty-seven % say it’s a scarcity of clear targets. Forty-five % say the technique is just not data-driven, and 45% say it isn’t tied to the client journey. Different causes embrace:
Ineffective viewers analysis (34%)
Failure to iterate/adapt (27%)
Emphasizes content material amount over high quality (26%)
Unrealistic expectations (22%)
Inconsistent model voice (21%)
Different (20%)
Poor content material high quality (11%)
Michael Brenner, creator and vp of content material at Workday, introduced a content material technique workshop at Content material Advertising and marketing World 2024. He isn’t shocked by this discovering: It is a reflection of the unhappy reality that behind each dangerous piece of content material is an govt who requested for it. Knowledge is at all times the important thing as a result of it may present you the way effectively the content material strains as much as buyer wants, together with the key phrases they use, the matters they’re in, the marketing campaign property they want, and the social conversations they’re having. Knowledge additionally exhibits you what works so you’ll be able to align the content material technique to the highest enterprise targets. Backside line is content material methods are both aligned to prospects’ wants or inside executives’ whims.
Communication points
As in previous years, the preferred non-creation problem for enterprise entrepreneurs is speaking throughout organizational silos (61%). Subsequent, they cite a scarcity of assets (56%), which is the most typical problem their B2B friends face.
Different situational challenges embrace measuring the outcomes of their efforts (54%), aligning content material efforts throughout gross sales and advertising and marketing (52%), and aligning content material with the customer’s journey (50%). Fewer than half cite:
Managing workflow points/content material approvals course of (47%)
Accessing material consultants (36%)
Maintaining with new applied sciences/instruments (34%)
Different (3%)
Creation challenges
Greater than half (58%) of enterprise entrepreneurs say crafting content material that prompts a desired motion (e.g., conversion) is a problem, making the brand new response on this yr’s survey the most typical hurdle.
The second most cited problem – which was No. 1 final yr – is creating the fitting content material for the viewers. Nevertheless, enterprise entrepreneurs have made strides, with 49% reporting it’s a problem vs. 61% the earlier yr. They’ve additionally completed a greater job of:
Differentiating their content material (47% for 2025 report vs. 57% the earlier yr)
Creating content material constantly (37% for 2025 report vs. 46% the earlier yr)
Optimizing for website positioning (37% for 2025 report vs. 42% the earlier yr)
Creating high quality content material (30% for 2025 report vs. 46% the earlier yr)
Content material repurposing (47%) and creating sufficient content material (34%) are new problem choices on this survey.
Content material efficiency measurement
Forty-eight % of enterprise entrepreneurs agree that their group measures content material efficiency successfully (12% neither agree nor disagree, 38% disagree, and a couple of% don’t measure).
That’s to not say they don’t encounter challenges: Sixty-six % face problem monitoring buyer journeys, and 63% have problem attributing ROI to content material efforts. Different challenges embrace:
Knowledge silos inside the group (55%)
Incapacity to tie efficiency to enterprise targets (49%)
Lack of clear advertising and marketing targets/KPIs (46%)
Inadequate assets or price range (43%)
Advanced or insufficient reporting techniques (40%)
Restricted entry to superior analytics instruments (40%)
Incapacity to extract useful data from information/analytics (36%)
Lack of information expertise/expertise (33%)
Scalable fashions for content material creation are lacking
Practically half of enterprise entrepreneurs say they don’t have a scalable mannequin for content material creation. Thirty-three % say they do, and 21% are not sure.
Amongst those that do have a scalable mannequin, 40% say the mannequin creates the specified outcomes. Fifty-five % say it doesn’t create the specified outcomes, “however we’re getting there.” 4 % say no, “Now we have a protracted method to go.” Two % are not sure.
Of their Content material Advertising and marketing World 2024 session, Calming Content material and Inventive Chaos with Strategic Content material Mastery, Cathy McKnight, chief downside solver and lead analyst, Seventh Bear, and Shannon Doubleday, director of content material advertising and marketing, Hilton, demonstrated how vital a repeatable course of mannequin is to content material advertising and marketing success.
By treating content material as a strategic operate and getting the mannequin in place, Hilton was capable of go from a number of methods to a centralized operate, from bought inventory footage to hours of reusable property, from 10K hours watched to 100K hours watched (natural content material), and double its content material schedule by utilizing content material property in an clever approach.
Lack of efficient content material administration expertise
The needle didn’t transfer a lot on this report on whether or not organizations have the fitting expertise to handle content material throughout the group. Solely 22% say sure (similar because the earlier yr). Thirty-eight % say, “No, we’ve the expertise however aren’t utilizing it to its potential” (up from 34% the earlier yr). Thirty % say, “No, we haven’t acquired the fitting expertise,” (down from 34% the earlier yr). And just like the earlier yr, 10% are not sure.
Particularly, 55% of enterprise entrepreneurs say their advertising and marketing tech stacks lack superior personalization choices. An identical quantity (54%) say their tech doesn’t have the flexibility to automate repetitive duties and workflows, and 53% cite a scarcity of data-driven decision-making capabilities. Different lacking capabilities embrace:
Easy accessibility to enterprise analytics (51%)
Streamlined advertising and marketing information administration and reporting (51%)
Robust alignment between gross sales and advertising and marketing (46%)
Environment friendly lead era and nurturing processes (45%)
4 % say no capabilities are lacking from their advertising and marketing tech stacks.
Prime performers perceive their audiences
With all of the challenges enterprise entrepreneurs face, what number of are attaining success with their content material advertising and marketing?
Given that just about two-thirds of enterprise entrepreneurs say their content material technique is simply reasonably efficient, it’s no shock that 22% characterize the success of their group’s content material advertising and marketing method within the final 12 months as extraordinarily or very profitable. Fifty-seven % say it was reasonably profitable. Sixteen % say it was minimally profitable. One % says it was by no means profitable, and 4% are not sure.
When requested what they attribute their content material advertising and marketing success to, 81% of the extraordinarily and really profitable enterprise entrepreneurs (aka “high performers”) say understanding their viewers. Different elements embrace:
Excessive-performing crew members (78%)
Trade experience (74%)
Excessive-quality content material (73%)
Targets that align with our group’s goals (70%)
Efficient measurement and demonstration of content material efficiency (58%)
Documented technique (51%)
The significance of understanding your viewers is one thing Michelle Lazette, advertising and marketing strategist on the Federal Reserve Financial institution of Cleveland, is aware of effectively: Our audiences right this moment aren’t captive in methods audiences was once. Their solely information supply isn’t the newspaper that lands on their garden with advertisements positioned by and tales knowledgeable by organizations like ours. They’ve selection upon selection upon selection, and the place one creator isn’t delivering content material that helps, entertains, or in any other case serves them, they’re going to search out one other who’s.
I’m reminded of a convention speaker who requested these within the viewers to fake they had been liable for advertising and marketing socks. “Not one particular person wants your socks,” she stated. “They want their toes to be heat.” This evokes me to ask through surveys, brainstorms with colleagues, monitoring the panorama, and extra what does our viewers want and wish, and the way can that Venn diagram of their wants overlap with how we wish to present up for others?
We created our long-form storytelling about how entry to youngster care impacts the economic system as a result of neighborhood members instructed our employees that some individuals who wish to work can’t as a result of they don’t have care for his or her dependents. And our examine of viewers wants and desires doesn’t finish as soon as a narrative is printed: In monitoring reader behaviors with a unique piece, we realized asking people to click on greater than as soon as for the multimedia expertise we promised them turned away half our would-be readership (ugh!). The lesson there (for us, and perhaps you) is once we inform our viewers to return see pictures, firsthand tales, and information visualizations, we have to ship them on to that work, not a touchdown web page.
Targets achieved
No matter their total success, most enterprise entrepreneurs do a formidable job utilizing content material advertising and marketing to create model consciousness (86% say they’ve completed that within the final 12 months). Different targets achieved embrace:
Generate demand leads (71%)
Nurture subscribers/audiences/leads (56%)
Develop loyalty with current purchasers/prospects (49%)
Develop a subscribed viewers (35%)
Scale back buyer help prices (11%)
Workforce construction: How the work will get completed
This yr, we requested enterprise entrepreneurs if they’ve a devoted content material advertising and marketing crew or employees particular person. Eighty-six % say sure. Who handles content material advertising and marketing for the remaining 14%? Most say “advertising and marketing.”
Of the 86% with devoted groups/individuals, 7% have one particular person. Thirty-five % have a small crew (two to 5 individuals), 23% have a medium crew (six to 9 individuals), and 35% say they’ve a big crew (10 or extra individuals).
Whereas most enterprise entrepreneurs (64%) anticipate their content material advertising and marketing crew dimension to remain the identical in 2025, 24% anticipate it to extend, 5% assume it would lower, and seven% are not sure.
When requested why they thought their crew dimension would enhance, we principally heard that progress would require extra advertising and marketing help. And whereas 25% say they’ve observed job nervousness inside their organizations due to AI (see under), nobody says they anticipate job cuts ensuing from AI’s implementation.
AI use
Talking of AI, 75% of enterprise entrepreneurs report that their organizations are utilizing it — up from 58% the earlier yr.
With the elevated use got here a rise in generative AI utilization pointers: 62% of respondents say their group has pointers vs. 36% the earlier yr. As well as, 25% say their advertising and marketing crew has its personal set of pointers (25% say they don’t have both, and 4% are not sure.)
What do the utilization pointers deal with? Most (80%) say they deal with acceptable makes use of of generative AI in content material advertising and marketing, 77% cite safety measures particular to utilizing generative AI, 71% say unacceptable makes use of of generative AI in content material advertising and marketing, and 70% cite data-handling pointers for generative AI platforms/output. Different components embrace:
Objective/goals for utilizing generative AI in advertising and marketing (62%)
Authorized/copyright suggestions (54%)
Transparency (48%)
Mitigating bias in generative AI output (32%)
Actual-world purposes for generative AI (32%)
When it comes to maturity, most enterprise groups (57%) experiment with AI on an advert hoc foundation. One other 15% say AI is built-in into their day by day processes/workflows. Twenty-eight % say their crew doesn’t formally use AI, and employees might select to make use of it individually.
As they stated final yr, most enterprise entrepreneurs use free generative AI instruments (80% this yr vs. 87% final yr). Nevertheless, we see an enormous soar in those that say that instruments are embedded of their content material creation/administration techniques (53% this yr vs. 33% the earlier yr). About the identical share of enterprise entrepreneurs (25%) as final yr pay for instruments.
This yr, we requested about entrepreneurs’ belief and notion of high quality in AI outputs. Most enterprise entrepreneurs (70%) place a medium degree of belief in them, whereas 3% report a excessive degree, and 27% say a low degree. Nobody says they don’t have any belief in AI outputs.
Enterprise entrepreneurs have combined ideas concerning the high quality of content material generated by AI. Sixty % say it’s wonderful, excellent, or good, and 40% say it’s honest or poor.
Half of enterprise entrepreneurs surveyed (50%) say the impression of AI instruments consists of having fewer tedious duties. Forty-three % discover improved content material optimization, and 40% expertise extra environment friendly workflows. Different results embrace:
Improved creativity (34%)
Job nervousness (25%)
Altering job necessities (20%)
Decrease-quality content material (14%)
Extra personalised content material (13%)
9 % say they don’t discover any impression.
Seeking to 2025, 57% of enterprise entrepreneurs say their organizations would place a excessive or medium precedence on AI-powered automation. Seventeen % say it will be a low precedence. Solely 11% say it was not a precedence, and 15% had been not sure.
Content material ways, distribution channels, and social media
Now that you just perceive higher how enterprise entrepreneurs see technique, encounter challenges, acquire success, and expertise AI, let’s discover the sorts of content material produced and the way it will get to audiences.
Quick articles exchange movies as the preferred content material kind
How did enterprise entrepreneurs attain their audiences within the earlier 12 months?
Quick articles/posts (92%) changed movies (85%) as the preferred kind of content material. (Final yr, 94% reported utilizing movies.) Use of different content material varieties stayed in line with the earlier yr, with 75% utilizing case research/buyer tales, 73% publishing lengthy articles/posts, 64% utilizing information visualizations/visible content material, 55% doing e-books/white papers, 51% creating product technical/information sheets, 40% creating analysis reviews, and 34% crafting interactive content material.
As they did final yr, most enterprise entrepreneurs say movies produce good outcomes (55%), adopted by case research/buyer tales (48%), e-books/white papers (48%), brief articles/posts (48%), and analysis reviews (45%).
Social media platforms, blogs, and e mail favored for distribution
Enterprise entrepreneurs’ distribution channels additionally stayed constant yr over yr. Ninety % use natural social media platforms, 80% use blogs on company web sites, 76% use e mail newsletters, 69% use e mail, 69% use in-person occasions, 61% use webinars, 51% use digital occasions, 41% use microsites, and 31% use podcasts.
Lesser-used channels embrace hybrid occasions (26%), digital magazines (25%), junk mail (21%), on-line studying platforms (20%), branded on-line communities (18%), print magazines (17%), cell apps (15%), and separate content material manufacturers (7%).
Just like the earlier yr, enterprise entrepreneurs say their efficient distribution channels embrace webinars (52%) and in-person occasions (48%). Forty-three % say natural social media platforms are efficient, 41% say e mail is efficient, and 40% say blogs are efficient.
Virtually all use paid distribution channels
Ninety-three % of enterprise entrepreneurs use paid distribution channels. Right here once more, use has stayed constant when in comparison with the earlier yr. Seventy-nine % use social media promoting/promoted posts, 76% faucet into digital show promoting, 69% spend money on search engine advertising and marketing (SEM) and ppc (PPC), and 66% interact in sponsorships. Far fewer use native promoting (44%), associate emails (30%), and print promoting (28%). Twenty-one % use influencer advertising and marketing, a brand new choice on this yr’s survey. Seven % use different strategies.
As we noticed the earlier yr, the three hottest efficient paid channels are SEM/PPC (58%), social media promoting/promoted posts (53%), and sponsorships (46%).
LinkedIn offers one of the best worth
Like their B2B friends, enterprise entrepreneurs say that LinkedIn offers one of the best worth for his or her group. Fb got here in at 33%, adopted by Instagram (26%), YouTube (24%), X/Twitter (7%), TikTok (6%), and Reddit (1%).
X use continues to say no
Enterprise entrepreneurs’ social media use patterns are much like the earlier yr with one notable exception: Those that use X decreased by eight share factors (71% this yr vs. 79% the earlier yr).
LinkedIn: 63% elevated, 32% stayed the identical, 3% decreased, and a couple of% don’t use
YouTube: 30% elevated, 45% stayed the identical, 9% decreased, and 16% don’t use
Instagram: 29% elevated, 35% stayed the identical, 9% decreased, and 27% don’t use
Fb: 17% elevated, 51% stayed the identical, 18% decreased, and 14% don’t use
TikTok: 12% elevated, 8% stayed the identical, 4% decreased, and 76% don’t use
Reddit: 7% elevated, 6% stayed the identical, 1% decreased, and 86% don’t use
X/Twitter: 5% elevated, 29% stayed the identical, 37% decreased, and 29% don’t use
Budgets and spending
Thirty-nine % of enterprise entrepreneurs say they anticipate their content material advertising and marketing budgets to extend in 2025 in contrast with 2024. Forty-one % assume it would keep the identical. Fourteen % anticipate it would lower, and 6% are not sure.
So far as tactical budgets go, 54% of enterprise entrepreneurs anticipate their group to extend funding in video in 2025 (67% thought that within the earlier yr). Different notable decreases from the earlier yr embrace in-person occasions (30%), a 22-percentage-point drop from the earlier yr, and audio content material (14%), which dropped 9 share factors from the earlier yr.
New choices on this yr’s survey listing, similar to investments in AI for content material optimization/efficiency (39%) and AI for content material creation (37%), are anticipated to extend.
Areas the place enterprise entrepreneurs anticipate price range will increase as they did final yr embrace thought management (47%), paid promoting (38%), webinars (27%), constructing on-line neighborhood (23%), and digital occasions (18%).
Transfer forward in 2025
What does this complete understanding of enterprise entrepreneurs imply for you in 2025? The findings reveal areas to discover inside your model’s content material and advertising and marketing operations.
How are you going to enhance the effectiveness of your technique?
Have a look at the analytics and ask your self two questions:
What’s the crew doing an excessive amount of of?
What ought to the crew be doing extra of?
Now, you know the way to realign how your crew invests its work time to ship higher on the targets recognized within the technique, which is (or must be) intently aligned with the enterprise’s targets.
On a extra granular degree, this analysis reminds you what — or higher but, who — must be on the middle of any profitable content material advertising and marketing technique: your viewers. Think about the facility in case your crew might simply reply these questions earlier than any content material undertaking started:
What’s in it for our viewers?
What do they need right this moment?
What’s going to they want subsequent week, subsequent month, and subsequent yr?
I not too long ago challenged entrepreneurs to double down in 2025 and work more durable at creating one thing nice. Sure, it’s more durable than ever to face out. However what’s the value for not doing so? By no means seen or heard. Fast exits, deletes, or unsubscribes.
Entrepreneurs don’t usually get second probabilities. So, carry your best work in 2025, and let me know the way it goes.
Content material Advertising and marketing Institute and MarketingProfs carried out the fifteenth annual content material advertising and marketing survey. The survey fielded 1,186 world responses between June 25 and Aug. 16, 2024, and was sponsored by Storyblok. This text reviews on the 310 respondents at enterprises (1,000-plus workers), primarily from North America.
The character of the enterprise firm:
B2B (60%)
B2C (5%)
B2B+B2C (25%)
Nonprofit (6%)
Public sector (4%)
Among the many industries represented:
Expertise (25%)
Banking/finance/insurance coverage (17%)
Manufacturing (17%)
Healthcare/med/pharma/life sciences (12%)
Skilled providers (7%)
Schooling (6%)
Different (16%)
The enterprise entrepreneurs surveyed work in these organizational sizes:
1,000 to 4,999 workers (44%)
5,000 to 9,999 workers (17%)
10,000 or extra workers (39%)
Because of the survey individuals who made this analysis potential and everybody who helps disseminate these findings all through the advertising and marketing business.
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute
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