Let’s speak about a man in Greek mythology named Sisyphus, doomed to push a boulder uphill solely to look at it roll proper again down time and again. Sound acquainted?
Thinker Albert Camus noticed Sisyphus as the last word absurd hero. However he wasn’t fascinated by the repeated act of pushing the boulder. It was the stroll again down the mountain. That second, when Sisyphus faces the futility of his job, is essentially the most human and tragic. But, it’s additionally the second the place hope sparkles, not within the promise of escape however within the resolve to start anew. “One should think about Sisyphus completely satisfied,” Camus writes.
The parallel for entrepreneurs is hanging. Content material advertising usually looks like Sisyphus’ labor: an countless push of making, publishing, and optimizing just for the efforts to roll again downhill. Groups are stretched skinny; methods are lowered to check-the-box routines, and outcomes battle to interrupt free from common. Your march-back-down second is actual — acutely aware of the wretched situation, you start to surprise, “Why are we doing this?”
However right here’s the place the story is greater than the futile hope of pushing the rock once more. What if this second — the popularity of mediocrity — isn’t a tragedy however the spark of recognition of a possibility? What if, like Sisyphus, you discover freedom not by escaping the work however by lastly reworking the way you strategy it?
For know-how entrepreneurs, this 12 months’s analysis exhibits simply how steep the hill is. Whereas 82% of organizations have devoted content material groups, the bulk are small — simply two to 5 individuals — and overburdened. Almost half of organizations and not using a devoted staff scatter content material obligations throughout departments or outsource it. And whereas 96% say they’ve a content material technique, solely 29% name it extremely efficient.
The issue isn’t that content material advertising doesn’t work, it’s that too many organizations refuse to deal with content material advertising as a strategic, transformative perform. Nevertheless, this stagnation creates a uncommon opening. If most firms are caught trudging downhill, organizations keen to push with goal, creativity, and deeper which means can redefine the sport.
For this 12 months’s analysis, the Content material Advertising and marketing Institute analyzed the responses from the 274 know-how entrepreneurs who responded to the annual survey in July and August 2024. (To learn the total research of 1,186 entrepreneurs, see B2B Content material Advertising and marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Traits: Outlook for 2025.)
My general take: Regardless of the “meh” expressed by tech entrepreneurs, the brand new age of content material advertising might be right here — when organizations deal with content material because the asset it was all the time meant to be. Sure, the hill is steep. Sure, the work is tough. However the alternative is there. And like thinker Albert Camus, you need to think about how entrepreneurs may be made completely satisfied.
Group construction: How the work will get accomplished
Eighty-two p.c of know-how entrepreneurs surveyed say they’ve a devoted content material advertising staff or particular person on workers. Of that group, most (52%) report that they’ve groups consisting of two to 5 individuals. Nineteen p.c say one particular person is devoted to content material advertising. Sixteen p.c report groups of six to 9 individuals, and 13% say they’ve groups of 10 or extra individuals.
Forty-three p.c of tech entrepreneurs in organizations and not using a devoted content material advertising staff or particular person say a number of groups throughout the group deal with the corporate’s content material wants, 6% say the work is dealt with by exterior companies/distributors, and 51% say “others” deal with the wants. When requested to specify who’s included in “others,” most point out inside individuals who work within the advertising division.
Whereas the bulk (64%) of these with content material advertising groups assume their staff measurement will keep the identical, 27% anticipate them to develop, 4% envision a lower, and 5% are not sure.
Amongst explanations of why they anticipate to see staff progress:
“New CMO sees the function of content material in progress advertising technique. He does plan to develop the content material advertising staff beneath the umbrella of progress advertising.”
“We’re including extra enterprise growth reps and rising our content material advertising to compete with others within the SaaS subject.”
“My present staff produces content material in a siloed, ticket-taker style. Because the staff showcases extra influence via built-in technique, we are going to want extra assist to assist the complete firm.”
“Income has been rising, so that may imply extra price range for brand new hires. Our firm significantly values content material creation so that will be a prioritized function.”
One tech marketer whose staff is shrinking put their reasoning bluntly: “New management in advertising views content material advertising as a task that may simply be outsourced, permitting us to reallocate head rely to different areas of the group.”
That remark is an excessive model of a troubling development amongst common and underperforming companies: Content material advertising isn’t simply undervalued; it’s deprioritized to the place firms don’t see a have to hold operations in-house.
Content material technique: Outcomes are simply common
Nearly all (96%) of know-how entrepreneurs report having a content material technique. Of these, 29% say it’s extraordinarily or very efficient, 58% say it’s reasonably efficient, and 13% say it’s not very or in no way efficient. These outcomes mirror the broader B2B advertising analysis.
Like their B2B friends, know-how entrepreneurs cite a scarcity of clear objectives (44%) as the most typical motive why their content material technique isn’t as efficient because it might be. Forty-two p.c say it’s as a result of the technique isn’t tied to the shopper journey. Different causes embody:
“Different” causes embody a scarcity of assets, continually shifting messaging in response to shifting management priorities, too many various enterprise models, too many evaluate cycles, and a scarcity of mandatory content material.
We requested Jonathan Riemer, director of world content material expertise staff at ServiceNow, for his ideas on content material technique effectiveness:
By (a scarcity of) clear objectives, I’ll assume which means “agreed to” objectives. I’ve seen many instances in lots of firms that the marketing campaign (and gross sales) aim is kind of clear, however the “the right way to obtain that with content material” half is obscure. It comes right down to training. Content material entrepreneurs have to do a greater job of creating positive all on the desk perceive and agree on how and what success appears to be like like from a content material perspective.
I feel that knowledge and viewers analysis must be the highest concern. We’re all nonetheless too responsible of taking pictures from the hip or defaulting to what has all the time labored earlier than. Our audiences are altering and evolving, as are their preferences for the way they like to have interaction and be taught. Get that found out and also you’ll handle the highest two issues round objectives and buyer journey.
Content material advertising challenges: Motivating audiences is a giant one
Fifty-two p.c of know-how entrepreneurs say they’re challenged with creating content material that prompts a desired motion (e.g., conversion).
Know-how entrepreneurs have made strides creating the suitable content material for his or her viewers previously 12 months. Fewer than half (46%) cite it as a problem, in contrast with 61% the earlier 12 months. The analysis additionally sees huge drops in those that are challenged with creating content material constantly (38% this 12 months vs. 49% the earlier 12 months) and creating high quality content material (29% this 12 months vs. 43% the earlier 12 months).
Among the many different content material creation challenges entrepreneurs cite: content material repurposing (44%), differentiating our content material (43%), creating sufficient content material (37%), optimizing for web optimization (37%), and different (6%).
Lack of assets stays essentially the most frequent situational problem, cited by 58% of know-how entrepreneurs. Half say they’re challenged to measure the outcomes of their efforts, whereas 48% say they face challenges speaking throughout organizational silos.
Among the many different challenges: aligning content material efforts throughout gross sales and advertising (47%), aligning content material with the customer’s journey (43%), accessing material specialists (41%), managing workflow points/content material approvals course of (37%), maintaining with new applied sciences/instruments (20%), and different (4%).
We requested Amanda Sensible, principal product advertising supervisor at SAS, for her ideas on these situational challenges:
Prospects now anticipate a self-service journey that allows them to binge tailor-made content material in dynamic codecs. The output of entrepreneurs has elevated considerably over the previous few years, whereas the rise in budgets and head rely has stalled or barely decreased.
Whereas organizations are investing extra in martech instruments, successfully measuring actions and calculating return on advertising funding (ROMI) throughout the complete buyer purchaser journey has nonetheless been difficult to realize.
It’s simpler to point out worth for martech instruments that use AI to automate mundane processes as a result of you possibly can shortly see a rise in productiveness and a lower in overhead prices. Discovering the suitable martech software that can assist you undertake essentially the most correct attribution mannequin is daunting, particularly as we witness an elevated variety of buyer touchpoints and the size of the B2B purchaser cycle.
Whereas entrepreneurs proceed to refine the attribution fashions with ever-evolving buyer preferences and conduct, it’s essential to leverage the gross sales and buyer success groups to collect qualitative knowledge from clients that assist join the dots and inform the true story of selling.
It sounds easy, however accumulating qualitative knowledge like “Which collateral resonated most with you?,” “What ROI knowledge had been you searching for on our website so as to add us to the shortlist?,” and “What messaging satisfied you that we had been the proper vendor?” tells extra concerning the efficacy of selling than simply counting on quantitative knowledge like accomplished registration kinds and time on web page. Whereas B2B entrepreneurs proceed to seek out the suitable instruments to show ROMI precisely in quantitative phrases, it’s necessary to make use of qualitative knowledge to show advertising efficacy to firm determination makers.
AI use: Most work with generative AI
Extra know-how entrepreneurs (87%) use generative AI instruments than the earlier 12 months (79%). Simply 13% say they don’t use them.
Nineteen p.c of know-how entrepreneurs say their use is systematic: AI is built-in into day by day processes and workflows. Greater than half (55%) say the use is advert hoc: The staff is experimenting with AI or utilizing it for restricted purposes. Twenty-six p.c say the use is minimal: The staff doesn’t formally use AI, however particular person workers members might use it.
Know-how organizations have made progress with adopting generative AI utilization pointers. Sixty-eight p.c say their group or advertising staff has established pointers. Solely 39% say they don’t have pointers, a giant drop from the 63% who didn’t have them final 12 months. 5 p.c are not sure whether or not pointers exist.
In a brand new query this 12 months, entrepreneurs element points addressed of their organizations’s generative AI utilization pointers. At the very least half say they embody:
Safety measures particular to utilizing generative AI (79%)
Information-handling pointers for generative AI platforms/output (78%)
Acceptable makes use of of generative AI in content material advertising (76%)
Unacceptable makes use of of generative AI in content material advertising (64%)
Objective/aims for utilizing gen AI in advertising (58%)
Fewer than half say they embody:
Authorized/copyright suggestions (48%)
Transparency (i.e., disclosing when content material is generated by AI) (45%)
Mitigating bias in generative AI output (28%)
Actual-world purposes for generative AI (24%)
Most know-how entrepreneurs (87%) use free instruments, whereas 35% use fee-based instruments. Half (51%) say they use the AI options integrated into their content material creation and administration instruments, a giant leap from final 12 months when 37% stated they used them.
This 12 months, we needed to gauge marketer belief ranges and opinions on the standard of generative AI output. Most know-how entrepreneurs (67%) report a medium stage of belief, whereas 4% have a excessive stage. Over one-fourth (28%) have a low stage of belief, and 1% don’t have any belief.
13 p.c of know-how entrepreneurs describe the standard of content material generated by AI as glorious or excellent. Forty-two p.c say it’s good, 38% go for truthful, and seven% describe it as poor.
Moreover, we needed to find out about any AI-related impacts on advertising departments. Fifty-seven p.c say they observed fewer tedious duties, 47% say they skilled extra environment friendly workflows, and 41% noticed improved content material optimization. Fewer than 40% noticed these AI-related impacts:
Improved creativity (33%)
Job anxiousness (20%)
Decrease-quality content material (18%)
Altering job necessities (17%)
Extra customized content material (16%)
We additionally requested entrepreneurs how their organizations will prioritize AI-powered automation in 2025. Sixteen p.c say it’s a excessive precedence, whereas 45% assume it’s a medium precedence. Eighteen p.c say it’s a low precedence. Ten p.c say it’s not a precedence, and 11% say they’re not sure.
Content material administration and know-how: Lacking scalable fashions and the suitable instruments
In one other new survey query, we discovered that just about half of know-how entrepreneurs (45%) — like their B2B friends — should not have a scalable mannequin for content material creation. Thirty-six p.c do, and 19% are not sure.
Of these know-how entrepreneurs who’ve a scalable mannequin, 36% say it’s creating the specified consequence. Fifty-nine p.c say it isn’t, however they’re getting there. Solely 2% say, “No, we have now a protracted strategy to go.” Three p.c are not sure.
On the subject of content material administration know-how, the needle didn’t transfer. Know-how entrepreneurs don’t have the suitable tech to handle content material throughout their group (28%), or they’ve the tech however aren’t utilizing it to its potential (39%). Solely 26% say they’ve what they want and are utilizing it successfully. Seven p.c are not sure.
My take? Entrepreneurs have hit peak tech of their content material and digital administration operations. The issue isn’t a scarcity of instruments. It’s that groups are so buried in managing the know-how they have already got (and the way it was initially applied) that they don’t have any time or curiosity in bettering it. Entrepreneurs don’t have any bandwidth to amass new instruments, deepen experience in current ones, and even step again and ask, “Are we utilizing this the suitable method?”
The neatest firms aren’t piling on extra tech. They’re hitting pause, reassessing, and determining how fashionable content material orchestration can assist them automate the suitable issues — so their groups can spend extra time on the content material and fewer time on shifting it via an meeting line.
Subsequent, we requested know-how entrepreneurs which capabilities are lacking from their advertising tech stacks. Fifty-four p.c say streamlined advertising knowledge administration and reporting. 5 capabilities tied for second hottest, with 45% citing superior personalization choices, data-driven decision-making capabilities, environment friendly lead era, nurturing processes, and robust alignment between gross sales and advertising. Nearly the identical quantity cite quick access to enterprise analytics (43%) and the power to automate repetitive duties and workflows (41%). 5 p.c say their tech stack isn’t lacking any capabilities.
Metrics and objectives: Issue attributing ROI to content material efforts
Half of know-how entrepreneurs strongly or considerably agree that their group measures content material efficiency successfully. Thirty-three p.c considerably or strongly disagree. Fifteen p.c neither agree nor disagree. Two p.c don’t measure content material efficiency.
Know-how entrepreneurs’ commonest problem is attributing ROI to content material efforts (62%), adopted by problem monitoring buyer journeys (58%). Lower than half cite these challenges:
Information silos throughout the group (42%)
Inadequate assets or price range (41%)
Lack of clear advertising objectives/KPIs (38%)
Advanced or insufficient reporting methods (37%)
Restricted entry to superior analytics instruments (35%)
Incapability to tie efficiency to enterprise objectives (32%)
Incapability to extract invaluable info from knowledge/analytics (29%)
Lack of knowledge abilities/expertise (22%)
Relating to objectives, 88% of know-how entrepreneurs say they had been profitable at utilizing content material advertising to create model consciousness within the final 12 months. Eighty-four p.c used it to generate demand leads, 70% to nurture subscribers/audiences/leads, 60% to generate gross sales/income, 49% to develop loyalty with current shoppers/clients, 37% to develop a subscribed viewers, and 11% to scale back buyer assist prices.
We requested Melissa Leu, senior director of content material technique at Salesforce and finalist for 2024 B2B Content material Marketer of the 12 months, to summarize her firm’s success with content material advertising:
If accomplished proper, content material advertising is an enormous alternative to construct a relationship together with your buyer. The most effective content material — like the very best merchandise — understands a buyer’s downside and solves it. Do that usually sufficient, and also you’ll earn their belief (and hopefully their enterprise, too).
Content material advertising success: High performers perceive their audiences
Twenty-five p.c of know-how entrepreneurs characterize the success of their group’s content material advertising strategy within the final 12 months as extraordinarily or very profitable. One other 55% say their strategy was reasonably profitable, 15% say it was minimally profitable, and a pair of% say it was not profitable.
We designate the quarter of entrepreneurs who say they had been extraordinarily or very profitable because the “prime performers.” Their commonest success components embody understanding their viewers (85%) and producing high-quality content material (85%).
Amongst different contributors to their prime efficiency:
Excessive-performing staff members (75%)
Trade experience (75%)
Objectives that align with their group’s aims (66%)
Successfully measure and exhibit content material effectiveness (58%)
Documented technique (52%)
Those that report average, minimal, or no success say they want extra assets, clearer methods, higher collaboration, and improved measurements. Based on their open-ended responses, these are the areas the place they wish to enhance their success:
Assets and workers: Enhance staff measurement, put money into AI instruments and automation to scale operations, and supply extra entry to material specialists.
Group alignment: Break down silos between advertising, gross sales, and management to make sure alignment on objectives, methods, and efficiency measurement.
Strategic content material creation: Develop a transparent content material technique aligned with enterprise objectives, specializing in the customer’s journey, content material repurposing, and web optimization.
Measurement and analytics: Implement higher monitoring instruments and set up clear KPIs to measure content material effectiveness and its influence on enterprise outcomes.
Finances for content material promotion: Allocate extra price range for content material promotion and paid methods to extend visibility and attain.
Training and coaching: Present coaching for groups on content material technique, web optimization, and analytics, and educate management on the worth of content material advertising.
Streamlined processes: Set up environment friendly workflows and constant messaging to enhance content material creation and distribution effectivity.
Management assist: Make sure that management supplies clear course, values content material advertising, and invests in mandatory assets for achievement.
Content material sorts and distribution channels
We requested know-how entrepreneurs which content material sorts, distribution channels, and paid strategies of content material promotion they use and that are only.
Ninety-five p.c of know-how entrepreneurs used quick articles/posts within the final 12 months. Eighty-seven p.c revealed case research/buyer tales. Eighty-two p.c created lengthy articles/posts — the identical proportion of entrepreneurs who produced movies. Different content material sorts included:
E-books/white papers (73%)
Information visualizations/visible content material (60%)
Product technical/knowledge sheets (58%)
Analysis stories (52%)
Interactive content material (27%)
Sixty-two p.c of know-how entrepreneurs say case research/buyer tales are the simplest kind of content material they use, adopted by analysis stories (55%), movies (53%), and e-books/white papers (50%).
The place do most know-how entrepreneurs distribute content material? Ninety-three p.c say blogs on company web sites. Ninety p.c use natural social media platforms, 80% use electronic mail newsletters, 76% use webinars, and 73% use electronic mail. Different distribution channels embody:
In-person occasions (66%)
Digital occasions (53%)
Podcasts (33%)
Microsite (32%)
Branded on-line group (21%)
Digital journal (21%)
Hybrid occasions (21%)
On-line studying platform (18%)
Junk mail (15%)
Print journal (8%)
Cell app (7%)
Separate content material model (5%)
Fifty-nine p.c of know-how entrepreneurs say webinars are the simplest distribution channel, adopted by in-person occasions (58%), weblog on a company web site (46%), and electronic mail (43%).
Ninety-one p.c of know-how entrepreneurs say they used paid channels to distribute content material within the final 12 months. Of these, 76% used social media promoting/promoted posts. Seventy-three p.c used search engine advertising (SEM)/pay-per-click (PPC), 71% used sponsorships, 68% used digital show promoting, 39% used accomplice emails, 37% used native promoting, 18% used influencer advertising, 14% used print show promoting, and seven% did one thing else.
SEM/PPC was the most typical efficient paid channel (56%), adopted by sponsorships (54%), and social media promoting/promoted posts (43%).
Social media use: LinkedIn for the win
Like their B2B friends, know-how entrepreneurs say LinkedIn delivers the very best worth for his or her group (93%). Twenty-four p.c say YouTube, 16% say Fb, 9% say Instagram, 8% say X, 3% say Reddit, and a pair of% say TikTok.
A comparability of know-how entrepreneurs’ natural social media use to that of a 12 months in the past reveals little change aside from a 9-point proportion drop of their use of X. Within the final 12 months:
71% elevated their use of LinkedIn, 27% stayed the identical, 2% decreased, and 0% don’t use.
35% elevated their use of YouTube, 43% stayed the identical, 10% decreased, and 12% don’t use.
16% elevated their use of Instagram, 28% stayed the identical, 13% decreased, and 43% don’t use.
13% elevated their use of Fb, 38% stayed the identical, 24% decreased, and 25% don’t use.
8% elevated their use of X, 33% stayed the identical, 33% decreased, and 26% don’t use.
8% elevated their use of Reddit, 10% stayed the identical, 4% decreased, and 78% don’t use.
5% elevated their use of TikTok, 8% stayed the identical, 4% decreased, and 83% don’t use.
Budgets and funding: Development anticipated
Forty-five p.c of know-how entrepreneurs assume their content material advertising price range will improve in 2025. Forty-one p.c assume it would keep the identical, whereas 10% anticipate a lower, and 4% are not sure.
Fifty-eight p.c of know-how entrepreneurs say they anticipate their organizations to put money into movies in 2025, an 11 percentage-point drop from 2024.
About as many anticipate funding within the following areas in 2025 as within the earlier 12 months:
Thought management content material (52% this 12 months vs. 54% final 12 months)
Paid promoting (43% this 12 months vs. 40% final 12 months)
Webinars (38% this 12 months vs. 41% final 12 months)
Constructing on-line group (27% this 12 months vs. 27% final 12 months)
Digital occasions (22% this 12 months vs. 21% final 12 months)
In-person occasions funding is anticipated by 39% of know-how entrepreneurs in contrast with 60% within the earlier 12 months. Audio content material funding is anticipated by 13% of entrepreneurs, down from 22% within the earlier 12 months.
Investments in AI for content material optimization/efficiency (35%) and AI for content material creation (33%) are new to this 12 months’s survey reply choices.
What now: Motion steps for know-how entrepreneurs in 2025
We’ve seen the information. We all know the patterns. Most organizations are happy to roll their boulder up the identical hill — pushing content material and not using a clear technique, drowning in know-how they barely use, and settling for common outcomes.
However for those who’re studying this, you’re already questioning that path. You acknowledge this second as the chance to interrupt free from the cycle, cease treating content material as a job, and begin utilizing it as a strategic benefit.
The place do you start? Begin with these three actions to construct a content material advertising strategy that delivers steady upward momentum:
1. Audit your content material technique for actual differentiation
Cease creating content material the place the one goal is to fill the pipeline. Take a tough take a look at your present technique and ask, “Does this really set us aside? Do our content material efforts join to one another?” In case your content material seems like everybody else’s — doing the identical traits, similar codecs, similar messaging — it’s time to rethink. The simplest manufacturers don’t publish extra; they create content material that brings a novel perspective, delivers worth, and earns consideration. Cease pushing your content material rock for a second and ask whether or not your staff spends its time on a very powerful content material experiences.
2. Delegate the mundane as a substitute of the significant
Many content material and advertising groups are drowning in duties that really feel productive however don’t transfer the needle. And but, when confronted with being overwhelmed, their knee-jerk response is commonly to outsource the very factor that must be a core competency — high quality content material.
It’s an odd however widespread development: Inside groups get caught managing operational particulars, whereas essentially the most strategic, inventive, and significant work is handed off to companies and freelancers. Advertising and marketing turns into a machine for sustaining processes fairly than driving actual influence.
Flip the script. Automate what you possibly can. Streamline what you need to. Delegate the work that’s mechanical so your staff can give attention to the content material, the experiences, and the distribution that construct relationships — content material that issues to your viewers, not simply your inside workflow.
3. Take the time to map your content material technique throughout the shopper journey
Most content material methods prioritize what the enterprise needs to say, not what the shopper really wants at every stage of their journey. Step again and map your current content material to actual buyer ache factors, questions, and decision-making moments. Search for gaps and overflowing buckets. Are you creating content material that helps them transfer ahead at each step or simply including extra noise on a single step? Do you’ve got an excessive amount of top-of-funnel content material however nothing guiding prospects via consideration? Are there missed alternatives to deepen engagement post-sale?
Filling the gaps with intentional, high-value content material and lowering the noisy content material with little goal are the place the actual influence occurs.
Hill is steep, however the view is value it
Sisyphus’ tragedy wasn’t pushing the boulder. It was his final acceptance that the meaningless effort was all there ever could be. However right here’s the factor. On the subject of your content material advertising, you don’t have to simply accept that the countless uphill grind is all that may ever be.
Now’s the second to cease and rethink. Are you simply pushing content material for the sake of it? Or are you constructing one thing that stands out, one thing that sparks actual engagement?
Most manufacturers gained’t ask these vital questions. They’ll hold rolling their rock up the identical hill, watching it tumble again down, and really feel tragically happy that they’ll hold doing it. However these of you who rethink your strategy — who break away from the busy work, automate the suitable issues, and put money into differentiation — will discover yourselves on the prime of the mountain, looking at a panorama your opponents won’t ever attain.
Sure, the work is tough. Sure, the hill is steep. However for these keen to push with goal, the chance has by no means been better. Belief me, these are the entrepreneurs who’re completely satisfied.
Methodology
Content material Advertising and marketing Institute and MarketingProfs surveyed 1,186 international entrepreneurs about their content material advertising practices, methods, use of generative AI, issues, and challenges between June and August 2024. This text presents the findings primarily based on the 274 know-how entrepreneurs, principally from North America, who answered the questions.
These know-how entrepreneurs work for:
B2B firms (86%)
B2C firms (2%)
B2B + B2C firms (11%)
Different (1%)
Their firms have:
1 to 99 workers (29%)
100 to 999 workers (43%)
1,000 or extra workers (28%)
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute