If done right, content marketing can and will attract, engage, and retain new customers.

And when it comes to creating a successful content marketing strategy, a great place to start is by looking back at the previous year. Which of your strategies worked? Which failed? How can you improve your processed to create even more success?

As you review your own achievements and shortfalls, don’t forget to keep an eye on the industry as a whole. What are your competitors doing that you could integrate into your content?

In this article we’ve compiled a list of key B2B content marketing statistics to help you guide your strategy through today’s economy.

Critical B2B Content Marketing Statistics for 2020

Get Started with a Strong Content Strategy

• 69% of the most successful content marketers (source) use a documented strategy.

Remember: a strong strategy is the key to success. Without one, you could end up writing content without a clear purpose that won’t perform as you expect.

Establish Clear Marketing Goals

• The primary goal for 55% of content marketers is to increase brand awareness.
• However, improving awareness is also the most critical challenge for 42% of marketers.
• 64% of marketers say increasing leads and sales is a top priority for their marketing strategy.

No matter what your goals are – increasing sales, boosting leads, improving brand awareness – set them early, and clearly define how they’ll be measured.

Define Your Content Marketing Success & How You’ll Measure It

• 69% of marketers aren’t confident in their content measurement strategy.

If your goal is anything more ambitious than simply content creation, you’ll need to have a strong strategy for tracking and measuring that success. Determine it early.

Focus on Interactive and Visual Content

Video content can be a goldmine for B2B content marketers:

• 86% of buyers prefer interactive content (source) they can access whenever they want (on demand).

What’s more, consumers have been shown to spend up to 20 minutes watching a brand’s video. But, as with many things, it’s a lack of time and resources that hold a lot of video marketers back:

• 89% of marketers (source) using content marketing use video in their strategy, but most only publish one or two videos per month.

Of course, the good news is that this technology is always improving and it’s now easier and more cost effective than ever to create high-quality videos – on a cell phone.

Keep Your Target Audience in Mind

Creating content that doesn’t resonate with your target audience is like shouting in a hurricane. If it’s not working, you need to change tactics.

• 92% of B2B marketers say that content plays a critical role in their decision-making process. Yet, half of these people believe that the content that targets them is irrelevant to their challenges and responsibilities.

Keep the pain point of those you’re trying to reach in mind, and create content that speaks to them. Answer their questions, solve their problems, and help in their day-to-day challenges.

• 93% of businesses with an advanced personalization strategy have shown growth. 78% of companies with at least a partial personalization strategy have also seen revenue growth.

Use Your B2B Marketing Budget Wisely

• Marketing budget growth is expected to remain steady and strong (source), with an 8.7% growth rate over 2020.

With marketing budgets growing it’s important to invest in strategies that work. Don’t underestimate the power of investing in the right tools, processes, and people to get the job done right.

• Nearly 3/4 of agencies (73%) (source) say they are extremely/very successful in achieving their clients’ B2B content marketing goals.

Depending on what your in-house resources are, it might be a good idea to outsource your content creation.

If you’re considering hiring a content marketing agency, now’s the perfect time to book your free call with Mary-Jane Owen, Asset Digital Communication’s founder!