While close in proximity, the dynamics involved with characterizing a topic like content marketing for a large group of countries like Europe is more than ambitious.
However, the demand and interest for information about content marketing in Europe is high and there are a small number of studies available to better understand how European businesses currently view content marketing as part of the digital marketing mix.
Tapping into reports from CMI/DMA UK, Adobe/Econsultancy and HubSpot/SmartInsights as part of my research for a keynote presentation at Content Marketing Conference Europe this week, I’ve pulled together these statistics (Handy for presentations, tweets and blog posts):
Top 5 Priorities for Global and European Marketers in 2014 – Adobe/Econsultancy
- 36% content marketing
- 36% social media engagement
- 32% Targeting and personalization
- 31% Conversion rate optimisation
- 28% Mobile optimisation
73% of marketers say consistency of message across channels is very important – Adobe/Econsultancy
71% of European companies’ adoption of content marketing has been inconsistent or worse – HubSpot/Smart Insights
49% of marketers in Europe spend 0-20% f their marketing budget on content marketing – HubSpot/Smart Insights
55% of European marketers are increasing their spend on internal headcount in 2-14 – HubSpot/Smart Insights
69% of European marketers are increasing their investment in promoting content though earned media (social and PR) – HubSpot/Smart Insights
49% of European marketers have seen a return on their investment in content marketing – HubSpot/Smart Insights
44% say ROI measurement is limited
58% of European marketers found their content to be much more effective with a strategy in place – HubSpot/Smart Insights
Content Marketing Assets That Generate Leads or Sales for European Marketers – HubSpot/Smart Insights
- 42% Blog posts or articles
- 37% Enewsletters or online magazines
- 25% Own community or forum
- 25% Animated explainer videos
- 23% Branded engagement and videos
- 23% Whitepapers or eBooks
- 21% Infographics
- 20% Mobile specific apps or engagement tools
- 19% Industry or consumer research reports
- 19% Webinars
- 19% Competitions
- 15% Calculators and interactive tools
- 10% Quizes
- 7% Games
Top Challenges for European Content Marketers – HubSpot/Smart Insights
- 15% Measuring ROI and effectiveness
- 15% Strategy – Choosing quality content to engage
- 15% Creating sufficient quality content
- 15% Developing sufficient quantity of content
- 10% Budgeting and gaining buy-in
- 9% Forming and managing partnerships to share content
- 8% Integrating content marketing into other activities
- 8% Lack of specific content marketing skills
56% of European marketers don’t have any kind of defined content strategy in place – HubSpot/Smart Insights
(32% do have content marketing integrated into overall inbound strategy)
58% of European marketers rate strategy as a top priority for 2014 – HubSpot/Smart Insights
42% of European marketers plan content on a campaign or quarterly basis – HubSpot/Smart Insights
(29% plan day to day or week to week and 20% plan a year in advance)
94% of UK marketers use content marketing – CMI/DMA UK
UK marketers use an average of 13 content marketing tactics – CMI/DMA UK
Top Content Marketing Tactics in the UK – CMI/DMA UK
- 90% Articles on Your Website
- 90% Social Media (Other Than Blogs)
- 85% eNewsletters
- 83% Case Studies
- 78% Blogs
- 74% In-Person Events
- 74% Articles on Other Websites
- 69% Videos
- 54% Research Reports
- 52% White Papers
- 47% Microsites
- 45% Branded Content Tools
- 45% Infographics
- 44% Print Magazines
- 41% Mobile Content
- 40% Webinars / Webcasts
- 35% Mobile Apps
- 33% Annual Reports
- 33% Digital Magazines
- 31% Print Newsletters
- 29% Books
- 25% eBooks
- 25% Licensed/Syndicated Content
- 22$ virtual Conferences
- 21% Podcasts
- 15% Games / Gamification
Most Effective Content Marketing Tactics in the UK – CMI/DMA UK
- 68% Case Studies (63% US)
- 66% Research Reports (56% US)
- 62% eNewsletters (59% US)
- 61% In-person Events (67% US)
- 61% Webinars / Webcasts (60% US)
- 60% Mobile Apps (42% US)
- 60% Videos (60% US)
- 59% Mobile Content (44% US)
- 58% White Papers (56% US)
- 57% Digital Magazine (42% US)
- 54% Social Media Content (53% US)
- 52% Microsites (49% US)
- 50% Articles on Other Websites (49% US)
- 50% Articles on Your Website (54% US)
Top Social Media Platforms for Content Promotion Used by UK Marketers – CMI/DMA UK
- 82% Twitter
- 78% LinkedIn
- 76% Facebook
- 57% YouTube
- 33% Google+
- 24% Pinterest
- 17% Slideshare
- 13% Flickr
- 12% Vimeo
- 7% Tumblr
- 6% Instagram
- 4% Foursquare
- 4% StumbleUpon
- 2% Quora
Top Marketing Goal for UK Content Marketers – CMI/DMA UK
- 78% Brand Awareness
- 75% Customer Acquisition
- 71% Engagement
- 69% Customer Retention / Loyalty
- 63% Lead Generation
- 63% Website Traffic
- 54% Thought Leadership
- 38% Sales
- 34% Lead Management / Nurturing
Top Measurement Criteria for Content Marketing by UK Marketers – CMI/DMA UK
- 62% Website Traffic
- 48% Social Media Sharing
- 47% Sales Lead Quality
- 45% Search Ranking
- 42% Qualitative Feedback from Customers
- 42% Direct Sales
- 40% Time Spent on Website
- 40% Quantity of Sales Leads
- 30% Increased Customer Loyalty
- 29% Inbound Links
- 29% Readership / Subscribers
- 20% Cross-selling
- 20% Benchmark Lift of Company Awareness
- 17% Benchmark Lift of Product/Service Awareness
- 9% Affiliate Sales
- 5% Cost Savings
64% of UK marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months – CMI/DMA UK
27% of marketing budgets in the UK are allocated to content marketing – CMI/DMA UK
55% of UK companies outsource content creation – CMI/DMA UK
How UK Content Marketers Customize Content – CMI/DMA UK
- 56% By profile of individual decision makers
- 55% According to industry trends
- 54% By company characteristics
- 41% By customer stage in the buying cycle
- 31% Personalized content preferences
- 17% By competitor’s content
Top Challenges UK Content Marketers Face – CMI/DMA UK
- 57% Producing enough content
- 49% Producing the kind of content that engages
- 39% Producing a variety of content
- 38% Inability to measure content effectiveness
- 35% Lack of integration across marketing
- 33% Lack of budget
- 30% Lack of knowledge, training and resources
- 21% Lack of buy-in, vision
- 12% Finding trained content marketing professionals
39% of UK marketers believe they are effective at content marketing – CMI/DMA UK
Of course these are just raw stats, so I’ll be sharing connections, correlations and insights from these reports at the Content Marketing Conference Europe event on Tuesday 10 June, 2014 in Antwerp. I hope to see you there.
Digital and Content Marketing Reports for the UK and Europe (Direct links to pdf)
1. CMI and DMA UK Content Marketing in the UK: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends
2. HubSpot and Smart Insights: Driving Content Marketing Success in 2014, European Edition
3. Econsultancy and Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2014 Digital Trends
(63% of survey respondents were from the UK or continental Europe.)
If you are aware of digital marketing research in any region of Europe that focuses on Content Marketing, please share where we can find it in the comments.
Image: Shutterstock
