Some might say 2011 was the year of social media in b2b. But according to a survey released this week, it might have been the year of the blog.
The survey found that blogs saw an 27% increase as b2b content marketing usage tactic this year over 2010, with 65% of respondents claiming they use blogs as part of their content marketing strategy.
Videos also saw a 27% bump in usage, with 52% of respondents using video for b2b.
B2B Content Marketing Tactics
The findings are included in the report “B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends,” which was put together by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.
While social media usage remains a more popular tactic at 74%, it actually declined by five percentage points in 2011, the report notes.
B2b marketers are also feeling more confident about the effectiveness of blogs and videos. 58% of respondents consider blogs an effective tactic, a 45% increase over the year before, and 61% called video effective, a 36% increase. In-person events and webinars remain the most effective tactics according to survey respondents at 78% and 70% respectively.
One thing that’s clear from the B2B Content Marketing report: content marketing is not losing any steam going into 2012. According to the report, 60% of the 1,092 marketers surveyed plan to increase their spending on content marketing in 2012.
Do you have big plans for content marketing next year? Want help from the experts? Check out Eloqua’s free Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing.
