B2B marketers use content marketing as it is important to enhance conversions because it allows connecting and education leads and customers. Other than that, it encourages conversions by giving consumers the information they need to make their purchasing decision.

The Top B2B Content Marketing Goals 2020

Content marketing is a set of strategies which are centered around distributing content to do the following:

• Drive brand awareness
• Engage with the target audience
• Nurture leads
• Boost sales

However, most marketers miss out on opportunities deeper than achieving their goals. According to recent “B2B Content Marketing 2020 Report” conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, the top three most-cited content marketing goals achieved in the last 12 months were:

• Creating brand awareness (86%)
• Educating the audience (79%)
• Building credibility\trust (75%)

On the other hand, fewer B2B marketers say their efforts delivered success against goals like:

• Building loyalty with existing customers (63%)
• Generating sales/revenue (53%)
• Building subscribed audiences (45%)

Related Report: The Truth About Customer Loyalty 2019

The Best B2B Content Types With the Highest ROI:

Respondents were asked about the highest performing content types they use for building brand awareness, securing, nurturing, and converting leads.

1. To secure leads: 19% in-person events, 13% Ebooks\guides, and 16% webinars\online events.
2. To convert leads: 23% case studies, 11% webinars\online events, 25% in-person events.
3. To nurture leads: 13% Blog posts/short articles, 31% email newsletters, 9% in-person events & case studies.
4. To build brand awareness: 8% in-person events, 25% social media content such as tweets and stories, 31% blog posts\ short articles.

A Table Shows the Best B2B Content Types With the Highest ROI, According to Marketers in North America—2020 Data

B2B Content Marketing Budgets & Spending 2020

• 36% of B2B marketers reported a 2019 annual content marketing budget of less than $100,000. The average reported annual budget (all respondents) was $185,000.
• Nearly half of B2B marketers expect their content marketing budget to increase in 2020.
• 38% say they’ve shifted paid advertising dollars to content marketing in the last 12 months.

A Pie Chart Shows the B2B Marketers’ Expected Change in 2020 Content Marketing Budget Compared With 2019

Related Guide: Content Marketing KPIs: Your Guide to Picking the Right KPIs for Content

The Content of the “B2B Content Marketing 2020—North America″ Report:

• Welcome
• B2B Content Marketing Top Performers at-a-glance
• Key Findings
• Success & Maturity
• Strategy, Opinions & Technology
• Team Structure & Outsourcing
• Content Creation & Distribution
• Metrics & Goals
• Budgets & Spending
• Content Marketing Priorities
• Methodology

Number of Pages:

• 43 Pages

Pricing:

• Free

Methodology:

B2B Content Marketing 2020: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs and sponsored by Sitecore. The CMI/MarketingProfs 10th annual content marketing survey, from which the results of this report were generated, was emailed to a sample of marketers using lists from CMI and MarketingProfs. Online survey hosting, data collection, and tabulation were provided by Readex Research.

A total of 1,798 recipients from around the globe—representing a full range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes—replied to the survey during June/July 2019.

This report presents the findings from the 679 respondents who indicated:

• Their organization is a for-profit company in North America, primarily selling products/services to businesses (B2B).
• Their organization has used content marketing for at least one year.
• They are a content marketer, involved with the content marketing function, and/or someone to whom content marketing reports.