New Research: 3 Big Opportunities for Content Marketers

I've always loved original research.

It's a romance that dates back to the second grade, when I decided to test 10 different dog shampoos on a focus group of mutts, grading them across a rubric of smell, length of effectiveness, and, of course, fluffiness. It took some work and I smelled like Brian from Family Guy after a bender, but in the end, it paid off. I won third place in the science fair as the youngest entrant.

I may have peaked in second grade, but I still love original research. I've gotten to do everything from a large-scale study of how consumers perceive native ads to an examination of how political ads effect voters brains. Research is my secret content weapon. It's the easiest way to create content that stands out, and you get to learn something interesting about the world in the process.

Naturally, original research is a core part of our content strategy at Contently. An added bonus is that when we do research about marketers, it reveals something about the people who could become our customers.

Earlier this year, we surveyed 530 marketers about their biggest goals, challenges, and opportunities. We're going to unveil all the findings at our research launch webinar on May 6, but in the meantime, I convinced Jordan Teicher—the mastermind behind the study—to let me reveal a few of the findings, since it might help my newsletter subscribers here identify missed opportunities.

Let's dive in.

Opportunity #1: Educational courses

If you read this newsletter, you might have heard me beat this drum before, but now I have a whole new stick to use.

In a large consumer study we conducted earlier this year, 58 percent of consumers said they'd be somewhat or very likely to take a free educational course from a brand. This makes sense. Brands have expertise. People want that expertise, so long as it's not a commercial dressed up like a piece of content.

This is arguably the biggest opportunity in content marketing. And yet! Only 2 percent of respondents said educational courses were the content format they were focusing on most this year.

If I were you, I'd see that as an opportunity. Your competitors aren't doing it. So why don't you?

Opportunity #2: Getting buy-in from your CMO

Over the past 10 years, I've gotten a close look at a lot of content marketing programs as either a reporter or strategist. Let me tell you a necessary truth: The best programs have buy-in from the top. GE, Amex, Marriott, Red Bull, Hubspot, you name it—there's always executive support. Without it, your job suddenly becomes harder than trying to win a break dancing competition with Chris Christie as your partner.

Look at him go.

That's why I was mildly concerned by the results of another question from our survey: Only 66 percent of respondents agreed that their head of marketing understands and supports their content marketing program.

Now, you might be saying: "66 percent is pretty good!" If this was the CEO, you'd be right. But for the love of New Jersey, it's 2021. Your head of marketing should know why you're doing content marketing by now. It's almost impossible to capture anyone's attention without high-quality storytelling.

If your boss isn't on board yet, the best thing you can do is showcase why content will help you reach your broader business goals. There's an art and a science to this. You want to play on both your boss's business sensibility as well as their deep, ego-driven fear of falling behind the competition.

If you need help, I go over exactly how to do it in this free webinar.

Opportunity #3: Up your content measurement game

One reason why those CMOs might not be bought in: Only 68 percent of respondents said they had documented content marketing goals and KPIs. It's hard to get buy-in if you can't prove success, and you can't prove success unless you write down your freaking goals to track how you did.

Even more worrying, only 36 percent of respondents said that they were satisfied with their company's ability to measure the success of their content.

Listen, marketing measurement isn't easy. We all know this. But you can either cry on the floor with a magnum bottle of sauvignon blanc and a gallon of Ben & Jerry's, or you can tackle your problems head on. (Or, like me, you can do both!) I created this Content Measurement Maturity Model to help you do the latter. You'll have to get your own cheap wine and ice cream.

If you want to explore our research further, sign up for our webinar. You'll get exclusive access to the research report, and we'll walk you through what all the findings mean. As a final benefit, I've been told there will be absolutely no GIFs of Chris Christie dancing ... which may be just as important as the data.

I'm the co-author of a best-selling book called The Storytelling Edge and the Head of Marketing at Contently. If you liked this story, subscribe to this newsletter to get awesome articles about content strategy and the art and science of storytelling.