THE FUTURE OF CONTENT MARKETING:

THE AGE OF CONTENT SCIENCE

October, 2015

Jessie Coan, Senior Director of Content,

Marketing Effectiveness and Strategy

Report Highlights

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The Best-in-Class are
enjoying five times
higher revenue
contribution from
content efforts than
their peers.
Nearly half of All Best-in-Class The Best-in-Class are
Others report they marketers are being twice as likely to
approach content forced to get even track what visitors
creation in an ad hoc better at their craft are doing in real
fashion, while the and this means time.
Best-in-Class have having the right,
mastered having a relevant data to
strategy for content make informed
creation. decisions about their
content strategy.

Aberdeens Content Marketing survey revealed that while 95% of

marketers are using or considering using a content marketing
strategy, there are some distinct differences between those
using content well and those just using content. The Best-in-
Class are not only creating content at volume, they are taking a
much more data-driven approach to their content marketing
strategy and its paying off.

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95% of respondents report
that they are using or
considering using a content
marketing strategy.
Aberdeen's Maturity Class
Framework
Aberdeen's research defines Best-in-
Class performance by benchmarking
organizations against several key
performance metrics. In this case,
three metrics were used:
Percentage of marketing-
qualified leads attributed to
content marketing
Percentage of revenue
generated by content
marketing efforts
Year-over-year percentage
change in marketings
contribution to revenue
By looking at organizational
performance, we then break them
down into three maturity classes, as
described below:
Best-in-Class: top 20% of
performers
Industry Average: middle
50% of performers
Laggard: bottom 30% of
performers
Sometimes, a fourth maturity class,
All Others, is used to describe
Industry Average & Laggard.
The Future of Content Marketing: The Age of Content Science
Yes, you read the title of this report correctly. The future of
content creative, witty, engaging, results-driven content is
more about data than it is about art. While that may come as a
surprise to some, it is the next logical step in the evolution of
content marketing.
Content Marketing Everyones Doing It
Content marketing is the act of using content blogs, white
papers, webinars, videos, podcasts, infographics, etc. to
attract and engage a particular target audience with the aim of
achieving particular business goals.
In April of 2015, the Aberdeen Group surveyed 277 businesses
regarding the key trends and activities influencing their content
marketing decisions and programs. The study found that a
staggering 95% of respondents are using or are considering the
use of a content marketing strategy. The Best-in-Class are
enjoying five times higher revenue contribution from content
efforts than their peers. While the results being obtained surely
explain the popularity, there are additional insights from the
survey.
Content Creation Efficacy
When reviewing the top pressures felt by survey respondents,
the number one response is about the effectiveness of a
company at content marketing and the creation of content.
Whats interesting is that the specific source of pain differed
when we compared the Best-in-Class to All Others. The study
suggests that the Best-in-Class understand that simply creating
content isnt enough that success hinges on the quality of
content and how well that content meets the needs of their
audience. The evidence: while the majority of Best-in-Class
marketers are worried about keeping up with their customers
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expectations related to content (51%), nearly half of All Others Survey participants consisted of
(47%) are focused on the pressure of creating enough content. firms in business-to-business (B2B),
business-to-consumer (B2C) and
The Best-in-Class focus on the customer by implementing mix-model (B2B and B2C as well as
B2B2C) organizations. Marketing
systems and processes that continuously inform and help them
practitioners across different levels
refine their efforts. In fact, they are three times more likely to within the business participated in
be able to track a piece of content to revenue than All Others. the study. 46% of these marketers
This allows them to know exactly which content drives represent senior management,
while 54% represent marketing
conversions. They prioritize building an environment where
operations staff. This provides an
every piece of content can be evaluated not on the creative, but even range of insights from
on its revenue contribution to the organization. The results? decision makers, influencers and
Time and money saved with an increased impact on the active practitioners.

business, thanks to a more targeted, measured approach while Content marketing is defined as a
All Others squander resources by creating content at volume business process for creating and
with little to no visibility into the results. sharing content to attract a specific
target audience, which will result in
The Content Marketing Continuum increased interaction with your
brand, and result in a sale or
The survey data showed that businesses are at different stages desired profitable action benefiting
with the maturity of their content marketing capabilities. While a the business.

few are just starting out, others are working on more advanced
data-driven approaches. These stages are depicted in the
Content Marketing Continuum below, in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Content Marketing Continuum

Source: Aberdeen Group, October 2015

The Content Marketing Continuum consists of five distinct stages
ranging from Getting Started (Stage 1) to Building Community The Best-in-Class are enjoying
and Advocacy (Stage 5). Identifying and documenting these nearly half of their revenue
contribution from content efforts
stages allows companies to familiarize themselves with the
while All Others are only reaping
current stage of their marketing, and to make decisions that 10% of their marketing
increase the benefits of their content marketing programs. contribution from content.

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Figure 2: Current State on the Continuum
Survey results show that those who
cant track content back to revenue
currently, express the desire to do so
in the future.
The Future of Content Marketing: The Age of Content Science
Source: Aberdeen Group, October 2015
When we evaluate where on the continuum survey respondents
lie, we see a distinct difference between the Best-in-Class and All
Others (Figure 2, above). All Others fall between Stage 2 and 3.
Their focus is on volume, feeling the pressure to generate
enough content (Stage 2) and beginning to optimize their
content creation to across marketing channels (Stage 3.) They
are stuck in a loop of creating and pushing out content. Best-in-
Class have moved further up the continuum to Stage 4, where
they recognize the need to meet the changing expectations of
their buyers and are focused on collecting intelligence that
allows them to do this.
So what makes the Best-in-Class so successful today?
There are four critical areas where the Best-in-Class demonstrate
superiority over All Others as it relates to their content marketing
approach and all four are found along the continuum. The first is
mastering the creation process. While 47% of All Others report
they approach content creation in an ad hoc fashion, only 7% of
the Best-in-Class do. The Best-in-Class are clearly not creating
content on a whim. They have a plan and are focused,
demonstrating their proficiency over All Others with key
elements of Stages 2 and 3. For example, Best-in-Class are 44%
more likely that All Others to align their content to the buyers
journey. The vast majority of them design content to meet the
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needs of their target persona(s). In addition, the Best-in-Class
are tackling Stage 4 with reckless abandon, with 60% of the Best- Moving from Stage 4
in-Class planning and managing outreach across channels using to Stage 5
social scheduling tools, something only 35% of All Others do.

Move From Stage 4 to Stage 5 Registration Forms: Three

quarters of the Best-in-Class are
How do the Best-in-Class plan to elevate their content marketing currently using registration forms
for content and the rest plan to do
efforts to building a community that looks forward to their so in the next 12 months. Compare
content and advocates for their brand? this to All Others, 50% are using
registration forms, 30% plan to
This Stage may be the hardest to achieve. It requires publishing implement them in the next 12
effective content that is valued by readers, readers who are months and 20% have no plans to
happy to be a part of the community and willing to advocate on implement them at all.

behalf of the brand, particularly by sharing content. Progressive Profiling: Defined as

displaying new form fields to a
Overall, it boils down to becoming more scientific about the use prospect based on the information
of content. In a world where there is a lot of content noise (such you have collected and would like
as marketers just throwing a lot of stuff out there), Best-in-Class to collect, progressive profiling is
marketers are being forced to get even better at their craft and currently used by 41% of the Best-
in-Class. This is compared to the
this means having the right data to make informed decisions 16% of All Others. One note here is
about the content strategy, not just overall, but on a personal that 54% of All Others are planning
level for each buyer. The sidebar, at the right, outlines a number to implement it in the future, but
of techniques the Best-in-Class are employing to move forward 30% also indicated that its not on
their radar.
along the continuum. While personalization of the buying
experience is key in helping to engage successfully with buyers, Audience Advocacy: Enabling your
ensuring that you are capturing relevant data and putting it to content readers to easily share
work in your future interactions with individuals is essential to content they enjoy is a no-brainer
for the Best-in-Class, 80% employ
building advocacy. buttons to allow readers to share
content from email campaigns. This
The Best-in-Class know that buyers expectations are evolving is compared to a mere 4% of All
and businesses need to be able to take action based upon the Others.
preferences of buyers to be successful. This is where they are
focusing and building important capabilities.

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The Best-in-Class are three times more likely to currently have a
behavior tracking system in place to track prospect behavior
across their web properties, but making this data actionable on
an ongoing basis can be a bigger challenge. Knowing what to
collect, when to collect it, and how to apply the insights are the
critical first steps.

Aberdeen suggests the following model (Figure 3) for

consideration as it relates to creating a continuous improvement
cycle for content marketing programs.

Figure 3: Continuous Improvement Cycle

Source: Aberdeen Group, October 2015

Audience: Having definitive and clear data about your target

audience allows for better targeting and segmentation, as well
as fine tuning of your message. Aside from demographic and
firmographic information, knowing as much you can about a
prospect and their company can help you with messaging. For
example, knowing about the technology environment at a
company can help you adjust messaging based upon the

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technology that's currently used. This is just a simple example of
the type of information that can help you to message and
segment better than your competition.

Placement: This is about ensuring that your brand shows up

everywhere the buyer goes for their information. This is
particularly important at top of funnel, when a buyer may not
come looking for you. They likely do not trust your content yet,
or worse, arent even familiar with your brand. This is why its
important to know where your buyer is as a consumer of
content.

Message: With all the work that's been done around audience
and placement, messaging is the icing on the cake. When done
properly, messaging is tuned to the preferences of the targeted
persona and is refined with data gathered throughout your
interaction with them.

Timing: Understanding where a company and a buyer is in their

buying cycle is critical, and behavioral information can help you
identify buying signals. This is important knowledge to have in
serving up the right information at the right time. For example,
for a top of funnel interaction, youre not going to share a full ten
page research report, youre more likely to share a infographic
that captures their attention with a strong call to action.

Widening the Gap Best-in Class

marketers are
In what follows, we outline some very specific ways that Best-in-
building capabilities
Class marketers are broadening the gap with All Others as they
move to Stage 5.
around data that
allow them to adapt
Best-in Class marketers are building capabilities that allow them their message to
to adapt their message to have the biggest impact. Specifically,
have the biggest
they are building capabilities around data regarding their
audience, placement, and messaging: impact.

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Targeting with Personalization: Defined as an
individualized experience whereas the message a brand
shows is specifically targeted to the audience or content
recommendations are made based on past preference;
38% of Best-in-Class have currently implemented a linked
personalization experience across channels compared to
6% of All Others.

Dynamically-Served Content Based on Behavior: While

only a quarter of the Best-in-Class have the ability to
dynamically serve up relevant content to repeat site
visitors based on past behavior today, 67% plan to
implement this in the next 12 months.

While tracking visitor behavior should be a no-brainer for all

marketers, the Best-in-Class know that capturing, storing and
using the data will allow them to continuously improve the
timing and effectiveness of well-messaged content. Specific
capabilities they are building include:

Capturing visitor behavior in real-time: 58% of the

73% of Best-in- Best-in-Class currently have the ability NOW to track what
visitors are doing in real time. Only 23% of All Others
Class are able to
currently have this implemented.
capture visitor
data and store it Capturing visitor behavior and store it: 73% of Best-in-
Class are able to capture visitor data and store it for
for future analysis.
future analysis. Only 39% of All Others are able to do this
currently.

While only a few examples, the above shows that Best-in-Class

are already well ahead of All Others when it comes to putting the
pieces in place to obtain the data they need to be strategic with
their content marketing strategy.

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Data, Personalization, and Analysis

The gap between the Best-in-Class and All Others is widening,

and widening fast. With the Best-in-Class focused on creating
solid, individualized experiences for customers they will quickly
leap ahead of their competition by building community and
advocacy for their brands.

To keep pace, others need to establish a strategy that leverages

data to improve their content marketing efforts. The focus
should be on building as much definitive information about
customers as possible, leveraging this information to build the
cohorts of prospects that can be addressed with a similar
content strategy. For example, knowing a technology
environment that exists at a certain company may allow you to
target messaging to them.

Further, augmenting this data with real-time interaction data

will allow companies to adjust content timing and channel. And,
by employing personalization and dynamic content serving
capabilities, marketers can create highly personalized
experiences. It is this information that puts the punctuation
mark on the buyer personas that marketers are diligently
creating today.

To support this effort, the complexion of marketing teams,

themselves, needs to change as well. These teams need to be
comprised of talent with the creative capabilities to support
content creation and the analytical skills to leverage data to
build and refine data-driven content strategies. We are
experiencing the rise of content science and the Best-in-Class
have a pretty big head start.

For more information on this or other research topics, please visit www.aberdeen.com.

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Related Research
Marketing & Sales Performance: The Roadmap to How to Track Lead Sources to Content: A Necessary
Revenue and Its Tollgates; April 2014 Challenge; August 2015
The CMO Dilemma: Bridging the Gap Between Love Tracking & Technology: Two Key to Best-in-Class
and Money; May 2015 Content Marketing; August 2015

Author: Jessie Coan, Senior Director of Content, Marketing Effectiveness and Strategy
(jessie.coan@aberdeen.com)

About Aberdeen Group

Since 1988, Aberdeen Group has published research that helps businesses worldwide improve their performance.
Our analysts derive fact-based, vendor-agnostic insights from a proprietary analytical framework, which identifies
Best-in-Class organizations from primary research conducted with industry practitioners. The resulting research
content is used by hundreds of thousands of business professionals to drive smarter decision-making and improve
business strategy. Aberdeen Group is headquartered in Boston, MA.

This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group and represents the best analysis
available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted
by Aberdeen Group and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means
without prior written consent by Aberdeen Group.

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