The Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs just released the 2016 B2B Content Marketing study with the catchy title “2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America.”  Its findings are worth talking about.

This is the sixth annual study that the two groups have done together. They had more than 3,700 respondents from all over the globe (so I am guessing we should watch for the worldwide results soon) and over 1,500 from North America.

Here are some of the key takeaways that I’d like to delve into:
– 88 percent of respondents said their organization uses content marketing.
– 76 percent said they plan on producing more content in 2016. 
– 72 percent said creating engaging content was their top priority for 2016.
– Respondents said they spent between 28 and 46 percent of their marketing budget on content marketing.
– 55 percent said they do not know what content marketing success or effectiveness looks like.

Clearly, the respondents are focusing on content marketing to drive lead generation and sales because they also said:
Lead generation (85 percent) and sales (84 percent) are among their most important goals for 2016.

And here’s one that makes me shake my head:
– 32 percent of respondents said their organization has a content marketing strategy.

I’m sorry – what?

Of course, that statement puts the following stat in perspective:

– 30 percent said their organization is effective at content marketing.

Well, no kidding. How can marketing professionals say that they’re going to spend more money, time and effort and expect more from a marketing strategy that they can’t measure, don’t think they’re good at nor do they have a plan on how to do it? I wish this revelation was a shock to me, but it’s not.

Maybe it’s the more conversational nature or the fact that anyone can update a Facebook page or share a link on LinkedIn, but there seems to be this attitude of “it’s just content, so why have a plan?” The truth is, that’s hardly the definition of content marketing.  But even if you’re just doing the basics – some social media, a regular e-newsletter and some follow-up — it’s worthy of an orchestrated effort.

Keep in mind, marketers are expecting it to drive leads and sales – their two most important goals — and they’re spending a quarter to almost half of your budget on it. Why in the world would you leave all of that to chance?

For content marketing to actually be effective, you need to have a clear understanding of your own brand and what makes you different from the other guys. 

You need to have pinpointed your audience (and you should be fishing in a much smaller pond than you think you should) so your content is always right on target for them.  

And that’s just the table stakes. Once you know who is going to participate in the conversation on both ends and what would make for a good conversation, you need to figure out how, when and what. 

How are you going to connect with that small pond of prospects, when and how often will you reach out and, of course, what will be so helpful and interesting to them that they’ll actually look forward to hearing from you?

But even that is not enough. Once you’ve laid it all out, you have to design the process and systems that will help you get it done. If you leave it to chance or just a calendar notation, it won’t happen. 

If you recognize yourself in the stats from this new report, you have time to make 2016’s results come out a little better. It’s not enough to think it’s important or to decide to do more. 

You need a plan.