The Future of Content

A recent study released by the Meltwater Group, the Future of Content, shows the very realistic state of digital media strategies for most businesses around the world. The research shows companies are learning ‘on-the-job’ how best to create and distribute content, and effectively connect with audiences. Furthermore, those emerging in a social media role aren’t necessarily of a traditional marketing or advertising background, but those with enthusiasm and an appetite for new technology. This accounts for 52% of those in a social media position.

Other key takeaways I found valuable:

• 78% consider content marketing to be important to their organization, although only 49% have a formal strategy
• 35% have seen their budgets for social media rise in the last 12 months
• 84% consider it important to monitor what is being said online about their company, yet only 1 in 5 companies have invested in tools to do this
• The three most popular content marketing channels are e-newsletters (62%), print magazines (61%) and social media (49%)
• 52% see social media as integral to their marketing efforts and 59% see it as an opportunity for marketing departments, rather than a threat
• At a corporate level, companies are most likely to be using Facebook (68%), followed by Twitter (55%), LinkedIn (43%) and YouTube (42%)
• The biggest content marketing challenges are producing interesting (23%) or new / different (21%) content – budget is only an issue for 18%
• 40% of organizations expect their marketing budgets to go up in 2011 with an average increase of 1.4% forecast
• 79% of respondents consider that social media is “owned” by the marketing department – with an average of six people having some social media responsibility

The full report is available here.