Content marketing is continuously occupying a more important role in professional marketing strategies. For three years now, the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) has partnered with MarketingProfs to present key trends in content marketing. The 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America is currently available, and findings indicate that content marketing is used by 90 percent of marketers.

One of the chief B2B trends in content marketing has been that spending is increasing. Content marketing expenditures are currently eating up about a third of the marketing budget, whereas such spending only took up 26 percent of the budget last year. This margin only appears to be getting wider, with more than half of respondents advising they plan to invest even more into content marketing in 2013.

Survey data also indicates that while marketers are still trying to evaluate the effectiveness of different content marketing channels, they continue to experiment with different tactics. In 2011, an average of 8 content strategies were used, but this year the average increased to 12 with social media (exclusive of blogs) coming in at the #1 spot with 87 percent usage. Last year’s trends in content marketing showed that articles were the most popular tactic, and while they no longer hold the top spot, they still boast an 83 percent adoption rate.

All tactics are gaining popularity, except magazines, which remained unchanged. According to information featured at Business 2 Community, videos, mobile content, and research reports experienced the highest rates of growth, however, marketers believe that in-person events are still the most successful channel with 67 percent perceived effectiveness.

One of this year’s trends in content marketing with regard to social media is that the popularity of LinkedIn has surpassed that of Twitter for B2B content with 83 percent to 80 percent usage respectively. Pinterest is also creeping up the ranks with over1in 4 B2B marketers admitting to its use for content placement.

Interestingly, those surveyed indicated that generating enough fresh content was a major challenge for them. If this sounds familiar, the experts at Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Services can help. Contact us today to create a plan for ongoing content that maximizes your return on investment.