Photo credit: Digital Ralph
Content marketing is a major factor propelling the growth of digital marketing and PR agencies – and many of their clients.
Over 64 percent of agencies report that they are either stable or growing, according to a new survey by content marketing company Tempesta Media. Of the 50 percent of agencies reporting outright growth, the median growth rate was 26 percent. The accelerating commitment to content marketing is an important factor building confidence.
Digital agencies and PR firms are wholeheartedly embracing content marketing as an integral part of their service offerings. Most (81 percent) already offer or plan to offer content marketing to clients this year. Of those companies growing, 90 percent offer or plan to offer content marketing services to customers. This compared to less than 50 percent for companies with declining revenues.
Captures Audience Attention
Content marketing articles capture attention longer than the few seconds that readers generally engage with a standard display or social newsfeed advertisement, according to an analysis of NewsCred data on content published on hundreds of marketer’s websites in the first quarter. Longer time spent viewing brand’s content translates to improved recall of the brand. Higher recall encourages purchase or website visits to learn more about your products.
“Content marketing is the confluence of several digital trends that have led to a focus on using website content or blogs as a primary distribution channel for brand messaging,” writes Benjy Boxer, in a Forbes article.
Advertising or marketing on social media networks entails the risk that platforms may change their rules, lose visitors or disappear entirely. Digital advertising faces new difficulties due to the spread of ad blocking apps, Boxer says. Brands can essentially become their own media companies by publishing on their own websites. Still, marketers need to include other strategies, such as paid advertising and email marketing to gain new audiences.
Well-researched and in-depth content marketing articles seem to outperform based on average engagement time and engagement rate. “This might indicate the value of capturing audience attention with high-quality journalism, rather than just your typical marketing blog content,” Boxer says.
The Question of PR Measurement
While most PR teams recognize the benefits of content marketing, their measurement activities often falls short.
Although most (77%) of PR and marketing professionals said they measure their PR and content marketing efforts, most rely on inadequate metrics, according to a Marketwired survey. They named engagement (66%), reach (66%) and website analytics (52%) as their most common metrics. Click-through rates (CTRs), lead-generation, brand awareness and influence were close runners-up.
While metrics such as engagement and reach are not completely without value, they do not tie PR efforts to the company bottom line. As a result, PR has little opportunity to take any credit for a sale, the ultimate metric, writes PR measurement expert Katie Paine, CEO of Paine Publishing, in her blog post, The #1 Reason Why PR Gets No Respect: Stupid Metrics.
Bottom Line: Content marketing clearly increases brand recall, strengthens relationships with consumers, and leads to increased customer loyalty. Content marketing is fueling growth of PR agencies that recognize its benefits. However, many if not most PR pros rely on faulty metrics that don’t help them link their content marketing efforts to key business objectives.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
