BlogSocial Media Marketing | Content Marketing

CMO’s! What Percentage of Marketing Budget Are You Spending on Content Creation?

By Rajesh Jhamb
September 12, 2017

So, have you thought it out and mulled it over as to how much of your marketing budget should be kept aside solely for content creation marketing? If you believe you are a small or a mid-sized business, you may want to answer in the affirmative and say – quite a considerable amount. A survey steered by GetResponse showed that out of 10 small and midsized businesses, seven wholeheartedly agreed that their digital marketing budgets were sure to be on the rise, around 30% mentioned that they expected their budgets to scale up significantly. While just 28 percent maintained that they would go for status quo, only 2 percent are looking at reducing their content creation marketing budgets. As content marketing grows unhindered and gains popularity with each enhanced strategy, more business leaders are committing at least a chunk of their marketing budget to the conception, delivery and monitoring of custom content. Another survey that catered to almost 300 marketing leaders all over U.K. and the U.S showcased how the organizations are striving to enhance both their short-term as well as long-term goals with their increased spending in digital marketing. But what are the reasons for the unprecedented growth in content creation marketing? There are several that need to be put forth:

The cost is far lesser than most traditional marketing methods.
Small and mid-sized companies can use their capabilities better and more effectively on a digital canvas. With the right SEO and SEM strategies, the territory could be owned quite well.
The implementation is quicker and can take shape in just minutes.
Changes can be made quickly. Ads that are not up to the mark or not working too well can be changed with immediate effect and feedback can also be garnered very quickly.
Measures like pay-per-click ads and search engine marketing are quantifiable and measurable. They present themselves in a simple way and the viewers’ actions can be tracked easily.
Content creation technologies coupled with automation are bringing together the most efficacious marketing strategies to deliver better outcomes.

#1. The muscle power of Content Creation Marketing One look at the illustration below and the truth reveals itself! The powers that be spent significantly more on the organizations’ websites, digital advertising and e-commerce than on other traditional media such as TV, radio and print advertising. The spends on the content marketing services pointedly show that these investments have become top of mind priorities. #2. The largest chunk is reserved for the websites Around 9% of their marketing budgets are devotedly spent on websites, according to a survey. When it came to media and entertainment companies, the spending went up to almost 14%. With the intent of engaging the user, websites are being reinvented and refurbished to make sure that the content is appealing, responsive and even customized to make an impact and get the user to visit them again. #3. Advertising is on the way up Unending debates about blocking of ads did not deter a lot of marketers from increasing the spends on digital advertising. Almost 65% of CMOs mentioned that they intended to increase their spends on advertising. They truly believe that there is a decline of organic social and a visible rise in paid social. Also, there is a steady shift of offline media spending leading to digital advertising. The video is also very high on importance, where digital advertising is concerned. #4. Digital commerce is pivotal The spends on digital commerce have reached up to 8% of the total budgets. With 9% spends for B2C marketing leaders, it was a tad higher than B2B marketers which stood at 7%. With an eye on the end user and the desire to connect directly with the consumer, digital spending lends itself to enhancing customer insights and leads to improved brand loyalty. That brings us to the next important question – which social media needs the most attention? Even if studies do not present any direct answers or valuations, there are some significant empirical trends that need to be looked at.

Facebook was reigning and will continue to reign supreme with almost 90% of social media users active on this platform.
Instagram from 32% penetration might almost reach 47% by 2020.
Pinterest along with Twitter might go up to 33% by 2020.
There is an expected increase of about 75% in Google Adwords in the coming year.
Snapchat, which is the new kid on the block also expects to see a rise in investments in the year ahead.
Marketers can make their choices basis the data presented or predicted and go for Facebook and Instagram for their marketing needs.

So how do the CMOS or marketing leaders decide the marketing budgets Digging deeper into a survey revealed some strategic factors that could help with deciding the marketing budgets and its allocation to various aspects. #1. Marketing is the function that leads the way As a function, marketing is looked at to lead revenue growth. This is the scenario with 38.4 percent of companies, as per the CMO Survey. The aforesaid companies allocate larger marketing budgets as compared to their peers or competitors. This also leads to the marketing function’s capacity to look at corporate strategy differently and immensely improve the marketing budgets. #2. Social media and its performance Marketers were questioned about the efficacy of social media’s contribution to their company. And the answer that came about was that getting a return on social media investments led to larger marketing budgets. #3. Content marketing strategy Content creation’s more strategic, customer-driven focus helps in ensuring that the undertakings are not just short-term or tactical. With the given budgets and content creation tools, acquisition and retention of the most valuable customers for the long run can be achieved. And what has the allocation of the budgets been like over the years? A report from Forrester Research highlights how the marketing spends have been taken care of be it offline or online and across various digital channels.

From an average of around 30% of their marketing budget to online, most firms are looking at growing to 35% by 2019
Search engine marketing will get a huge chunk of online spends with the second spot being accorded to online display (online videos, banner ads, remarketing, retargeting etc.)
Investments in social media will not ebb in a hurry, but will just denote about 15% of the total online spend
Mobile marketing is huge in its own right and is hardly tracked in the prediction but it falls in the consideration set across all channels

All in all, it can be safely concluded that while saving money is paramount and of immense importance, the significance of making money cannot be lost either. Finding the right balance will lead to happy marketers and happier balance sheets. When it is more than evident that there are hordes of people clicking away to buy a product, it’s foolhardy to argue that the medium does not require the adequate attention it deserves.

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BlogDigital Marketing / Inbound Marketing

Guide to #INBOUND â€˜18: For First Time Attendees

By Ritesh Singh
September 11, 2017

So it's that time of the year again, when the stage is set for the grandest celebration of the inbound movement that is INBOUND, organized by HubSpot. This event is one of its kind, since it aims to celebrate the humane side of business, and witnesses the gathering of marketing and sales professionals from every industry imaginable in every corner of the world. The highlights of this event are that attendees can get useful insights and learn valuable hands-on lessons beyond their regular inbound strategies through keynote sessions, breakout sessions, and tons of networking opportunities. Social media has started to get flooded with various posts related to the event, and a strong buzz is created around it. You may have decided to attend the event for the first time and have an agenda ready for it, but there are still a few pointers which you need to keep in mind before attending the event.

Schedule a time to meet with #ARM Worldwide at INBOUND 2018

Here are a few useful tips which you can use if you are a first-time attendee of the event, which will be helpful if you wish to make the most out of your experience:

#1. Plan Your Schedule in Advance But Expect to Change It

INBOUND has a lot of sessions in store for its attendees, such as keynote sessions, breakout sessions, spotlight sessions and so on by a number of eminent speakers from different disciplines. You cannot attend the sessions of all the speakers since you would have a tight schedule. Hence, it is very important for you to have your agenda in place beforehand for the event. Make sure to identify the goals you need to achieve, and choose the sessions of the speakers who can give you actionable insights to achieve these targets and scale up your business. Since the schedule for the sessions is going to remain very tight and exhausting, it is possible that you may miss out on some of your planned sessions, or attend those which you didn’t plan for in the first place. Hence, you should be mentally prepared for any last-minute changes in your agenda.

#2. Attend Club INBOUND and Make Most Out of The Networking Sessions

INBOUND witnessed around 19,000+ attendees in the previous year, and the number is only going to increase this year. It provides one of the finest platforms for corporate professionals from every discipline to develop all the connections that they need to grow and nurture their business. As much as the event is about hard work and taking back valuable insights, it is also about partying and having fun. Club INBOUND organizes a lot of events such as Happy Hours, INBOUND Rocks and various parties throughout the Seaport which let the attendees lounge and refuel, apart from providing them with tons of networking.

#3. Strategize Your Work For Your Time Away

During the time away from your office, you should proactively plan your work in this absence and form a basic layout of how your projects, responsibilities or quotas will be managed in your office. This will help you take your mind away from your work and direct your focus on making the maximum utilization out of these sessions and take as many notes as possible. Doing so will give you a clear headspace about what your goals are, and what actionable tactics you can use to implement them.

#4. Be More “Present” at the Moment, and Less Active on Social Media

INBOUND is one of the largest conferences for marketing and sales professionals, which has seen many eminent personalities from diverse fields in the past, and this time is no exception to this unspoken rule. So, there will be a lot of sessions from where you can gain knowledge and take inspiration from. Hence, you should make the most out of this opportunity and take as many notes as possible so that you can have some form of an actionable strategy which you can apply straight away to implement your goals. You should always focus on taking notes and growing your network connections, rather than being active on social media and posting bite-sized updates about the event all the time. AND LAST….BUT NOT THE LEAST

#5. Stay Hydrated and Active, and Be Ready For All the Action

INBOUND ‘18 would no doubt be a hectic event, with so many activities and events lined up in a jam-packed schedule of two days. There would be many keynote speakers, over 250 breakout sessions, spotlight sessions, and many networking and socializing events at Club INBOUND. With such a tight schedule and so much to do as well, attendees get exhausted and miss out on many crucial aspects of the event. Hence, a great tip for first-time attendees would be always to be active, keep themselves hydrated, and take sufficient rest so that they can gain maximum knowledge and make the most out of the event. By following these tips, you can make the most out of your first-time visit to the event and gain the maximum insight to think differently from your regular inbound routine.

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