Research finds Aussies adopt content marketing more than North America and the UK – 61% of OZ marketers to increase budget over next 12 mths

A new study from the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) and the US-based Content Marketing Institute (CMI) shows that 96% of Australian marketers are using content marketing to reach out to customers, with businesses using 12 individual tactics on average.

The full report can be found here. It will be presented at Content Marketing World Sydney, 4-6, March 2013. To register, click here.

Content Marketing in Australia: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends is the first Australian study that allows us to benchmark Australian marketers against their North American and UK counterparts.

According to the survey, Australian companies allocate 25% of their total marketing budget to content marketing, with 61% planning to increase that amount over the next 12 months – more than their North American peers who, in another recent CMI study, said they will increase their content marketing budgets by 54%.

The study found the most popular content marketing tactics in Australia are articles on a company’s website (88%), social media (excluding blogs) (83%), e-newsletters (82%) and in-person events (74%).

Only 29% of Australian marketers say their content is effective

Says Joe Pulizzi (pictured), founder and executive director of Content Marketing Institute and co-author of Managing Content Marketing: “While Australian marketers have widely adopted content marketing, only 29% believe their content marketing is ‘very effective’ or ‘effective’. However, Australian businesses are continuing to invest in content marketing, with the majority planning to increase their spend in the coming year.”

Says Jodie Sangster, ADMA CEO: “Australians have embraced content marketing but we have realised it requires a new skillset and change in mindset. It is the merging of marketing, journalism and PR. They need to think more like journalists and publishers rather than marketers because content marketing is about providing valuable information rather than selling. Often there’s a tendency to slip back into delivering selling messages.”

In comparison, 39% of UK marketers and 37% of North American marketers believe their content marketing is effective.

Australian content marketers also use an average of four social media platforms to distribute content, with the most popular channels being Facebook (71%), Twitter (67%), and LinkedIn (67%).

Says Sangster: “The research clearly shows that content marketing is an important component of data-driven marketing. Even though content marketing has been around for a while, marketers are just starting to understand the characteristics of effective content marketing that makes it compelling for the consumer.”

Producing enough content as well as engaging content, were universal challenges for Australian, UK and North American marketers alike. Australian marketers are also slightly more challenged by a lack of buy-in/vision (13%) from the top than their North American (8%) and UK (7%) peers.

A total of 216 marketers in Australia from diverse industries and a range of company sizes were surveyed between August 2012 and January 2013.