88% Of UK Brands Now Have A Content Marketing Strategy

One growing trend to keep an eye on in the UK throughout 2014 will be that of content marketing, experts predict. An impressive 88% of marketers in January last year admitted to using the tactic to increase both their sales and consumer loyalty, according to a poll conducted by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and the Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA).

Native advertising and other content marketing strategies involve the creation and distribution of content that offers users a more profound relationship with a brand and can be used to drive sales. Content marketing was highlighted as a major trend in Britain in the latest “UK Key Digital Trends for 2014: Mobile Usage, Big Data and Ad-Buying Options Influencing Digital Ecosystem” report by eMarketer.

Furthermore, research from August last year revealed that the average spend on content marketing accounted for 31% of the marketing budgets among British marketers who regularly used content. Another 17% of participants in the poll said they had invested between 25% and 50% of their budgets in content marketing strategies and 11% spent between 50% and 74% of their marketing budgets on content.

In Britain last year, content marketers relied on a wide range of content strategies, with social media campaigns, website articles, blog posts and newsletters being the preferred methods, the CMI/DMA survey shows. The poll found that 60% of marketers linked their content to the trends relevant to their industry, while 57% based their content marketing efforts on the profiles of decision-makers. Finally, 55% of content marketers used company characteristics to decide what would be of interest to the recipients and just 32% said they used more personalised tactics.