Content Vaults to No. 1 Marketing Priority for 2013

Social media excitement wanes, as content marketing gains ground

Digital marketers have quickly seized on the importance of channeling resources to content marketing, according to the “Quarterly Intelligence Briefing: Digital Trends for 2013,” report from Econsultancy and Adobe.

The report, which surveyed client-side marketers worldwide, found that content marketing had climbed to the top of the list in terms of importance, named as a top priority for 2013 by 39% of respondents. That compared with 29% in 2012. The other area to see a significant year-over-year jump was conversion rate optimization, which was named as a priority by 39% of respondents, compared with 34% the previous year.

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At the same time, marketers were placing less importance on social media analytics, named as important by only 9% of marketers this year, compared with 19% a year ago. Still, social media engagement remains a high priority among marketers, with a solid 38% emphasizing this digital marketing tactic, a similar percentage as in 2012. This may be a sign that companies understand social media’s potential value in engaging customers and generating leads, but are having trouble developing effective methods of measuring return on investment.
It seems that as the newness of social media wears off, so too does marketer enthusiasm for the practice. The report found that 35% of respondents thought social media presented one of the most exciting digital opportunities in 2013, a significant drop from the 54% who said the same in 2012. But excitement levels for social media were still high, and trailed only one other category: mobile optimization, which was named by 43% of respondents.