Content Marketing Budget Analysis for 2022

BY Adam Ambro
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Strategically crafting and distributing relevant material for a client is key when it comes to content marketing. As is building and retaining an audience. That’s been more difficult the last 18 months as the COVID-​19 pandemic altered nearly every aspect of the media industry. Companies had to pivot quickly to stay competitive and that has led to a boom for the content marketing side of the industry. The 12th annual study from the Content Marketing Institute has shown that clients’ content marketing budgets are set to grow rather large in the coming year.

How large will content marketing budgets grow?

According to CMI, 77% reported that their organization have a content marketing strategy, and a majority reported the pandemic drastically changed B2B’s content marketing strategies.

  • 36% — Say they will take a moderately different approach
  • 22% — Slightly different
  • 15% — Very different

Without in-​person events and face-​to-​face selling, many who had previously paid little attention to content marketing suddenly became aware of its power,” wrote CMI. “More content marketers got a seat at the table and helped keep many businesses on their audiences’ radar. Some discovered new audiences altogether.”

Here are the numbers in terms of how B2B content marketing budgets will change in 2022 compared to 2021:

  • 46% — expect an increase of 1% — 9%
  • 24% — stay the same
  • 20% — expect an increase of more than 9%
  • 7% — unsure

Where will the money be spent?

The areas in which respondents said they expected content marketing budgets to be invested in the next year are:

  • 69% — Video
  • 61% — Events (digital, in-​person, hybrid)
  • 57% — Owned-​media assets
  • 55% — Paid media

Knowing the formats that marketers plan to invest in, along with the expected changes in the size of content marketing budgets, gives you a golden opportunity to make your pitch for 2022. Advertisers have more incentive than ever to spend on content marketing because they’ve now had almost two years to figure it out.

One tool that will help you with your content marketing pitch strategies is AdMall’s Digital Audit, powered by SalesFuel. The audit will show you a company’s current content marketing summary, which will help focus your sales pitch. Knowing where a company can improve here, before your first sales meeting, will show you’ve done your homework and proves you're credible and trustworthy.

More budget = more work

So, the good news is that content marketing budgets are booming heading into the new year, there is a wealth of opportunity for your clients to spend. The thing to be aware of when promising these flashy campaigns, however, is the work may grow but the team size won't. With that constraint in mind, help your clients get the most mileage out of their content.

67% of marketers say their team was asked to do more with the same resources,” wrote CMI. “Whether they were asked to do more or not, content marketing team sizes didn’t grow. Both last year and this year, only 10% of respondents had six or more on their content marketing teams while 58% this year and 57% last year had only one or no full-​time person dedicated to content marketing.”

Another thing to keep in mind for any content marketing campaign, moving forward, is empathy. Audiences like being treated as real people, and CMI received many responses from the surveyed B2B advertisers that that said this was a key component for them. While it’s great that content marketing budgets are rising and the new year looks bright, it’s more important than ever to not take consumers for granted. Ensure you’re presenting this aspect to your clients when approaching them about a new campaign.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels


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