Digital and Web Now Central to Content Marketing

APRIL 29, 2010

Phoenix—Products like Apple's newly released iPad are changing how consumers engage with content, and thus are changing the types of content created by companies like McMurry, one of the largest marketing communications firms in the U.S. and a global leader in content marketing that expects about 15 percent of its revenue this year to come from the digital sphere.

"Corporate marketers are realizing they can become the media, and this represents a huge growth opportunity for firms like ours that have specialized in content marketing for decades,” says CEO Chris McMurry. "It's no longer a discussion about a branded magazine or newsletter. It's about multichannel content marketing campaigns.”

Recent data from ContentWise, which has served as the industry's leading source on trends since 1999, reinforces the thinking. This past year, annual research explored multimedia use and found that the average content marketing spend per company has nearly doubled when video, online, mobile and other content forms are included.

In fact, the average company in the U.S. is spending $916,054 on printed content marketing, mainly magazines and newsletters. When nonprint forms of content marketing are included, the average spend rises to $1,813,536, which is about 32% of the average marketing budget.

The most popular nonprint forms of content marketing are website content (77% of companies), e-mail newsletters (37%) and RSS feeds (38%). In terms of growth areas, 66% and 54% of corporate marketers say they plan to spend more on video and mobile in the next year, making those the segments likely to expand most rapidly.

Numerous projects led by McMurry serve as stellar examples of the content marketing trend. Aon, CBS Television, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., HP, Health Management Associates, Samsung and others have engaged McMurry for content marketing campaigns and projects that include online articles and tools, mobile device apps, wireless application protocols (WAPs), websites and microsites, digital publications, online and place-based video, social media, Internet advertising and gaming, and a litany of other new media solutions.