The Current

CONTENTECOSYSTEM

We interviewed 300 in-house marketers, agencies, and freelance creatives to see different opportunities

within the content marketing industry.

CONTENT MARKETING FROM AN AGENCY PERSPECTIVE

84% of agencies said they expect content to become more important

5% thought their clients were very knowledgeable

58% of agency representatives thought their clients knew nothing about content marketing

Only 10% said they created more than 50

pieces of content per month for their clients

82% said they create an average

of 1-10 pieces of content per month

70% of agencies said they produce web copy

30% of agencies said they create static infographics

45% creates interactive media or videos

16% said they create illustrations

92% said they produce blog posts

WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE HARDEST OBSTACLES FACINGAGENCIES WHEN CREATING CONTENT FOR CLIENTS:

15% said scaling production

33% said their biggest challenge was understanding and matching client expectations

WHAT COMPANY EMPLOYEES THINKABOUT CONTENT MARKETING

74% of respondents said their companies had 1-4 content marketing employees on staff and 17% said they had more than 10

39% of survey respondents thought their efforts weren't very effective or weren't effective at all

35% of companies said they wanted better search rankings and increased visibility

43% said they wanted increased sales and revenue

13% said they wanted higher volumes of repeat traffic and a loyal community

$

26% OF COMPANIES SPENT LESS THAN $5,000 ON CONTENT MARKETING ANNUALLY

22% SPENT BETWEEN $5,000-$15,000

0

$3,000

$6,000

$9,000

$12,000

$15,000

91% of companies said they create blog posts in-house while...

...50% said they create their own product descriptions

60% said content marketing was smaller

than other channels

43% of respondents said they publish content once per week

35% said they publish content daily

Only 13% of respondents said they published content multiple times per day

65% of respondents said they want to publish more

22% feel like they publish the perfect amount

HOW CREATIVES AND FREELANCERS VIEW THE INDUSTRY

24% of respondents have more than 10 years of experience as freelancers

23% have spent three to five years in the field

78% of respondents have at least a 4-year college degree

28% have a master's degree or above

64% OF FREELANCE CREATIVES WORK FULL TIME

13% have a high school diploma or GED

60% OF RESPONDENTS HAVE A PERSONAL BLOG OR WEBSITE

14% of freelancers said they work more than 40 hours per week

40% said they work between 21-40 hours per week

67% of respondents said they made less than $20,000 as a freelancer in 2015

6% said they earned more than $90,000 last year

$

4% SAID THEY CREATED STATIC INFOGRAPHICS AND OTHER VISUAL CONTENT

94% OF RESPONDENTS SAID THEY PRODUCE WRITTEN CONTENT

12% work for $0.03/word or less

27% said their standard rate was $0.04-$0.07/word

16% work for a range of $0.07-$0.12/word 25% of respondents

were dissatisfied with their pay rates

32% were happy with what they earned on a per/word basis

53% of writers said attribution affected the time and effort of their work at least moderately

47% of freelance creatives said they rarely or never receive attribution or bylines for their work

www.copypress.com