IMN recently surveyed marketing professionals across different industries to get a clear picture of how they viewed content marketing programs, and subsequently, measured its effectiveness. While the vast majority of respondents understand the value of a content marketing program, have a solid grasp on what the goals of the program should be, and are engaged in content marketing efforts, many are having serious challenges in executing a content marketing program at a very basic level. Internal resource constraints, finding and sourcing relevant content, making sure content passes regulatory compliance, and hiring good content writers were the primary challenges respondents faced when implementing a content marketing strategy.

Content marketing program drivers

Customer and prospect engagement and awareness are two of the top goals for content marketing programs. Combined, these two responses represented the top goal of 51 percent of survey respondents. Customer loyalty, increased leads, increased revenue, and thought leadership are also program drivers. While 82 percent of respondents were either directly or indirectly involved in their content marketing strategy, 29 percent did not feel they had a solid understanding of what content marketing could accomplish in terms of customer engagement.

To achieve any of these program goals, organizations need to map the type of content to the goal. For example, if customer and prospect engagement is a top goal, thinking about the top five questions a prospect might ask and mapping the content to those areas would be a sound strategy.

READ MORE: How to create a stellar content marketing program – iMediaConnection.com.