Which Factors Are Most Important For Content-Led Campaigns? European Marketers Weigh In

More than three-quarters (78%) of international advertisers, agency strategists, consultants and media owners (the vast majority of whom are based in Europe) believe that content-led campaigns will continue to grow in the next two years, according to the latest World Media Awards Research Report [pdf].

The top 5 most important factors for advertisers, media agencies and media owners as a whole are: the story, authenticity, creative execution, media partner and client KPIs. These areas also align with CMO priorities for driving growth through brand development and storytelling.

When the list is narrowed down to only advertisers, the most important factors remain the same as the entire sample of respondents for the top 3. However, advertisers care more than the overall sample about channel and budget, while placing less of an emphasis on their choice of media partner and on KPIs.

Short-Form Video Increases in Popularity

Roughly 7 in 10 participants in the WMA survey said they are likely to use more short-form video in the next 12 months, and 35.3% said they would use more long-form video. Other content types that respondents believed they are likely to use in the next year are editorial style content (57.9%), social media posts (55.7%), infographics (45.5%), podcasts (41.5%) and events (38.0%).

In the US, video is also becoming more important. Some 70% of B2C marketers say their use of visual content such as video, live streaming and webinars increased between 2017 and 2018.

What Are the KPIs for Content Campaigns? Why Do They Fail?

When respondents were asked what the main KPI was for their most recent campaigns, one-quarter identified “increase brand awareness.” Another one-quarter said that shifting brand perception was their content campaign’s KPI. Beyond those top two responses were time spent with content (20.5%), click through to client/brand site (14.6%) and purchase/intent (6.4%).

Finally, what are the reasons why campaigns fail to deliver on those KPIs? For advertisers, their top reason for a campaign failing is “poor creative” (31.8%). Agencies and media brands, though, pointed to “poor strategy” as their number one reason for campaigns not delivering.

The full report is available here.

About the Data: WMG’s report is comprised of responses from 176 individuals from advertising agencies, media agencies and media owners. Respondents were from around the globe with 85.7% being from Europe.