Webinar Content Marketing Software Landscape: Marketer Needs & Vendor Solutions

Rebecca Lieb, Industry Analyst Jessica Groopman, Sr. Researcher

June 4, 2014

Growing channel and media complexity + increasing adoption

of content marketing

This has created a complex, disparate content marketing

software ecosystem

Agenda · Welcome · Trends Driving Market Complexity · Media Convergence is Driving Content Stack

Evolution · Technology Decisions Must Begin with Use

Cases · Content Tool Best Practices · The Vendor Landscape

Organizations lack a cohesive, coherent, strategic approach to content. of marketers surveyed lack a consistent or integrated content strategy.

70%

Trends driving market complexity

· Content creation pressure · Lack of strategy begets tool proliferation · Lack of enterprise integration · Misaligned buyer needs vs. planned

investments

Buyers’ Needs Don’t Match Planned Investments

Tangled and Emerging Vendor Landscape adds to the complexity

•  Solution proliferation •  The landscape is bifurcated •  Content marketing evolution is driving

consolidation

As marketer needs evolve over time, so will solutions sets. "

The key is not more or better point solutions but how they come together. "

Media Convergence is Driving Content Stack Evolution

Media Convergence Drives Content Stack Evolution

By 2016, there will be “content stack” offerings in the marketplace — end-to-end solutions akin to ad stacks.

Currently, no single vendor has an end-to-end solution. Eventually, a few will partner, merge, acquire, and/or collaborate to create a total solution.

Technology Decisions Must Begin with Use Cases

Altimeter recommends taking the following 3 steps to determine your content marketing tool stack: 1.  Determine your content marketing use

cases. 2.  Plan for integration and evolution. 3.  Identify and prioritize vendors based on

those use cases.

Altimeter recommends taking the following 3 steps to determine your content marketing tool stack: 1.  Determine your content marketing use

cases. 2.  Plan for integration and evolution. 3.  Identify and prioritize vendors based on

those use cases.

Three Common Content Marketing Scenarios Drive Tool Selection

Feed the Beast þ Is your organization struggling to keep up with the unrelenting demands of regularly creating quality content for one or more channels? •  This scenario is about mastering the foundational use

cases in content marketing: efficiently creating and collecting content at scale

Refine þ Is your organization struggling to apply process to creation and production? •  In this scenario, roles expand, intelligence &

optimization increase: •  Analytics, audits, channels, audience, personas, repurposing,

optimization, etc.

Govern þ Does your organization need to formalize and communicate content strategy throughout the enterprise? •  This scenario is characterized by scale, and the ability

to create experiential, cross-channel, transmedia content while ensuring compliance

Determine Content Marketing Use Cases & Sub-categories

Gather Cross-Functional Requirements

Solicit stakeholders’ and end user requirements, input, collaboration •  Workshops •  Workflow requirements •  Permissions •  Employee empowerment & adoption

“We did a series of workshops with the content creators and manipulators… So much came down to workflow, particularly around transparency and the ability to understand what’s happening with content at any given point.”

-- Meg Walsh, Senior Director of Digital Strategy & Distribution at Marriott International

Altimeter recommends taking the following 3 steps to determine your content marketing tool stack: 1.  Determine your content marketing use

cases. 2.  Plan for integration and evolution. 3.  Identify and prioritize vendors based on

those use cases.

10% of marketers say their content marketing technologies are “fully integrated across people, processes, and platforms.”

Integration needs are essential, and tripartite:   1.  Integrations with systems. This includes legacy and

often future platforms, such as data and analytics, CRM, and inbound marketing.

2.  Integration with the organization, such as internal communications, corporate intelligence and internal networks.  

3.  Integration with processes, including workflow and organizational structure. This may include taking outside partners and/or agencies into account

8.81 8.76

7.87 7.35

6.97 6.49

6 5.9

5.56 5.38

4.56 4.34

0 2 4 6 8 10

Business communications (e.g. telecom, ESN) E-commerce solution

Public data integration Customer support solution

Advertising/Native advertising Email markteting solution

Business intelligence CRM solution

Community platform Brand monitoring solution

Web analytics Marketing automation

Marketers’ top ranked content marketing software integrations

Q. Which of these would be most valuable when integrated with content marketing solutions? Which would add the most value to content marketing strategy? (Forced Rank) Source: Altimeter Group Content Marketing Survey 2014, Base: n=80 marketers

of the content marketers we surveyed report that the lack of inter-departmental coordination is leading to disparate tools used.

40%

Altimeter recommends taking the following 3 steps to determine your content marketing tool stack: 1.  Determine your content marketing use

cases. 2.  Plan for integration and evolution. 3.  Identify and prioritize vendors based on

those use cases.

“You can’t retrofit activities to the tool; you have to align the tool with your activities.”

--Kristina Halvorson, CEO & founder of Braintraffic

How to Identify & Prioritize Key Criteria ü  Understand priority use cases & sub-

categories

ü  Identify priority integration needs (immediate and long-term)

ü  Map these needs in a checklist to help prioritize your most important buying criteria

Content Marketing

Needs Checklist

How to Prioritize Vendors

ü  Now assess which vendors satisfy the requirements of priority use cases

ü  Shortlist 3-5 vendors ü  Consider full suite vs. multiple point

solutions ü  Leverage Altimeter Group’s Vendor Use

Case Matrix to aid

Individual Vendor

Capabilities

Content Tool Best Practices

Content Tool Best Practices

· Train staff · Avoid redundancies · Build for speed · Consider IT support (or lack thereof) · Scale towards the future

I. Train staff ·  Educate staff on content strategy, and train to

leverage tools

of the marketers we surveyed say employees are formally trained and empowered to publish

on behalf of the brand.

24%

II. Avoid redundancies ·  Eliminate redundant toolsets with overlapping

secondary or tertiary features

·  Integration helps drive “one version of the truth” vs. “multiple realities that don’t align when viewed in aggregate.”

III. Build for speed · Real-time Marketing requirements require speedy

deployment · Rapid personalization, delivery, and the ability to build

content based on buzz are primary considerations

•  Speedy implementation, set-up, training, and ease of use are key to adoption

IV. Consider IT support (or lack thereof) · Assess the level of support needed for software

implementation and ongoing support

· Many solutions today bypass IT for day-to-day publishing needs

V. Scale towards the future · Monitor emerging technologies and potential

integration needs · Mobile · Real-time marketing · Localization in international markets · Native advertising · Sensors, beacons, etc.

· Adopt a test and learn approach

Vendor Landscape

Investment & Acquisition Have Not Yet Peaked

Bigger doesn’t mean better– and vice versa

Content Marketing Vendors Most Frequently Cited as Competitive

Altimeter Group asked all Content Marketing Vendors surveyed to list their top three competitors. These 10 vendors received the highest number of mentions. The size of the cloud correlates with the total number of mentions for that vendor. Source: Altimeter Group Content Marketing Survey Q2 2014 Base: n=80

Thank You

Disclaimer: Although the information and data used in this report have been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty eXpressed or implied is made regarding the completeness, accuracy, adequacy or use of the information. The authors and contributors of the information and data shall have no liability for errors or omissions contained herein or for interpretations thereof. Reference herein to any specific product or vendor by trade name, trademark or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the authors or contributors and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. The opinions eXpressed herein are subject to change without notice.

Altimeter Group provides research and advisory for companies challenged by business disruptions, enabling them to pursue new opportunities and business models.

Jessica Groopman Senior Researcher @jessgroopman

Rebecca Lieb Industry Analyst @lieblink

67% 67% 60%

53% 48% 46% 46%

35%

25% 25% 25% 34%

26%

38% 29%

22% 24% 21%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Audience & Target

Analytics Creation Distribution Curation & Aggregation

Workflow Optimization Legal Integration

Marketer Needs vs. Investments by Use Case

Needs Investments

Figure 1: Marketer Needs Don’t Align with Investment Priorities

Source: Content Marketing Software Landscape: Marketer Needs & Vendor Solutions, Altimeter Group (May 13, 2014) Data: Altimeter Group Content Marketing Survey Q2 2014 Base: n=80 Content Marketers