4 key trends from our annual survey on healthcare B2B technology content marketing

60% of healthcare B2B tech content marketers are focusing on increasing thought leadership content.

This is one of the several findings from our first survey focused on what is working in content marketing for healthcare and the outlook for 2017.

We found that a majority of respondents are increasing their budget for content marketing this year. This increase indicates the importance of content marketing for their business. However, the survey found that B2B tech marketers are finding it difficult to meet their content goals on quality and quantity. We found that the percentage of the total marketing budget dedicated to content marketing is independent of the size of an organization.

Other key trends include:

Content is the new salesperson
The ultimate goal of a majority of respondents in content marketing is to generate leads. They are also using content marketing to nurture these leads along the buying cycle and convert them into customers. Leads generated are the primary measure of success for their content marketing initiatives.

Demand for thought leadership content
Organizations want to establish thought leadership in their chosen segment of the healthcare industry with content. For achieving this, they are willing to spend more and seek outside help with content development. They agree that quality and consistency is paramount for the success of their thought leadership initiatives.

Greater focus on organic promotion
Our survey found that healthcare B2B tech marketers are not spending much on paid promotions. This could indicate a lack of conviction on the effectiveness of paid promotions and a greater reliance on the organic promotion of content. A trend toward gradual adoption of paid promotion is visible among some organizations. Most organizations rely on email campaigns and the company website for gaining visibility with clients.

Content scalability is a challenge
For most healthcare IT organizations, content scalability is a challenge as they struggle to keep pace with growing need for content. A majority of content marketing teams are small in size, with some organizations having no one dedicated to content marketing. For most firms, the content strategy seems to be focused on fulfilling near-term pipeline growth and lead generation.

To get more details and facts about what content marketing in healthcare is going to be like this year, read our report on Content marketing and the battle for attention.