Marketers rely on these formats for content marketing

Offering content with added value is becoming increasingly difficult. In the "Content Marketing Report Europe 2016" by HubSpot and Smart Insights, more than 700 European marketers named content marketing the most commercially successful marketing tool for lead acquisition and revenue growth. That's why two-thirds of respondents want to further increase their content production in 2016 and are upgrading with additional staff (33 % through new hires, 29 % through agency engagements).Blogging is the most effective content marketing toolAmong the various content formats, the study participants believe that blogging (75 %) generates the most response, followed by digital newsletters or online magazines (66 %) and infographics (60 %). Marketers prefer to promote their content organically via search engine optimization (51 %) and via social media channels (Facebook 48 %, Twitter 39 %, LinkedIn 34 %).However, although content marketing has become a central topic for marketers, 72 % rate their own use as "irregular," "too simplistic" or "limited." Almost half are also not pursuing a concrete strategy. This could be fatal, because amid the flood of content, the right strategy is becoming increasingly important to stand out from the crowd.With an inbound strategy against the content shockIn 2016, marketers see continuous work on content strategy, frequency, monitoring and quality as the biggest challenges. "Companies see content marketing as the biggest opportunity for lead generation and revenue growth," says Inken Kuhlmann, Manager Growing Markets at Hubspot, "However, they face the challenge of offering the right content with added value. More content alone is not enough if it doesn't fit with the goals and strategy of the company. "The full study on the status of content marketing in Europe is available at here available for download in English.