Top Content Marketing Channels, September 2013 [CHART]

Chart - Top Content Marketing Channels

new study from Unisphere Research (sponsored by Skyword) suggests that tried-and-true content distribution vehicles such as company websites and email campaigns are seen as the most essential for content marketing, rated as either extremely important or important by 88% and 73% of survey respondents, respectively. Interestingly, 7 in 10 believe that it’s important to distribute content through public relations channels, while two-thirds concur with respect to using social media. The study also examines the most popular content areas and types of digital content.

Product-related content is currently seen as the most critical, rated extremely important or important by 77% of respondents. Best practices and thought leadership are next (each at 71%), followed by industry (57%) and corporate (56%) news. Audience lifestyle falls further down the list, cited by 46% of respondents. While that may have something to do with the nature of the respondents’ businesses, it’s an interesting result nonetheless, as the rankings suggest that brands are lending much more weight to content that discusses their products rather than that which may engage their audiences. That’s particularly notable given separate findings from the study that the primary objective of content marketing programs is to engage customers and prospects (68%) rather than to increase brand awareness (44%) or provide thought leadership (23%). Read the rest at MarketingCharts.