The State of Custom Content Publishing 2010

Content Marketing

• Money Spent on Content Marketing is Up: Content marketing spending on production and distribution has increased to $47.2 billion. The large annual increase is due to the inclusion in the study of electronic and other forms of content marketing for the first time this year.  

• Content Marketing Dollars at Work: Of the average overall marketing, advertising and communications budgets, 32% of the funds were dedicated to content marketing. This is the greatest-ever proportion of funds dedicated to content marketing in the 10-year history of the study; A decade ago this figure was just 13%.

• Circulation Soars: In 2009, average circulation per issue increased to an all-time high of 48,162 copies per issue -- an increase of 145% since the start of this study in 1999.

• Unique Titles: The number of unique printed custom publication titles decreased from 1.9 in 2008 to 1.7 in 2009. That said, those titles published increased in both page count and circulation. The average per issue page-count rose to 25.8 representing an 87% increase over the last decade.

• Use of Color: More companies used four-color this year (66%) than ever before and 85% of companies used some or all four color – an all-time high.

• Other Forms of Branded Content Beyond Print: The most common alternative-to-print forms being used are website updates of articles, blog posts and e-newsletters.  The least common are mobile and e-zines, such as flipbooks and interactive PDFs.

• A Growing Interest in Mobile: While mobile content is not yet widely used, it does rank as the medium that marketers believe they are likely to add or invest in next year. Additionally, surveyed marketers say they plan to invest in video and audio.
   

The Custom Content Council is a professional organization representing custom publishers in North America and is focused on promoting the growth and vitality of custom publishing.

About:   The research was conducted via a mailed survey targeting a random sample of companies across all industries. More than 8,000 surveys were mailed and approximately 350 were completed and returned, producing a /- 6% degree of accuracy at a 90% confidence level. Among the responding companies were: AARP, Allstate Insurance, APS, ASPCA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Clear Channel, Dell, GE Healthcare, Hoosier Energy, Sirius XM Radio, State Farm Insurance, TCF National Bank, University of California-Irvine.  The research was conducted by the monthly subscription newsletter ContentWise, a source of news, information and research on the content marketing industry.
 

Sources:  Custom Publishing Council, DEFYING THE RECESSION, CUSTOM MEDIA GROWS AGAIN IN 2009, May 2, 2010, and Content, More Investment More Focus, Summer 2010.