Content marketing displaced social media marketing as top strategy, say 57% marketers

Content marketing displaced social media marketing and emerged as the top strategy for marketers in 2017, as per 57% respondents of ‘The State of Indian Digital Marketing - a CMO Perspective 2017-18’ study conducted by Times Internet in association with DMAasia. Almost 30% of the marketers said consolidating their content marketing strategy would be their key focus for 2018, closely followed by measuring ROI at 27%.

The second edition of the comprehensive online study was conducted by surveying a group of over 150 marketers from leading brands across verticals including real estate, pharma, FMCG, auto and retail. The report underscores their learnings for the year gone by and highlights their priorities and predictions for the year to come.

The study reveals that while social media marketing saw a 30% decline over the previous year as only 36% of surveyed marketers cited it as a strategy that worked well for them in 2017, securing enough budgets for digital marketing and measuring ROI remained the two of the greatest challenges faced by 32% and 27% marketers respectively.

Over 42% of the surveyed marketers allocated more than 25% of their total marketing spends on digital marketing.

With regard to the frequency of measuring ROI on digital marketing, weekly and monthly measurement remained the most chosen options at 38% each.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Gautam Sinha, CEO, Times Internet Limited said, “As we move forward at full throttle toward a more digitally inclined audience, marketers need to have a keen ear to the ground, to identify the trends and evolved mediums that their customers prefer. Our report goes on to capture the finer nuances that have been shaping how this environment is changing. We hope that our intensive research, in collaboration with DMAasia, culminated in this report, helps marketers in India stay ahead of the game and align their strategies and budgets accordingly” 

"We are delighted to launch the second edition of the “The State of Indian Digital Marketing- a CMO Perspective 2017-18”, an exhaustive and in-depth study unveiling insights from over 150 CMOs across 15 verticals. The report, which has been curated in partnership with Times Internet, serves as a guide for marketers to prioritize efficiently to ensure growth and enhance customer experience. As revealed in the report, content marketing has taken centre stage, promising exciting times ahead." said, Vatsal Asher, CEO, DMAasia.