The overarching aim of Content Marketing Association is to promote the use of editorialised content as an effective marketing tool to client-side marketers and showcase the range of channels that can be used to editorially engage customers from digital - such as smart phone apps, tablet-enabled microsites and branded TV - to the more traditional customer magazines. To reinforce this CMA is launching the Content Marketing Consultancy, which will be a free advisory service for clients to support them through the pitch process from compiling a brief to providing effectiveness benchmarks.
CMA expects its membership to increase, particularly looking to attract digital and broadcast agencies, as content continues to dominate brand-side budgets. New OnePoll research commissioned to mark the rebrand shows that content now accounts for a fifth of marketing spend and 73 per cent of marketing directors expect their content budget to stay the same or increase over the next 12 months. One in 20 expects their content budgets to increase significantly in 2013.
According to the CMA, it is unsurprising that content marketing spend is rising as the appetite for editorialised content from consumers is at an all time high. Consumer research carried out by Dipstick shows that today a quarter of consumers’ total media consumption is provided by their favourite brands.
Patrick Fuller and Julia Hutchison will continue to head up the association and will also continue to organise the third International Content Summit, which this year will be held at Old Billingsgate on 28th November. The Summit will be followed by the International CMA Awards which will celebrate the best content marketing campaigns across the globe.
Comments a client side Marketing Director: “It is undeniable that content is growing in importance for brands. With a minefield of platforms and a bewildering array of specialists, the CMA will be a welcome resource for brands looking to engage with their customers through editorial standard content, irrespective of the channel. Furthermore, it will be invaluable to have a one-stop shop for content as currently finding up-to-date research and case studies is not for the faint hearted.”
Adds Julia Hutchison (pictured), COO, CMA: “This rebrand marks a turning point for content marketing. Not only is it a truer reflection of the work that our members are now doing, it will also serve as a bridge across all the disciplines currently involved in creating content for brands. The marketing industry has changed significantly over the last 20 years and APA was no longer representative of our membership; which today encompasses the full spectrum of marketing disciplines from pure play content marketing agencies through to digital agencies and direct marketing agencies. No trade association has successfully owned the content space and as the research shows, with large proportions of budget now being spent on content marketing, brands side marketers want a dedicated resource. ”
Continues a Mark Jefferson, Director of Strategy, Northstar: “Keeping abreast of change is one of the key roles of agencies in order to advise clients and ensure that they are engaging with their customers in the most appropriate and compelling way. It is important, therefore, that our association is as relevant for the needs of its members and brands as it can be. This rebrand was necessary to reflect the work carried out by the membership and I am looking forward to the new initiatives and research CMA already has planned.”
