10,000 Blogs Show Content Marketing CAC is on the Rise
This episode might reference ProfitWell and ProfitWell Recur, which following the acquisition by Paddle is now Paddle Studios. Some information may be out of date.
Originally published: February 5th, 2018
Acquiring customers is becoming more difficult and expensive. We're being exposed to more content than ever before, and the impact is content marketing is becoming one of the most saturated marketing channels in our arsenal.
Should you stop blogging though? That's the question we set out to answer in epsiode two of the ProfitWell Report, sparked by a question from Brian Balfour, CEO of Reforge.
Content marketing has never been more in vogue. Off the back of Wordpress, HubSpot, Marketo, WooRank, and countless other companies, the U.S. is about to see nearly 30MM blogs, and the entire world is seeing roughly 5 times that.
To answer Brian's question we looked at over ten thousand different blogs, two orders of magnitude more blog posts, as well as nearly one thousand different subscription companies. Here's what we found.
But first, if you like this kind of content and want to learn more, subscribe to get in the know when we release new episodes.
Overall CAC is up nearly 50% over the past five years
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is up across the board for both B2B and B2C companies has increased by nearly 50% over the past five years. Yet, CAC based on channel tells a different story. While paid CAC is still higher than that of content marketing, CAC for content is actually closing the gap very quickly.
Essentially, we're finally seeing content marketing come into it's own and mature like the paid world did a few years back.
Content quality and output increasing dramatically
Compared to five years ago, we're publishing over 300% more per month, we're writing posts that are nearly 100% longer in word count, and we're paying content marketers and creators nearly 25% more, with a shoutout to HubSpot for making content marketers in our backyard of Boston 40% more expensive.
Content effectiveness dropping compared to the past
Quality is increasing, but content effectiveness is dropping. The average number of shares per post has actually fallen by nearly 90% compared to two years ago.
Plus, the life of an offer - like an ebook - is actually dropping in effectiveness, as measured through lead velocity. An offer's effectiveness used to be roughly 6 months, whereas today that effectiveness has dropped to less than three.
Is content marketing dead?
So, is content marketing dead? Are we going to delete our HubSpot account as soon as we get done with this post? Of course not. Now is the time you need companies like HubSpot more than ever. Think of it this way - if the cost for me to give you a dollar goes from ten cents to twenty five cents, you'd be insane not to still pay me for the dollar. Content is getting mature, but the ROI is still amazing.
47% of buyers still view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep, companies with blogs still get 67% more leads than those that don't, and inbound close rates are still 8-10x those of outbound efforts.
Plus, CAC Ratio's for content still tends to be roughly 30% better than the paid side, because of the compounding nature of content.
That's all for this week. Want to learn more? Check out our other episode about the world's largest study on SaaS Churn and subscribe to the show to get new episodes.
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You've got the questions
and we have the data.
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Each week, we dive deep on benchmarks
of the subscription economy that
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you just can't
get anywhere else.
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This is the ProfitWell Report.
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Patrick, what's up, my man?
It's It's Brian Belfort.
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I wanna know, since over the past
five years an explosion in content
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marketing, is that channel
becoming more effective,
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less effective, or
staying the same?
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Another phenomenal question
because content marketing has
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never been more in vogue.
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Off the back of WordPress,
HubSpot, Marketo,
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and countless other companies,
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the US is about to see nearly
thirty million blogs and the
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entire world is seeing
five times that.
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So to answer Brian's question,
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we looked at over ten
thousand different blogs,
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two orders of magnitude
more blog posts,
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as well as nearly one thousand
different subscription
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companies, and
here's what we found.
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CAC across the board for b
to b and b to c companies has
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increased by nearly fifty
percent over the past five years.
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Yet interestingly enough,
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CAC based on channel
tells a different story.
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While paid CAC is still higher
than that of content marketing,
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CAC for content is actually
closing the gap very quickly.
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Essentially, we're finally seeing
content marketing come into its own and
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mature like the paid
world did a few years ago.
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Compared to five years ago,
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we're actually publishing over three
hundred percent more per month.
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We're writing posts that are nearly a
hundred percent longer in word count,
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and we're paying content
marketers and creators nearly
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twenty five percent more with
a special shout out to HubSpot
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for making content marketers in
our backyard of Boston actually
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forty percent more expensive.
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That being said though, quality
is increasing, but content
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effectiveness is dropping.
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The average number of shares
per post has actually fallen by
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nearly ninety percent
compared to two years ago.
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Plus, the life of an offer like
an ebook is actually dropping in
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effectiveness as measured
through lead velocity.
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An offer's effectiveness used
to be roughly six months,
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whereas today that
effectiveness has dropped to
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less than three.
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So is content marketing dead?
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Are we gonna delete our HubSpot account
as soon as we're done with this video?
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Of course not.
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Now is the time you need companies
like HubSpot more than ever.
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Think of it this way.
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If the cost for me to give you
a dollar goes from ten cents to
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twenty five cents,
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you'd still be insane not to
pay for that particular dollar.
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Content is getting mature,
but it's still ROI amazing.
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Forty seven percent of buyers
still view three to five pieces
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of content before engaging
with a sales team.
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Companies with blogs still get
sixty seven percent more leads
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than those who don't,
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and inbound close rates are
still eight to ten x those of
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their outbound counterparts.
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Plus, CAC ratios for content
still tend to be roughly thirty
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percent better than the
paid side of the house,
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simply because of the
compounding profit well
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dot
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com.
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And let
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at profit well dot com.
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And let's also be sure to
thank Brian for sparking this
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research by clicking the tweet
in the link right below the
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video to give him a
nice little shout out.
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We'll have more data
for you next week.
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This week's episode is
brought to you by Drift,
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changing the way businesses buy
from businesses, drift dot com.
