According to a new report by Times Internet, content is now king in India as the marketing strategy surged in popularity last year and replaced social media as the most popular format.

The new study, titled The State of Indian Digital Marketing – a CMO Perspective 2017-18, takes a closer look at marketing investment trends and strategies in several sectors, including pharmaceuticals, automotive and real estate. The study authors polled 150 brand marketers working for companies in these sectors, and the results indicate that many have pivoted strongly towards content during the last 12 months.

Social media marketing was the most widely used strategy in the previous study, but it has seen a significant 30% decline year-over-year as marketers look elsewhere for better results and return on investment (ROI). Many appear to have found that content marketing provides both better results and ROI, as it became increasingly popular during that time.

Six out of ten respondents said content has now displaced social media as the industry’s top strategy. While high-quality articles and videos are helping brands drive engagement, marketers still face challenges on several fronts to get the most from their activities.

Securing a large enough budget to support creative and other digital marketing endeavours is the biggest problem right now, closely following by measuring ROI effectively. Overall, the report shows that marketing campaigns and strategies are maturing and that brands are doing better at serving up the content that consumers want to watch and read.

“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,” Times Internet Limited CEO, Gautam Sinha, said: “Our report goes on to capture the finer nuances that have been shaping how this environment is changing.”

DMAasia worked with Times Internet to conduct the second edition of the annual report, and its CEO, Vatsal Asher, said the rise of content marketing promises “exciting times ahead” for brands as they look to drive growth and revenue and “enhance” the customer experience.

A separate study by Kantar Media has found that advertisers are doing a better job of posting content that resonates with audiences. Almost two-thirds of Americans believe that advertisers have improved in this area recently, while a quarter are confident that advertising is now evolving and becoming better.

While ads are finally providing value for end users, 72% of consumers still say they see the same ads too frequently, and more than half view content for products and services that they have already purchased. An additional 63% want more control over the ads they see when visiting web pages and watching videos.

However, targeted content appears to be working, as 40% now say they are seeing more relevant ads. This finding will boost marketers, who are increasingly eager to personalise and tailor content for different audiences. Finally, younger people aged 18 to 34 find that ads are more than appealing than other age groups.

Content marketing will be a primary focus for brands during the next 12 months, as 60% expect to spend more on digital resources and ads during that time, according to a new report released by Dentsu Aegis Network.

Titled Brands Win in the Digital Economy: CMO Survey 2018, the report found that content marketing is now ubiquitous across the whole business spectrum but that larger organisations are really doubling down on these activities. Almost half said their budgets will increase by 5% or more, and only one in 20 said they envisage content spend falling during the next year.

Confidence is high among chief marketing officers (CMOs) in the financial, technology and automotive sectors, as all expect to drive great returns for marketing strategies. However, there remain a few key challenges as CMOs attempt to leverage new tech to identify opportunities and make sense of big data and the wider digital economy.

The main concern for CMOs is the lack of control they have over digital investments or new programs that their company is focusing on, as this can often make it more difficult to deliver successful marketing campaigns. Linking different channels and elements to aid the customer’s experience is another concern.

Data will be a prized asset for CMOs during the next two to three years, as 71% say it provides the biggest strategic opportunity, especially when attempting to reach and engage with real people. However, 68% claim extracting insights from growing data sets is harder.

“Content is king” is now a well-worn mantra, but it still rings true for marketers, as 72% of respondents said high-quality content will be a top priority during the next year.

A separate study by Havas has again highlighted the key role content plays in making a brand “meaningful” to consumers. The Meaningful Brands study found that 60% of the content that brands produce does not provide any added value to end users. Therefore, working with the right partner, such as an expert third-party agency, can make a difference to ROI and engagement.

Havas analytics officer Maria Garrido says brands that fail to step up and deliver the content consumers need risk disappearing entirely and claims that the number of brands that will do so will “be worse” year-on-year as customer expectations increase.

Therefore, brands must think about their dispensability and consider how to reboot content to create meaningful and lasting bonds with audiences. Garrido believes content needs varying by brand, category and consumer and that marketers must know how to serve up articles, blogs, videos and infographics that end users really want to engage with.

She adds: “If you take the healthcare sector, consumers have an expectation that first and foremost, the content should be about helping them. And the second thing is it should be about informing them.” Garrido concludes that content must reinforce and fulfil consumer expectations but urged brands to use a mix of entertaining, informative and educational resources to get the job done.”

Cutting-edge tech will underpin digital marketing strategies at large retailers during the next 12 months. According to the latest CMO Performance Report published by QueryClick, two-thirds are planning to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The content marketing landscape is becoming increasingly saturated, and brands believe they need to find new ways to cut through the noise. Making better use of data is seen as essential for gaining a competitive edge. This approach will enable brands to understand how customers are using different channels and platforms, so they can serve up relevant messages at the right time.

150 chief marketing officers at enterprises that have an e-commerce site, and revenues exceeding £150m, were surveyed for the 2018 report. 66% said machine learning and the use of software applications and algorithms to learn and predict outcomes would dominate their spend in 2018 and early 2019.

Voice-powered search has not truly taken off yet despite the popularity of personal assistants, such as Alexa, but three-quarters of CMOs said they will overhaul their SEO strategies soon to have a better chance of ranking on the first page of voice search rankings. About 43% said this will happen during the next 12 months, while 32% expect to wait a little longer before doing so.

Just 3% of the brands surveyed said they had already optimised SEO for voice search queries. This area is of growing importance, as consumers are now making 50 billion searches by voice every month. Those that trailblaze could reap huge benefits in terms of driving traffic.

Influencer marketing is now maturing after bursting onto the digital scene several years ago, and 63% of CMOs said they would continue to invest in high-profile individuals, celebrities and other people to promote services and products. A recent report found influencer marketing soared by 198% last year.

“Consumer attention is under an unprecedented assault from brand messaging and content across more channels than ever before, and retailers are fiercely competing for their share,” QueryClick founder and CEO, Chris Liversidge, said. “Amidst the challenges, however, lie opportunities for retailers able to rebuild their strategies using data science to truly understand what consumers want, and consistently engage with them.”

Content marketing trends in 2018 have been dominated by personalisation and engaging with consumers across a growing number of digital touchpoints, so it is no surprise that brands are looking to new technology to improve how they approach this more complex undertaking and better drive their return on investment from general digital endeavours.

Liversidge added: “An investment in digital, including machine learning technology, that allows retailers to track and unify the customer journey across all channels, and allows them to deliver timely, targeted messages to capture demand, is fundamental to their success.”

A separate report published by Qualtrics last week found a quarter of marketers still rely on “gut instincts” rather than data analytics to inform decision making and campaign strategies. Two-thirds said they don’t have the time perform “complex analysis”.