Only 4% of Marketers Say Their Content Is “Very Effective.”

Here’s What the Other 96% Are Missing.

TL;DR:

According to the Content Marketing Institute’s 2025 Outlook, 71% of B2B marketers say their content strategy isn’t effective, with just 4% seeing real business results. If you’re looking to generate better leads, drive more sales, and reduce your sales cycle, content marketing can be one of the highest-ROI strategies - when tied to strategy.

When it's done right, content, in the form of blog posts, social media, ebooks, infographics, and more, scales the conversations your founder or sales team have every day, helping buyers understand what you do, why it matters, and how you can help them move forward faster.

Content Isn’t Their Problem; Strategy Is

When content underperforms, the instinct is often to fix the format. Make it shorter. Make it more visual. Post more often.

But the real issue typically lives upstream. Most content fails not because it’s poorly produced, but because it was created without a clear business strategy, or any real alignment between Marketing, Sales, and Product.

CMI’s study shows most marketers aren’t seeing meaningful results from their content efforts. The problems to solve are evident in how these marketers say they’re approaching creating content:

• 42% lack clear goals

• 39% not tied to the customer journey

• 35% aren’t using data to drive their content decisions

• 20% emphasis on content quantity over quality

• 18% fail to iterate or adapt

It’s no wonder this approach isn’t working; who would expect it to?  The problems above aren’t with the content, they can be solved with process. 

Here’s what the Top 4% Do Differently

When you look closely at the small percentage of content teams that say they see measurable impact, three things they are doing differently stand out:

• They have a clear understanding of their audience (82%)

• They align their content strategy with business goals (62%)

• They consistently measure performance against those goals (53%)

In other words, the top 4% treat content as a strategic function for the business, not just a creative one. They use metrics related to supporting revenue, enabling sales, and focus on real purchases to assess their work.

What to Fix First

If your content isn’t generating leads or helping move buyers through your sales funnel, don’t focus on the format, go back to the fundamentals.

Here’s how to fix your content strategy from the ground up:

1. Align your content strategy with business goals.
Content’s main purpose is to scale your key messages, which exist to help you convey the specific value your company and products offer - that others can’t. Every asset you create should serve a clear role in fulfilling your broader business objectives.

2. Make content that shows how you solve customer problems and improve their lives.
To do that, you need a strong understanding of your audience: who they are, what they care about, what’s holding them back, and what success looks like in their world. Your content should show them how working with your company makes life better.

3. Align Marketing with stakeholders around shared objectives.
This is where the magic happens. Start with a brief that gets everyone on the same page: What are we trying to achieve? What problems are we solving? What messages will resonate most? What types of consumers or B2B accounts are we targeting? When you bring stakeholders into this process early, it brings Marketing closer to understanding client needs and what moves the dial. 

4. Nurture those hard-won leads.
Don’t let interest stall after the first click. Follow up with content that deepens trust, answers follow-up questions, and guides people toward a decision, especially if you're in B2B or high-consideration sales. This might mean sending targeted emails, surfacing related case studies, or equipping your frontline team with feedback that keeps the conversation going. Treat every new lead as the start of a relationship, not the end of the campaign. Stay top-of-mind for when your new lead is ready to buy.

5. Build a continuous improvement loop.
Track how the content performs. How are people engaging? What makes people click through and convert? If you're B2B, what drives contacts down-funnel? Learn what messages make people lean in, and what gets ignored, and which of your distribution channels perform best. Review this every week, and use this feedback loop to improve how you decide what to produce, how it’s packaged, and where it’s distributed.

Turning Content into a Revenue Engine

Content works when it’s aligned with the way your buyers think, and the way your business sells.

If your current approach feels disconnected from results, you’re not alone. But you don’t need to start over. You just need a better framework—one that starts with strategy and ends with measurable business outcomes.

That’s what we help our clients build.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What kind of content actually helps drive sales?
Content that supports decision-making, like case studies, product comparisons, objection-handling explainers, and implementation guides, helps move buyers forward. It’s especially powerful when created in collaboration with Sales.

Q: Can content marketing shorten the sales cycle?
Yes. When mapped to the buyer journey, good content removes friction by addressing questions and concerns early, helping buyers get to “yes” faster.

Q: What metrics should I track to improve content ROI?
Track engagement, lead quality, conversion rates, and sales influence, not just traffic or engagement. Watch how content (or the information in your content) is used in real sales conversations.

✅ Want to know if your website supports your content strategy? Read this.