In an environment in which consumers’ attention is increasingly fragmented, the idea of using content to capture interest and engagement is catching on among marketers.

Compelling content can help marketers tell a story, but it can also be cumbersome—and expensive—to create. So which content strategies are generating attractive return on investment (ROI) for marketers? The most cost-effective content types are articles, video and white papers, according to a January 2013 study of marketing decision-makers worldwide conducted by CopyPress, a software company specializing in content marketing tools.

via Which Content Marketing Tactics Get the Best ROI? – eMarketer.

More than one-third of SMBs say they devote the majority of their marketing budgets to customer acquisition, while just 6% say they devote the majority to customer retention, per results from a new BIA/Kelsey study. The researchers argue that the greater share of spending being devoted to customer acquisition programs may be a result of buying habits rather than preference. Indeed, the study also finds rising interest in loyalty programs, which could cannibalize some dollars from customer acquisition programs.

via SMBs Devoting More Marketing Dollars to Customer Acquisition Than Retention.

Marketing analytics are being used in less projects, their quality is being evaluated by fewer companies, and their contribution to companies’ performance is declining, finds Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in its latest CMO Survey [pdf]. The February installment of the survey, its 9th, found that only 40% of CMOs surveyed say their company formally evaluates the quality of marketing analytics, down from 47% 6 months earlier.

via 6 in 10 CMOs Say Their Companies Don’t Evaluate the Quality of Marketing Analytics.

About 3 in 4 marketers think that it’s somewhat 47% or very 31% important that the agency they hire specializes in their industry, per survey results [download page] from RSW/US. Luckily for agencies, though, the threshold for being considered an industry specialist is not too demanding. That is, roughly 6 in 10 marketers surveyed believe that an agency need only have 50% or less of their business focused on an industry in order to be considered a specialist. In fact, only 1 in 10 marketers said that agencies need to devote more than 75% of their business to a specific industry to be considered specialists.

via Most Marketers Have A Fairly Loose Definition Of Agency Specialization.

A survey of 123 marketers and 1,002 consumers on marketing practices and how they relate to permission has revealed a significant gap in perceptions regarding implicit permission (purchases, contents, product demos, registrations). The study, by RegReady, found that 77% of marketers believe that a consumer purchase does constitute marketing permission. But three-quarters of the consumers polled felt very strongly that making a purchase does not constitute permission to market to them on their mobile device, and 80% shared that sentiment about marketing via email. Still, 47% of marketers said they send email to purchasers without permission.

via Consumers and Marketers Differ on Acceptability of Implicit Permission.

Marketing analytics are being used in less projects, their quality is being evaluated by fewer companies, and their contribution to companies’ performance is declining, finds Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in its latest CMO Survey [pdf]. The February installment of the survey, its 9th, found that only 40% of CMOs surveyed say their company formally evaluates the quality of marketing analytics, down from 47% 6 months earlier.

via 6 in 10 CMOs Say Their Companies Don’t Evaluate the Quality of Marketing Analytics.

Photo-sharing smartphone app Instagram may have created a bit of controversy last year when it made changes to its privacy policy, but that doesn’t appear to have slowed brand and consumer uptake of the service. According to findings from social media measurement and analytics company Simply Measured, adoption by the Top 100 brands based on Interbrand’s rankings rose five percentage points 54% to 59% from November 2012 to February 2013.

via Brands Flex Their Filters on Instagram – eMarketer.

92% of the 2012 Inc. 500 companies use social media, ranging from popular tools such as LinkedIn (81%), Twitter (67%) and Facebook (67%) to emerging ones, such as foursquare (28%) and Pinterest (18%), according to a study released in January 2012 by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Interestingly, though, when executives from these fast-growing companies were asked how necessary social media has been for their growth, about 4 in 10 responded that social had been “somewhat” (24%) or “very” (15%) unnecessary.

via 39% of Inc. 500 Execs Say Social Has Been Unnecessary For Growth.

Nielsen has released a report [download page] called “The Mobile Consumer: A Global Snapshot,” in which it examines device penetration, activities, and advertising across 10 countries. Among the findings, 24% of American smartphone users surveyed during Q2 2012 reported scanning a barcode or QR code in the previous 30 days. Of the selected commercial activities, that ranked behind mobile banking (38%) and location-based services/GPS (48%) in use, but far ahead of NFC/mobile wallet use (3%).

via QR Code Scanning Not Yet A Mainstream Activity For US Smartphone Users.

In Q4 2012, 53.2% of time spent watching tablet video was with content running at least a half-hour in length, according to the latest quarterly video report from Ooyala. As the study notes, the increasing amount of time spent with long-form content signals more opportunities for mid-roll programming, which tends to have a higher completion rate than other ad types. It also suggests that viewers are moving from “online video” to “online television,” per the report, and that has significance for advertisers. That’s because according to a recent study from the IAB and Nielsen, video ads viewed online during full episodes of TV shows have a higher impact than ads viewed on traditional TV or during short-form content online (see link above).

via Majority of Tablet Video Viewing Time Is Spent With Content 30 Minutes And Longer.