Producing good content can be hard. That’s why we’re really excited to be sharing new survey research about how marketers and their creative teams can work better together. We did this study because we want to help marketers find better ways to stand out. Only 30% of B2B marketers think their content programs are effective–down from 38% last year, according to another great survey (the 2016 B2B Content Marketing Report by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute). And it’s only going to get harder because 76% of marketers plan to produce more content next year. To help people develop more effective content, we surveyed 789 marketers and creatives about their experience working together. It looks like there’s a lot of room for improvement. For example, “frustrating” is the word creatives and marketers use most often to describe their relationship. And only 37% of marketers describe themselves as “very satisfied” with the content they receive. 
Pain points
From creative briefs to giving good feedback, creatives think there are a lot of things marketers could be doing better. And under 40% of marketers think creative teams do a good job with things like following briefs, anticipating problems, or following a transparent process. Both sides of the creative divide agree that creative teams are understaffed: 24% of marketers, and just 16% of creatives think creative teams to a good job of staffing projects adequately. 
Improving the relationship
We also dug into the data and had more in-depth conversations with creatives and marketers to recommend steps any organization can take to improve its creative process. 
While a lot of things have to go right to develop a strong content marketing program, it’s impossible to be successful without good content. If you can’t deliver content that your audience finds valuable, the smartest strategy won’t matter. For detailed findings and advice for improving your team, download our report today!
