NEW YORK (June 3, 2015)—Marketing executives’ commitment to content marketing has doubled since 2013 and should nearly do so again by 2017, according to an exclusive study produced by The Content Council in conjunction with Ad Age.

A white paper released today summarizes the report’s findings, highlighting survey responses from nearly 500 U.S. marketing and advertising executives and touting the importance and challenges of producing meaningful, measurable content in a fragmented digital media world. The white paper features insights from major content marketing players, including CDW, Kraft Foods, McKesson Corp. and Pepsi Beverages North America. The Content Council will present the findings in its June 17 webinar, The State of Content Marketing 2015.

To view or download the white paper, please click here.

According to the survey, the population of executives exhibiting a “strong” or “extremely strong” commitment to content marketing (nearly 40 percent) has more than doubled in the last two years, with the expectation it will nearly double again to more than three-quarters of executives by 2017. By then, content marketing will account for an estimated one-third of overall marketing budgets.

As Americans increasingly rely on digital media, the paradigm “Content is King” appears here to stay. This commitment to content is already supporting the achievement of key organizational goals, with more than 70 percent of executives each reporting that content marketing helps recruit customers or members, increase brand influence and engagement and improve brand perception and awareness.

“Content generation is already taking organizations to the next level in a number of ways, and marketing executives are increasingly receptive to and cognizant of digital content’s role in the marketing mix,” said Andy Seibert, managing partner of Imprint and chair of The Content Council.

This trend introduces the challenge of producing quality, engaging content, listed by nearly 64 percent of respondents as their biggest marketing challenge today. This and other challenges—including lack of time and budget—have marketers reexamining staffing, budgets and organizational structures to adapt to evolving customer expectations. Demonstrating return on investment (ROI) and gaining leadership buy-in for content strategies can also prove difficult for some organizations.

“More than 40 percent of our respondents don’t believe that content marketing is measurable today, but those who do are reporting a massive dependence on web traffic, digital engagement and sales conversions to demonstrate the ROI,” Seibert said.

Karen Egolf, editorial director with Ad Age Content Strategy Studio, added, “Our continued partnership with The Content Council aims to drive growth, innovation and success in the marketing and advertising industries, and we hope this survey opens some eyes and ears on content trends in that vein.”

The full research study is available free to The Content Council members, and to the public for a fee here. The State of Content Marketing 2015 webinar will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 17, and is free for members of The Content Council. Members of the public may register for a fee here.