Key findings
The total score
If you are a player in the IoT ecosystem you are in one of the most prolific of all segments. Between July 2023 and 2024, the IoT brands we analysed published over 600 long-form content pieces – eight times more than companies in broadcast/ OTT.
Eliminating outliers who published fewer than five pieces of content throughout the year, IoT marketers released seven pieces of long-form content every month.
Key findings
The favourite
For IoT players, webinars were the most commonly deployed content type, constituting over 50% of all assets.
IoT brands invited their audiences to join 328 webinars during the year with most brands releasing at least two. However, brands in this sector were unique in how their strategies differed, with one brand publishing 172 webinars and some brands releasing none. With outliers removed the average per brand is two webinars per company each month.
Whitepapers and podcasts were the next most popular content formats, with nearly 10 assets of each type launched throughout the year.
Key findings
Attitude towards gating: Serious
IoT brands seek to extract more value from their long-form content than other sectors. Almost every other piece in this segment was gated (49%). However upon eliminating outlier brands, the proportion of gated assets declined to about 33%.
Key findings
Interactivity quotient: Emerging
IoT brands were the most likely to seek to extract value by hosting long-form content pieces on CRM and marketing automation platforms like HubSpot. These sophisticated lead generation strategies point to a more mature stage of content use to encourage leads to move through the purchase cycle.
Key findings
Multimedia
Only 30% of the brands we researched used podcasts, with one brand accounting for two-thirds of all podcasts released during the year.
Looking at multimedia, embedding short videos in eBooks or other content pieces was common, with some examples of innovative approaches to presenting content to enhance engagement and readability.
Takeaways
In the crowded IoT sector, brands are moving beyond relying on technical whitepapers or product brochures, making room for more engaging content formats. Webinars are widely used to present technical messages and directly interact with audiences, increasing the chances of generating leads.
Attempts by IoT brands to introduce their solutions in a simplified, more engaging way is a step in the right direction. Balancing technical accuracy with simplification is the challenge that brands in the sector face.
IoT brands must innovate with new visual and audio content types and understand how they resonate with their audiences. Podcasts are also taking centre stage with IoT brands leveraging stories and interviews to get closer to their audiences while maintaining the educational focus.
