Social content, blogging, press releases and online articles are the forms of content used most often by marketers according to the survey by Readex Research, sponsored by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Brandpoint. Marketers see the best results from social content, e-newsletters and blogging.

What’s more, 80 percent of survey respondents said they are willing to pay more for the added value of well-crafted, customized, professionally written copy.

“We consistently hear from our clients that creative and engaging storytelling, customization and professional-level writing are priorities,” says David Olson, senior vice president at Brandpoint. “The survey results bear this out, as respondents cited those qualities as the ones they consider most important when evaluating an outsourcing partner for their content needs.”

The majority (82 percent) of marketers said it’s more important that their website and blog copy be written for people rather than search engines. In fact, SEO expertise ranked fifth among the list of 11 qualities marketers want in a content provider. Marketers consider cost and high volume at a quick turnaround least important when choosing an outsourcing partner to produce content for them.

Marketers also recognize the value of outsourcing. Seventy percent of survey respondents said they plan to outsource content production in the next 12 months. The top three forms of content they plan to outsource are video, infographics and online articles.

“This survey affirms that marketing pros are embracing the value of online marketing, but they also acknowledge the need to stay true to certain fundamentals,” says Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute. “Quality continues to be a key requirement for success across all forms of content marketing. While the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we all do business, the need to tell a clear compelling story through our marketing efforts remains constant.”

For a comprehensive report on the survey results, click here.