Several people know how effective content marketing is. But sometimes, words alone are not enough to prove it to decision-makers. This is why, as a content marketer, you must know and understand crucial statistics.
Apart from this, you’ll be able to create content strategies confidently. This article contains content marketing statistics that will help you make informed content marketing decisions. But first, we must understand the types of content marketing.
Types of Content Marketing
The internet has made the production and marketing of different forms of content possible. They are:
Online Content Marketing
Online content marketing is creating and publishing any material on the internet. This mainly refers to landing pages, eBooks, etc. There are several ways to market content online. However, combining them to create an effective strategy will make you visible to the search engine.
Blog Content Marketing
Blogs are the most common type of content today. They allow you to distribute value to your target market. They can also place you as a thought leader if appropriately maximized. Moreover, businesses can tailor them to their audience, preferences, and creativity.
Video Content Marketing
Research by various institutions has placed video as a major conversion factor. This is because video offers live content to viewers. Video content marketing statistics by Animoto shows that 64% of customers are more likely to buy a product after watching its video. Another study by Eye View Digital proves that video can increase a landing page’s conversion by 86%.
Podcast Content Marketing
Podcasts are becoming more popular, even among the younger generation. This is because they’re easily accessible and give listeners the freedom to listen to what they want. As of April 2021, there were 48 million episodes of podcasts. And in 2022, Statista reported 60 million users across Apple and Spotify. This is why several marketers consistently produce and distribute audio content using podcast platforms.
Social Media Content Marketing
As of 2022, over half of the world, an estimated 4.7 billion people, uses social media. No wonder several businesses invest heavily in social media ads and engagement. Also, there are more than 100 social media platforms, giving marketers the freedom to market content on them.
Content Marketing Statistics
These content marketing statistics are divided into three. They are:
- General Content Marketing Statistics
- Content Marketing Strategy Statistics
- Content Marketing Success Statistics
General Content Marketing Statistics
1. 83% of marketers now focus more on keyword strategy
The number of marketers adopting SEO has increased drastically in the past few years. In 2020, According to Hubspot recorded 64% active SEO marketers. And in 2021, the number had gone up to 69%. However, the focus is shifting from SEO as a whole to more strategic segments like SERPs.
Businesses want to be seen at all costs, whether it’s through knowledge panels, snippets, image packs, or carousels. Therefore, they must have a keyword strategy in place. This starts with their keyword research techniques and selection. After which, they’ll need to implement these keywords into unique, high-value content with search intent.
2. In a survey, 44% of respondents said they read an average of 3-5 pieces of content before sealing a transaction.
Different forms of content are available today, from blog posts, articles, and videos, to podcasts. Before the average person gives you their money, they engage thrice with at least one of these forms. And the number goes up if you sell a high-involvement product or service. That is, products whose buying decisions are more rational than emotional.
To leverage this statistic, marketers must create and promote several pieces of content that match the various users’ search intent. For instance, landing pages with the product’s keywords for commercial intent. And articles, blog posts, and how-tos for informational intent.
3. Only 10% of marketers say they do not use content marketing.
According to a Hubspot marketing report, 82% of marketers surveyed said they actively used content marketing. Of the remaining 18%, 10% do not use it yet, and 8% aren’t sure if their organization does or not. However, this 18% is set to decrease as 28% of marketers as of 2021 said they will invest more in content marketing. This is because content marketing helps businesses build trust with their target market. And through it, they can have better brand positioning.
Also, further research shows that the only companies that do not use content marketing as of 2022 have either failed at it before or are struggling with finances.
4. 70% of marketers say they use the content for educational purposes
This report from CMI shows that brands use content marketing for different reasons. Besides the 70% that educate their target audience with content, 60% use it to turn prospects into loyal customers. And another 60% use it primarily for lead generation.
One way to acquire leads from content marketing is to add a lead magnet to every article published on the blog. Some content marketing companies that do this well are Hubspot, Kissmetrics, etc. However, focusing on one of these goals does not restrict the business from other benefits.
5. 95% of B2B consumers use content as a business evaluation tool
B2B decision makers take their time to vet the organizations they intend to do business with. This is because, unlike personal needs, every decision made is critical to their business’s success. And one definite way to evaluate one another is through their blogs. They trust businesses whose blogs contain high-value content over their competitors.
This Demand Gen report also shows 71% will not buy unless they first visit the company’s blog. B2B decision makers are not the only ones who trust content. Another report from Social Media Today shows that 61% of consumers have bought something recommended by their favorite blogs.
Content Marketing Strategy Statistics
6. According to a whopping 81% of marketers, content is an integral part of any business strategy
Content has always been an integral part of businesses. However, the forms of content and their promotion medium have changed over the years. A decade ago, the most popular form of content was in print- newspapers, magazines, and other publications. Now, businesses can create audio, visual, or web content to achieve their business goals.
A successful content strategy will come in handy in every sales funnel. Therefore, when creating one, marketers should consider who will be reading and how it can benefit them. They should also decide what differentiates them and how they will manage their content.
7. Content marketers can generate 3X more leads from content while spending 62% less than they would on other marketing types.
Many businesses can do without traditional marketing. However, only a few will survive without content marketing. And Carrefour learned this the hard way. While other global supermarket chains invested in digital and content marketing, it didn’t. Instead, it focused squarely on its print ads and billboard commercials. As time went on, Carrefour lost many of its consumers to competitors.
Content marketing does not require as many team members to realize results. In fact, rather than having in-house employees for it, most companies would instead outsource. Statistics by Content Marketing Institute show that 84% of marketers partner with content marketing agencies.
8. Marketers dedicate 47% of their content to the top of the funnel audience.
According to this content statistics by CMI, most marketers create content to acquire and bring leads into the sales funnel. Therefore, they primarily tailor their content to increase brand awareness and solidify brand positioning. For the middle of the funnel, where nurturing takes place, marketers create 29% of content. And for the bottom of the funnel, 21% content. This is primarily because by the time prospects get here, they’ve learned almost everything they need to know.
9. In a survey by CMI, more than half of the respondents said they use interactive content.
(Content Marketing Institute) As this survey shows, content is rushing from static to interactive. 55% of respondents said they actively use interactive content in their marketing. Some interactive content that marketers use today are infographics, calculators, quizzes, ebooks, etc. Interactive infographics are the most used by 52%, followed by calculators and quizzes at 46% each
10. Audio content is the least used form of content.
CMI shows that only 38% of marketers use audio content such as audiobooks and podcasts for marketing. On the other hand, 64% use video content such as webinars. This is because, over the years, video content has proven to have great ROI. According to Unbounce, it can improve conversion rate by about 80%. Next on the line is written content, adopted by 61% of marketers. Some examples are blogs, articles, and ebooks. Of these forms, social media content and blog posts are the most used.
Content Marketing Success Statistics
11. 83% of B2B marketers say the value of their content is responsible for their content marketing success
Google’s algorithm is not the only one that favors high-value content. Humans do as well, and 83% of marketers from CMI’s survey testified to it. Besides content value, 60% of marketers rated website changes as a success determinant. These changes include creating new content and updating old ones. 45% of marketers said changing their content strategy helped a lot. And 37% thanked search engine rankings. Only about 15% attributed their success to a change in product or service.
12. Companies that spend less than 5% of their budget on content marketing were unsuccessful with it.
Investing less in content marketing leaves businesses with a slight chance of succeeding. According to Semrush research, 53% of companies failed at content marketing because they spent less than 5% of their marketing budget on it. On the other hand, 73% of businesses that excelled spent between 10% and 70%. These results have triggered 72% of companies to plan an increase in their marketing budget.
13. 40% of marketers said they plan to invest more in content distribution
It is not enough to create high-value content. Its distribution and promotion are also vital. By using paid ads, organic traffic, and social media, they can get their content to their target market. Other popular channels for distribution include email newsletters, forums, guest posting, etc. SemRush research also shows that businesses plan to invest more in SEO, content analytics, video, etc.
14. 86% of content marketers outsource their content creation
Content creation is by far the most outsourced content marketing activity. This is because many marketers peg it as the most hectic work. Also, not everyone can create high-value content that the algorithm and humans love. The content must appeal to and be understandable by the target audience. And they must create several pieces to match the search intent of the various users. After content creation, the next most outsourced are content distribution and editorial planning.
15. The most used content performance metric is website traffic.
In this survey by CMI, 81% of the respondents said their organizations had KPIs for measuring content performance. And website traffic, such as page views, is the most used by 90%. It is followed by email opens, click, and engagement used by 86% of B2B marketers. Website engagement is another metric used by 84%. It includes KPIs like time spent on the website and form completion rate. Other widely used metrics are conversion rate, social media analytics, search rankings, and lead acquisition cost.
Conclusion
Gone are the days when people doubted the ROI of content. Now, it has become widely adopted by businesses of different sizes in different industries. Moreover, businesses can now measure the ROI of their content marketing correctly. They only need to calculate the amount spent on content creation and distribution. And how much they got in return.
References
https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/State-of-Marketing%20(2).pdf
https://ahrefs.com/blog/content-marketing-statistics/
https://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic
https://www.semrush.com/blog/content-marketing-statistics/
