content marketing statistics

Your Mega-Awesome Content Marketing Statistics List

March 24, 2022August 20, 2019 by Adam Oakley

There’s no question content works. That’s right – no question. That means investing in content marketing isn’t a gamble. Not if you do it the right way. Need proof? Look at the state of the industry: Its projected worth will reach nearly half a trillion dollars by 2021, according to forecasts from Technavio. Why is investment reaching this all-time high? Because the evidence that content works is right there for anyone to see. Ready to see for yourself? Check out this mega list of content marketing statistics for 2019. These are the most powerful stats we could find that will prove content marketing to anyone. (For even more proof, add our post on proving the ROI of content marketing to your reading list, too.) 17 Content Marketing Statistics That Matter: Table of Contents Top Digital Marketing Statistics for 2018-2019: Why SEO is Super-Powered Content Strategy Stats: Compelling Reasons to Start Planning Content Creation Statistics: Why Invest in Content? Stats on B2B Content Marketing Effectiveness Let B2B Content Marketing Statistics from 2019 Inform Your Future [bctt tweet=”Read our list of 17 powerful content marketing statistics that prove content worth (free ebook included!) ” username=”ExpWriters”] Top Digital Marketing Statistics for 2018-2019: Why SEO is Super-Powered Search engine optimization powers much of content marketing in 2019, and it will continue to do so. Let’s examine why. 1. The #1 driver of all traffic on the web? Google. Google is not only where most web searches start – but also where most web browsing begins. It’s not surprising. They own 76% of the total search engine market share, according to Net Market Share data. Using SEO to rank in Google for keywords your audience is searching is, therefore, an incredible strategy. If you don’t want to grab some of that traffic for your site or your brand, well, why are you here? 2. Search drives more traffic than social media – 34.8% compared to 25.6%. (Shareaholic) Search is even more powerful than social media for driving traffic. Search Engine Land reported that search beats social networks by nearly 10 percentage points in this arena. Shareaholic conducted the study and found that the algorithm changes to the News Feed on Facebook had a big impact on the numbers. Along with that, more and more, search engines like Google are indexing and displaying results from social media channels. For instance, search for any entity on Google (person, company, organization), and you’ll see results displayed from their Twitter feed: Generally, posting on social media shouldn’t be your marketing end-all, be-all. Instead, social media marketing should complement your SEO and digital marketing efforts for best results. 3. The average conversion rate for organic traffic-to-leads across industries is 16%. (Marketing Sherpa) Since a conversion generally refers to the instance when a buyer converts to a new role in your marketing lifecycle, conversion rates are a big deal. After all, most marketing aims to encourage buyers to convert in some shape or form. When we talk about a traffic-to-leads conversion, we’re talking about the point when the traffic coming into your site from a Google search becomes intrigued, interested, and invested in your content. As a result, they’ll demonstrate that interest through action. In their study, Marketing Sherpa asked marketers how they define a conversion. The results reveal how multiple actions show a buyer’s mindset and willingness to commit to a brand: Submitting a form with multiple fields (like a survey) Submitting a form with one field (like signing up for a newsletter with an email address) Making an online purchase Reading the content through to the end The 16% conversion rate the study found is therefore super-important. This is for organic (non-paid) traffic clicking your content in search, liking what they see, and converting on it in one of the above ways. 4. Google’s #1 organic position brings in 33% of the search traffic for any given SERP. (Search Engine Watch) When you’re #1 in Google, you’re pretty much Queen (or King) of the Mountain. On average, 33% of search traffic will go to you, while only 17.6% will go to whoever graces position #2. (That’s a 15.4% drop.) Even if you rank at #5 (which many brands would kill for!), you’re only getting 6.1% of all search traffic from that page. Bottom line: The higher you rank organically, in SERPs, the more traffic you can expect to see! (And, as you know, more traffic = more lead potential.) By the way, one of the keys to ranking higher is knowing which tools to use for SEO and keyword research. I put together a guide on Content Hacker on this exact topic to help. 5. The click-through rate (CTR) for organic position #1 is 30.97%. (Advanced Web Ranking) Let’s keep going with the bonuses of ranking in organic position #1. If you sit in that top spot, you’ll also enjoy an average CTR of 30.97%, according to data from Advanced Web Ranking. Why is that number such a big deal? Well, as far as CTRs go, it’s incredible. To see what I mean, move on to the #6 statistic for marketing. 6. Meanwhile, for Google Ads on the search network, the average CTR is 3.17% across industries. (Wordstream) Comparing Wordstream data about average CTRs on Google Ads across industries to the CTR for position #1 is a good way to see the whole picture. The average CTR on search network ads is 3.17%. Meanwhile, organic position #1 enjoys a CTR over 10 times higher than that. Plus, you won’t have to pay for that visibility. Content creation isn’t free, but it’s definitely cheaper than paying for search ads. [bctt tweet=”Why SEO matters in 2019? Google is still #1, search > social media, the avg. conversion rate for organic traffic-to-leads is 16%, and ranking first in Google gets 33% traffic + 30.97% CTR, 10x higher than search ads CTR.” username=”ExpWriters”] Content Strategy Stats: Compelling Reasons to Start Planning Content strategy is necessary to pull together all the pieces of your … Read more

32 Insane Statistics of Content Marketing

January 1, 2021March 11, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Who here has not once been intimidated by at least one facet of today’s content marketing? If you haven’t, then you’re obviously an extremely knowledgeable, confident, and masterful guru of content marketing. If you have, then you’re absolutely not alone. Many of us have felt intimidation when staring down the barrel of the latest and great content marketing trend or shift. In some cases, the intimidation factor has been so strong that it has stopped us from jumping on board with a new trend. As a result, we lose out on prime opportunities. And sometimes we drop the ball. It happens to the best of us. Every year we see blogs and articles about the new trends in social media, content marketing, and search engine optimization. But when is the last time you saw a compilation of statistics all about content marketing? Content Marketing Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind In the past few years, content marketing has weathered some pretty dramatic changes. Many of us have watched trends rise and sink, sometimes wishing we’d jumped on board, and other times thanking our lucky stars that we didn’t. We’ve snooped around the Internet and found some eye-opening stats that might boggle or change your mind about content marketing: On an average, marketers spend over one fourth of their marketing budget on content marketing. (B2B Marketing Insider) 93 percent of marketers are using social media, yet only 9 percent of marketing companies have full-time bloggers. (Search Engine Journal) 78 percent of Internet users conduct product research online. Your website will likely be your potential customer’s first impression. Says HubSpot, “[This] means your new business card isn’t a business card—it’s Google.” (HubSpot) Companies that outsource are doing bigger projects, spending an average of more than $1 million lat 2013 with a 5.5% increase from 2012. (Adweek) Over 10 million Facebook “apps” exist. (Search Engine Journal) 61 percent of consumers claim to feel better about a company that delivers custom content. They are more likely to buy from such a company. (Custom Content Council) 78 percent of business people opt to use a mobile device to check email. (HubSpot) 80 percent of all Pinterest pins are actually re-pins. (Search Engine Journal) Interesting content is one of the top three reasons why people choose to follow a brand on social media. (Content+) Companies that opt to build a blog and post content regularly receive 55 percent more web traffic. (HubSpot) The 55 to 64 year age bracket is the fastest growing demographic on Twitter. It has grown by 79 percent since 2012. (Search Engine Land) The Facebook and Google+ 45 to 55-year age bracket demographic have grown by 46 and 59 percent, making it the fastest growing social media demographic. (Search Engine Journal) In as few as two years, the number of marketers who believe Facebook is “important” or “critical” to their business has increased by 83 percent. (HubSpot) The +1 button on Google+ is hit at least 5 billion times per day. (Search Engine Journal) Blog and social media websites reach 8 out of 10 U.S. Internet users and account for 23 percent of all time spent online. (Content Marketing Institute) Since debuting in 2010, Instagram has seen more than 16 billion photos uploaded, which equates to approximately 5 million photos being uploaded every day. (Search Engine Journal) Thanks to blogs, websites get 434 percent more indexed pages and 97 percent more indexed links. (Content+) 91 percent of mobile Internet access is for social media activities with approximately 73 percent of smartphone users accessing their networks via apps at least once per day. (Search Engine Journal) Inbound marketing costs about 62 percent less per lead than outbound, traditional marketing. (HubSpot) LinkedIn produces more leads for B2B companies thanks to Twitter, Facebook or blogs, individually. However, only 47 percent of B2B marketers say they actively use LinkedIn, versus 90 percent on Facebook. (Inside View) During every minute of every day, there are 684,478 pieces of content shared on Facebook; 3,600 new photos posted in Instagram; 2,083 check-ins made on Foursquare. (Search Engine Journal) 67 percent of B2C and 41 percent of B2B companies have acquired a customer via Facebook. (HubSpot) B2B companies that blog produce an average of 67 percent more leads per month than companies that choose not to. (Social Media B2B) YouTube has over 1 BILLION unique visitors per month, and managed to reach the desirable 18-34 demographic more than any other cable network. (Search Engine Journal) When deciding to make a purchase, 46 percent of web users will look toward social media. (Search Engine Journal) While in-store shopping for an item, approximately 40 percent of U.S. smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device. (HubSpot) Ever wonder about the male versus female ratio of social media users? Facebook is 60 percent female, 40 percent male. Twitter is 60 percent female, 40 percent male. Pinterest is 79 percent female, 21 percent male. Google+ is 29 percent female, 71 percent male. LinkedIn is 55 percent female, 45 percent male. (Search Engine Journal) 57 percent of businesses acquire customers via their company blog. (HubSpot) A Shocking Drop of the Ball Based on the stats above, it’s no secret that blogs are important to content marketing. So when did you last update your blog? How often do you add new content to your blog? Be honest! Here’s an even better question: how important do you think blogging is for your company or brand on a scale of 1 to 10? Did your opinion change after reviewing the stats above? Well, here are a few more blog specific statistics that might shock you: 29. According to HubSpot, 57 percent of companies gain new customers from their blog. 30. 61 percent of online consumers in the United States decide to make a purchase based on blog recommendations. (HubSpot) 31. 67 percent MORE leads are generated via B2B marketers’ blogs. (HubSpot) 32. 60 percent of consumers have a more … Read more