In recent years, there has been a rapid evolution of the digital content marketing field. Practitioners and businesses need to stay on top of marketing statistics and trends. Since your target audience spends most of their time online, content marketing is the best way to reach them.
It is unlikely that online marketers would be able to thrive without content. In any case, it covers the needs only if it is relevant, unique, and informative. The following applies to product details, finding relevant information, and anything else the user needs to know.
The content marketing industry is fast-paced and is constantly evolving. If you look at its trends, tactics, and statistics, you will see that it is never constant. But many content teams fail to remain updated. To do so, you need to keep up with the constantly changing content marketing statistics.
Yes folks, in this article, you are about to read about a wide range of content marketing statistics that will help you keep pace with the constantly evolving digital marketing industry. So let’s jump right into it.
Content Marketing Strategy and ROI Statistics
As of 2020, content marketing strategy ranked as the most popular Google search.
While 80% of B2B marketers claim to have a content marketing strategy, only 43% document it. Among successful companies, that percentage rises to 60%. (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
In 2020, 75% of marketers cited SEO as the most effective content marketing tactic they used. By far, the most commonly used strategy is updating and repurposing existing content, as reported by 61% of respondents. Essentially, this is the impact of SEO on content marketing. (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
The five most prominent content marketing areas people planned to invest in during 2021 were: content creation (70%), website enhancements (66%), events (48%), organic content distribution (46%), and social media management/community building (39%). (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
68% of marketers said they will increase spending on content marketing in 2021. (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
About 49% of B2B marketers said they outsource content creation activities, whereas 69% said their biggest challenge is finding partners who have relevant subject matter expertise.
(Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
55% of businesses employed 1-5 content marketers. Only 35% of B2B marketers said they did not have even one. (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
The three most prominent roles were a content writer (54%), SEO manager (38%), and social media manager (30%). (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
In 2020, the five most common content marketing goals were creating brand awareness (87%), building credibility/trust (81%), educating audiences (79%), generating demand/leads (75%), and building loyalty with existing customers/clients (68%). (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
Additionally, 79% of marketers reported that the top priority would be generating more quality leads in 2021. (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
Content Channels and Approaches
Content mediums in 2020 were blog posts/short articles (93%), email newsletters (77%), case studies and pre-recorded videos – both tied at 68%, and virtual events/webinars/online courses (67%). These were the top 5 most popular content mediums to grow your business. (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
According to a survey, 69% of the content marketers create is at the top of the funnel. In terms of content, 43% is aimed for the middle, 20% for the bottom, and 18% is for retention. (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
The number of in-person events decreased to 42% in 2020 from 73% in 2019, while the number of virtual events/webinars/online courses increased 67% from 57%, and the number of live streams almost tripled to 29% from 10%. (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
In 2020, the number of in-person events dropped from 73% to 42%, while the number of virtual events, webinars, and online courses increased 67% from 57%, and the live stream numbers also increased from 10% to 29%. (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
In contrast, paid advertising experienced a dramatic increase.
The use of social media marketing/sponsored posts increased from 60% to 83%, whereas the use of search engine marketing (SEM)/pay-per-click increased from 51% to 65%. (Source: B2B Content Marketing 2021 Report)
The two most effective social media channels for distributing content are LinkedIn and Facebook (named by 36% of marketers), followed distantly by Instagram (9%) and Twitter (8%). (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
In headlines with 10-13 words, there’s twice the traffic and 1.5x more shares than those with fewer words (shorter than seven). (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
Articles with more than seven images receive 4x more traffic than those with only text. (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
Audience Actions and Decisions
Compared to 2020, 67% of respondents rely even more heavily on content to inform purchase decisions so far in 2021.
Among all types of content, people share video content twice as often as social media posts, blog posts, and product pages. (Source: State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)
Longer articles receive 21% more traffic, 24% more shares, 75% more backlinks compared with shorter articles (901-1200 words). (Source: The State of Content Marketing 2020 by SEMrush)
When conducting research regarding B2B purchases, 45% of respondents cite research/survey reports as a significant resource.
During the early stages of their buyer journeys, 81% of B2B buyers say they enjoy listicles, 72% infographics, 66% blogs, and 62% videos.
At mid-stage buyers need assessments, 49% needs research and reports, and 46% needs case studies.
In late stages, case studies (35%) are preferred, as for third-party reports (31%), and assessments (18%).
Already Planning Your Content Strategy?
These were some of the Content Marketing Statistics. There’s no end in sight to content marketing. As a matter of fact, it is even broader than ever before. It is time to expand your content budgets and increase your team size. You can also increase production by outsourcing content to freelancers or agencies.
This is how you can increase conversions by reaching more leads and converting them into customers.
Bonus…
Start introducing audio article in your content strategy and increase your audience reach by up to 4 times. Using Listen2it, you can easily attract both listeners and readers.
What content strategy do you plan to implement in your marketing? Let us know down in the comments.
