If content marketing statistics don’t get you as excited as a kid at Christmas time, you’re not alone.

But with all the advantages of content marketing — building brand awareness, better customer retention rates, increased traffic to your website, improved search engine rankings, higher conversion rates, and more leads from social media — it’s a must for any business.

Looking at data gives you critical insight into the ways other businesses and content marketers are using content. As a result, you gain fresh ideas and new perspectives to shape your content strategy.

Here are 101 illuminating content marketing statistics you should consider when planning your marketing strategy.

General Content Marketing Stats

Want to know what your fellow content marketers and business owners have to say about content marketing?

1. 72% of marketers say they are creating significantly more content than they did one year ago.
2. 70% of content marketers prioritize content quality over quantity.
3. 81% of marketers plan to increase the amount of original written content they create.
4. 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach customers.
5. Custom content is a top marketing priority for 57% of marketers.
6. 60% of B2C content marketers say their businesses are devoted to using content marketing as a growth strategy.
7. 78% of CMOs say the future of marketing is in custom content.
8. 93% of B2B marketers use content marketing.
9. Conversion rates are almost six times higher for businesses that use content marketing vs. businesses that don’t.
10. 72% of marketers can show that content marketing increased both their engagement rates and the number of leads the business gets.
11. 78% of content marketers use press releases as part of their content strategy.
12. B2B marketers use an average of 13 different content marketing tactics.
13. Content is a business asset, says 92% of content marketers.
14. B2B marketers spend as much as 39% of their marketing budget on content marketing.

Content Strategy Statistics

Creating great content is not enough. You need a solid strategy to back it up.

15. 86% of B2C content marketers believe content marketing strategies are key to “profitable customer action.”
16. 63% of businesses don’t have a documented content strategy.
17. 64% of marketers want to learn how to create a scalable content strategy.
18. B2B marketers with a documented content strategy are more confident in their content marketing efforts.
19. 86% of the most effective businesses have someone who oversees their content strategy.
20. 48% of businesses with 10-99 employees have a documented strategy, compared to just 41% of larger organizations.
21. As part of their content strategy, 64% of content marketers build relationships with influencers and journalists.
22. Each day, 60% of content marketers create at least one new piece of content.
23. 63% of content marketers use content marketing to build loyalty with current clients.
24. When creating content, only 66% of B2B marketers think about their audience’s needs, choosing instead to prioritize the sales message. 
25. But 88% of successful content marketers consider the customer’s needs first. 
26. 74% of successful content marketers craft their content specifically to align with the stages of the buyer’s journey.
27. 56% of businesses say they want to increase their content creation budget.
28. That’s likely because 60% of marketers find it difficult to produce content consistently. And 65% find it hard to create engaging content.
29. To that end, 64% of B2B marketers outsource their content writing. 
30. And 55% of B2C marketers outsource other aspects of their content marketing.
31. Content marketers with a defined content strategy in place drive 7.8x more unique traffic than those without a solid strategy in place.

Content Marketing and Search Engine Traffic

With 4 billion people online worldwide and 4.2 million Google searches every 60 seconds, content marketing is vital for your business to get noticed. And page one of the Google search results is the place you want to be.

32. 95% of searchers look only at the first page of search results. 
33. Half of the clicks on page one of search engine results go to those in the top three positions. 
34. 49% of Google users say they use Google to discover or find new products and services.
35. BrightEdge Research found that  53% of trackable website traffic comes from organic search results. Just 5% of traffic comes from social media.
36. 61% of content marketers cite changes to the search algorithms as the number one marketing concern.
37. Comparison searches using the word “best” have increased by 80% according to Google research.
38. 62% of businesses still haven’t optimized their content for voice search.
39. 64% of content marketers use PPC (pay-per-click) or SEM (search engine marketing) to generate sales or revenue.

Content Marketing and Mobile Devices

The mobile experience is more important than ever. If your site isn’t mobile responsive with a smooth user experience, you have some work to do.

40. More searches happen on mobile devices than on desktop computers. 
41. Americans spend roughly 5.4 hours on their mobile phones each day.
42. 53% of mobile users will abandon their visit if the page takes more than 3 seconds to load.
43. 57% of internet users wouldn’t recommend a business if the mobile site is poorly designed.
44. Mobile email open rates increased 30% over the last year.
45. One in ten Americans is a smartphone-only user.
46. People have twice as many interactions with brands via their mobile device as they do any other way.
47. 75% of smartphone owners use the search feature first when they need immediate information.

Different Methods of Content Marketing

There are many kinds of content marketing: long-form, short-form, audio, video. Here’s what you should know.

Blogging

There have been rumors for years that blogging is dead, but blogging remains one of the best ways to grab organic search traffic.

49. 53% of marketers say content creation for blogs is their top priority.
50. That’s probably because research has shown that blog posts are the most shared content online.
51. And 82% of marketers see a positive ROI from using blogging as part of their inbound marketing strategy.
52. In the B2B space, 76% of marketers blog as part of their content strategy. 
53. A DemandGen Report found that 71% of B2B buyers read blog posts as part of their buying journey.
54. Blog posts that are over 3000 words long get more shares than blog posts of shorter lengths.
55. Orbit Media found the average post is only 1142 words long.
56. According to Hubspot, blog post titles with 6-13 words get the most traffic.

Podcasts

Your skills may lean more towards audio content vs. written content. If so, podcasting may work well for you.

57. 40% of Americans listen to podcasts, with 15% listening at least once a week.
58. 45% of internet users around the world listen to podcasts.
59. 49% of listeners are listening at home, while 22% are listening in the car.
60. 64% of B2B buyers found podcasts to be helpful in their buying process.
61. 28% of marketers would like to learn more about using podcasting in their marketing strategy.

Email

Regularly creating email content for your subscribers yields significant results.

62. Email marketing averages a $42 ROI for every dollar spent.
63. 78% of marketers would rather give up social media marketing than email marketing.
64. Email campaigns are the top marketing method used to nurture audiences.
65. 61% of customers like to be contacted by brands via email.
66. A personalized subject line entices 62% of customers to open emails from brands.
67. 72% of consumers will open an email that has a discount offer.
68. 40% of consumers want to receive emails that are informative, not promotional.
69. MailChimp found that segmented email campaigns have a 14.31% higher open rate than non-segmented campaigns.
70. 86% of professionals want to use email when communicating for business purposes.
71. Email is the second-largest source of revenue, coming in just behind direct traffic.

Video Marketing

If you’re comfortable on camera, video content is an amazing way for your target audience to see your product or service in a new light.

73. 85% of businesses use video marketing as part of their content strategy.
74. 89% of marketers use YouTube for their video marketing. 70% use Facebook.
75. 94% of consumers watch videos to understand better how a product works and to get more information before they make a purchasing decision.
76. Wyzowl found that 68% of consumers prefer to learn about new products through short videos. 
77. 87% of consumers want to see more video content from their favorite brands.
78. Video content that is vertically oriented has a 90% higher completion rate versus videos filmed horizontally.
79. Video content in emails can improve click-through rates by as much as 300%.

Social Media

Social media is wonderful for building relationships with potential customers. Pick the channels where you’re most likely to find your target audience.

80. 87% of content marketers use social media to share their content marketing.
81. 73% of consumers are affected by a brand’s social media presence when they make a purchasing decision.
82. 32% of consumers look for a brand’s social media channels before they ever visit the brand’s website.

Infographic and Other Visual Content Statistics

Infographics and other visual tools make complex or dry topics easier to understand.

83. The use of infographics as part of content marketing has jumped over 800%.
84. Forbes says 84% of marketers using infographics find them effective.
85. Content with images get 94% more views, as well as more shares.
86. 36.7% of marketers say finding engaging visual content consistently is a struggle.
87. Original graphics make up 32.5% of marketing visuals, followed by stock photography at 29.5%.

Webinars as Content Marketing

Webinars are an effective way to grow your email list, demonstrate your product, or exhibit your authority.

88. 58% of B2B marketers use webinars as part of their content strategy.
89. 69% of attendees will sign up the last week before the webinar date.
90. 33% will sign up on the same day as the webinar.
91. The most popular time for webinars is 12:00 pm Pacific time / 3:00 pm Eastern.
92. 2-5% of webinar attendees will make a purchase and 20-40% will become leads for future business.
93. 70% of webinars have fewer than 50 attendees.

Interactive Content Marketing

Interactive content is a great way to get your audience more involved with your brand.

94. 93% of marketers believe interactive content is effective. 
95. Quizzes and contests are the most engaging forms of interactive content.
96. 12% of marketers use gamification to attract leads.
97. 88% of marketers believe that interactive content helps differentiate their company from the competition.
98. 79% of content marketers think interactive content makes their brand more memorable to consumers compared to traditional content.

Measuring the ROI of Content Marketing

The expression “if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it” is absolutely true. Here are several measuring ROI (return on investment) statistics you should know.

99. Accurately measuring the ROI of content marketing is one of the biggest challenges marketers face. 
100. 61% of marketers say improving how they measure their marketing impact is a top priority.
101. Just 33% of B2C content marketers say they use data as part of their content sharing strategies.
102. A whopping 47% of B2B marketers don’t measure the ROI from their content marketing.
103. 76% of content marketers measure content success by the amount of organic traffic that comes in. 

Final Thoughts on Content Marketing Statistics

So there you have it, 101 content marketing statistics.

There’s a lot that goes into creating a content strategy and standing out online. And you have many options for creating and distributing content. 

These stats can help you determine the best areas to direct your efforts.

Which of the statistics was most surprising to you? 

Let me know in the comments below.

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