Looking for solid inbound marketing statistics to use in your content?

Overwhelmed by all the posts listing hundreds of statistics you can’t possibly go through?

Or maybe you’re annoyed because you keep finding old statistics that haven’t been relevant for several years?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re in the right place. In this post, I’ve gathered the most recent, relevant and reliable inbound marketing stats.

Let’s jump in.

1. The Goal of Inbound Marketing Strategy is Brand Awareness and Relationship Building

22% of web traffic comes from direct search. Direct search is also the primary means by which consumers discover new products.

These consumers are already loyal to a particular brand. They bypass the noise and head straight to their go-to site for what they need.

That’s the goal. Lure your customers, don’t chase them down. 

2. Outbound Marketing Isn’t Completely Dead

Otherwise, Super Bowl commercial slots wouldn’t cost MILLIONS. Traditional marketing methods still work well in some industries.

Tied for second place after direct search, TV ads and retail stores are the next most popular ways consumers discover new products. 

Also, catalogs and print ads in the mail influenced 43% of shoppers to make online purchases. 

3. One Major B2B Marketing Strategy Has Its Costs and Benefits

Most B2B marketers have received either a moderate or strong ROI from account-based marketing (ABM). 

However, 40% of marketers cite needing more expertise as a challenge. 31% consider a lack of interest in specific projects a significant roadblock. 23% believe the main problem is a need for team consensus on a game plan. 

4. Consumers Preferred Method of Brand Outreach May Surprise You

Only 34% want to hear from brands through social media, while over twice as many prefer email. In return, 64% prefer to reach out to brands via email. 

Email influences 44% of shoppers to make online purchases and accounts for 14% of website traffic.

Yet email is the third most popular marketing channel after social media and websites. 

5. Email Marketers Need New Metrics To Measure Campaign Performance

Some traditional KPIs are no longer reliable. 

Apple powers the top email client. Its Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) allows users to block anyone from viewing their email activity. 

Now marketers’ analytics data is skewed for many of their email subscribers. So they must reevaluate their success criteria. Conversion rate, ROI, and subscriber lifetime value are incredibly insightful alternatives. 

6. It May Not Hurt To Switch Up Email Tools Too 

Mailchimp is marketers’ most popular email tool. However, it has an average email delivery rate of only 87.9%. 

Email marketers are already employing email SEO tactics and conducting subscriber list maintenance. They should also pay attention to data and reviews for different email hosting tools. 

7. If You Aren’t On YouTube Yet, Why Not?

YouTube remains THE channel for any video format. 

Regarding organic search traffic, it’s also the most visited website in the U.S. and the world. It boasts 8.2 billion monthly organic visits globally and 1.4 billion nationally.

Understandably, video is marketers’ top media format. 

Short-form video is the third most popular marketing trend, the fastest-growing trend, and has the highest ROI. 

8. Time To Brush Up On Your TikTok Skills

Top short-form video investments include Twitter Spaces, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Live Rooms.

But TikTok is the second most popular short-form video platform after YouTube. 

Android users, on average, spend more time monthly on TikTok than on any other social media app.

And 55.5% of brands favor TikTok for influencer marketing.

9. We’re In the Age of the Influencer/Creator

Influencer marketing was the top marketing trend in 2022, even placing ahead of SEO.  

55% of Gen Zers consider influencer marketing one of the top factors in their purchasing decisions.

88% of brands have a whole separate budget dedicated to influencer marketing.

Marketers are primarily working with micro and macro influencers rather than mega influencers. 

10. Marketers are Trying to Align Their Social Media Goals With Consumer Interests

Of marketers’ most-posted content on social media:

• 47% reflects brand values
• 45% is funny
• 45% is interactive

Regarding the content types marketers found most effective on social media:

• 80% cited funny content
• 77% cited interactive content 
• 68% cited authentic/behind-the-scenes content

UGC is the perfect custom content strategy to leverage these content types. 84% of consumers trust brands more when they incorporate UGC into their marketing efforts.

11. Social Media Continues To Rise, and Marketers Continue to Follow

Nearly 60% of the global population is now on social media.

36% of consumers discover new products through social media, and it accounts for 16% of brands’ website traffic.

As such, social media was the top marketing channel of 2022. It’s also the most effective channel for attracting new customers. 

12. Consumers are On ALL the Socials

Consumers actively use about seven social platforms monthly. They visit different platforms for different specific reasons.

Marketers notice differences as well:

• Marketers’ favorites: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook 
• Where most marketers will increase investment: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
• Greatest ROI: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
• Most engagement: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
• Most favored/effective for influencer marketing: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok 

13. But Marketers Don’t Need ALL the Socials

As B2B and B2C marketers discovered, investment in many platforms doesn’t always mean higher ROI. 

The most notable platforms with the most monthly active users may prove less effective for some brands. Or they may not lend themselves well to specific inbound marketing tactics.    

Brands and marketers must determine where to focus.

14. Don’t Underestimate Podcasting 

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity yearly, according to The Infinite Dial. More people are listening to podcasts than ever before, with 90 million weekly listeners. 

2023 marks the highest percentage of people listening to podcasts weekly and monthly. Over half of Americans surveyed reported listening to four or more podcasts in one week.

15. Marketers are Prioritizing Quality Over Quantity

83% of marketers focus on creating high-quality content, even if that means posting less often. 

While this is good, they don’t have to be perfectionists with their video content.

 78% of consumers say it’s more important for brand videos to be authentic and relatable than to have high-quality video and audio.

16. Appease Google, Expand Your Reach

SEO was the second most effective channel for getting new clients in 2022. And organic search is the second highest source of web traffic at 17%. 

Web visibility is crucial. 

Therefore, marketers need to make sure Google allows their content to be found online. Because Google owns search (ask here, here, and every person you know). 

17. Text and Multimedia are SEO Buddies

Optimize written content and visuals for search. Backlinko explains in their extensive list of Google ranking factors:

• YouTube videos top SERPs
• Images and infographics can appear in a Google Image search too 
• Google recognizes multimedia in a post as a quality signal for your content
• Google reads multimedia, captions and alt data as relevance signals

18. A Longer Blog Post Isn’t Necessarily Better

89% of B2B content marketers created short-form blog posts over the past year. Only 61% created posts longer than 1,500 words. 

Similarly, 86% of B2C marketers used shorter posts, while only 57% used long-form posts. 

Google Search Advocate John Mueller has declared that word count doesn’t influence SERP rank. However, other variables help determine a post’s optimal length.

19. The Best Content Sets Itself Apart

Competitive analysis reveals trends and what’s working for competitors. It helps marketers determine post structure, format and other SEO-related details.

That said, over 60% of B2B and B2C marketers differentiate themselves from competitors frequently, if not constantly. 

Over 80% do so by producing higher-quality content, and at least 70% do so by covering unique topics.

20. B2B and B2C Brands Have Similar Content Marketing Trends

Content Marketing Institute’s annual B2B and B2C benchmark reports reveal more trend similarities: 

• In-person events produced the best results of any marketing type last year
• The most popular owned-media sources for companies distributing content are websites and blogs.
• The primary overall source for sharing content is social media.
• LinkedIn is the most effective social platform for organic content and paid advertising.

21. B2B and B2C Marketers Also Face Similar Challenges

57% of B2C companies consider their top challenge the struggle to create appealing content for their target audiences. 

The number one challenge for 61% of B2B companies is creating content that appeals to different stages of the buyer’s journey. 

Both types of businesses also struggle similarly with developing consistent performance measurements. 

22. B2B Marketers Get Greater Value from Producing Training/Teaching Content

Even though most marketers across the board are using short-form content:

• 16% more B2B marketers use case studies
• 7% more B2B marketers produce webinars, virtual events and courses
• 16% more B2B marketers write ebooks and whitepapers

The difference in long-form article use is only 4%. So the more specialized, training-focused content works better for a B2B marketer.

23. B2B Marketers Have Decreased Their Technology Use

Over the past year, B2B companies have decreased their use of some content management software:

• Social media posting/analytics tools
• Content creation/scheduling/collaboration/workflow tools
• Email marketing software

Their usage numbers now hover around the same levels as that of B2C companies. They previously surpassed B2C marketing usage of these technologies.

24. B2C Marketers Are Facing Challenges With Technology Too

37% of B2C content marketers cite technology integration as a current challenge. 

26% claim to have suitable content management technology, while 32% said their companies aren’t using the technology they have to its potential. 33% claim to not have the right technology at all.

B2B marketers responded to the same question virtually the same way. 

25. B2C Marketers Have Their Sites Set to the Metaverse

B2C marketers professionally aware of the metaverse are planning marketing strategies for it.

91% plan to target millennials with these strategies, 55% plan to target Gen Z, and 52% plan to target Gen X. 

They’ve chosen the right groups because those are the only ones even familiar with the metaverse.

26. You’ll Never Go Wrong Optimizing Everything for Mobile

Mobile phones have consistently accounted for over half of all global website traffic since 2019. And at 59.4%, mobile’s global market share far outpaces desktop tablet combined.

Also, 56% of consumers use their phones for web searches more than any other device. Over half use them more than any other device to shop online.

27. Google Will Make Sure Marketers Remember Phones Are Computers Too

Google knows how much of our web activity takes place on mobile. That’s why it employs mobile-first indexing of all web pages for all searches on all devices. 

Yet, mobile-friendly web design is a top priority for only 33% of marketers.

Mobile optimization is critical for increasing UX, appeasing Google, and improving search rank.

28. Marketers are Working Smarter, Not Harder, With Marketing Automation and AI

63% of marketers use automation in email marketing, 50% in social media management, and 40% for paid ads.

Hubspot and Semrush found that 17% integrated automation and AI into their marketing efforts in 2022. Semrush also saw 14% using automation in their content marketing.

43% believe automation and AI have been highly effective for them.

29. And the Award for Top Analytics Tool Goes To…

Google Analytics!

Statista found that 64% of marketers worldwide used Google Analytics in 2022 to measure the ROI of their content marketing.

And Hubspot discovered that Google Analytics was the top tool for tracking social media metrics for 61% of global marketers in 2022. 

30. Consumers Are Increasingly Wary of How Brands Use Their Data

82% are more likely to buy from a business they trust with their data. But 42% don’t believe companies use their data responsibly.

Despite increasing social media usage, regarding platforms’ use of personal data:

• 45% of users distrust Facebook
• 44% distrust TikTok
• 42% distrust Twitter 

Meanwhile, Google is the second most trusted platform at 47%.

31. Consumers Are Gaining More Control Over Their Data

80% say that individuals should have more control over how a company uses their data. 

This tracks with the developments of Apple’s MPP, Google’s incoming Privacy Sandbox, and other emerging protections. 

With growing privacy concerns and the fall of third-party cookies, marketers need to explore first-party and zero-party data collection if not already doing so. 

What’s Your Favorite Inbound Marketing Statistic?

What inbound marketing statistics resonate most with you?

Are there any that you think I’ve missed?

Let me know in the comments below!

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