Your Go-To List of Content Marketing Stats for 2015
There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics. But that doesn't mean these facts and figures are useless for content marketers.
More often than not, they shed some light on changes in the digital landscape and the ever-changing practice of content marketing. At the very least, you can leverage them to help you sell others on future marketing decisions and tactics.
So here's a list I've curated of relevant, eye-opening content marketing statistics and findings from the most recent industry surveys and marketing research conducted in 2014.
B2B Buyer Behavior
More of today's buyers, 58% compared to 48% in 2013, are spending more time researching their purchases (Source).
The top 3 content formats that B2B buyers seek out to research a purchase decision include Whitepapers (78%), Case Studies (73%), and Webinars (67%) (Source).
86% of B2B buyers have at least some desire for interactive and visual content on demand (Source).
85% of B2B buyers agree that they need content to be optimized for mobile (Source).
97% of respondents to one study admitted that they give more credence to content that includes peer reviews and user-generated content (Source).
The least valuable channels according to a survey of B2B buyers were Google+, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest (Source).
B2B buyers most frequently share blog posts — 40% expressed this preference (Source).
Marketing Priorities
93% of B2B marketers have a content marketing initiative (Source).
70% of B2B content marketers are producing more content than they did a year ago (Source).
50% of B2B marketers struggle to consistently produce content (Source)
54% of B2B marketers are wrestling with the problem of creating engaging content (Source)
Top 5 metrics that matter for marketers (Source):
- Conversions
- Revenue
- Leads
- Unique Visits
- Rankings
The top 5 online marketing activities (Source):
- Analytics
- Content Marketing
- Keyword Research
- Social Media Marketing
- Brand Strategy
Only 21% of content marketers say they're successful at tracking ROI (Source).
LinkedIn (91%), Twitter (85%), Facebook (81%), YouTube (73%), and Google+ (55%) are among the top social media channels used by B2B marketers in terms of content distribution focus. (Source)
91% of consumers rate access to content “any way they want” as the most important factor when evaluating their experience of a brand’s content on mobile, highlighting the need for responsive content. (Source)
Marketers who blog are 13x more likely to experience a higher ROI as a result (Source).
Marketing Automation
43% of Marketing Automation users have been employing these solutions for 4 or more years (Source)
50% of companies use more than one marketing automation tool (Source)
The 3 leading uses for Marketing Automation identified by companies (industry average) include (Source):
- Email (88%)
- Website forms (80%)
- Database segmentation (59%)
In the U.S., 13% of emails from email marketers (with explicit consent) never make it to the inbox (Source).
Marketers in one survey reported that contacts experienced an average of 9 marketing touch points or interactions on their way from a closed to a won opportunity (Source).
Content Marketing Tactics
Infographics have seen the greatest surge in use from 51% in 2013 to 61% in 2014 (Source).
The average number of tactics used by B2B content marketers is 13 (Source).
The top 5 most used content marketing tactics identified include (Source):
- Social Media (87%)
- Website Articles (81%)
- eNewsletters (80%)
- Blogs (76%)
- In-person events (76%)
The top 5 most effective content marketing tactics identified include (Source):
- In-person events (69%)
- Webinars (64%)
- Videos (60%)
- Blogs (60%)
- Case Studies (58%)
Companies that employ inbound marketing tactics save upwards of $14 on their cost per acquisition. (Source)
Conclusion
I could go on curating statistics, but these are the ones that jumped out at me that I think will inspire a blog post or two further down the road. Stumble across any others? Share them in the comments and we'll build out this list further!