Content Marketing Statistics for 2024

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Are you curious about the impact content marketing will have this year? Content marketing has become an essential part of digital marketing today, but how far do you think it will grow?

Content marketing is on the rise. Millions of businesses are investing their resources into this form of marketing to promote their products and services. Content strategy plays a crucial role in delivering value to customers and making them aware of what they can get from using your products or services.

Whether you're an up-and-coming online marketer or just looking for industry insights, understanding the latest content marketing trends is critical. With this article, we aim to present the key content marketing statistics that will help you plan your digital strategy more effectively.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Content Strategy Statistics

Content plays a major role in the success of your website. From driving traffic to improving search engine rankings, producing high-quality content is essential to any digital marketing strategy.

But knowing exactly how to structure your content and which platforms should be the focus of your efforts can be a challenge. To help, here are some important statistics about content strategy that will inform your decisions:

Research shows that 60% of B2C marketers are committed to content marketing.
According to Marketing Profs and the CMI, 63% of businesses don't have a documented content strategy.
So it's no surprise that 64% of marketers want to learn how to build a better content strategy.
There's no “best day” to publish a new piece of content. Social shares are distributed evenly among posts published on different days of the week.
And even when they do produce content, they may not be happy with it. Some 65% of people find it hard to produce engaging content.
The average #1 ranking page will also rank in the top 10 for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords.
82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing, 10% report not using content marketing, and 8% are unsure if their company uses content marketing.
40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy, and 64% of the most successful B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy.
67% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads (a 7% increase since last year). In addition, 72% of marketers say that content marketing helps to educate the audience (2% increase), and 63% say that it helps build loyalty with existing clients/customers (3% increase).
51% of the businesses that invest in content marketing publish content every day.
Although 32% of respondents say they are overwhelmed by the amount of content available, a majority (44%) say they typically consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with a vendor.
73% of respondents prefer to learn about a product or service from a short video (a 4% increase since last year). 11% prefer to read a text-based article, website, or post (7% decrease). 4% prefer to view an infographic. 3% prefer to download an ebook or manual. 3% prefer to attend a webinar or pitch. 3% prefer to receive a sales call or demo (1% increase).
81% of marketers view content as a core business strategy.
Content marketing from a business perspective.
The top three primary goals of creating content are boosting sales, building relationships with customers, and increasing brand awareness.
Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less.
72% of the most successful marketers in North America measure the ROI of their content marketing.
83% of marketers say it's better to focus on quality rather than quantity of content, even if it means posting less often.
Here's what B2B marketers say about their content marketing efforts.
Only 7% of B2B marketers don't plan to develop a content marketing strategy (a 3% increase from last year).

Interactive Content Marketing Statistics

Interactive content is one of the most effective ways to engage your audience and stand out from the competition. But if you're still on the fence about using interactive content, take a look at these key statistics:

Go Gulf says 93% of marketers see interactive content as effective. And 88% of marketers will make 10-30% of their content interactive this year.
A good starting point is quizzes and contests. CMI research shows these are the most engaging interactive content formats.
Finally, use augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to future-proof your content marketing strategy. Cisco says the use of these technologies will increase 20x by 2021.

Content Marketing Performance

Content marketing can be an incredibly powerful tool for promoting your business and getting noticed in a crowded marketplace. But how do you make sure your content marketing efforts are performing well?

In this section, we'll take a look at how to measure content marketing performance, analyze your results, and make adjustments to improve effectiveness. So let's dive into understanding the keys to successful content marketing performance!

B2C marketers reported to CMI the top three goals content marketing helps them to achieve are creating brand awareness, building trust, and educating their target audience.
Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing but costs 62% less.
56%of marketers who leverage blogging say it's an effective tactic, and 10% say it generates the greatest ROI (return on investment).
Over 60%of marketers measure the success of their content marketing strategy through sales.
According to the CMI, 32% of marketers think their content creation workflow is fair or poor. Research from Zazzle Media supports this. It reveals that 60% of people find it hard to produce content consistently.
People following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations.

Content Distribution

Content distribution is an essential part of any successful content marketing strategy. It helps you get your message out to a wider audience and generate more awareness for your brand, products, and services.

In this section, we'll cover the basics of content distribution, how it differs from other types of promotion, and some tips on how to make the most of it. So let's dive into content distribution!

Facebook had 2.989 billion monthly active users in April 2023, placing it 1st in our ranking of the world's most 'active' social media platforms
B2B marketers reported to CMI that LinkedIn was the most common and top-performing organic social media distribution channel.
80% of B2B marketers who use paid distribution use paid social media advertising
Only 22% of B2C marketers don't use paid content distribution channels.
Most B2B marketers (67%) use paid content distribution channels.

Content Marketing Blog Statistics

With more businesses leveraging content marketing blogs to boost their online presence and drive traffic, it's important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and statistics.

That's why we've compiled the latest blog statistics to help you make informed decisions about your content marketing approach. So let's take a look at these content marketing blog stats and understand their implications for your business:

80% of podcast listeners listen to all or most of each episode.
How-to articles are the most popular content formats (77%), followed by news and trends (49%), and guides and ebooks (47%).
The average time a reader allocates for a newsletter after opening it is only 51 seconds. Participants of the study fully read only 19% of newsletters.
70% of people rather get information from blogs than traditional advertisements.
To date, there are more than 600 million blogs out of 1.9 billion websites in the world. Their authors account for over 6 million blog posts daily, or over 2.5 billion annually.
Only one-third of bloggers regularly check their blog traffic analytics.
Engagement starts after 7 minutes of reading.
Is visual content important? Is there something like the best day to publish? How do people decide what link to click? Find out below.
65% of B2C marketers prioritize the audience's informational needs over the organization's sales/promotional messages.
Top performing B2C content assets in 2021 and 2022 were short articles (less than 3 k words), videos, and data visualization/3D models.
Most B2B marketers try to differentiate from the competition by content quality (83%) and covering untapped topics/stories (72%).
Top performing B2B content assets in 2021 and 2022 were short articles (less than 3 k words), videos, and virtual events/webinars/online courses.
87% of B2B marketers prioritize the audience's informational needs over the organization's sales/promotional messages.

Content Marketing SEO Statistics

Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand. A well-crafted content strategy can be a powerful tool for improving your search engine rankings, driving more organic traffic to your website, and providing valuable information to readers.

B2B Marketing Analytics Statistics

But what do the stats say about the impact of content marketing on your SEO efforts? Let's take a look at some of the key content marketing and SEO statistics to see how they are related:

78% of B2B marketers employ keyword research for SEO while creating content.
B2C marketers who use nonpaid social media platforms report that Facebook (63%), LinkedIn (53%), and Instagram (39%) produced the best overall content marketing results.
73% of B2C marketers employ keyword research for SEO when creating content.
As we've already seen, most content marketers do keyword research and invest in SEO. In other words, they invest in organic search. Let's see what else we can find about this marketing channel.
90.63% of pages get no organic search traffic from Google.
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine.
71% of B2B researchers start their research with a generic search instead of branded search
53% of shoppers say they always do research before purchasing to ensure they are making the best possible choice
Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 search results within a year of publication.
Almost two-thirds of global online search comes from mobile devices.
69% of marketers actively invest in SEO.

Email Marketing Statistics

Email marketing remains one of the most effective, cost-effective digital marketing strategies for businesses. But with so many companies vying for attention in a crowded inbox, how can you make your message stand out?

With this in mind, let's dive in and explore some key email marketing statistics that will help you optimize your campaigns and reach more leads:

One of the most effective ways to promote your content is to use email marketing. According to Smart Insights, it has an ROI of $40 for every dollar spent.
Even though there are so many other ways to communicate, email remains popular:
We send 74 trillion emails a year
Approximately90% of US adults use email
95% of professionals use email
To get more from email marketing, test. Campaign Monitor says A/B testing boosts email marketing conversions by 49%.

Video Content Marketing Statistics

Video content has become increasingly popular over the years, and with its rise in popularity come a wealth of valuable insights into how viewers are responding to what they see.

From viewership numbers to customer engagement rates, here are some of the most important video content marketing statistics you should be aware of:

Some 48% of marketers are making YouTube videos a priority. And 46% plan to focus on Facebook videos.
That's not surprising, as video gets results. Video is trusted by 40% of millennials and half of those aged 18-34 would stop what they're doing to watch a new video.
The CMI's content marketing statistics show 72% of B2B marketers and 76% of B2C marketers use video. It's pretty effective: Aberdeen Group says marketers who use video get 66% more leads per year.
One thing's for sure; video isn't going anywhere. By 2021, Cisco says, the video will represent 82% of all internet traffic.
The video was the primary form of content being created in 2022, followed by blogs (used by more than half of marketing teams), and images.
86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.
70% of viewers bought from a brand after seeing it on YouTube
78% of people say they've been convinced to buy or download a piece of software or app by watching a video.
YouTube is the #1 visited website in the U.S. by organic traffic.
YouTube reaches more 18- to 49-year-olds in an average week than all cable TV networks combined
Short-form videos (TikTok, IG Reels) and live streaming were the most effective formats on social media in 2022.
Video viewers say relating to their passions is 3X more important than content featuring famous actors
Video viewers say relating to their passions is 1.6X more important than content with high production quality.
96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
88% of people wanted to see more videos from brands in 2022.
As reported by Hubspot, video is the primary type of content being created in 2022 (the third year in a row). It seems that video marketing is no longer a nice-to-have.

Content Marketing Podcast Statistics

Content marketing is an effective way to reach your customers and drive engagement. Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular, offering a rich and engaging content format that you can use to boost your digital marketing efforts.

But before you jump on the podcast bandwagon, it's important to understand the statistics behind it, such as listenership demographics and trends. So let's take a look at the content marketing podcast statistics and what they mean for your overall strategy:

Consumers from ages 35–54 are the most common monthly podcast listeners.
Podcasting has become an important way to reach your audience. According to Statista, 45% of global internet users aged 25-34 listen to podcasts.
Turning to the US, almost 1 in 5 Americans listen to audiobooks, and 40% of Americans listen to podcasts. 15% of Americans listen to a podcast at least once a week. (Here are some marketing podcasts you can add to your playlist.)
According to Podcast Insights,49% of podcast listening happens at home. Some 22% of people listen in their car. That's likely why the State of Inbound report reveals that 11% of marketers plan to start podcasting.
80% of podcast listeners listen to all or most of each episode.
Podcast ad spending in the U.S. is expected to reach $2.2B in 2023, a 27% increase from 2022.
Brands like Slack, Shopify, and Basecamp have already invested in creating branded podcasts. These statistics show that marketers should at least consider advertising on podcasts.
Weekly podcast listeners tune in to an average of eight podcasts per week.

Social Media Content Marketing Statistics

If you're thinking about leveraging social media for your business, then it's important to understand the impact it can have on your bottom line. From engagement metrics and conversion rates to brand awareness and ROI, consider these key social media marketing statistics before taking the plunge:

Content marketers report the top three most effective types of content on social media to be funny (80%), interactive (77%), and authentic/behind-the-scenes (68%).
Let's see how answers given by B2C content marketers compare to their B2B counterparts.
Only 5% of B2C marketers don't plan to develop a content marketing strategy.
LinkedIn is used by 96% of B2B content marketers.
87% of B2B marketers use social media to distribute content.
84% of buyers share business-related content on LinkedIn.
78% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is the most effective social media platform for content marketing efforts, followed by Twitter (48%) and Facebook (42%).
The top six social media platforms B2B marketers use for their content marketing efforts are LinkedIn (97%), Twitter (87%), Facebook (86%), YouTube (60%), Instagram (30%), and Google+ (28%).
Organizations most successful at B2B content marketing use an average of five social platforms, while the least successful use four.
Social platforms less commonly used for B2B content marketing include SlideShare (19%), Pinterest (12%), Medium (6%), and Snapchat (3%).
B2C marketers are more likely to use live video (30%) compared to B2B marketers (24%).

Using Content Marketing Statistics for Long-Term Brand Growth

Content marketing has been on the rise in recent years, and it is expected to continue its growth in 2023. With more businesses looking to reach a wider range of demographics, age groups, and geographic areas, content marketing is becoming an increasingly important part of any successful marketing strategy.

Content marketing statistics show that data-driven and customized SEO methods are essential for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) looking to stand out from the competition and rank at the top of Google search results pages.

Reflect on these essential content marketing statistics that should inform the development and refinement of your marketing strategies. When it comes to web optimization, Content is king. Focus on creating quality content before worrying about ranking.

Source: Semrush, ahrefs, HubSpot, Backlinko, Edison Research, Wyzowl, Statista, CMI, Google, Optinmonster, Search Engine Journal