120+ Game-Changing Content Marketing Statistics

Ready to win floods of new customers with irresistible content?

Want to create serious revenue impact and prove your business case to stakeholders across the whole business?

These content marketing stats are a must-read.

Maybe you need some data-driven direction for your content marketing strategy. Or you have an awesome strategy but still need to get buy-in from the powers that be.

You need these content marketing statistics.

To help you navigate to the numbers you need, we’ve split the statistics into categories. Skip through to the areas that interest you most, or sit back and devour them all.

Table of Contents

1. Content marketing usage statistics
2. SEO and content statistics
3. Content marketing and blogging statistics
4. Content strategy statistics
5. Content marketing ROI statistics
6. Video marketing statistics
7. Audio and podcast statistics
8. Image and visual content marketing statistics
9. Email marketing statistics
10. B2B content marketing statistics

Content marketing usage statistics

One of the biggest reasons to use content marketing is that your audience is online. We Are Social’s Global Digital Reports – published in partnership with Hootsuite – show that internet users are growing by an average of more than one million new users every day, equating to more than 100 days of online time every year for every internet user. That’s 27% of the year… spent online!

What’s more, the world’s interest users will spend a cumulative 1.25 billion years online in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to rethink the way they interact with their customers and embrace technology. According to Statista, almost 4.66 billion people were active internet users as of October 2020, encompassing 59% of the global population. It’s no surprise that online marketing is now more important, relevant, and popular than ever before.

Image Source: Statista

Take a look at these content marketing usage stats from Demand Metric:

1. 90% of all organizations use content in their marketing efforts.
2. On average, marketers spend over 25% of their budget on content marketing.
3. 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing, compared with 86% of B2C marketers.
4. 78% of CMOs see content as the future of marketing, with 80% believing custom content should be central to marketing work.
5. 37% of CMOs believe that content-led websites are the most important way to engage customers.
6. 62% of companies outsource their content marketing.
7. 20% of internet users’ online time is spent on content.
8. 68% of people spend time reading about brands that interest them.
9. 57% read content marketing titles at least once a month.
10. 80% of people appreciate learning about a company through custom content.

SEO and content statistics

It’s hard to separate SEO and content strategy. Search engine optimization affects where content appears, whether people see it, and whether they click through to your site.

So exactly how important is SEO to your content strategy, and how can you improve it?

1. 95% of people only look at the first page of search results (so optimize your content if you want to get found!). (Brafton)
2. Websites that include a blog typically have 434% more indexed pages than those that don’t. (Forbes)
3.  About 64% of marketers actively invest time in search engine optimization. (Hubspot)
4. Business sites with blogs have 97% more inbound links, which helps with SEO. (HubSpot)
5. The average first-page result on Google has 1,890 words. (Backlinko)
   

   Image Source: Backlinko

6. Website traffic and engagement are among the top 5 metrics B2B marketers track to measure content performance. (Content Marketing Institute)
7. More than 50% of marketers track search rankings to measure content performance. (Content Marketing Institute)
8.  49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new item or product. (Think with Google)
9. Content with at least one image significantly outperformed content without any images in the search engine results. (Backlinko)
10. Pages with lots of backlinks rank above pages that don’t have as many backlinks. In fact, the #1 result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2-#10. (Backlinko)

Image Source: Backlinko

Takeaway: The longest term strategy you can bank on for content exposure is nailing your SEO. Make sure to create high quality content to earn backlinks and climb to the top of organic search results.

Blogging & content marketing statistics

Think written content is dying? Think again. So, how many blogs should you be posting, how long and what kind of results can you expect?

Here’s the research with the answers:

1. Blogs are among the primary three forms of media used in content strategies today. (HubSpot)
2. 60% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority. (HubSpot)
3. Companies spend 46% of their budget on content creation.  (HubSpot)
4. 9% of marketers plan to add Medium to their marketing efforts over the next 12 months. (HubSpot)
5. Companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than those that published 0-4 monthly posts. (HubSpot)
6.  B2C companies that blogged 11+ times per month got more than 4X as many leads than those that blog only 4-5 times per month. (HubSpot)
7. The top 3 types of content B2B marketers use are social media content (95%), blog posts/short articles (89%), and email newsletters (81%). (Content Marketing Institute)
   

   Image Source: Content Marketing Institute)

8. 31% of marketers said blog posts/short articles are the highest performing content type for building brand awareness. (Content Marketing Institute)
   

   Image Source: Content Marketing Institute

9. 67% of companies use organic traffic to measure their content performance. (SEMrush)
10. 51% of companies say updating or repurposing existing content has proven the most effective tactics implemented. (SEMrush)
11. Long content outperforms short content by 40.54%. (CopyPress)
12. Articles that are >3,000 words get 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks than shorter articles. (SEMrush)
13. Articles with long headlines (14+ words) attract the highest and most consistent amount of traffic. (SEMrush

     

    

Image Source: SEMrush

Takeaway: Blogs are as popular as ever, especially for B2B audiences. Authoritative blog posts are a fantastic way to position your brand as a leader and build trust.

And the copywriting secrets for success? Longer tends to be better and images are a must.

Content strategy statistics

Is your content marketing strategy up to scratch? How does it compare to other marketers?

Take a look at these content strategy statistics:

1. 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. (HubSpot)
2. Nearly 40% of marketers say content marketing is a key part of their overall marketing strategy. (HubSpot)
3. 78% of companies have a team of one-to-three content specialists. (SEMrush)
4. The top five metrics B2B marketers track to measure content performance are email engagement (90%), website traffic (88%), website engagement (86%) social media analytics (83%), and conversions (78%). (Content Marketing Institute)
   

   Image Source: Content Marketing Institute

5. The most-cited content marketing goals achieved in the last 12 months were creating brand awareness (86%), educating audiences (79%), building credibility/trust (75%). (Content Marketing Institute)
6. 52% of B2B marketers agree their organization provides customers with optimal experiences across the engagement journey. (Content Marketing Institute)
7. The percentage of content marketers who document their content marketing strategy has inched up slowly year over year. In 2020, 41% of content have a documented marketing strategy. That number, however, jumps up to 69% among top performing organizations. (Content Marketing Institute)
8. Only 5% of B2B marketers consider their content marketing extremely successful. (Content Marketing Institute)
9. Yet 91% of B2B marketers are committed to leveraging content marketing for ongoing marketing success. (Content Marketing Institute)
   

   Image Source: Content Marketing Institute

Takeaway: Many marketers are missing out on a huge opportunity, simply by letting their content marketing strategy slide. The fact is, those brands that stand out over time have a strategy in place to guide smarter content marketing decision-making.

The answer? Invest time and resources in creating a killer strategy for content marketing success.

Content marketing ROI statistics

These are the content marketing stats you can take to your boss. The ones that prove your business case that content marketing delivers a strong ROI and should definitely win more marketing budget along the way.

Let’s dive in…

Image Source: Marketing Charts

1. Content marketing generates over 3X as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. (DemandMetric)
2. 60% of people are inspired to seek out a product after reading about it. (DemandMetric)
3. 70% of people would rather learn about a company through articles rather than an advert. (DemandMetric)
4. 82% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content, with 90% of consumers finding custom content useful. (DemandMetric)
5. 78% of consumers perceive a relationship between themselves and a company using custom content. (DemandMetric)
6. 70% of consumers feel closer to a company as a result of content marketing. (DemandMetric)
7. 78% of marketers say content marketing has increased lead generation. (Content Marketing Institute)
8. Year-over-year growth in unique site traffic is 7.8X higher for content marketing (19.7%) leaders than followers (2.5%). (Aberdeen)
9. Conversion rates are nearly 6X higher for content marketing adopters (2.9%) than non-adopters (0.5%). (Aberdeen)
10. 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson. (DemandGen)
11. 95% of the most successful content marketers say their audience views their organization as a credible and trusted resource. (Content Marketing Institute)
12. 59% of the B2B marketers who measure content marketing ROI (43%) rate their ability to demonstrate ROI as excellent or very good. (Content Marketing Institute)

Image Source: Content Marketing Institute

Takeaway: Content marketing is one of the most effective tools in your overall marketing strategy.

For a massive majority of marketers, content marketing nurtures cold visitors into warm leads into red-hot prospects and, ultimately, passionate brand advocates.

Get it right and the rewards are colossal. Want more statistics to assist with your 2021 strategy? Check out our digital marketing stats.

Video content marketing statistics

It’s no secret that online video is exploding. Consumers just can’t get enough of video content on any device.

See for yourself:

Image Source: HubSpot

1.  Video has become the most commonly used format in content marketing, overtaking blogs and infographics. (HubSpot)
2.  85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. (Wyzowl)
3. 92% of marketers who use video say that it’s an important part of their marketing strategy. (Wyzowl)
4.  87% of video marketers say video has increased traffic to their website. (Wyzowl)
5. 81% of video marketers say video has helped increase the average time their visitors spend on page. (Wyzowl)
6. 95% of video marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service. (Wyzowl)
7.  4X as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read a post about it. (Animoto)
8. 1 in 4 consumers actually lose interest in a company if it doesn’t have video. (Animoto)
9. Video is trusted by 40% of millennials. (Google)
10. Half of consumers aged 18-34 would stop what they’re doing to watch a new video. (Google)
11.  59% of executives say they’d rather watch a video than read text. (Wordstream)
12. 80% of consumers typically switch from video and online search when researching products. (Google)
13. Video will represent 82% of all internet traffic by 2021. (Cisco)
14. Users view more than one billion hours of video each day on YouTube. (YouTube)
15. People are 1.5 times more likely to watch video on their mobile. (Facebook)
16. 92% of users watching video on their mobile will share it with others. (Wordstream)
17. Including a video on a landing page can boost the conversion rate by up to 80%. (Unbounce)
18. 52% of marketers say video has the best ROI out of all types of content. (HubSpot)
19. Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text. (Insivia)
20. More than 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands more than any other type of content. (HubSpot)

Image Source: HubSpot

Takeaway: Whichever way you slice it, these stats prove that video is a highly relevant and lucrative content format to invest in right now and into the future. Creating videos for your brand is a no-brainer, especially for the billions of mobile users out there.

Audio and podcast content statistics

Thinking about investing in podcast and audio content but not sure if it’s worth the effort?

The statistics speak volumes:

1.  As of October 2020, there are over 34 million podcast episodes in existence. (Podcast Insights)
2.  45% of global internet users aged 25-34 listen to podcasts. (Statista)
3.  More than half of listeners are at least somewhat more likely to consider buying from a brand after hearing its advertisement on a podcast. (Oberlo)
4. Podcast advertising revenues are expected to surpass $1 billion in 2021. (Oberlo)
5.  17% of marketers plan to add podcasting to their marketing efforts in the next 12 months. (HubSpot)
6. As of 2020, Google’s search algorithms are trying to transcend text to images, voice podcasts, and videos. (HubSpot)
7. Podcasts now reach over 100 million Americans every month. (Edison Research)
8.  American podcast listeners have grown by 54% in 3 years, from 24% in 2017 to 37% in 2020. (Convince & Convert)
   

   Image Source: Convince & Convert

9.  22% of Australians listen to podcasts monthly, and 15% listen to podcasts weekly. (Small Biz Genius)
10.  Podcasting is the fastest-growing on-demand audio medium in Australia with 3.5 million listeners aged 16-64. (MediaWeek)
11. 49% of Australian podcast listeners are more likely to influence those around them and have a higher discretionary spend on key categories including retail, travel and entertainment. (MediaWeek)
12. 63% of Australian listeners have taken some type of action based on advertising or a sponsorship. (MarketingMag)

Takeaway: If you’re debating whether your business should start a podcast to boost content marketing efforts, the statistics speak volumes.

Creating a podcast for your business greatly expands your audience reach and establishes your brand as an authority. At the same time, start setting up your business for voice search success.

Image and visual content marketing statistics

Here’s a fact to chew on: 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are known to improve learning and retention by 400% (Forbes).

It’s no wonder visual content is so powerful in engaging your audience and spreading your message.

How powerful exactly? Take a look:

1. Infographics are the fourth most used type of content marketing. (HubSpot)
2. Infographics have had the biggest increase in usage among B2B marketers in the last four years – now at 67%. (Content Marketing Institute)
3.  74% of marketers rely on visuals in their social media messaging. (Forbes)
4.  84% of businesses who have used infographics find them effective. (Forbes)
5.  88% of marketers said they used visuals in more than 50% of the articles they published. (Social Media Today)
6. 69% of marketers said visuals are absolutely essential to their marketing strategies. (Social Media Today)
7.  40% of marketers say using original graphics performed best. (Social Media Today)
8.  49% of marketers say they use online tools or software to produce visual content. (Social Media Today)
9. Blog articles with images get 94% more views than those without. (Jeff Bullas)
10. Around 3 in 4 professionals say animated visuals are effective in keeping an audience engaged – regardless of age group. (Prezi)
11. When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. If a relevant image is paired with the information, people retain 65% of the information three days later. (Brainrules)

Takeaway: Visual content is an essential element in any content marketing strategy, especially when combined with social media marketing. The impact visual content has on reach, engagement, and sales is undeniable.

Email marketing statistics

Email marketing is one of the most important and effective ways for businesses to connect with their audience and build lasting relationships. In fact, the ROI for email marketing can be as high as 4400%. That’s $44 for every dollar spent on an email marketing campaign.

But just how effective can email marketing be? Take a look at these statistics:

1. Roughly 80% of marketers have reported an increase in email engagement over the past 12 months. (Hubspot, 2020).
2.  In 2019, the number of global email users amounted to 3.9 billion. (Statista)
3. The number of global email users is set to grow to 4.48 billion users by 2024. (Statista)
   

   Image Source: Statista

4. 49% of marketers consider email marketing an important lead generation tactic, while 47% consider it important for lead nurturing. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
5. 35% of marketers send three to five emails per week to their customers. (HubSpot)
6. Promotional emails are the most common email type that marketers are investing in. (HubSpot)
7. Message personalization is the number one tactic used by email marketers to improve performance. (HubSpot)
8.  Emails with personalized subject lines generate 50% higher open rates. (Oberlo)
9.  81% of small businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel, and 80% for retention. (Oberlo)
10. Email marketing was ranked as the second most effective medium for building brand awareness for small businesses. (Campaign Monitor)
11.  Email marketing has the highest return on investment for small businesses. (Campaign Monitor)
12. 31% of marketers said email newsletters are the highest performing content type for nurturing leads. (Content Marketing Institute)
13.  The top two technologies B2B organizations use to assist with content marketing are analytics tools (86%) and email marketing software (85%). (Content Marketing Institute)

Image Source: Content Marketing Institute

Takeaway: With an astounding ROI, email is one of the most effective marketing strategies available. It’s also an incredibly versatile medium that can be used to achieve a number of goals, including building brand awareness, boosting (and nurturing!) lead generation, growing website traffic, and increasing sales and revenue.

B2B content marketing statistics

Thinking about including white papers in your content marketing strategy? Wondering how and where to reach B2B consumers with your content?

Let’s break it down:

Image Source: Marketing Charts

1. 47% of B2B buyers found case studies to be the most valuable type of influencer content, ahead of webinars at 39%, third-party or analyst reports at 35%, and user reviews and video content, each at 32%. (Marketing Charts)
2. 95% of B2B marketers prefer credible content from industry influencers. (Marketing Charts)
3. 55% of business professionals say a great story captures their focus and keeps them engaged with content. (Prezi)
4. 71% of buyers say they were turned off by content that seems like a sales pitch. (Economist Group’s “Missing the Mark”)
5. Personalization is the top strategy for 47% of B2B marketers in 2020. (99 Firms)
6. 72% of buyers expect B2B companies to personalize their communications. (99 Firms)
7. Nearly 50% of B2B companies invest 10% or more of their annual budget in marketing. (99 Firms)
8. Email marketing was the most implemented B2B content marketing tactic in 2019, used by 84% of marketers. (99 Firms)
9. LinkedIn is the most used and trusted social medium in B2B marketing, used by 86% of B2B marketers. (99 Firms)
10. 97% of B2B marketers use social media to reach their target audience. (Review 42)
11. 73% of B2B marketers say that video content positively affects their ROI. (Review 42)
12. 53% of B2B content marketers adapt interactive content to boost lead generation. (Review 42)

Takeaway: The story for B2B buyers is only slightly different from B2C. The focus is well and truly on long-form content at all stages of the buyer journey. With sales pitches out of favour, storytelling is more important than ever.

Final words

Are you shocked to find out the ROI of content marketing?

Maybe you’re surprised by the rise of podcasts or the staying power of blogs.

Or perhaps you’re amazed to find out that animated visuals engage business professionals.

These stats offer insights into the true impact of good content marketing tactics, as well as what it takes to engage B2B and B2C consumers with content.

Use them to inform the direction of your content marketing strategy, win over the decision-makers and propel your content success.

Now that you’re armed with the numbers, it’s time to take the next step and create your content marketing strategy. That’s where our Content Marketing Guide will help.

Whether you’re just starting out or want to forge the way to content success, this eBook reveals the secrets, strategies and templates for achieving rocketing revenue results.