251 Content Marketing Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind

For every blogger and digital marketer, it is crucial to know the current content marketing landscape. I have compiled some of the most important content marketing statistics for you. Some of these are obvious, but some will surprise you. So let’s see the status of content marketing at this time.

So, let us begin with the biggest one:
The global content marketing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16% during 2021-2025 (from 2021 to 2025). It is poised to grow by USD 417.85 billion – As per the Technavio report.

Yes, you read it right. The “Content Marketing” market will be over $600 billion by 2025.

Incredible, right?!

That’s why everyone loves stats.

And guess what will be in demand the most?
Content creation!
For content creators, this is quite inspiring.

One more question? Why content marketing is growing at such a speed?

According to the same report, the key factor driving this growth will be the rise in the number of social media users.

Another reason, which you might probably know is:
Content marketing has the highest ROI among all digital marketing activities. Because of this, almost every business (both B2B and B2C) is transitioning to content marketing as a preferred mode of marketing and promotion.

And a lot of statistics given below prove the same.

So, let’s move on to the content marketing stats.

Content Marketing Statistics

Below are the content marketing stats you need to know this year. These include statistics for content creation, blogging, and written content. We’ve also covered video content, audio & podcasts, and images & infographics marketing.

Likewise, you’ll find stats on B2B content marketing, B2C content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing.

1. Content Marketing Strategies Statistics

• 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before reaching out to a sales rep. (Ziflow)

• 65% of consumers prefer content from prominent industry influencers. (DemandGen)

• 70% of marketers believe that content marketing has improved user engagement and increased leads.

• 34% of marketers expect their content marketing budget to increase next year.

• The key metric brands use to measure content success is organic traffic (83%), followed by leads (66%). (SEMrush)

• 75% of brands say the most efficient content marketing tactic they use is SEO.

• 15% of companies have no idea what they’re spending on content marketing.

• The average amount companies spend annually on content marketing is $10,000 or less.

• The biggest goal companies want to achieve through content marketing is to generate more leads (79%).

• 78% of content marketers think branded content is the future of marketing. (DemandMetric)

• As far as online sales are concerned, 70% of respondents said SEO gives better results than pay-per-click ads. (HubSpot)

• People spend an average of 7 hours per day consuming digital content, almost doubling the prior year’s stats. (Forbes)

• Facebook and LinkedIn are the #1 most effective social media platforms for content distribution. (SEMrush)

• 59% of shoppers say they use Google to research a purchase. (ThinkwithGoogle)

• More than 50% of shoppers use Google to discover a new brand. (WCE)

• 60% of smartphone users have contacted a business using search results.

• Content production is the biggest challenge for 44% of marketers. (Inc.com)

• Content marketing costs 62% less and generates 3 times more leads as compared to traditional marketing. (DemandMetric)

• 69% of the content is created for the top of the funnel (TOFU). 43% is created for the middle (MOFU), 20% for the bottom (BOFU), and 18% of the content is created for retention.

• 82% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after reading custom content. (DemandMetric)

• 9% of content marketers don’t conduct a content audit. (SEMrush)

• 56% of consumers aged 18-24 use the search engine for news, business, and lifestyle stories, while 54% of them use the Facebook feed for it. (HubSpot)

• 60% of content marketers create at least one piece of content each day. (eMarketer)

• 57% of marketers say custom content was their top marketing priority. (Altimeter)

• Content marketing adopters have a conversion rate of 2.9% while non-adopters have a conversion rate of only 0.5%. (Aberdeen)

• 72% of marketers think that branded content is more effective than magazine ads.

• 51% of content consumption is derived from organic search. (Kuno Creative)

• Over 36% of marketers want to use more educational content like “how-to guides” as an efficient content marketing tactic. (SEMrush)

• 70% of marketers prioritize content quality over quantity. (Point Visible)

• 69% of marketers say custom content works better than direct mail and PR. (Custom Content Council)

• Nearly 60% of marketers reuse content two to five times. (LookBookHQ)

• 72% of companies are producing more content than a year ago. (CMI)

• 87% of marketers use social media as their content marketing delivery tool. (CMI)

• About 49% of marketers say they are learning to drive content to align with the buyer’s journey. (LookBookHQ)

• Up to 81% of marketers want to maximize the use of original written content. (Social Media Examiner)

• 82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. (HubSpot)

• 78% of companies have a team of content specialists. (SEMrush)

• The two most common measurements of successful content marketing are web traffic and total sales. (HubSpot)

• 24% of marketers plan on increasing their investment in content marketing. (HubSpot)

• 70% of marketers revised their targeting strategy in the past year. (B2B Content Marketing)

• 64% of marketers adjusted their editorial calendar in the past year. (B2B Content Marketing)

• 53% of marketers have revised their content distribution strategy in the past year. (B2B Content Marketing)

• Generating more quality leads is a top content priority for 79% of marketers. (WCE)

• Marketers today create content for multiple audience segments — marketing to three audience segments is most common. (HubSpot)

• 40% of marketers believe that content marketing is an integral part of their overall marketing strategy. (HubSpot)

• 94% of marketers use social media for content distribution. (SEMrush)

• 73% of content marketers use keyword research tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc. for SEO and content creation. (CMI)

• The top priority for 44% of marketers is to optimize ROI measurement for lead generation efforts. (HubSpot)

• Companies that invest in Google Ads on average see double their investment in earnings. (Google)

• The main priority for 55% of marketing agencies is to increase creative output. (Ziflow)

• 65% of marketers find it challenging to create engaging content for SEO purposes. (Small Biz Genius)

• Over 50% of content marketers said the COVID-19 crisis has created a lot more work for them. (Ziflow Benchmark Survey)

• 42% of marketers believe improving their SEO is the #1 priority. (Semrush)

• The use of SEO and PPC ads has increased from 51% to 65% during 2020-21. (HubSpot)

• 75% of marketers believe SEO is the most effective content marketing tactic (Semrush)

• 72% of marketers say content creation is their best SEO tactic. (OptinMonster)

• Google Analytics is the #1 SEO tool used by marketers. (HubSpot)

• Social media advertising revenue reaches USD 41.5 billion — nearly 30% of all internet ad revenue. (IAB)

• Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are the four most-used social media platforms by marketers. (HubSpot)

• Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide boasting over 2.8 billion monthly active users. (Statista)

• 94% of marketers allocate a budget for content marketing. (Semrush)

• 68% of marketers said they aim to increase their content marketing budget. (Semrush)

• Digital ad spend grew 12% in 2020 and shows no sign of slowing down. (CNBC)

• After Google implemented its new Core Web Vitals, the website’s user experience (UX) elements need to be optimized. (VisualOak)

• 77% of companies say they have a content marketing strategy. (SEMrush)

• Only 11% of businesses have a well-crafted content marketing strategy, and only 61% of companies measure their content marketing ROI. (SEMrush)

• The most commonly searched query related to content marketing is: “content marketing strategy”. (SEMrush)

• 48% of small businesses have a documented content strategy. Whereas only 41% of large companies do this. (CMI)

• 73% of organizations have someone in charge to oversee their content strategy. (CMI)

• 70% of content marketers believe that their content marketing is currently more successful than it was last year. (SEMrush)

You may also like: How to Run a Well-Timed Content Marketing Campaign?

2. Video Content Marketing Statistics

• Video is the #1 type of content people like to see from brands on their social media feeds.

• The most common video types created by marketers are brand storytelling and promotional videos. (HubSpot)

• Videos have become the most widely used content marketing media format. The other two are blog posts and infographics. (HubSpot)

• Nearly 50% of buyers watch product videos before making a purchasing decision. (SERP Watch)

• 87% of marketers claim video has increased traffic to their website. (Wyzowl)

• 80% of marketers say video has directly increased sales. (Wyzowl)

• 91% of content marketers are satisfied with the ROI from video marketing efforts. (Animoto)

• The top three social media platforms for content marketing are Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. (Animoto)

• Video content is most popular among younger demographics. (HubSpot)

• 54% of customers want to see more video content from the brands. (HubSpot)

• Content marketers distribute videos on YouTube more than any other channel. (Wyzowl)

• 96% of respondents admit they have watched an explainer video to learn about a brand/product/service. (Wyzowl)

• 91% of marketers believe that video is more important to brands, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. (Wyzowl)

• 85% of U.S. internet users watch video content monthly (across all their devices). (Statista)

3. Audio and Podcast Content Marketing Statistics

• Nearly 73 million people listen to podcasts each month. (Edison Research)

• In the US, 45% of people aged 12+ have listened to the audio in the car via cell phone. (Edison Research)

• Voice search will continue to grow with greater adoption. (DBS)

• 52% of people who use voice assistants do so several times a day. (NPR)

• Voice-based purchases are expected to reach $40 billion in 2022. (Quora Creative)

• The podcast market is expected to reach more than USD 2 billion by 2023.

• 64% of people surveyed consider podcasts valuable in the early stage of their shopping journey. (DemandGen)

• 28% of marketers want to learn the art of podcasting. (Social Media Examiner)

• As of October 2020, there were over 34 million podcast episodes available. (Podcast Insights)

• In October 2020, there were over 1.5 million active podcast shows.

• Over 75% of Americans aged 12+ are familiar with podcasting. (Edison Research)

• Monthly podcast listening is now at 37%. (Edison Research)

• In the US, 39% of men and 36% of women aged 12+ are monthly podcast listeners. (Edison Research)

• Podcasts reach over 100 million Americans every month. (Edison Research)

• 17% of marketers said they want to incorporate podcasts into their content marketing strategy. (HubSpot)

• In less than three years, podcast listening in the USA has increased by more than 60%.

4. Images and Infographics Marketing Statistics

• 75% of content marketers achieve high ROI when visuals are added to the content. (Contently)

• 78% of marketers regularly use visuals in their content. (Contently)

• 67% of buyers said that the quality of a product’s image influences their purchase decision. (Jeff Bullas)

• Last year, the use of infographics increased from 9% to 52%. (DemandGen)

• The demand for infographics has seen an increase of 800% in the last year. (Source: Unbounce)

• 23.7% of content marketers consider the creation of visual content to be the biggest challenge. (HubSpot)

5. B2B Content Marketing Statistics

• According to B2B marketers, their most preferred types of content are social media posts (95%), blog posts (89%), and email newsletters (81%).

• For B2B buyers, the most preferred types of content are case studies (79%), webinars (66%), videos (49%), and interactive content (36%).

• 58% of marketers said that “original written content” is the most impactful type of content. (Social Media Examiner)

• 86% of B2B companies outsource content creation (this includes all types of content). (CMI)

• 64% of B2B marketers outsource content writing tasks. (TopRankBlog)

• 81% of content writing tasks are outsourced making it the most valuable marketing skill.

• 30% of B2B companies outsource content distribution tasks. (Ziflow)

• 86% of B2B organizations have successfully used content marketing to create brand awareness. (CMI)

• 95% of B2B customers consider online content as a trustworthy marker when evaluating a brand. (DemandGen)

• By the year 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will be through digital channels. (Gartner)

• 42% of B2B marketers say that their content marketing efforts have been effective. (CMI)

• Influencer marketing is expected to reach $15 billion by 2022. (The Financial Express)

• 93% of B2B brands use some form of content marketing. (Source: CMI)

• 39% of the B2B marketing budget is spent on content marketing. (TopRankBlog)

• On average, B2B marketers use 13 content marketing tactics. (TopRankBlog)

• 70% of B2B marketers consider in-person events to be effective. (TopRankBlog)

• LinkedIn is the #1 content distribution channel for B2B marketers at 96%, followed by Twitter at 82%. (LinkedIn)

• 83% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn paid ads for content distribution. (CMI)

• 92% of B2B marketers consider content as a business asset. (CMI)

• 47% of B2B buyers consider webinars valuable in the mid-stage of their purchase journey. (DemandGen)

• 91% of B2B marketers said that their organization uses content marketing.

• 35% of B2B marketers measure content marketing ROI while 47% of them do not.

• 43% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. (B2B Content Marketing)

• 31% of B2B marketers believe that their content marketing efforts have been very successful in the past 12 months. (B2B Content Marketing)

• 44% of B2B brands have witnessed increased sales cycles in the past year. (LinkedIn)

• 92% of B2B marketers have an ABM (account-based marketing) program (Martech

• 68% of B2B brands with ABM programs use market automation. (Martech)

• Over 50% of B2B marketers plan to increase their marketing budget next year. (WCE)

• 89% of marketers say that social media was the most popular content delivery channel used in 2020. (B2B Content Marketing)

• The use of social media ads increased from 60% to 83% in the past year. (B2B Content Marketing)

• 79% of B2B marketers have some sort of content marketing strategy and 37% of them have it in a documented form. (CMI)

6. B2C Content Marketing Statistics

• Almost 86% of B2C marketers use content marketing. (Source: CMI)

• 18% of B2C marketers adjusted their buyer personas in the face of the pandemic. (CMI)

• 27% of B2C content marketing teams increased their size in the last year. The average content marketing team size is 2-5 people. (CMI)

• Cost-cutting is the #1 reason for B2C brands that outsource content marketing jobs. (CMI)

• 26% of B2C companies do not have a single full-time employee for content marketing. (CMI)

• 87% of B2C companies track site traffic to measure content marketing performance. (CMI)

• This year, LinkedIn usage among B2C marketers grew by 20%. (CMI)

7. Blog Marketing Statistics

• 71% of B2B customers read blogs before a purchase. (DemandGen) https://www.demandgenreport.com/resources/research/2018-content-preferences-survey-report/

• Blog posts are the most popular content type B2C marketers use at 83%. (CMI)

• Marketers who blog regularly are 13 times more likely to achieve a positive ROI. (HubSpot)

• Sites with 400+ published posts get twice the traffic compared to sites with 301-400 posts. (NeilPatel.com) https://neilpatel.com/blog/5-simple-steps-thatll-help-you-determine-how-often-you-need-to-blog/

• Publishing 3-4 blog posts per week provides the highest conversion rate and traffic.

• Websites that publish 16+ posts per month receive 3.5x more traffic and 4.5x more leads than sites that publish 4 or fewer blog posts.

• Sites with 300 blog posts get 3.5x more traffic than the sites with 0-50 published posts.

• The more blog posts that both B2B and B2C companies do, the more leads they get.

• Both B2B and B2C businesses the more blog posts they publish, the more leads they get.

• B2B brands that publish 11+ blog posts/month get 1.75x more leads than those who publish 6-10 blog posts and 4x more leads than those that publish less than 4 posts.

• B2B brands with 400+ blog posts get 2.5 times more traffic than those with less than 300 posts.

• Over 90% of content marketers incorporate blog content into their content strategy. (WCE, 2021)

• 32% of marketers check the analytics of their blog content. (Statista)

• WordPress users generate over 70 million new blog posts and 77 million new comments every month. (WordPress)

• Listicles get 2 times more shares than other blog post formats. (SEMrush)

• Nearly 50% of people take blog recommendations into account.

• Businesses that blog consistently see a 13x ROI over businesses that don’t blog. (SEMrush)

• 82% of marketers who blog see positive ROI from their inbound marketing. (Source: HubSpot)

• 76% of B2B marketers blog regularly, and 73% publish case studies. (Source: CMI)

• Blogs are among the top three forms of media used in content marketing. (HubSpot)

• WordPress is the preferred content management system (CMS) of 18% of marketers. (HubSpot)

• Global marketing spending is expected to grow by 14% in 2021. (Deloitte)

• 83% of traffic to marketing blogs comes from desktops. (SEMrush)

• Search engines are the number one traffic source to blogs. (SEMrush)

• Top-performing marketing articles are over 5,700 words long. (SEMrush)

• Articles longer than 3000 words get 3x more traffic, 3.5x more backlinks, and 4x more shares than shorter articles. (SEMrush)

• 51% of businesses say that updating outdated content has proven to be the most efficient tactic. (SEMrush)

• 67% of businesses use organic traffic to measure the success of their content. (SEMrush)

• 86% of marketers produce more blog content than other formats. (SEMrush)

• 55% of content marketers say blog content creation is their number one tactic. (HubSpot)

• Businesses who prioritize blogging experience 13x higher ROI than businesses that don’t. (Lauro Media)

• Headlines of 14 words or more get 5 times more backlinks. (Convince and Convert)

• 71% of B2B brands say that reading corporate blogs influences buying decisions. (LinkedIn)

• 57% of marketers believe that blogging helped them gain new customers. (OptinMonster)