Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
73% of B2B marketers and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy
40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy in place
82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing
Video is the number one format marketers used in their content strategy
Short-form video has the highest ROI of any content format
91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
LinkedIn is the top organic social media channel for B2B marketers at 96%
90% of content marketers use email to distribute content
Facebook is the primary content distribution channel for B2C marketers
47% of buyers view three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
71% of B2B buyers say they consumed blog content during their buyer's journey
65% of B2B buyers say that they are more willing to consider a vendor after consuming their content
Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
Content marketing provides conversion rates about 6x higher than other digital marketing methods
Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don't blog
B2B vs B2C Behavior
- 147% of buyers view three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
- 271% of B2B buyers say they consumed blog content during their buyer's journey
- 365% of B2B buyers say that they are more willing to consider a vendor after consuming their content
- 484% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand's video
- 560% of consumers enjoy reading relevant content from brands
- 682% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content
- 770% of consumers feel closer to a company as a result of content marketing
- 895% of B2B buyers consider content as trustworthy when evaluating a company and its offerings
- 962% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a brand that delivers diverse and inclusive content
- 1044% of B2B buyers say they typically consume three to five pieces of content before interacting with a vendor
- 1181% of consumers want to trust the brand they buy from
- 1228% of US adults say they are almost constantly online
- 13B2B buyers spend 27% of their time in the purchase journey researching online independently
- 1476% of buyers prefer different content formats for different stages of the buying cycle
- 1554% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support
- 1668% of consumers like to spend time reading about brands that interest them
- 1752% of B2B buyers say they are definitely more likely to buy from a vendor that publishes content
- 1888% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support
- 1964% of people prefer a podcast to other forms of educational content
- 2055% of business professionals say a great story captures their focus and keeps them engaged with content
Interpretation
If attention is currency, authentic, diverse content in three to five pieces across blogs, video, podcasts and storytelling pays buyers back by building trust, supporting independent research and creating the emotional connection that turns consideration into purchase.
Content Creation & Formats
- 1Video is the number one format marketers used in their content strategy
- 2Short-form video has the highest ROI of any content format
- 391% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
- 4The average blog post takes 3 hours and 55 minutes to write
- 5Blog posts with more than 3000 words get 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks
- 647% of marketers use AI to generate images
- 753% of marketers are prioritizing audio content
- 8Infographics are the fourth most used type of content marketing
- 962% of B2B marketers use ebooks/white papers as a primary content format
- 10Interactive content generates 2x more conversions than passive content
- 1131% of marketers use memes as part of their content strategy
- 1296% of marketers agree that videos have helped increase user understanding of their product or service
- 13Podcasts are used by 25% of content marketers
- 14The ideal blog post length for SEO in 2024 is betwen 1500 and 2500 words
- 15List-based articles (listicles) get 2x more shares than other blog post formats
- 1670% of companies invest in content marketing that includes visual marketing strategies
- 17Case studies are used by 73% of B2B marketers
- 1887% of video marketers say video has increased dwell time on their website
- 19Articles with at least one image get twice as many social shares as articles with no images
- 2041% of bloggers are publishing content weekly or more often
Interpretation
Think of content marketing as a multimedia buffet: nearly everyone is serving video—especially short clips with the highest ROI—and pairing long, image-packed blog posts and listicles for SEO, interactive pieces to double conversions, plus audio, AI images, ebooks and case studies, because visuals and video measurably boost understanding, dwell time, traffic and shares.
Distribution & Channels
- 1LinkedIn is the top organic social media channel for B2B marketers at 96%
- 290% of content marketers use email to distribute content
- 3Facebook is the primary content distribution channel for B2C marketers
- 453.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
- 5Mobile devices generate 58.67% of global website traffic
- 646% of marketers use paid social media advertising to distribute content
- 7TikTok is used by 26% of marketers for content distribution
- 868% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 9Google drives 8 times more traffic than all social media networks combined
- 1060% of marketers say that inbound marketing (SEO/blogging) is their highest quality source of leads
- 1193% of B2B marketers use social media for content distribution
- 12Email marketing generates $36 for every $1 spent
- 1375% of marketers say that SEO tactics are extremely or very effective at helping them achieve their goals
- 14Instagram is used by 65% of marketers for content distribution
- 15Guest posting is used by 60% of blogs to gain exposure and backlinks
- 16Only 0.63% of Google searchers click on results from the second page
- 1733% of B2B marketers use paid search/SEM to promote content
- 18Websites with active blogs have 434% more indexed pages
- 1928% of marketers use influencer marketing to distribute content
- 20YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world
Interpretation
Think of content marketing as a city: SEO and blogs build the skyline that Google and YouTube expose to a mostly mobile crowd, email rings the cash register with industry-beating ROI, LinkedIn is the corporate district for B2B while Facebook owns Main Street for consumers and Instagram and TikTok throw the biggest parties, and paid social, SEM, guest posts and influencers buy the billboards you need because almost nobody ever wanders past page two of search.
ROI & Measurement
- 1Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
- 2Content marketing provides conversion rates about 6x higher than other digital marketing methods
- 3Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don't blog
- 472% of the most successful marketers measure the ROI of their content marketing
- 5The average conversion rate for websites with content marketing is 2.9%
- 6The average conversion rate for websites without content marketing is 0.5%
- 761% of marketers measure content success through sales
- 875% of marketers measure content success through web traffic
- 9Small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than small businesses that do not blog
- 10Cost per lead drops 80% after 5 months of consistent content marketing
- 11Year-over-year growth in unique site traffic is 7.8x higher for content marketing leaders compared to followers
- 1252% of marketers say accurate data is the biggest challenge to measuring ROI
- 13Only 43% of marketers currently measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts
- 1439% of marketers say they are unable to connect content to revenue
- 15Blogs are 13x more likely to yield a positive ROI
- 1682% of marketers report that they use analytics tools to measure content performance
- 17Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate
- 18Outbound (print/direct mail) leads have a 1.7% close rate
- 19Brands that rely on content marketing save over $14000 per converted specialist marketing hire
- 20Marketers spend 23% of their budget on content marketing on average
Interpretation
Think of content as compound interest for your marketing: consistent blogging and organic content generate far more and better-converting leads at a fraction of the cost, cut cost-per-lead over time and drive outsized traffic growth—yet those gains only pay off if teams stop guessing and rigorously measure ROI to connect content to revenue.
Strategy & Planning
- 173% of B2B marketers and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy
- 240% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy in place
- 382% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing
- 469% of businesses expect to increase their content marketing budget in 2024
- 542% of marketers say that updating existing content has boosted their content marketing value
- 650% of marketers outsource some content marketing activities
- 758% of U.S. marketers said they have increased their content creation budgets in the last year
- 880% of marketers who use AI tools for content marketing use them for brainstorming new topics
- 9The top challenge for content marketers is creating content that generates quality leads
- 1097% of marketers surveyed reported that content marketing was an important part of their overall marketing strategy
- 1178% of CMOs believe that custom content is the future of marketing
- 1261% of marketers say they do not have a documented content strategy
- 1344% of marketers say improving the quality and value of their content has led to greater success
- 1464% of marketers want to learn how to build a better content strategy
- 1581% of marketers view content as a core business strategy
- 16Only 29% of B2B marketers consider their organization to be extremely or very successful with content marketing
- 1751% of businesses that invest in content marketing publish content every day
- 1876% of marketers use content to generate leads
- 1948% of marketers say their organization has a content marketing team of one person or less
- 2083% of marketers say it is better to focus on quality rather than quantity of content
Interpretation
Content marketing is now nearly universal and increasingly bankrolled, with AI-fueled ideation and outsourcing common, yet most teams are tiny and strategy-light so only a minority feel truly successful, meaning brands should stop worshipping volume and invest in updating and producing higher-quality, lead-focused content.
