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 while 33% have a strategy but it is undocumented
Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders
47% of buyers viewed three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
B2B companies with blogs generate 67% more leads per month than those without
Video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy, overtaking blogs and infographics
87% of video marketers say video has increased dwell time on their website
96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service
Organic search creates 53% of all site traffic
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine
75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results
70% of people would rather get information about a company or learn something from an article or blog post rather than a traditional advertisement
Personalized Calls to Action (CTAs) convert 202% better than default versions
94% of people cite design as the reason they do not trust certain websites
B2B & Lead Generation
- 196% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders
- 247% of buyers viewed three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
- 3B2B companies with blogs generate 67% more leads per month than those without
- 471% of B2B buyers say they consume blog content during their buyer's journey
- 591% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach customers
- 680% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles rather than an advertisement
- 7LinkedIn creates 80% of B2B leads from social media
- 8The average B2B buyer consumes 13 pieces of content before making a vendor selection
- 955% of decision-makers use thought leadership content to vet an organization’s capabilities
- 10Case studies are the most effective content format for B2B marketers, with 73% effectiveness
- 1188% of B2B marketers use email newsletters as a top content distribution channel
- 12B2B marketers get 65% of their leads from referrals
- 1362% of B2B buyers say a practical case study is the most valuable content format
- 1484% of B2B marketers are outsourcing content creation
- 15Companies with 10–15 landing pages see 55% more leads than those with fewer than 10
- 1660% of B2B buyers search for peer reviews and testimonials
- 1758% of marketers said their leads quality improved with content marketing tools
- 1893% of B2B buying processes begin with an online search
- 1940% of B2B buyers say that “trustworthiness” of the source is a deciding factor in engaging with content
- 20Websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages, leading to better lead generation
Interpretation
Think of B2B buyers like a picky book club: they start with an online search and sample about 13 pieces of content, favoring thought leadership, practical case studies, blogs and peer reviews, so companies that publish expert-driven articles, distribute them via LinkedIn and email, and back them with plentiful landing pages and testimonials generate far more leads and higher-quality referrals than those relying on ads.
SEO & Traffic
- 1Organic search creates 53% of all site traffic
- 268% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 375% of users never scroll past the first page of search results
- 4The average top-ranking page on Google also ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
- 5Compounding blog posts make up 10% of all blog posts but generate 38% of overall traffic
- 60.78% of Google searchers click on results from the second page
- 7Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
- 8Long-form content generates 77.2% more links than short articles
- 9Voice search accounts for 20% of queries on mobile devices
- 1061% of B2B marketers state that SEO and organic traffic is their top marketing initiative
- 11The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 31.7%
- 1260% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results
- 13Websites with a blog have 97% more inbound links
- 1446% of all Google searches are local
- 1550% of search queries consist of four words or more
- 1629% of marketers reuse and repurpose content for distribution
- 17The average time it takes to write a blog post is 4 hours and 10 minutes
- 18Content with at least one image gets twice as much traffic as content with text only
- 1992.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Images, and Maps
- 20Titles with 6-13 words attract the highest and most consistent amount of traffic
Interpretation
Think of search as the internet's main street, because organic creates 53% of site traffic and nearly seven in ten online experiences begin with a search engine; if you're not on page one, where the top result grabs about 31.7% of clicks and second-page clicks are virtually zero, you must publish long-form, image-rich posts with titles between six and thirteen words, update and republish old posts to create compounding content, and optimize for local, voice and long-tail queries, since blogs and refreshed content generate disproportionate traffic, links and mobile-driven actions and explain why SEO is the top priority for most B2B marketers.
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 while 33% have a strategy but it is undocumented
- 3Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
- 482% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing
- 542% of B2B marketers say they’re effective at content marketing
- 672% of marketers say content marketing increases engagement
- 761% of marketers measure the success of their content marketing through sales
- 869% of successful B2B marketers have a documented content strategy
- 9The top three goals marketers achieve through successful content marketing are brand awareness, credibility and trust, and educating audiences
- 1050% of marketers say they outsource some of their content marketing
- 1178% of CMOs believe custom content is the future of marketing
- 1297% of marketers are focusing on content that converts
- 13About 60% of marketers report that content marketing is very or extremely important to their overall strategy
- 1451% of businesses that invest in content marketing publish content every day
- 15The pandemic increased content usage by 207%
- 1660% of B2B marketers report that their organization’s content marketing budget will increase over the next year
- 17Only 29% of B2B marketers consider their organization very successful with content marketing tracking and measurement
- 1844% of marketers say measuring the ROI of their content marketing strategy is their top challenge
- 19Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI
- 2064% of marketers want to learn how to build a better content strategy
Interpretation
Content marketing is now ubiquitous, adopted by roughly three quarters of marketers and producing over three times as many leads at 62% lower cost, yet the field feels like an awkward adolescence where budgets, daily publishing and a rush to custom, conversion-focused content outpace documented strategy and reliable measurement, keeping ROI and tracking stubbornly at the top of marketers’ worry list even as awareness, trust and engagement remain the primary wins.
User Behavior & Engagement
- 170% of people would rather get information about a company or learn something from an article or blog post rather than a traditional advertisement
- 2Personalized Calls to Action (CTAs) convert 202% better than default versions
- 394% of people cite design as the reason they do not trust certain websites
- 459% of people will not recommend a business that has a poorly designed mobile website
- 5The average reader spends 37 seconds reading an article
- 674% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized
- 743% of people admit to skimming blog posts
- 847% of consumers check a brand's social media presence before visiting their website
- 982% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content
- 10Interactive content generates 2x more conversions than passive content
- 11User-generated content results in 29% higher web conversions than campaigns or websites without it
- 1276% of people say they would share a piece of content if it was entertaining
- 13Articles with audio players see a 10% increase in user retention
- 14Readers consume 20% of the content on a web page on average
- 1563% of consumers said they would think more positively of a brand if it gave them content that was more valuable, interesting, or relevant
- 16Click-through rates increase by 13% when emails include the word ‘you’ in the subject line
- 1784% of people expect brands to produce content that entertains, provides solutions, and produces experiences and events
- 1861% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies that deliver custom content
- 1990% of consumers find custom content useful
- 20People decide within 0.05 seconds whether to stay on a website or leave
Interpretation
Content is your company’s handshake: in 0.05 seconds people judge your site, so win them with fast, beautifully designed, mobile-friendly, personalized and entertaining pieces that include interactive elements, audio, user-generated proof and clear calls to action that speak to “you,” because skimmers reward relevance and personalization with far higher trust, engagement and conversions.
Video & Visual Media
- 1Video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy, overtaking blogs and infographics
- 287% of video marketers say video has increased dwell time on their website
- 396% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service
- 4Marketers using video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users
- 586% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
- 6Visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content
- 7Infographics are the fourth most used type of content marketing
- 888% of marketers say that video is an important part of their marketing strategy
- 9People following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations
- 10Colored visuals increase people's willingness to read a piece of content by 80%
- 1154% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support
- 12Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy
- 13Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text
- 1491% of businesses use video as a marketing tool in 2023
- 15Live video creates 3x longer engagement than pre-recorded video
- 1640% of marketers predict that between 51% and 80% of their content will be video in the coming years
- 17Including a video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by up to 80%
- 1832% of marketers say visual images are the most important form of content for their business
- 19Presentations with visual aids are 43% more persuasive than those without
- 20Using the word "video" in an email subject line boosts the open rates by 19%
Interpretation
If content is currency, these stats show that video and vivid visuals are the mint, producing far higher engagement, retention, shares and conversions than text alone.
