Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine
SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media
69.7% of search queries contain four words or more
There are over 4.8 billion social media users worldwide
The average user spends 151 minutes per day on social media
Facebook is the most used social platform with nearly 3 billion monthly active users
For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average ROI is $36
Welcome emails have the highest open rates, averaging 50%
Segmented email campaigns earn 14.31% higher open rates than non-segmented campaigns
91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
96% of marketers view video as an "important part" of their marketing strategy
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text
The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 70.19%
Global e-commerce sales reached $5.8 trillion in 2023
Mobile commerce accounts for 59% of all e-commerce sales
Content Marketing & SEO
- 168% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 2SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media
- 369.7% of search queries contain four words or more
- 4Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 search results within a year of publication
- 572% of marketers say content marketing increases engagement
- 6Updating and republishing old blog posts can increase traffic by 106%
- 7The average top-ranking page on Google also ranks in the top 10 for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
- 8Content with images gets 94% more views than content without
- 946% of all Google searches have local intent
- 1070% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing
- 11Long-form content generates an average of 77.2% more links than short articles
- 12The top result on Google has an average click-through rate of 31.7%
- 1353.3% of all web traffic comes from organic search
- 14Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic
- 1561% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies that provide custom content
- 1688% of B2B marketers use content marketing as a key strategy
- 170.78% of Google searchers click on results from the 2nd page
- 1875% of people never scroll past the first page of search engines
- 1996% of bloggers report that analytics are critical to their content strategy
- 20The average Google #1 result has 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2-#10
Interpretation
If you want to be found, write like a librarian who moonlights as a marketer: prioritize SEO over social, create long, image-rich, locally optimized content targeted at long-tail queries, update and track it rigorously, and earn backlinks, because search dominates how people start and find things online and the top results capture almost all the clicks and conversions.
E-commerce & Consumer Behavior
- 1The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 70.19%
- 2Global e-commerce sales reached $5.8 trillion in 2023
- 3Mobile commerce accounts for 59% of all e-commerce sales
- 493% of consumers say online reviews impact their purchasing decisions
- 548% of online shoppers head straight to a large ecommerce marketplace
- 660% of Gen Z shoppers prefer to discover brands on social platforms rather than Google
- 7Free shipping is the most important factor for 80% of consumers when shopping online
- 858% of consumers stop doing business with a company because of poor customer service
- 9Amazon accounts for nearly 40% of all US e-commerce sales
- 1080% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences
- 1157% of customers won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile
- 1234% of shoppers have made a purchase via a mobile wallet
- 1318% of local smartphone searches lead to a purchase within a day
- 1453% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load
- 1573% of consumers use multiple channels during their shopping journey
- 16The conversion rate on desktop (3%) was nearly twice as high as mobile (1.6%) in 2022
- 1749% of consumers say they rely on influencer recommendations to make purchases
- 1864% of consumers say sustainable shipping is important to them
- 19Consumers who chat with a brand convert 3x more often
- 2040% of all online spending during the 2022 holiday season was done via smartphone
Interpretation
With global e-commerce at $5.8 trillion and 70% of carts abandoned, shoppers are voting with their thumbs for fast, free, personalized and review-approved mobile experiences, so brands that do not prioritize three second page loads, seamless mobile wallets, social discovery and influencer credibility, sustainable shipping and standout customer service with live chat will simply lose customers to Amazon, marketplaces and social platforms.
Email Marketing
- 1For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average ROI is $36
- 2Welcome emails have the highest open rates, averaging 50%
- 3Segmented email campaigns earn 14.31% higher open rates than non-segmented campaigns
- 499% of email users check their inbox every day
- 5Adding interactive content to emails increases the click-to-open rate by 73%
- 6Personalized subject lines increase open rates by 26%
- 741.9% of emails are opened on mobile clients
- 8Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue
- 935% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone
- 10Abandoned cart emails result in an average conversion rate of 18.64%
- 11Emails with emojis in the subject line have a 56% higher open rate
- 1287% of B2B marketers say email is one of their top free organic distribution channels
- 1340% of consumers say they have at least 50 unread emails in their inbox
- 14The average bounce rate for email campaigns is around 10%
- 15Automation causes a 19% increase in open rates compared to broadcast emails
- 1664% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers
- 17Tuesday is the best day to send emails for high open rates
- 18Including videos in email can increase click rates by 300%
- 1959% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions
- 2081% of SMBs rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel
Interpretation
Email marketing is the Swiss Army knife of digital growth, returning about $36 for every $1 spent when companies use welcome messages, personalization, segmentation and automation to cut through daily inbox clutter, leverage subject lines, emojis, interactive content and video to boost opens and clicks, time sends for maximum impact and recover sales with abandoned cart emails, which explains why small businesses and B2B marketers rely on it despite unread messages and a typical bounce rate.
Social Media Marketing
- 1There are over 4.8 billion social media users worldwide
- 2The average user spends 151 minutes per day on social media
- 3Facebook is the most used social platform with nearly 3 billion monthly active users
- 490% of Instagram users follow a business
- 5LinkedIn generates 80% of B2B social media leads
- 6TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2022
- 773% of marketers believe social media marketing has been "somewhat effective" or "very effective" for their business
- 8User-generated content usually generates 6.9x higher engagement than brand-generated content on Facebook
- 983% of consumers say they would like to buy products directly on social media
- 10Pinterest users are 7x more likely to say the platform is the most influential in their purchase journey
- 11Tweets with video get 10x more engagement than those without
- 1254% of social browsers use deeper social media to research products
- 1393% of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn for organic social marketing
- 14Carousel posts on Instagram have the highest engagement rate at 1.92%
- 1571% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others
- 16Influencer marketing is valued at over $21.1 billion
- 17YouTube Shorts receive 50 billion daily views
- 1879% of people say that user-generated content on social media highly impacts their purchasing decisions
- 19The average engagement rate for Facebook posts in 2023 was only 0.06%
- 2040% of Gen Z users prefer using TikTok and Instagram for search over Google
Interpretation
Think of social media as the planet's busiest shopping mall, with 4.8 billion people spending 151 minutes a day and platforms from Facebook's nearly 3 billion reach to TikTok and YouTube Shorts commanding attention, where user-generated content, short-form video and influencer-backed posts, which power a $21 billion industry, drive far more engagement and purchase intent than brand noise, Instagram and Pinterest heavily influence buying journeys, LinkedIn dominates B2B lead generation, consumers increasingly expect to research and buy in-app, and marketers who don't make content that is discoverable, shoppable and shareable risk being painfully ignored.
Video & Visual Marketing
- 191% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
- 296% of marketers view video as an "important part" of their marketing strategy
- 3Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text
- 4Including a video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80%
- 5Online video is predicted to make up 82.5% of all web traffic
- 685% of Facebook videos are watched without sound
- 787% of marketers report that video gives them a positive ROI
- 866% of consumers prefer watching a video to reading about a product
- 9Native videos on Facebook get 10x more shares than YouTube links
- 1092% of video marketers say video gives them a good return on their investment
- 1154% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support
- 12Vertical video ads are watched to exactly 100% completion 90% more often than horizontal ones
- 1350% of people look for a video relating to a product or service before visiting a store
- 14Visuals with color increase the willingness to read by 80%
- 15Shoppers who view video are 1.81x more likely to purchase than non-viewers
- 16Infographics are liked and shared on social media 3x more than any other type of content
- 17Live streaming is expected to be a $330 billion industry by 2030
- 18Users spend 88% more time on a website that has video
- 19Video posts on LinkedIn have 5x higher engagement rates than any other format
- 2052% of marketers say video is the content type with the best ROI
Interpretation
If you still treat video as optional, consider that 91% of businesses use it and 96% of marketers call it important, viewers retain 95% of a video message versus 10% of text, videos on a landing page can lift conversions by 80% and shoppers who watch are 1.81 times more likely to buy, videos boost time on site by 88% and are predicted to comprise 82.5% of web traffic while live streaming heads toward a $330 billion market, native Facebook videos get ten times the shares of YouTube links even though 85% are watched without sound so captions matter, vertical ads reach full completion far more often than horizontal ones, LinkedIn video engagement is five times higher, infographics and colorful visuals dramatically increase sharing and reading, and no wonder 87 to 92% of marketers report positive ROI and more than half want more video content, so the bottom line is prioritize concise, captioned, native vertical videos or prepare to be ignored.
