Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Measuring the ROI of marketing activities is the number one challenge cited by marketers
Companies that calculate ROI are 1.6 times more likely to receive higher budgets
Only 35% of marketers said that understanding the ROI of their campaigns is "very important" or "extremely important."
Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than those without
Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to see positive ROI
For every $1 spent on email marketing $36 is the average return on investment
Segmented campaigns have seen as much as a 760% increase in revenue
59% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions
Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads
PPC traffic converts 50% better than organic traffic
Search ads can increase brand awareness by 80%
87% of video marketers say video has given them a good return on investment
92% of video marketers say video gives them a good ROI on lead generation
87% of video marketers say video triggers a positive ROI on web traffic
Content & Social Media
- 1Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
- 2Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than those without
- 3Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to see positive ROI
- 482% of marketers who blog see positive ROI from their inbound marketing
- 5Businesses earn an average of $5.78 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing
- 660% of marketers say influencer generated content solicits more engagement than branded posts
- 777% of internet users read blogs
- 861% of consumers have made a purchase after reading a blog recommendation
- 9LinkedIn generates 3x more conversions than Twitter and Facebook for B2B marketing
- 1072% of B2B marketers say social media is a main source of data and analytics usage
- 11Only 4% of B2B marketers measure content marketing ROI efficiently
- 1279% of B2B marketers use content marketing to generate leads
- 13User-generated content results in 29% higher web conversions than campaigns or websites without it
- 1456% of marketers who leverage blogging say it’s effective and high ROI
- 1596% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for organic content distribution
- 16Companies with an active blog garner 97% more backlinks
- 1770% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing
- 1850% of marketers plan to increase their investment in content marketing in 2024
- 19Social media video generates as much as 1200% more shares than text and image content combined
- 2089% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels
Interpretation
Content is the compound interest of marketing: blogs, influencers, user-generated posts, social video and LinkedIn multiply leads, engagement, backlinks and conversions while cutting costs and boosting ROI, yet most marketers still fail to measure those returns properly.
Email & Automation
- 1For every $1 spent on email marketing $36 is the average return on investment
- 2Segmented campaigns have seen as much as a 760% increase in revenue
- 359% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions
- 4Automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails
- 5Marketing automation drives a 14.5% increase in sales productivity
- 6Marketing automation leads to a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead
- 7Welcome emails generate 4x more opens and 5x more clicks than regular email campaigns
- 8Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates
- 9B2B marketers say email marketing is their most effective channel for revenue generation
- 1077% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months
- 11Email marketing is 40x more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter
- 1264% of businesses use email marketing to reach customers
- 13Abandoned cart emails have an average conversion rate of 18.64%
- 1480% of business professionals believe that email marketing increases customer retention
- 1550% of people buy from marketing emails at least once a month
- 16CRM applications can increase revenue by up to 29%
- 17Companies using marketing automation see 53% higher conversion rates
- 1891% of users say marketing automation is very important to the overall success of their marketing across channels
- 19Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads
- 20Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads
Interpretation
Put simply, email is not small-time: every $1 spent returns about $36, segmentation can boost revenue by up to 760%, automated emails generate roughly 320% more revenue than non-automated sends, personalized and welcome messages drive far higher opens, clicks and transactions (welcome emails get 4x the opens and 5x the clicks, personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates and abandoned cart emails convert at about 18.64%), marketing automation and CRM lift conversions and qualified leads by large margins with 53% higher conversion rates, a 451% increase in qualified leads and up to 29% more revenue from CRM, and together they increase sales productivity by 14.5%, cut marketing overhead by 12.2% and make email, which is about 40x more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook or Twitter, the most powerful channel for driving revenue.
General Strategy & Measurement
- 1Measuring the ROI of marketing activities is the number one challenge cited by marketers
- 2Companies that calculate ROI are 1.6 times more likely to receive higher budgets
- 3Only 35% of marketers said that understanding the ROI of their campaigns is "very important" or "extremely important."
- 439% of marketers say proving the ROI of their marketing activities is their top marketing challenge
- 5Marketers who calculate their ROI are 1.6 times more likely to secure budget increases
- 652% of marketers are currently using attribution reporting
- 740% of marketers say proving the ROI of their marketing activities is their top marketing challenge
- 891% of marketing executives are quite confident or very confident that they are investing in programs that influence revenue
- 9Only 54% of marketers are confident in their ability to measure full-funnel ROI
- 10High-performing marketers are 1.5x more likely to use data-driven attribution models
- 1161% of marketers struggle to access data that helps them calculate ROI
- 1228% of marketers say that a lack of budget is the biggest obstacle to achieving their goals
- 1376% of marketers use data to drive their decision-making
- 14Only 25% of marketers create custom reports to prove ROI
- 1550% of marketing tactics don’t work, but many marketers don’t know which half that is due to poor ROI tracking
- 16Data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers
- 17Data-driven organizations are 6 times as likely to retain customers
- 18Companies that adopt data-driven marketing are 19 times more likely to be profitable
- 19Analytics leaders are 3x more likely to outperform their peers in revenue growth
- 2057% of data-driven marketers report an ROI of 1.5x or more
Interpretation
These statistics prove the old adage that you cannot fix what you cannot measure: marketers who calculate ROI are 1.6 times more likely to secure bigger budgets and 1.5 times more likely to adopt data-driven attribution, and data-driven organizations are dramatically advantaged, being 23 times more likely to acquire customers, 6 times more likely to retain them, 19 times more likely to be profitable, and analytics leaders are three times more likely to outperform peers in revenue growth, while too many marketers still lack the data, confidence, custom reports, or budget to identify which half of their tactics actually work.
Paid Advertising & PPC
- 1Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads
- 2PPC traffic converts 50% better than organic traffic
- 3Search ads can increase brand awareness by 80%
- 465% of all small-to-midsize businesses have a PPC campaign
- 574% of brands say PPC is a huge driver for their business
- 6The average CTR in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for search
- 7The average cost per action (CPA) in Google Ads search is $48.96
- 8Retargeting campaigns can result in a 147% higher conversion rate
- 9Users who are retargeted to are 70% more likely to convert
- 1096% of marketers spend money on Google Ads
- 11Paid advertising returns $2 for every $1 spent
- 1245% of small businesses use paid advertising
- 13Mobile advertising spending is expected to surpass $240 billion
- 14Display advertising has a lower CTR of 0.46% but aids heavily in brand awareness
- 1533% of people click on a paid search ad because it directly answers their search query
- 16Ad spend for social media is projected to reach over $173 billion
- 17Facebook ads reach 62.6% of all monthly active users
- 1826% of Facebook users who clicked on ads reported making a purchase
- 19The average ROI for programmatic advertising is reported around $4 for every $1 spent
- 2050% of consumers are more likely to click on an ad if it appears on a mobile device
Interpretation
In short, paid advertising is marketing’s power drill: even with an average search CTR of 3.17% (display 0.46%) and a typical CPA near $49, Google Ads and programmatic campaigns reliably return roughly $2 and $4 for every $1 spent, boost conversions dramatically (PPC converts about 50% better than organic; retargeting can lift conversions 147% and makes users 70% more likely to buy), increase brand awareness (search ads +80%), dominate budgets as mobile and social spend surge into the hundreds of billions with Facebook reaching 62.6% of users, and prove that relevance pays—33% click because an ad answers their query and 50% are more likely to click on mobile—so paid media turns attention into measurable revenue.
Video, Mobile & Emerging Tech
- 187% of video marketers say video has given them a good return on investment
- 292% of video marketers say video gives them a good ROI on lead generation
- 387% of video marketers say video triggers a positive ROI on web traffic
- 4Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users
- 590% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions
- 6Including a video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%
- 751% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI
- 8SMS marketing has an open rate of 98%
- 9SMS marketing campaigns produce a 209% higher response rate than phone, email, or Facebook
- 1061% of marketers state that AI is the most important aspect of their data strategy
- 1128% of top-performing companies use AI for marketing
- 12Businesses using AI for marketing saw a 59% increase in close rates
- 13AI adopters in marketing report a 52% increase in conversion rates
- 14Mobile offers are redeemed 10x more frequently than print offers
- 1570% of mobile searches lead to action within an hour
- 1668% of companies have integrated mobile marketing into their overall marketing strategy
- 1784% of consumers have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video
- 18Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text
- 19Companies using chatbots in marketing have seen a 67% increase in sales figures
- 2057% of marketers use video in their email marketing strategies
Interpretation
If you want marketing that actually pays off, lead with video, follow up with SMS, and harness AI and chatbots on mobile, because video multiplies retention, conversions and revenue growth, SMS earns near‑universal opens and outsized responses, AI raises close and conversion rates, and mobile makes offers redeemed and actions almost immediate, which is why marketers consistently name video and AI the top ROI drivers.
