In marketing, changes occur at lightspeed. As a result, it’s vital to stay up to date with the trends so you don’t lose your competitive edge. This article will give you an overview of some important statistics from the last few years to help you create the most effective strategies for today’s audience.
1. SEO Statistics
SEO requires hard work and consistency. Here are some statistics that you should consider:
- 64% of SEO marketers consider mobile optimisation to be an effective investment. (Source)
- More than 50% of marketers consider keyword rankings and organic traffic to be the most important indicators of SEO success. (Source)
- 80% of shoppers are more inclined to visit an offline business if they can view its inventory levels online. (Source)
- 52% of voice-assistant users stated that they use voice search almost daily (at the least) and some users rely on it up to several times per day. (Source)
- 28% of “nearby” or “near me” searches leads to a purchase. (Source)
- By using search engines on their phones, 51% of smartphone owners have found a new company or product. (Source)
- If your mobile website takes more than three seconds to load, 53% of visitors will abandon it. (Source)
- Since 2017, searches that include the phrases “where to purchase” and “near me” have increased by 200%. (Source)
Recommendations: Have a mobile-first approach for all your strategies if you don’t already. More and more people are using their phones for quick searches, so keep up with this trend. Organic traffic is sustainable, and all advertising efforts fizzle out sooner or later, so think long-term with your strategies. There’s no excuse today for not having an online presence for your brand, even if you are not offering services online. Finally, it’s high time for websites to be inclusive – especially those who use a voice assistant for their searches.
2. Content Marketing Statistics
Today, there is an overwhelming amount of content online and consumers want everything at their fingertips (gone are the days when audiences used to wait a week for the next episode of their favourite show). It’s difficult to differentiate yourself in such an environment, but here are some statistics to consider if you want to stand out:
- One of the most popular measures of content marketing success is web traffic. (Source)
- Inconsistent brand messaging irritates customers the most. (Source)
- A survey in July 2021 showed that the best performing B2B content in the prior 12 months was virtual events/webinars and online courses. (Source)
- According to 72% of marketers, content marketing promotes engagement and leads. (Source)
- According to 87% of video marketers, video has increased their website traffic;80% say that video has directly enhanced sales. (Source)
Recommendations: Many businesses are still not using content marketing to its fullest potential. The opportunity to grow in this field is massive, as many companies will come to understand the importance of having a solid content strategy. Blogging will remain an important form of content, no matter how many social media platforms are released, because you cannot build a brand solely through social media. Other forms of content like video and audio will also play a huge role in driving more traffic to your site. Expanding your skills to different forms of content is crucial and I would encourage content marketers to experiment with various formats.
3. Social Media Statistics
Social media is where the magic happens – it plays an instrumental role in helping people to discover your brand and each social media platform serves very different purposes. Here are some social media stats that will help you decide which to focus on based on your industry requirements:
- Social media is now used by 58.4% of world’s population (4.62 billion people), and 424 million new users joined within the last year. Daily social media usage is, on average, 2 hours and 27 minutes. (Source)
- In 2019, 90.4% of millennials were using social media, followed by 77.5% of Generation X and 48.2% of Baby Boomers. (Source)
- For organic social media marketing, almost 90% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn. (Source)
- The average number of daily active users (DAUs) on Facebook in Q4 of 2021 was 1.8 billion, an increase of 11% year on year. (Source)
- The majority of Pinterest users (85%) use the site to plan new projects (Pinterest, 2021). The demographics of Pinterest have shifted, with both male and Gen Z users increasing by 40% year on year. (Source)
Recommendations: The chances of social media becoming irrelevant anytime soon are non-existent. Social media users are spread across all generations – another advantage of using it for marketing. Facebook will continue to be the most used social media platform for marketing, and LinkedIn is a good place for conversions in the B2B niche. Pinterest is an underrated tool for advertising as it has a lot of potential and a broadening user base.
4. Advertising Statistics
Advertising is one of the most costly endeavours in marketing where there is no room for mistakes. Every lead comes at a price, so being strategic and being accountable for results is important. Here are some statistics that will help you to be more precise when coming up with a strategy for your next campaign:
- The growth of mobile advertising has been strong in recent years, but it is predicted to decline to roughly 10.4% by the end of 2022. (Source)
- The vast majority of people (94%) said they watch explainer videos to understand more about a product, with 84% of them being convinced to buy after watching. (Source)
- Viewers are four times more likely to watch YouTube content to learn about a company, product, or service than they are to use other platforms. (Source)
- Advertisers’ main optimisation methods nowadays are ad placement and audience targeting, and 33% of marketers use paid advertising to increase brand awareness. (Source)
- 90% of searchers haven’t decided on the brand they want to buy from before beginning their search.(Source)
- For every $1.60 spent on Google Ads, small companies receive an average of $3 in revenue. (Source)
- 75% of marketers fail to use behavioural data for online ad targeting. (Source)
Recommendations: Based on these statistics, be cautious with mobile advertising. Marketers need to work with video advertisements because they’re here to stay and if you want to advertise on mobile, then I would suggest in-game advertising over traditional approaches.
5. Email Marketing Statistics
Everybody is trying to sell something via email, and it can be hard to stand out amidst the noise. However, email marketing is undoubtedly a crucial source of traffic, so here are some statistics that will help direct your email strategy:
- 78% of marketing professionals have noticed an increase in email engagement during the last year. (Source)
- Personalised subject lines increase the likelihood of an email being opened by 50%. (Source)
- Email subject lines most often contain:
- The customer’s name (46.21%)
- The product name/details (44.01%)
- The company name (42.88%).
These variables have conversion rates of 3.71%, 3.18%, and 3.58%, respectively. (Source)
- Emails with an emoji in the subject line have an open rate 56% higher than for subject lines without emojis, and women have a more positive reaction to emojis than men. (Source)
- When an initial email contains video, CTR increases by 96%. (Source)
- Emails were regarded as the most successful channel for customer loyalty and retention by 37% of survey respondents. 13% said websites were most successful, and 11% cited social media as the prime channel.(Source)
- According to 50% of marketers, there is no optimal timing for sending email campaigns because each person and organisation is different. (Source)
Recommendations: With email marketing, personalisation is the key to standing out, and it comes in many forms. In your emails, don’t rely solely on text but add more graphics, images, and videos to get the viewer’s attention. It’s crucial to understand your viewer’s demographic and craft emails specific to them, so focus on market segmentation instead of sending the same emails to all subscribers.
I hope these statistics have given you inspiration for optimising your marketing strategies. Running marketing campaigns without looking to the future is like driving without a map – you’re bound to take a wrong turn sooner or later. Today, there is no room for making any wrong turns. Stay up to date with the latest research, keep expanding your knowledge and always be ready to adapt.