38 Amazing Content Marketing Statistics to Know in 2024

Currently, over 62% of the global population uses the internet. That translates to about 4.94 billion people!

How are businesses tapping into this goldmine? According to content marketing stats, for the vast majority of online business owners "Content is King". Content marketing is the new cool.

So.

How is your business leveraging this evergreen tool for growth?

We have dug out the most recent content marketing statistics on content marketing to help you develop an effective content marketing strategy for your business.

Ready?

Fascinating Content Marketing Statistics

The following are some mind-blowing content marketing stats that will leave you stunned.

• Of all B2B marketers, 91% claim that they do content marketing.
• Content marketing accounts for 26% of the total marketing budget of B2C marketers.
• Of all marketers, 72% report that content marketing increases customer engagement.
• After you make 24-51 blog posts, you can expect your traffic to increase by an average of 30%.
• Publishing 16+ blog posts per month results in 4.5X more leads when compared to publishing 0-4 monthly posts.
• 63% of marketers say their biggest content marketing challenge is driving traffic and generating leads.
• 64% of B2B marketers outsource content writing.

Now that you understand how vital content marketing is, let's dig deeper into more content marketing stats:

General Content Marketing Statistics

Below are some general content marketing statistics to help you get a good grasp of the effectiveness of content marketing.

1. 64% of B2B marketers claim that content marketing is a job to outsource.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Like it or not, content creation is time-consuming. Having someone efficient enough to handle the tasks frees up time that can be spent engaging in other productive activities that need attention.

2. 63% of businesses claim that driving traffic and generating leads is the biggest challenge in their content marketing strategy.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

Content marketing can also be used to create brand awareness. But the ultimate goal for most businesses is always to acquire loyal customers and ultimately increase sales.

3. Content marketing usage statistics reveal that 38% of marketers publish a minimum of one content weekly.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

Not everyone can post 2-3 times daily on their blog or social media. 

However, a little more than ⅓ of businesses publish content weekly. That is still a significant number when compared to what we had a few years back.

4. 42% of organizations report that they have designated personnel for their content marketing strategies.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

The primary role of these personnel(s) is to serve as a content strategist executive(s) that will ensure all content (either outsourced or internally generated) meets up with the standard and expectations of the organization. They also ensure that this content gets released at the right time always.

5. Content marketing strategy statistics reveal that long-form content receives 9 times more traffic than short-form content.

(Source: Quora Creative)

Gone are the days when short-form articles were enough to get the job done. Today's audiences are continually seeking information that only long-form articles can provide. 

Also, Google's algorithm now prioritizes long-form content over shorter ones. The ideal blog post should be between 1,100 words to 3,000 words or more.

6. SEO and social media algorithm changes are the biggest concerns for content marketing organizations.

(Source: Siege Media)

According to stats about content marketing, 61% of content marketing organizations believe that constant SEO changes by search engines affect their business. Another 45% reported that social media algorithm changes cause the most damage to their business.

7. According to content marketing strategy statistics, 81% of marketers say that they are planning to increase their use of original content.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Not only do users prefer original, useful, and engaging content, but Google also prioritizes original content while also penalizing duplicate ones. So, many marketers are thinking about using more original content in the coming months.

8. Statistics about content marketing reveal that 87% of businesses make use of social media as their number one content marketing delivery mechanism.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Social media is indeed an excellent place for companies to engage their audience. After all, customers spend a great deal of their time on such platforms daily. Hence, it is a no-brainier that the majority of online businesses utilize this medium to dish out content to their audience.

9. 69% of marketers who have utilized both direct mail and PR say that content marketing is even more superior to both.

(Source: Neil Patel)

This does not undermine the effectiveness of a well-crafted direct mail or PR to a business in any way. However, marketers who have tested all obtained better results in the long run by creating useful content for ideal customers.

10. A higher percentage of smaller organizations (48%) have a documented content marketing approach compared to larger organizations (41%).

(Source: Neil Patel)

A documented strategy enables marketers to identify what works and what does not work easily. It can also serve as a guide to decision-makers for smarter and better decision making in the future.

11. According to content marketing statistics, only 42% of businesses agree that their content marketing strategy is effective.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Content marketing is a useful tool when handled by those who understand its workings. When done correctly, it can produce dramatic results that sometimes beats paid advertising. Unfortunately, not even half of marketers are effectively utilizing this massive advantage.

12. 72% of marketers agree that content marketing brings about improvement in customer engagement for their business.

(Source: Optin Monster)

Content, like storytelling and case studies, has a very high engagement rate with customers. They can help businesses steal the attention of their audiences.

13. The presence of 24 to 51 blog posts on your website can increase your traffic by up to 30.

(Source: Siege Media)

Also, companies that publish up to 16 blog posts or more every month attract 4.5X more leads than those who publish less than four blog posts monthly.

Content Marketing ROI Statistics

Effective content marketing has a very high ROI, but should not be perceived as a short term strategy. It might take several months of consistent content creation before results start to show. The following content marketing stats will expound more on ROI from content marketing.

14. Content marketing ROI stats reveal that almost all content marketing strategies have a negative ROI when they kick-off.

(Source: Quora Creative)

These stats hold for all of the most successful content marketing campaigns out there. Also, it underscores the fact that content marketing isn’t a short term strategy and is more effective in the long term. It might take time, but it’s always worth it in the end.

15. 82% of businesses with a blog are reportedly seeing positive ROI from their inbound marketing, as reported by content marketing ROI statistics.

(Source: Neil Patel)

To effectively utilize content marketing, marketers need to have a blog on their website. Blogging is a crucial factor for online business owners. It is where you dish out valuable content in a bid to both nurture and convert your site visitors. The more time you spend on relevant topics to your audience, the more you are leaving a lasting impression on your customers. This will, in turn, reflect on your ROI.

16. Statistics about content marketing show that conversion rates for businesses that have adopted an effective content marketing strategy (2.9%) are nearly 6X than that of non-adopters (0.5%).

(Source: Neil Patel)

Businesses that provide a good deal of attention to their content marketing strategy reap the benefits of increased conversion rates over time. For companies that fail to put in the right amount of effort or create the correct type of content for their audience, their conversion rate suffers.

17. Audience relevance comes first (58%) when considering the effectiveness of content.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

This explains why 63% of businesses create their content with their buyer persona at the top of their mind.

18. Content marketing ads statistics reveal that email marketing gives the highest ROI amongst the different mediums used in promoting content.

(Source: Web FX)

More than half of B2B marketers identify email marketing as their most effective channel for promoting content. With a return of $40 for every $1 spent, there is hardly any medium that can provide those numbers.

Visual Content Marketing Statistics

When it comes to the different forms of content marketing, statistics about visual content marketing show that visuals have performed better over time when compared to text. Some have predicted that visuals like video content will soon make up the majority of content on the internet. Read on to discover some of the most up to date content marketing statistics for visual content. 

19. According to statistics for video content marketing, 73% of B2B marketers make use of YouTube in distributing their video content.

(Source: Neil Patel)

YouTube can be regarded as the home of all video marketers and video lovers. 

Coming to think of it, who doesn't love videos? 

According to statistics, billions of internet users make use of the YouTube platform to consume billions of hours of video content monthly. So, if your business is not on YouTube, you are missing out on a lot of traffic.

20. Infographics usage has grown from 9% to 52%.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Over the past few years, visuals have gained much popularity as a useful content marketing tool. One such visual content that has gained so much popularity recently is infographics.

The demand for infographics has increased by 800% as reported by visual content marketing stats. Infographics are fun, easy to understand, and can effectively be used to convey complex messages that would otherwise have been difficult or too tedious to explain with just text alone. Thankfully, the best infographic creation tools are extremely easy to use, so in case you haven't created an infographic before, now is a good time to start. 

21. Visual content contributes the most to social media (85%).

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

Video content marketing statistics reveal that visual assets perform far better in engaging your audience. For example, images and text combined will do better than just text alone. Similarly, videos combined with images will also do better than pictures and text combined. 

B2B and B2C Content Marketing Statistics

B2B and B2C businesses are the major advocates of content marketing. Although each of them uses content marketing in a slightly different manner, they can both attest to its effectiveness in lead generation and conversion. 

22. According to B2B content marketing statistics, 88% of top content marketers will always prioritize the needs of their audience over their sales message.

(Source: Content Marketing Institute)

Although it might seem testing sometimes to try and shell out some form of marketing message alongside your content, the big guns of content marketing will always go against that. Content marketing is like a journey that you take your audience through to build trust, and ultimately make sales. Hence, the goal is to continuously create content based on the different stages of your customer’s journey until their conversion is complete.

23. The global email marketing market will be worth $17.9 billion by 2027.

(Source: Statista)

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again—email marketing is among the most powerful ways of advertising.

Just look at the latest digital marketing statistics from 2022! The field is set to be valued at $17.9 billion by 2027. That’s about a $14.4 billion growth compared to 2020.

Email marketing is undoubtedly here to stay!

24. 60% of the most successful B2C marketers have an established content marketing strategy.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Small businesses that are trying to grow need to make calculated decisions that will minimize risk and improve results. Companies that document their content marketing strategies and achievements have a better chance of succeeding than those who don't.

25. According to content marketing revenue statistics, the most successful B2B marketers allocate up to 39% of their marketing budget to content marketing.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Imagine a B2B marketer with a yearly marketing budget of $1 million allocating 39% of such funds to content marketing. 

That would be $390,000 allocated to content marketing alone. 

That is quite a massive budget for any department. But then again, it goes to show how important and how effective content marketing can be when done effectively.

26. 93% of B2B marketers say that they are actively using content marketing for their business.

(Source: Neil Patel)

One key reason why content marketing has become the most preferred form of marketing today is that it provides an opportunity for companies to build trust with their audience over time. Instead of just asking for a sale on their first visit, businesses can use content marketing to provide useful information to site visitors over time. They are thereby building brand trust, which is paramount to making sales.

27. According to B2B content marketing statistics, 60% of B2B marketers experience difficulty in coming up with engaging content for their audience.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

This is another core reason why content marketing is one of the most outsourced jobs. Due to the nature of their role, business owners and managers have a whole lot to deal with. The continuous brainstorming of engaging content almost every day should be handled by someone else.

28. For B2B marketers, blogging serves as the most crucial way of dishing out content, whereas for B2C organizations, visual content is much more important.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

According to data extracted from B2B content marketing stats, blogging (43%) had the highest vote for B2B marketers. Visual content (45%) had the highest vote for B2C marketers as the most critical form of content creation and distribution. That's why if you want to succeed you should focus on using proper data visualization software, that can transform data into easy-to-digest information.

29. B2B content marketing statistics reveal that 91% of B2B businesses are reportedly using content marketing as a marketing strategy.

(Source: Optin Monster)

This goes to show how effective and highly regarded content marketing has become for B2B marketers over the years.

30. According to B2C content marketing statistics, content marketing is responsible for 26% of the total marketing budget of B2C companies.

(Source: Business2Community)

B2C companies that have experienced the power of content marketing are likely to allocate a higher budget to their content marketing campaign.

Traditional Advertising Vs. Content Marketing Statistics

Over the years, content marketing has become the real deal for most businesses, especially those that utilize digital media to drive sales. That is not to say that traditional marketing is dead; it all depends on what you wish to achieve with your business. 

31. According to content marketing revenue statistics, it costs about 62% less to run a content marketing campaign compared to running traditional marketing campaigns.

(Source: Neil Patel)

Traditional marketing, as we know, can get you leads. However, the leads obtained from conventional marketing are sometimes restricted to a particular demographic. Content marketing, on the other hand, has a broader reach through the internet. It can not only bring in new leads but also nurture these new leads all in one budget. Still, you can always make the process more efficient by using the best lead generation software. 

32. Podcasts are a significant part of marketing strategies for over half of all content specialists.

(Source: HubSpot)

Here’s some proof from the most recent digital marketing stats for 2022: 51% of marketers that already use podcasts plan to channel even more resources into the outlet.

But wait, there’s more:

53% point out that this is the most successful method of audio advertising on the market. It’s so roaring that 60% of buyers have searched for products after hearing about them on a podcast.

Additionally, 44% of marketers are now using audio chat rooms. If you’re wondering what the point is, here’s the answer: they help businesses connect with their customers in an easier way and on a more personal level.

33. 72% of businesses plan to increase their content marketing budget in 2022.

(Source: Semrush)

Want some more exciting content marketing statistics for 2022?

Apparently, video is crowned the “top-performing content type,” at least according to 37% of marketers. On the flip side, 36% favor blog posts.

The most important priorities and successful tactics are listed as: improving the quality of the content (55%) and investing in a proper SEO strategy (46%).

Content Marketing Trend Statistics

When it comes to content marketing, there are specific trends that are synonymous with almost every campaign. In the content marketing trend statistics that follow, we will introduce some of the most popular trends in content marketing.

34. Digital marketing stats reveal that 94% of blog content earns zero external links most of the time.

(Source: Backlinko)

This boils down to how long, how shareable, and how relevant your content is. Reports have shown that long-form content has more referring domains than shorter ones, thus prompting the need for external sources of information and their individual link in the article.

35. According to content marketing spending statistics, when compared to paid search advertising, content marketing is 3X more cost-effective for lead generation.

(Source: Omnicore Agency)

It costs more to run traditional marketing than it does to run a content marketing campaign online. With content marketing, you don't pay for billboards, advertorial space, etc. With the right research, the right audience, and the right means to reach out to your audience, you can run a successful marketing campaign under a small budget.

36. 70% of consumers would prefer to know a brand through articles than through advertisements.

(Source: Lander App)

Like we rightly mentioned earlier, nobody likes to be sold to. Content marketing is an effective way to introduce your brand to prospective customers while building trust.

37. General content marketing stats reveal that 55% of successful content marketers cite storytelling as one of their most effective tools to engage their audience.

(Source: Backlinko)

Your ability to match the needs, hope, wants, and desires of your audience to your brand story can spark up emotions in your audience that strengthens the bond that they have with your brand. Successful marketers know this. That is why more than half of them are reportedly using it to engage their audience consistently.

38. According to content marketing statistics, nearly 75% of successful bloggers (earning more than $50,000 yearly) say that their content is meant for a particular niche audience.

(Source: Backlinko)

Your brand message can't be for everyone; likewise, no business is for everyone. The earlier you identify your niche audience and connect with them in ways and places that they are familiar with, the more sales you are going to make.

Wrap Up

Over the years, content marketing has become a crucial factor in how B2B and B2C businesses operate, as revealed by content marketing statistics. From the creation of brand awareness to building customer loyalty and ultimately increasing conversion rate, it has proven to be a valuable asset for companies that effectively utilize its functions.

Is your business making effective use of content marketing?