Using Content Marketing Statistics to Make Data Driven Decisions

Author: Rachel Durkan Category: B2B, B2C, Marketing Date: July 5, 2018

Advancements in the digital marketing sphere happen at an absolutely frenetic pace. Back in 2013, Adobe released a survey noting that 76 percent of respondents felt as though marketing “had changed more in the past two years than in the previous 50,” and the truth is – that statement rings even more true today than it did five years ago.

Keeping your finger on the pulse of the marketing industry requires a real dedication to perpetual learning and growth, as well as a firm grasp on the latest content marketing statistics. It may feel as though the numbers are flying at you from every direction, but understanding the statistics will allow you to make data-driven decisions and create a strategic marketing plan that sets you apart from the competition.

In fact, here are a few statistical insights into the industry’s best practices to get you started:

• Defining your marketing strategy is a good idea. Companies that document their strategic marketing plans are 538% more likely to see success than those that don’t.
• Defining your marketing process is equally important. Companies that document their marketing processes are 466% more likely to see success than those that don’t.
• Setting goals is absolutely key to marketing success. Companies that set defined marketing goals are 429% more likely to see success than those that don’t. And of those goal setters, 81% will achieve what they set out to do.
• Always conduct audience research. Successful marketers are 242% more likely than their competitors to have conducted audience research at least once in the last three months.

Speaking of audiences – as social media continues to function as a way of life, and as the number of social media outlets continues to grow exponentially, defining and understanding the preferences of your target audience becomes increasingly complicated. Do they prefer Facebook? Instagram? Do you have a better chance of reaching them by paying to advertise on LinkedIn or Twitter? Is a Snapchat profile necessary for interacting with your audience? How do you determine which platforms to target, and where to draw the line?

The answers to those questions, and so many more, depend quite heavily on the specific nature of your particular business, but in general, here is a list of key statistics to help you get a feel for five of the most popular social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat.

Facebook

• 15 billion daily active users
• 72% of adult internet users use Facebook
• 70% of Facebook users log in daily, and 43% do so multiple times per day
• 74% of Facebook users use the platform for professional purposes

 Twitter

• 313 million daily active users
• 23% of adult internet users use Twitter
• 35% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18 and 29
• 86% of people go on Twitter to primarily search for news

Instagram

• 500 million monthly active users
• 28% of adult internet users use Instagram
• 59% of Instagram users use the platform daily

 LinkedIn

• 450 million members
• 25% of adult internet users use LinkedIn
• 32% of employed adults use LinkedIn

 Snapchat

• 150 million daily active users
• 53% of Snapchat users are under the age of 25
• 30% of millennial internet users use Snapchat regularly

With those stats in mind, 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn as part of their content strategy, while 87% use Twitter and 84% use Facebook. Likewise, for B2C marketers, 97% use Facebook, 84% use Twitter and 69% use LinkedIn. Instagram and Snapchat are used by 63% and 11%, respectively.

Of course, out of the world’s global digital population of just over 4 billion, there are plenty of internet users who are not on social media at all. To reach a broader scope of individuals, search engine optimization is a valuable tool. Successful SEO helps drive your content to the top tier of search results, increasing your chances of being found across the various search engines. When you consider that Google processes more than 63,000 search queries every second and that 95% of people only look at the first page of search results, it becomes pretty clear how important SEO really is.

Some additional SEO facts:

• Search engines drive 93% of all web traffic
• Google accounts for 79% of all global desktop traffic
• 50% of searches are four words or more
• 18% of local searches lead to a sale within one day

Overall, the best way to measure the success of your marketing strategy is to identify your primary key performance indicator. The most widely used KPIs are:

• Qualified leads (30%)
• Traffic (19%)
• Direct revenue earned from content (18%)

We’ve thrown a lot of numbers at you to this point, and although there are infinitely more we could share, we understand that the data can get quite overwhelming. To dive even deeper into the importance of content marketing statistics, or for more information on any of the statistics we shared above, contact Paradigm Marketing & Design for a consultation.