Most businesses are who are now aware of content marketing are investing in it. But few of these businesses are actually experiencing benefits that can directly be linked back to their content marketing efforts. This could be because content marketers and business owners aren’t investing their content marketing budget properly.
That’s why we have put together 17 content marketing statistics to give you a sense of the trends to follow when planning your content marketing.
#1 Content marketers’ greatest educational needs
64% of the content marketers who participated in this study, said they were keen to learn how to create a better content marketing strategy. If you’re one of them, here’s a content marketing guide that can help.
#2 Outsourcing content creation
According to recent research conducted by Zazzle Media, 60% content marketers said that they struggled with producing content consistently.
To avoid facing this problem, consider working with a social media and content agency like Godot Media or with freelancer social media managers chosen from freelancer aggregation platforms like Upwork.
It’s interesting to note that 62% small businesses outsource content creation to agencies.
#3 The importance of documentation
As per data gathered by ContentMarketingInstitute, 63% of participating businesses didn’t have a documented content marketing strategy.
Documentation helps with better planning and execution. Begin today by documenting every detail of your content marketing strategy, including which hashtags to use.
#4 Long posts vs Short ones
Long form content beats short form content. On an average, posts that are longer are nine times more effective in generating leads than posts that are shorter, according to Curata.
When investing in content or outsourcing to agencies, focus on creating long guides, blog posts, whitepapers and eBooks to share on Twitter and other social networks.
#5 Content to convert
Content causes conversion rates to increase exponentially. Brands and businesses using content experience an average conversion rate of 2.9% against those that don’t which experience an average conversion rate of around 0.5%.
However, the key to recreating this level of success lies in creating conversion-oriented content.
#6 Videos vs Blogs
63% content marketers claimed to believe in creating video content marketing assets while 60% said they preferred to invest in blogs.
While video is taking over the internet, video based search and SEO isn’t as established or easy to achieve as blogging based search and SEO.
#7 Consistency and frequency
At least 2/3rds of content marketers who participated in the eMarketer study said that they created at least one new content asset everyday.
Consistency is critical in content marketing, and new content has a definite impact on your SEO and search ranking efforts.
#8 Twitter to generate purchases
According to Twitter’s records, 69% people have made purchases influenced by tweets, and 94% people plan to buy from businesses that they follow on Twitter.
Irrespective of your industry, having a Twitter presence is critical. Using this presence, you can reach out to current and potential customers.
#9 Metrics to measure
As per Skyward’s research, the most successful content marketers tend to focus on engagement and conversions more than they do on traffic.
When monitoring content marketing metrics, ensure that you unique, trackable links to enable conversion-tracking for your blog and social media posts. Google’s campaign URL builder and Hashtagify’s hashtag tracker are both tools that can help.
#10 Google’s position
Blog posts are effective only on page one of Google’s search results. 91% people searching for answers on Google only refer to page one’s results, as per Brafton’s research. If you’re not sure how to get on page one, try implementing the Skyscraper technique.
#11 Content as customer’s life support
Content marketing complements traditional sales. According to LookBookHQ’s study, about 49% content marketers are creating content that closely aligns with various stages of a customer’s life cycle.
Alternate between content focused on early stage prospects and hot leads, ensuring that you target them all. If possible, use targeting to deliver the right content to a customer in a particular stage of the sales cycle.
#12 Original content
According to SocialMediaExaminer’s research, 58% marketers said that original written content is the most valuable form of content for marketing. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to personally create all of your content. You may find that outsourcing content creation, collecting User Generated Content or curating fresh content from industry authorities is just as effective as creating it.
#13 Podcasts
As per podcast insights, close to half of podcast listening (49%) happens when your target is at home and 22% in the car. When planning your podcasts, essure that you deliver key information in a compelling manner so it sticks inside your target’s mind even when it’s consumed as background information.
#14 Best content to share
According to OKDork, blog posts remain the most shared content. When planning your Twitter marketing strategy, ensure that you reserve some posts to promote your blog posts. Most viral blog posts become so because they’re extensively shared on social media.
#15 The power of title
As per Hubspot’s research, blog posts with titles that have 6-13 words tend to get shared more than other blog posts.If you have created blog posts with shorter or longer titles, you can alter the title length when sharing on Twitter or other social media.
#16 Webminars
Webinars are effective in lead generation. According to Wyzowl, 87% marketers said that webinars earned them valuable leads. If you have blog posts, white-papers and eBooks, you can convert them into webinars and share them with people in exchange for their email addresses.
#17 Branded content
About 72% marketers believe that branded content is more effective than magazine exposure that was used traditionally. Unless you are targeting local audiences who aren’t accessible online, it’s best to invest in online content marketing.
Wrap
Using these content marketing trends and statistics, you can create better content marketing strategies and achieve your goals. Any ambiguous quality of content marketing can be verified by studies conducted by various organizations, such as the ones mentioned above. Now it’s over to you. Optimize your content marketing so you can get better results.
Author bio:
Disha Dinesh is a content strategist who works with small businesses. When she’s not writing, she’s drumming up a storm on percussion instruments.
