With 2014 in the rearview mirror and a new year of content marketing initiatives ahead, now’s the time to ask yourself the following question: How critical is content production to the success of my marketing strategy this year?
According to Smart Insights’s Digital Marketing Trends 2015 survey, the overwhelming majority of marketers believe that content creation is the most important digital marketing trend for 2015. After all, this marketing tactic is a surefire way to drive revenue, bolster your brand’s online image and maintain a steady dialogue with your customers over a variety of digital channels.
Since our last roundup of content marketing statistics was so popular, we decided that a new one was in order for 2015. So here is a look at some of the most compelling statistics from across the industry:
Content Marketing
- 53 percent of marketers believe that writing, storytelling, editing and publishing is essential to their organization’s future success. (Source: ITSMA)
The editorial department has emerged as the new backbone of the marketing world, as skills related to the development, leadership and analysis of content creation are in highest demand heading into 2015. Marketing departments are filling their teams with individuals who display a passion for the creative process and the ability to produce powerful and compelling stories.
- 70 percent of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did one year ago. This is true for 69 percent of marketers in the B2C sector, too. (Sources: CMI’s 2015 B2B and B2C benchmark surveys, respectively)
Why are B2B marketers continuing to create more content year over year? It’s because content marketing transforms your website into a living resource that is continuously refreshed with new, value-add information.
- 69 percent of marketers prefer original content over licensed content. (Source: Contently)
In other words, the majority of marketers favor the use of custom, compelling content instead of repurposed, licensed or paid-for material. Original content provides extra value and insight, and cannot be confused as duplicate information by search engine spiders.
- 74 percent of marketers claim they could drive more than twice as much ROI, lifetime customer value and “brand lift” if they had an expert content team at their disposal. (Source: Contently)
Outsourcing content creation to a team of trained professionals comes with several benefits like guided expertise, fast turnaround and consistency every step of the process.
- 64 percent of B2B marketers outsource writing, 22 percent outsource editing and 54 percent outsource design. (Source: CMI)
You don’t have to outsource your entire operation to a third-party vendor. Perhaps you only need the services of a writer, or an editor. By outsourcing, you can obtain the customized, professional services you need at a reasonable price.
Blogging:
- 58 percent of marketers prefer to read blogs over other types of content like infographics and white papers. (Source: Kapost)
Why do marketers prefer to connect with their readers over blogs? Blogs are a conversational and informative way of connecting with audiences and sharing information. Less formal than case studies and white papers but still a valuable marketing tool, blogs are one of the most widely used forms of content distribution.
- B2B companies that blog generate 67 percent more leads per month than those that do not. (Source: Kapost)
A strong blog will keep a reader coming back to your site again and again. How do you create a powerful blog? You do it by ensuring that it’s full of useful and relevant information. If you provide a wealth of knowledge and expertise with each blog post, you will build a steady readership.
- Blogging is proven to increase Web traffic by as much as 55 percent. (Source: Rocket Post)
Blogging provides more than just useful information for your customers. It also provides more indexed pages, which will cause your brand to rise higher in search engine rankings.
Email Marketing
- Email marketing that connects to social media will grow 150 percent over the next five years. (Source: Pingler)
Think email marketing and social media are separate? Think again. Email messages should be linked directly to social media channels and the corporate website to maximize traffic.
- 91 percent of consumers use email at least once per day. (Source: Email Expert)
Consider your own consumer behaviors and your attachment to the phone. Your consumers want to hear from you, so leverage their mobile tendencies to send relevant company and industry information.
- 66 percent of consumers have made an online purchase after reading a marketing email. (Source: Mark the Marketer)
Email is an excellent way to hook readers with a clever subject line, captivate them with rich text and link them directly to a shopping cart. For this reason, email marketing can be an excellent sales tool.
Social Media
- 92 percent of marketers believe that social media is important for their business. (Source: Social Media Examiner)
If you want to engage with online audiences and gather new leads, you have to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to your advantage. This content marketing vehicle is essential for providing customer service, improving your Google search results and discovering new market research opportunities.
- 94 percent of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content, which makes it the most used—and one of the most effective— social media platforms. (Source: CMI)
When LinkedIn released its Dynamic Duo solution for content marketers last April, it set out to become the go-to content distribution platform. As these statistics show, LinkedIn succeeded, as marketers now have the ability to see what is trending across the Web and how their articles are performing.
- Facebook’s monthly active users now exceed 1.3 billion. Twitter’s user base is now over 271 million. (Source: BI Intelligence)
Wondering where your customers are? As these statistics show, Facebook and Twitter are a good place to start your search. LinkedIn is not far behind either, averaging 84 million unique visiting members, or people who access the platform at least once per month.
- 63 percent of millennials actively follow brands on social networks; 51 percent say that social opinions influence their purchase decisions. (Source: Badgeville)
Social media can be marketing gold for connecting with the elusive millennial generation, or those born after 1980. This group is currently in the process of becoming the most powerful spending demographic, further adding to the importance of connecting with and influencing them.
Lead Generation
- The cost per lead of content marketing drops 80 percent in the first five months of a content campaign. (Source: Kapost)
A content strategy is meant to help bolster your brand over the long haul. As this statistic shows, leads become increasingly less expensive as more time passes with your content efforts.
- 83 percent of marketers use content for lead-generation purposes. (Source: CMI)
Lead generation is one of the top organizational goals for B2B marketers heading into 2015, according to CMI, and it’s because content plays a pivotal role in moving prospects down the sales funnel.
- Google claims about 31 percent of overall search engine traffic. (Source: Shareaholic)
Why is this important for content marketing? Google is the first place that the majority of Internet users go to find information online. So as a digital marketer, it’s vital to do everything you can to ensure that your business ranks highly and captures their attention.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
