The 2020 lockdowns have forever changed consumer behavior, as more and more people began exclusively using the internet for their news, communication, and shopping. The convenience of doing it all with the click of a button has encouraged many to continue doing so even as the world slowly reopens. As a result the digital market has become heavily saturated, a hotbed of aggressive competition now that companies of all industries and sizes are fighting to establish their digital presence.

Content marketing still reigns in these online spaces for a simple reason: people want it. Rather, people are less inclined to feel like you’re pushing a product on them, and become invested in the story you tell them. This story is how you communicate the value your goods and services can introduce into their lives. You aren’t insisting that they need it, but you’re inspiring a want for it. Intrusive pop ups and obnoxious ads not only lack the ability to communicate with your audience this way, they’re inherently annoying.

On the off chance that you need further convincing, or if you are eager to learn more, we’ve compiled the facts and figures you need to inform your new content marketing strategies.

General Statistics

Before we dive any deeper, let’s first examine some statistics to get a general idea of what’s going on in the world of content marketing.

• 70% of companies use content marketing (HubSpot)
• 90% of all companies, organizations, and other professional entities who use digital/online marketing include content marketing in their strategies (DemandMetric)
• 57% of organizations are transiting to a hybrid sales model (HubSpot)
• 35% of B2B marketers have 2-5 internal team members who work full-time as content marketers. Another 32% don’t have a full-time content marketer. (Content Marketing Institute)
• U.S. consumers age 18 and older spend roughly 12 hours engaging with media every day. (Nielsen)

Video Content

Using video marketing was once considered a risk, but now it’s a must for businesses that want to stay relevant and creative. Given the versatility of YouTube this should come as little surprise. Visual media, video in particular, has become a big part of our day-to-day lives. Need instructions for automotive repair? YouTube. Curious about current events and world news? YouTube. Eager for celebrity gossip and pop culture updates? YouTube. Looking for a demonstration before using your new asthma inhaler? YouTube has that too. Their blog states that over one billion hours of video are watched every day, resulting in billions of views.

Facebook is quickly catching up to the company which once had a monopoly over visual media, now that 500 million viewers use the social media giant to watch 100 million hours of video content every day. Mark Zuckerberg accurately predicted this surge in 2016, one year after Facebook first introduced Facebook Live. The media mogul shared this during an interview with Buzzfeed when he shared “I wouldn’t be surprised if you fast-forward five years and most of the content that people see on Facebook and are sharing on a day-to-day basis is video.”

How do these tidbits translate into a marketing strategy? Let’s break it down.

• 86% of businesses currently use video as a marketing tool. This is a slight increase from the 85% in 2020 and a noteworthy jump from the 61% who reported this in 2016. (Wyzowl)
• 93% of marketers who use video say that it’s an important part of their marketing strategy. The current percentage reflects a slow but steady increase from the 78% in 2015. (Wyzowl)
• A staggering 84% of people say that watching a brand’s video convinced them to buy a product or service. 42% of video marketers said that brand awareness and PR was their metric for success. Not only does this demonstrate the appeal in video marketing, it also reinforces the need for a strong brand and a powerful branding strategy. (Wyzowl)
• Not to be outdone by their tangible peers, an impressive 79% of people were convinced to buy or download software and apps after watching a video. (Wyzowl)

Another appealing element to consumers is the control they have over the experience. They can mute, pause, and play video content at their convenience. Couple that with being the most engaging form of content marketing and it only stands to reason that people are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than they are social media posts and blog posts. (Wyzowl)

Blog Content

The key to effective blogging is a healthy balance of what you say and how long it takes for you to say it. You need a headline that grabs the reader’s attention and content that holds onto it with a firm grip. The reason for this is because, on average, readers spend 37 seconds reading an article or blog post. 43% of people report that they only skimmed blog posts. (Finances Online)

Why do marketers use them? Having a blog on your site strengthens your brand and identity, lends credibility to your name, and provides countless opportunities for implementing SEO and naturally inserting keywords.

• A July 2020 survey of B2C global content marketers (the majority of whom were from the United States and Canada), 83% of respondents reported having used blog posts or short articles as part of their content marketing strategies. (Statista)
• Influencer marketing has skyrocketed. Between 2019 and 2021, the global market value more than doubled, growing from 6.5 billion to 13.8 billion U.S. dollars. (Statista)
• Companies with active blogs generate 55% more visits to their website. (Business 2 Community)
• Companies with active blogs generate 97% more links to their websites.(Business 2 Community)
• Companies with active blogs see their pages indexed 434% more often. (Business 2 Community)
• Over 409 million people on WordPress view 20 billion pages each month (WordPress)
• WordPress is used worldwide and hosted in 120 languages. Of the top ten English represents 71%, Spanish represents 4.7%, and Indonesian represents 2.4%. (WordPress)
• The fashion industry alone paints a very vivid picture of the untapped potential. As of January 2019, 12.4% of millennial consumers stated that their decision making process for buying clothing was influenced by celebrity bloggers. (Statista)

Podcast Content

Podcasts were once a tool for learning foreign languages or a way for pop culture enthusiasts to connect with others who share their niche interests. Now podcasts are replacing radio talk shows, morning talk shows, and news stations. Like video content, people turn to podcasts for fun and to learn something. The key difference is that anyone can make videos for a YouTube channel, but podcasts are typically run by trusted figures in their respective industries. Business owners, professors, athletes, journalists, and musicians can be found hosting their own shows.

Like video content, audio content feels more intimate. There is a strong emotional connection on the listener’s part, and that is what keeps them coming back. The difference between podcasts and radio shows is that podcast listeners feel like they’re part of the conversation. Radio listeners often need to call in to participate.

• The average American spends roughly 9 and a half hours listening to the radio each week. Light podcast listeners, on the other hand, listen for 10 hours and 13 minutes. Heavy podcast listeners on average listen to 10 hours and 35 minutes. (Nielsen)
• In 2017 a massive 67 million people were tuning in to podcasts each month. 15% of them at most had a high school education, 27% of them had completed 1-3 years of college, 27% had completed a four year college degree program, and 30% had or were pursuing an advanced post-collegiate degree. (Edison Research)
• As of March 2021, 43% of U.S. podcast listeners agreed or strongly agreed that the majority of the ads they hear on podcasts were relevant to them. 39% reported that they go out of their way to support brands advertising on their favorite podcasts. (Statista)
• As of March 2021, 53% of U.S. podcast listeners agreed or strongly agreed that, after hearing a product advertised in a podcast, they searched online for more information about that product or service. 29% purchased the advertised product or service at a store or online. (Statista)
• 54% of podcast consumers say they are more inclined to seek out the brands they hear advertised on podcasts, whereas only 7% indicated that they are less likely. (Edison Research)

One of the more noteworthy trends in podcast content marketing is the interview style podcast. It connects you with an audience who might not have found your content otherwise and opens up a multitude of opportunities for networking. Exposure to a different industry doesn’t hurt either, especially if you’re interested in benchmarking.

Social Media

Social media has also grown in popularity, with each platform seeing varying levels of success. That success is dependent on what the site’s intended purpose is and the biggest demographic using it.

• As of 2018, 85% of teenagers in the U.S. said they use YouTube, 72% said they use Instagram, 69% said they use Snapchat, and only 51% said they use Facebook. (Pew Research Center)

That doesn’t tell us much about the business and marketing angle however. Make no mistake, social media marketing is very powerful. That power comes from those differences in intended purpose mentioned earlier. Rather than use platforms for generic content, they can easily be tailored to satisfy the needs of the largest demographic using the platform. How does that translate into successful growth strategies?

• 84% of content marketers use paid distribution channels to implement their content marketing strategies. 72% of them use paid social media and post promotion. (Content Marketing Institute)
• LinkedIn performed better than Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, in regards to both paid and organic results. 95% of B2B marketers said it was the best for organically generated results, while 76% reported it was the best paid social media platform. (Content Marketing Institute)
• Instagram has experienced a significant increase in how much ad revenue it generates for Facebook. In 2016 it accounted for only 13.2% of Facebook’s total ad revenue, but by 2019 it was 31.8%. (Statista)
• 18% of marketers currently use Facebook Groups. (HubSpot)
• Facebook users are capable of recalling a piece of content after only 0.25 seconds of exposure. (Facebook for Business)
• In 2018, 570 millennials amongst over 2,000 US adults were surveyed to quantify their brand loyalty. Over two out of five millennials, or 43% said if they purchase from a brand which doesn’t have a social media page to provide feedback on, they are more likely to consider purchasing from another brand that does have a page. Only 21% of Americans aged over 45 reported that their brand loyalty depended heavily on social media pages. (ZDNet)

Consumers look to communication in order to determine brand loyalty. Direct responses make customers feel valued, rather than just another purchase. In an age of scrutinized business practices and expectations of aligning with corporate values, it makes sense that brands be held to this standard.

Other Content

Video content, blogs, podcasts, and social media are some of the heavy hitters in content marketing trends. Other types of content are still used by content marketers as they’re still incredibly effective, especially when paired with those at the forefront. The best strategies don’t exclusively focus on form of content after all, they find creative yet practical ways to generate content that is complementary.

Interactive content in particular is growing in popularity. While interactive content itself is nothing new, it’s a new addition to the many means of content marketing.

• 67% had used infographics, charts, and visual in the last year (Content Marketing Institute)
• 57% used webinars and live online events in the last year (Content Marketing Institute)
• 55% used white papers in the last year (Content Marketing Institute)
• 51% used ebooks and guides in the last year (Content Marketing Institute)
• 96% of users complete sponsored quizzes on Buzzfeed. (Digiday)

The Key Takeaways

Every method of marketing is constantly growing and evolving. It’s the nature of the business. Content marketing, however, is undergoing the most changes. It has to keep up with both consumer interests and behavior, as well as learn how to capitalize on the latest technological innovation. AI, augmented reality, and virtual reality are predicted to gain more traction in the years to come, and content marketers are already finding ways to incorporate them into their content marketing strategy.

The best advice we can give for 2021 is to try something new. Chances are your competitors are already doing it. Innovation and experimentation are risky and tricky, but real growth happens when you ask yourself ‘How can I do this better?’ and you aren’t afraid to take risks to get the answer.

It’s a time of transition, of inspiration, and a time that’s ripe with data to help you shape the perfect content marketing strategy to suit your growth goals. Better yet, it’s the perfect time to connect with a results based growth marketing company and collaborate with the teams who seek out that data for a living.