76 Content Marketing Statistics: Data, Market Share and...

Posted: May 5, 2024 by Judith Cruz | Last updated: August 2, 2024

Table of Contents

What is content marketing? Content marketing is simply the process of creating and sharing relevant content, so your target viewers will know your brand, products, and services. This marketing strategy could generate awareness and drive traffic and revenue to your brand. If you plan on increasing awareness, traffic, and revenue through content marketing, these content marketing statistics 2021 could help pave the way for you.

It’s crucial for marketers to get ahead of their competitors and know their goals and targets. On top of that, keeping a thorough list of the various yearly statistics could definitely up the game. That’s right—getting hold of relevant data could help you plan strategically and determine what kind of content suits your audience best.

Plus, did you know marketing facts 2021 could broaden your understanding of content marketing and help you get a good grip on your marketing investments? Pay attention to the data we’ve curated below for you.

Key Takeaways

Video content dominates the marketing landscape, with significant engagement metrics showing that video is essential for increasing viewer retention and driving traffic.
The usage statistics reveal a diversified approach in content types with videos, blogs, and interactive infographics leading the trends, reflecting their effectiveness in engagement and information delivery.
Effective content marketing strategies heavily rely on SEO and social media, emphasizing the need for optimized content that ranks well on search engines and performs well on platforms like LinkedIn.
Budget allocation for content marketing is robust, indicating an acknowledgment of its efficacy in lead generation and sales compared to traditional marketing methods.
A significant number of marketers utilize analytics tools to measure their content performance, highlighting the critical role of data in refining and enhancing marketing strategies.

Content Marketing Trends Statistics

Perhaps you’re wondering, “Is content marketing on the rise?” Or is content marketing dead 2021? A great way to gauge the answers is to look at these trends statistics:

In 2020, media uploads increased by 80% because consumers spent most of their time at home watching video content. Hence, video content marketing has increased.
Moreover, consumers’ video watch time reached 12.2 billion minutes in the same year. This whopping figure is equal to over 23,000 years of content.
In 2021, the primary media form within content marketing is over 60% video, 50% blogs, 40% infographics, 30% case studies, 30% interviews, and 20% ebooks, white papers, and checklists.
According to content marketing statistics 2021, 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach their target audience.

Content Statistics

Going into content marketing shouldn’t be a walk in the dark. Before you finally decide to become a full-blown content marketer, you should familiarize yourself with the various content forms and figure out which one would best fit your skills.

In 2017, interactive infographics were the most used content.
Meanwhile, the most used content marketing format is video, with 64% of marketers creating video content, including live stream videos, vlogs, and webinars.
61% of content marketers create written content, such as ebooks, articles, and blogs.
The top three written content types are social media content at 95%, blog posts at 89%, and email newsletters at 81%.
On the other hand, 56% of content marketers create visual or image-based content, including charts, infographics, photos, and GIFs.
Visual content marketers most frequently used 32.5% of graphic content, 29.5% of stock photos, 15.1% of charts and data visualizations, 12.7% of slides shares and webinars, and 5.4% of multi-page docs.
Producing consistent engaging visual content comprised 36.7% of marketers’ struggle, while 22.9% is attributed to the struggle of locating the correct layout for the data.
Moreover, 20.5% is the struggle of creating great design, and 19.9% is attributed to the struggle of sourcing data and statistics.
48.2% of content has visuals.
Aside from visual and written content, 38% of content marketers create audio content like podcasts and audiobooks.

Video Content Statistics

What should marketers focus on in 2021? We could safely say that video content should be the focus of content marketers this year because of how much users spend most of their time binging one video to another.

On average, viewers allocate a watch time of 6 hours and 48 minutes per week.
86% of users are expecting a surge of videos from brands soon.
On the other hand, 92% of marketers consider video content an essential part of their content marketing strategy.
81% of content marketers claim that videos help increase the average time a visitor spends on a particular page.
Moreover, 87% of content marketers say that video content generated traffic to their site or web pages.
83% of video content marketers claim that videos have helped them in lead generation.
Meanwhile, 80% of marketers claim that videos have improved their sales.
Aside from generating traffic and sales, 95% of content marketers noticed that videos helped their customers better understand their products or services.
In 2020, live streaming had spurted to 99% because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It even registered a 45% increase from March to April 2020 alone.
48% of content marketers prioritize YouTube videos, while 46% focus on Facebook videos.
Meanwhile, 40% of millennials trust videos. Half of the users aged 18 to 34 would leave their current activity to check out a new video from their favorite content creator.
Video content marketers get 66% more leads in a year.
With all these content marketing statistics 2021, it was predicted that by the end of this year, 82% of internet traffic would be attributed to videos.

Check this Wizdeo Analytics review to grow your YouTube channel and track the analytics.

Blogging Statistics

Content writing and blogging have long ruled the content world. Want to know why and how? Check out these content marketing statistics 2021:

On average, bloggers target at least 1,236 words on their content.
Meanwhile, the average word count of Google’s top search post results is 1,447 words.
An ideal blog post has an average reading time of 7 minutes or a length of 1,600 words.
On the content creation side, it takes approximately 3 hours and 57 minutes to write quality and comprehensive blog content.
Bloggers often publish 2 to 4 blog posts per month.
Specifically, small blogs should have at least 3 to 4 new blog postings every week.
On the other hand, larger blogs must have 4 to 5 new blog postings each week, including updated posts, to generate brand awareness and organic traffic.
35.5% of content marketers created visual content primarily for blog posts.
Meanwhile, 55% of marketers claim blog content creation to be their top inbound marketing priority.
Headlines with at least 14 or more words gained 5x more backlinks than those with lesser words.

Marketing Statistics

To further convince you (or the opposite) of the wonders that content marketing could bring, here are some statistical data relevant to the marketing aspect of content marketing.

General Marketing Statistics

70% of B2B marketers claim to have been more successful this 2021 than in the previous year.
96% of successful content marketers claim that content writing built their credibility and audience trust.
Meanwhile, 90% of successful marketers generate results by prioritizing their audience’s informational needs rather than creating too ‘sales-y’ messages.
95% of B2B services and buyers claim that content is a reliable marker in business evaluation. In other words, content pushes B2B customers to trust a brand.
Before making a purchase, 71% of B2B customers review a brand’s blog.
Meanwhile, 61% of consumers purchase blog-recommended products.
30% of bloggers follow a formal editing process, and they’re 50% more likely to experience better results than those who don’t follow a process. This is a significant increase given that 5 years ago, only 1 in 10 bloggers followed a formal editing process.
On the other hand, 56% of top-performing marketers maximize technology to understand audience preferences and behavior.
Meanwhile, 65% utilize documented content marketing strategy, and 72% constantly measure their ROI.
As revealed by content marketing statistics 2021, 63% of brands don’t possess a documented content marketing strategy.

Content Sharing and Promotion

72% of B2B marketers promote their content through social media marketing, while 61% utilize search engine marketing or pay-per-click.
Moreover, 46% promote content through banner ads, and 32% use email partnerships or promotions.
When it comes to content sharing, 95% of B2B marketers share through LinkedIn for organic content distribution. According to content marketing statistics 2021, LinkedIn is the marketers’ top choice for content promotion among other paid social media channels.
For content distribution, the top social media channels next to LinkedIn are Twitter at 86%, Facebook at 83%, YouTube at 53%, and Instagram at 46%.
72% of marketers say that their engagement and leads increased through content marketing.
As for content searching, 95% of users check the first page of search engine results only. So, don’t forget to optimize your content.

Results Statistics

Before you fully dive into content marketing or any other marketing strategies, make sure to keep tabs on the results that these strategies have generated.

86% of marketers claim to have successfully used a content marketing strategy to increase brand awareness.
79% share that their primary priority is educating their audience.
Meanwhile, 75% of content marketers utilize content marketing to foster trust and credibility.
Regarding trust and credibility, 63% have increased their customer loyalty through content marketing.
53% of marketers have successfully generated sales through content marketing.
Meanwhile, 43% use content marketing to build their email list or subscribed audiences.
Successful content marketers thrive because 69% of them share stories through their content, and 55% insert interactive elements.

Content Marketing Tools Statistics

To be successful in their marketing endeavors and efficient in their work, content marketers use various tools.

77% of content marketers use analytics tools to measure their progress (or lack thereof).
Meanwhile, 81% utilize various email marketing software.
84% of content marketers rely on social media publishing and analytics tools.
A good percentage of a marketer’s tool kit includes project management, content creation, and marketing automation tools. Check this Likeable Hub review to learn more.
In 2020, 41% of content marketers used online tools or graphic makers in creating visual content.
Meanwhile, 27.1% used in-house designers, 18.7% utilized advanced design software like Adobe, and 16.2% hired a freelance or contract designer.

Content Marketing Cost and Budget Statistics

In every marketing campaign, you should never overlook the aspects of cost and budget.

Traditional marketing campaigns cost 62% more than content marketing, and the latter generates 3x more leads than the former.
In 2020, 26.9% of content marketers spent up to 30% of their budget on visual content.
In the following year, the percentage of content marketers who spent the same budget on visual content dropped to 22.9%.
It’s recommended for marketers to allocate 25% to 30% of their marketing budgets to content marketing. The figures may vary, but this bracket is a good rule of thumb.

Content Marketing Examples 2021

If you want to venture into content marketing, you can try benchmarking successful brands. Here are five examples of successful content marketing from various brands and platforms:

Canva’s Design School – Canva made its very own design school, and the people who want to improve their abilities in graphic designing may enroll for free.
MyHeritage: Animated Relatives – MyHeritage captured the imagination of users and helped bring back old ancestors to life through their app.
The How Channel – this channel by Publicis Sapient produces engaging video content and focuses on brand audiences and B2B.
Burger King’s Social Media Move – Burger King’s emotional plea to support other restaurants and business chains amidst the COVID-19 pandemic resonated with the public.
LinkedIn’s International Women Day Video – the social media platform encouraged the community to support women through their video. It garnered 1.5 million views.

FAQ

What is the significance of video content in 2021 marketing strategies?
Video content has become increasingly important, with statistics indicating that it significantly enhances site traffic, engagement, and understanding of products or services.
How has content format diversity impacted marketing?
Diverse content formats cater to different audience preferences, improving engagement rates and meeting various informational needs through tailored content.
Why is SEO important for content marketing?
SEO helps in enhancing the visibility of content on search engines, which is crucial for driving organic traffic and ensuring content reaches the intended audience effectively.
What role do analytics play in content marketing?
Analytics provide essential insights into content performance, enabling marketers to make informed decisions and optimize their strategies for better results.
How does social media influence content marketing?
Social media platforms are pivotal for content distribution and engagement, helping brands connect with their audience and amplify their content’s reach.

Leverage Your Online Marketing with these Content Marketing Statistics 2021

Standards of Content Greatness — Look into these content standards to create quality and interactive content. | **Source**: Search Engine Journal

Up until today, marketers still deem content marketing as one of the most utilized and effective marketing forms in the B2B realm. It has delivered astounding results and helped brands increase their leads, sales, and revenue. So, if you believe that content marketing is as good as the data says, you have no time to waste.

Get a full grasp of content marketing and read our post “Complete Guide to Creating Content and Trending Topics for 2021.”

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