Shocking Facts about Content Marketing

Contemplating whether content marketing is still at the top of the pyramid? The statistics speak for themselves, with more than 27 million people are sharing content on the web every day, content marketing is just beginning to blossom.

Content marketing has developed into a new way for businesses to advertise. With many social hotspots, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s a faster and more effective way to spread the word on what your business has to offer and what services you provide. Many would say that content marketing has taken on as a new ‘art form’ in itself.

Here are 10 shocking facts about content marketing:

1. Businesses with active blogs produce 67% more leads per month. This observation proves what SEO marketers have been saying all along: people LOVE blogs! Consumers love to have a connection from a brand they love, hence why company blogs can quickly become a “go-to” source for people in the industry. By utilizing your blog as another approach to capture leads, you could engage your audience with subconscious call-to-actions and ultimately drive conversions.
2.  Most content marketers are using 12 different tactics to acquire their demographic.  Statistics from the Content Marketing Institute show that the introduction of new social channels have opened more paths of communication to your audience. Marketing teams have to integrate the most important channels into their marketing strategy in order to be successful. Digital marketing is constantly changing with new trends, apps, and more, it is important that your team keep up to date and take advantage of new opportunities for growth.
3. 86% of B2C companies use a content marketing approach. Normally statistic show that B2B is the largest participants of content marketing, but in the Content Marketing Institute shows that B2C is matching their efforts! With more people turning to social media as their ‘influence’ for decisions, B2C companies are taking advantage.
4. One-third of budgets for B2B Marketing Teams are spent on content marketing. Content marketing is valuable, but B2B marketing companies know the true value to dedicate such a large portion of their budgets on this one practice. Although content management systems and email marketing software’s are not free, there are low cost options if you look for them.
5. Social media and blogs reach 8 out of 10 internet users in the U.S. 80% of internet surfers is a large number, and that doesn’t even including the consumers who are utilizing these sites to make purchases. Marketers need maintain a presence on all social media platforms and their blog in order to develop an outreach strategy.
6. Email is STILL the preferred method of online communication. Contrary to believe, email takes the lead against all social networks and relevant content marketing. This is an important statistic because many companies do not place a strong emphasis on the importance of an email campaign.  Email automation comes with analytics to make tracking easy; Mail Chimp is a low cost option for email marketing and is very user friendly.
7. Nearly half of B2B marketers regularly use LinkedIn. Your audience maybe on Facebook or Twitter but your business connections are on LinkedIn. It is important to utilize LinkedIn as a marketer to build your network. Top salesman of companies spend 6 hours a week (on average) on LinkedIn.
8. 87% of B2B companies use social media to distribute content. Publishing content on your site is important, but sharing this content is part of the process. Use different social channels to publish your content to help reach a large audience. Google +, Facebook and Twitter are the most influential channels but don’t forget about the overlooked avenues such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest. These are equally important if not MORE important depending on your industry.
9. Companies that post 15 blogs a month get 5x more traffic than those who don’t. Over 27 Million pieces of content are shared every day and 64% of B2B marketers say their biggest challenge is producing enough content. If these statistics don’t put it in prospective how important content marketing is, you may never learn. More than 329 Million people read blogs every month. Not only do blogs give your site more indexed pages and links but 37% of marketers agree that blogs are the most valuable content type for marketing.
10. 44% of companies outsource their content marketing efforts. Many companies choose to keep their content creation in house. The benefit of an in-house content team is the access to statics and the extensive knowledge your company’s voice would be, however outsource content is generally less expensive. The preference is to keep the content in-house but the easiest option would be to outsource. Weight out the pros and cons to this decision before making it, find out what is best for your company and if the savings are worth it, find a reliable copywriter that will meet your company’s standards.

With time we have continued to see the growth and shift in content marketing importance. Content marketing is a strong channel of communication to reach your audience, start to learn the best practices to “jump on the bandwagon” before it takes off!