I think you’ll agree with me when I say that a marketing strategy is incomplete if it doesn’t address digital channels. And in order to understand the value that these channels provide, it’s also important to understand the marketing statics behind them. The digital marketing statistics below show the importance of channels like social media, content, SEO, video, and more.
If you’re a numbers nerd like me, you’ll love these digital marketing statistics that I’ve curated from dozens of studies and research.
SEO Statistics
1. In 2015, the number one search result was clicked 28.6% of the time. This number has dropped to 23.5%.
2. WordPress accounts for 27% of all websites around the world, but only about 40% of WordPress sites are up to date.
3. Link building is the most difficult SEO tactic to perform, according to 65% of marketers.
4. SEO has a 14.6% conversion rate compared to 1.7% for traditional outbound methods such as cold-calling or direct mail.
5. Only 7% of searchers will ever see the third page of search results.
6. 86% of people are looking on Google Maps to find directions to a location.
7. Based on the numbers, organic SEO is about 5.66 times better than paid search ads. However, experts still recommend paid search ads if businesses don’t have the time to invest in organic SEO.
8. Search engines drive 93% of all website traffic.
9. It’s projected that by 2020, at least 50% of all searches will be voice and image-based.
10. A third of all smartphone searches were made right before a store visit.
Social Media Statistics
11. The internet has 4.2 billion users
12. There are 3.397 billion active social media user
13. On average, people have 5.54 social media accounts
14. The average daily time spent on social is 116 minutes a day
15. 91% of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels
16. 81% of all small and medium businesses use some kind of social platform
17. Internet users have an average of 7.6 social media accounts
18. Social media users grew by 320 million between Sep 2017 and Oct 2018.
19. That works out at a new social media user every 10 seconds.
20. Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp handle 60 billion messages a day
SEM Statistics
21. 70% of mobile customers call through mobile ads
22. 65% of search results clicks go to Google Ads with buyer intent keywords
23. Google Display Ads are seen by 90% of internet users
24. Bing mobile search traffic increased over 700 percent
25. Google owns 71% of the search market share
26. Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.
27. The average click-through rate (CTR) in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for the search network and 0.46% for the display network.
28. The average cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 on the search network and $0.63 on the display network.
29. Appearing in mobile search ad results can increase brand awareness by 46%.
30. PPC visitors are 50% more likely to purchase something than organic visitors. (Unbounce)
Display Advertising Statistics
31. Consumers interact with native ads 20 percent to 60 percent more than they do with standard banner ads.
32. Native ads with rich media like images or videos drive up to 60 percent more conversions than those without.
33. Reading a native ad headline yields 308 times more consumer attention than processing an image or banner
34. 53 percent of users say they are more likely to look at a native than a banner ad.
35. Native mobile ads deliver 6X higher conversions for brands versus traditional banner ads.
36. 18 percent more (52 percent vs. 34 percent) of native ad viewers show purchase intent.
37. Approximately 30 percent of Internet users say they find traditional banner advertising distracting and will actively avoid sites where the ads interfere too much with content.
38. 92 percent of online ads aren’t even noticed.
39. Ad blocking is blamed for costing the advertising industry $22 Billion in 2015.
40. 64 percent say ads today are annoying or intrusive.
Content Marketing Statistics
41. Only 24% of B2B marketers are actually partnering with others to expand their audience reach.
42. Only 27% of B2B marketers are using content syndication/promotional tools.
43. 75% of content marketers report using technology to gain insight into how their content is performing, while only 56% use it to gain insight into audience preferences and behavior.
44. The top three content marketing tactics are blogging (65%), social media (64%), and case studies (64%) – LinkedIn Technology Marketing Community
45. 45% of marketers say blogging is their #1 most important content strategy. – Social Media Examiner
46. The average blog post is now 1,142 words (up 41% since 2014) – Orbit Media
47. Paid content promotion is up 5x since 2014 – Orbit Media
48. The top three paid advertising methods used by B2B marketers are SEM (66%); print or other offline promotion (57%), and traditional online banner ads (55%) – Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
49. 74% of companies indicate content marketing is increasing their marketing teams’ lead quality and quantity – Curata
50. 65% of B2B marketers struggle to define what content is effective and what isn’t – Content Marketing Institute
51. Seventy-two percent of marketers have a content strategy in place. Thirty percent have a documented strategy; 42 a non-documented strategy – LinkedIn Technology Marketing Community
Digital Marketing Statistics & What To Remember
Keep these stats in mind as you and your team consider the best plan of action for 2023–and get prepared with a well-thought-out strategy. When digital marketing is executed effectively, your organization benefits…so don’t wait to brainstorm what will work best for the year ahead. Start now.