In the online marketing world we’re seeing many changes.
And those changes seem to be coming as fast as ever.
It can be frustrating to try and keep up. But some things haven’t changed over time and likely won’t.
When you have a good product or a good service it’s much easier to market. And when you have good content it becomes much easier to communicate the value of your goods to your target customers.
Yet even with those two things it’s important to know what’s coming. And if you’re blogging right now and planning to in the future it’s good to know what is important as you go forward.
As we head into another year I thought it would be valuable to look at some current statistics that will be important for your blogging efforts.
Here they are.
1. 90% of marketing and tech execs worldwide said that social media increases visibility with prospects. (Source)
This is the key to successful social media use and blogging. Your allow your potential customers to find you.
2. 97% of adults ages 50 to 75 go online daily. 8 out of 10 are active on social networks. (Source)
It’s not just the young folks.
3. 23% of Facebook users get news from the social networking site. (Source)
Most don’t intend to get their news on Facebook. They visit to see what friends and family are up to, but they end up sometimes reading news headlines and clicking on links to articles. Content drives this interaction. Businesses that create the content win the attention.
4. 78% of B2C content marketers used articles on their site as a tactic in 2013. (Source)
Creating content on your own site is the key to successful content marketing.
5. 90% of B2C marketing professionals used content marketing in 2013. (Source)
That’s a large majority.
6. Articles with digits in their titles are about 175% more likely to be shared than those without them. (Source)
Include data in your blogs and your titles and you’ll get more interaction.
7. 73% of marketers redesigned their content pages in 2013. (Source)
Good design is required for successful content marketing (and online business).
8. The best three lead sources for B2B companies are SEO (14%), email marketing, (13%), and social media (12%). (Source)
Content on your website is responsible for all of these lead sources.
9. B2B companies are getting 14% of their leads from SEO but only allocating 12% of their budget to that source. (Source)
Time to start investing more in content. It’s paying off.
10. B2C companies are getting 15% of their leads from SEO but only allocating 13% of their budget to that source. (Source)
See above.
11. While fewer than 25% of all tweets contain a link, more than half of retweets contain a URL. (Source)
If you want retweets you need to share content.
12. 48% of US marketers reported devoting at least 10% of their budget to content creation, with 19% of marketers allocating 25% or more. (Source)
Content is starting to dig into the annual budgets of marketers, big and small.
13. Content marketing’s key strengths, according to the study, include its ability to improve lead generation (cited by 54% of respondents), make brands a trusted source (40%), help nurture leads (27%), improve search engine optimization (21%) and create more relevant touch points with prospects and customers. (Source)
Lots of good information in this one.
14. In 2014, 57% of marketers will be “very” or “fully” engaged in content marketing. (Source)
Will you be one of them?
15. Shoretel Sky hired an agency to help produce blog content and tripled inbound links in six months while doubling organic search traffic. (source)
Blogging improves SEO. It’s that simple.
16. Rental History Reports saw organic traffic to the website increased by more than 400% within six months after starting a blog. (Source)
Hard to argue with those results. Do you want to see 400% traffic increase?
17. InsideOut saw a 20% higher clickthrough rate with content-based emails. (Source)
Content is the king of all channels.
18. In 2013, HubSpot customers said that blogging champions as the #1 method for increasing traffic, with SEO in second place. (Source)
In reality, blogging leads to SEO so it’s a double win for blogging.
19. 92.34% of companies using inbound marketing increase their traffic. (Source)
Are you using inbound marketing in 2014?
20. Most business types had the same ability to acquire customers through a blog, around 40%-50%. (Source)
That’s a big number that may shock people.
21. The avg company sees a 45% growth in traffic when increasing total blog articles from 11-20 to 21-50. (Source)
How many posts do you have on your business blog?
22. B2B marketers are spending 33% of their marketing budgets on content marketing, which is up from 26% last year. 54% will increase content marketing spending in the next 12 months. (Source)
It seems that most marketers have been increasing spending on content and will continue to do so in 2014.
23. 87% of marketers are using social media to distribute content. (Source)
Content marketing is just as important as creating content.
24. 57% of B2B small business marketers create all their content in-house. (Source)
But many claim that it’s a struggle to create enough content and enough good content.
25. 32% of B2B small business marketers struggle with their effectiveness at content marketing. (Source)
Are you struggling with your content marketing? Outsourcing is an option.
26. Google recommends that the content above the fold on a mobile device loads in under 1 second and the entire page loads in under 2 seconds. (Source)
You need a fast site and a fast blog. It’s one of the most important aspects of your website. Upgrade with your host. We use Synthesis.
27. 55% of social media consumption happens on a mobile device. (Source)
If you’re sharing blog posts on social media it’s important to have a mobile-friendly website.
28. In the United States, 25% of internet users only access the internet on a mobile device. (Source)
Creating content for the mobile device is becoming important. Blog posts can keep someone on your site a long time, earning their attention and trust.
29. 64% of teens have a smartphone in 2013. (Source)
Mobile is coming fast and the next generation is already establishing its preferred channel – smartphones.
30. 78% of worldwide consumers state that a company’s reputation for customer service is important to them when choosing to buy from a particular brand. (Source)
Blogging is an aspect of customer service. You can answer common customer questions using your blog.
Conclusion
It’s always interesting to look at stats.
Some of these surprise me quite a bit. I’m looking at these things all the time and it’s amazing how fast things are changing.
Hopefully these stats will help you plan your business strategies for the New Year.