Why Content Marketing Matters: The Statistics, Evidence and Trends You Need to Know

June 21, 2023 Ian Kirk

In 2023, on top of the usual shifts in content marketing, search and social media, we're dealing with new pressures. We never could rest on our laurels, but economic instability and the rise of generative AI mean things are definitely going to change.

The challenges ahead are real, but the possibilities are enticing. How will you defend your marketing budget? And how can you make your brand stand out and draw those coveted eyeballs in this age of information overload and social saturation? The answer is simple: With campaigns and content that both serve your customers and achieve key business goals.

Master that balance, and your strategy will be poised to achieve great things. Our digest of content marketing statistics and insights is designed to help you do just that.

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Does Content Marketing Work?

The short answer is an emphatic yes.

71% of respondents to the Content Marketing Institute's annual B2B survey stated that content has become more important to their organisation over the past year. And according to Semrush, only 3% of the 1,700 marketers and business owners surveyed felt that content marketing was unsuccessful for their brand.

50% of respondents expected their content marketing budget to increase. This was down from 66% the previous year, suggesting caution in economically turbulent times. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
33% of most successful marketers spend at least 50% of their total marketing budget on content marketing. This compares with just 8% of the least successful content marketers. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
When asked what areas of demand generation would see budget prioritisation, 43% of respondents said content marketing. This made it second only to account based marketing at 46% (Demand Generation, "2023 Benchmark Survey")
88% of marketers who already invest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) plan to maintain or increase their investment. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report)
44% of businesses surveyed plan to expand their content team in 2023, with a further 53% maintaining current staffing levels. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
47% of respondents expect their business to hire content creators including writers, designers, photographers, videographers, etc. This includes both outsourcing work to individual contractors or agencies, as well as in-house hires. 16% plan to hire subject matter experts to create unique, high-level content. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Content marketing costs 62% less than most other types of marketing while delivering 3 times the number of actual leads on average. (Demand Metric)

According to the Content Marketing Institute, survey respondents valued benefits not easily quantified, like educating consumers and attracting higher-quality leads through content marketing.

Benefits of Content Marketing for B2B Businesses and Beyond

Content marketing supports a range of B2B business goals. From increasing visibility, building brand awareness and establishing thought leadership, to demand and lead generation, nurturing relationships, and driving sales revenue - content fuels the customer journey at every stage.

66% of successful B2B content marketers said it helps nurture leads, subscribers, and their brand's audience. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
83% of B2B content marketers said it helped build brand awareness. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
62% of successful B2B content marketers said that it generates sales and revenue for their business. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Well-optimised, quality content can attract new leads to your brand’s website before they even know they need your services or products. In 2022, 52.2% of search keywords showed people were looking for information, 21.1% of keywords were transactional indicating people were interested in buying a product or service. Using transactional keywords increased from 16.4% the previous year. (Semrush, State of Search 2023)
59% for successful B2B content marketers said content marketing helps them build an audience of subscribers who may become leads. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Brands that publish original or primary research on their blog are 41% more likely to receive backlinks, higher search result rankings, media mentions, and leads. Yet only 42% publish original research. (Orbit Media, “New Blogging Statistics: What Content Strategies Work in 2022?”)
35% of business bloggers with strong results said lead magnets and gated content are among the most effective for their brand, tied with guides and ebooks. (Orbit Media, “New Blogging Statistics: What Content Strategies Work in 2022?”)

The Importance of Content Marketing Strategy

Publishing content isn’t enough. Effective content depends on the strength of the underlying strategy. In other words, the disciplined pursuit of business and consumer insight, the skillful fusion of creativity with data, the ability to shape content for every customer need, and the vision to promote innovation.

Creating and following a content marketing strategy plan is crucial if you want to maximise your return on investment.

80% of people who are "highly successful" in content marketing have a documented content marketing strategy compared to just 52% of unsuccessful content marketers. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
Only 40% of all B2B content marketers have a documented B2B content marketing strategy, yet 64% who identify as highly successful do. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)

A content marketing strategy isn't just a "one-and-done". Successful B2B marketers continue to evaluate their results, audit their content, and fine-tune the plan. A strong strategy also includes details like the best content format and your use of marketing automation tools to ensure consistency.

81% of B2B content marketers report tracking their results in 2022 compared to 75% in 2021. The top metrics they track include 86% website traffic, 83% engagement with marketing email messages, 83% website engagement, 79% conversions, 74% social media analytics, and 59% tie between search rankings and email subscribers. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Despite this, 65% of marketers say they can’t quantitatively show their impact (CMO and Semrush).
47% believed that they owe their content marketing success to effective audience research. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
33% audit their content twice a year. A further 24% once a year, and just over 20% do it over three times a year. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
Half of respondents update when they see a piece of content is out of date. 40% do so as a preventative measure. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
The effort is worth it. 53% see an increase in engagement, and 49% see an increase in their rankings. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
Effective marketers are 46% more likely to integrate automation into their workflow so they can focus on content creation, engaging prospects, and higher-level work. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report).

Challenges for Content Marketing Teams to Answer

Content marketers report facing several challenges.

Frequent changes to algorithms and functionality on social media platforms and search engines are a constant irritation. Along with this, privacy concerns, changes in regulations, and evolving preferences add complexity to an already demanding role.

Content marketers continue to report that measurement and attribution are a major challenge. Many struggle to connect content efforts to business outcomes and ROI. Without clear attribution, content teams can't prove their value or make the case for greater investment.

35% of marketers thought understanding their Return on Investment (ROI) for their campaigns is very or extremely important. (Hubspot, 2020)
But 48% of B2B marketers said their biggest challenge is measuring the performance of content across platforms. 43% expressed difficulty tying performance back to business goals. While 42% struggled to extract insights from the raw data. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
81% of marketers track KPIs, but only 49% felt confident that their organisation measures performance accurately. 45% said setting the right Key Performance Indicators (KPI) was a challenge. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
86% said privacy concerns and losing cookies and other tracking data have made them adjust their marketing plan. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report).

Content marketers also report that greater alignment and integration with sales and across internal teams is needed to improve effectiveness:

Sales and marketing professionals identified factors that may increase alignment between content marketing and sales. 58% company culture encouraging collaboration between the departments, 15% a clear content marketing plan, 12% an easy way for content marketing to communicate and share content with sales, 9% want more clarity about the buyer’s journey. (LinkedIn and Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing: Unlocking Sales & Marketing Performance)
They also noted that the sales team did not use around 80% of content created by content marketers. (LinkedIn and Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing: Unlocking Sales & Marketing Performance)

Audience Preferences to Consider When Building Your Strategy

It's all about your audience. You can create excellent content, but if it doesn't resonate with your ideal client or prospective client, it's pointless. The more insight you have into your ideal customer, the better positioned you are to craft content that offers value, fosters brand loyalty and creates sales.

B2B prospects typically require more information from a potential vendor than B2C consumers. For example, 62% of B2B consumers read or engage with three to seven pieces of content before connecting with a salesperson. 11% are super researchers who engage with over seven pieces of content first. (Demand Gen Report 2022)
B2B buyers shared their frustrations about content, 39% want marketers to tone down the sales pitch, 37% prefer shorter content, 36% like to see solid data and research, 36% don’t want to be overwhelmed with copy, 30% want more insights from thought leaders and experts. (Demand Gen Report 2022)
Marketers told Hubspot that articles and blog posts still deliver the highest return on investment. (ROI). (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report)
On the question of what length of article or blog post yields the best results: 39% said under 1,500 words and 32% blog posts or articles longer than 1,500 words. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”).
Blog posts that include a video receive 70% more traffic, but only 8% of blog posts do. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
Articles with seven or more images get over five times as many backlinks and over twice the unique page views as articles with fewer images. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”).

While articles and blog posts remain popular, 41% of marketers reported to Hubspot that they were looking to shake things up in the marketing mix.

The other most effective content marketing tactics of 2022 included: 48% in-person events, 47% virtual events, 46% research reports, 43% white papers or ebooks, 36% case studies and videos . (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”).
Types of content B2B prospects prefer to include 67% webinars, 55% reports featuring original research like survey results, 56% E-books, 54% articles or blog posts, 52% white papers, 49% case studies, and 41% newsletters. (Demand Gen Report 2022)
When asked what kind of content motivates B2B callers to schedule a sales call and what they find especially memorable, 51% said they were most impressed with seeing data and research that supports claims, 49% were motivated by a compelling story, 41% like quick hitting facts, 34% said the content appealed to their own brand’s values. (Demand Gen Report 2022)

One key takeaway: B2B buyers’ content preferences shift the closer they get to scheduling a sales call or to making a purchase.

B2B Buyers are most interested in content during the earliest phases of their decision-making and buying journey. The content they most appreciate early: 62% want infographics, 58% blog posts, 56% podcasts, 55% white papers and 41% webinars. (Demand Gen Report 2022)
During the middle phase of researching and buying, content preferences shift to more in-depth formats. 48% prefer webinars, 34% white papers, 31% tie between blog posts and infographics, and 27% prefer podcasts. (Demand Gen Report 2022)
During the final stage of the buying process, interest shifts to more conversational content. At the end of the buying process, preferences change with 17% preferring podcasts, 11% tie between white papers and webinars, 10% blog posts, and 7% infographics. (Demand Gen Report 2022)

Using Social Media and Email Marketing for Channel Distribution and Promotion

A comprehensive content marketing plan includes a mix of media, formats, and channels. Each offers the chance to share your brand’s story and message in different ways, reaching more of your target audience.

69% of marketers use a newsletter to share their content and reach their audience. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Email remained marketers' top channel choice in 2022, with paid and organic social a close second and third. (Hubspot, "Content and Media Strategy Report 2022")
LinkedIn remains the social media platform of choice among B2B marketers, with 96% using the platform. Here's how the other platforms stack up: 76% Facebook, 70% Twitter, 65% YouTube, and 57% Instagram. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
TikTok use is exploding for B2C content marketing thanks to its popularity with consumers. 42% of all marketers publish on TikTok, and 26% plan to start in 2023 despite concerns about privacy. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report) However, only 9% of B2B marketers publish on TikTok. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Only 35% of all marketers tailor content to each social media platform. 46% of all marketers repurpose the same content across platforms without optimising it. Effective marketers are 27% more likely to tailor their content to the platform and its audience. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report)
Facebook has the top Return on Investment of social platforms at 22%, however this is down from 40% in 2021. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report and 2021 Not Another State of Marketing Report).
29% of marketers plan to use targeted social media ads to help them reach specific audiences without the use of third-party cookies. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report).
Paid content distribution is still popular, but slowing down according to the Content Marketing Institute. Their B2B survey shows that 67% of marketers plan to use ads like social media boosts to distribute their content. This is a decrease from 2022 when 81% planned on paid distribution. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
Whether using organic or paid social media distribution, marketers hope readers will share their content. B2B executives are more likely to share some content more than others. 48% share social media content containing relevant links, while 42% prefer quick stats or insights. 41% prefer a strong story that they believe resonates with their followers. (Demand Gen Report 2022)

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What Are the Latest Trends in Content Marketing?

Trends toward visual content, video, interactive content, and podcasting continue to grow. The emergence of generative AI and Google's update to their content standards means there is more emphasis on incorporating engaging visuals and media, primary or original research, and leveraging human talent and expertise.

When asked which type of content delivers the highest return on investment, 25% of respondents said video, 12% said images, 9% said blog posts, 8% case studies, 7% tie between podcasts and infographics. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report)

Leveraging technology is also on-trend. When technologies are built into the strategic pillars of audience, trust, optimisation and measurement, they enable content marketers to work smarter and faster, and get better results:

Effective marketers are 46% more likely to use automation to streamline their process, compared to less effective marketers. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report)
32% of B2B marketers are using a marketing automation system to help manage their content. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
While 19% of businesses who use AI content generation tools reported success, 24% of businesses who do not use AI content generation reported the same showing no clear strategic advantage. (Siege Media and ClearScope, “Content Marketing Trends and Insights 2023 Report”)
With the rapid expansion of AI-generated content, B2B content marketers are looking for ways to differentiate. 83% plan to focus on creating higher quality content. 72% plan to cover trends and topics their competitors missed. 50% plan to focus more on promoting their content. 38% plan to try new types of content. (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)
More content marketers plan to showcase the people involved with their organisations, including thought leaders, subject matter experts, or influencers. 25% plan to incorporate interviews for the first time in 2023. (Semrush, “State of Content Marketing 2023”)
As customers grow increasingly concerned about privacy, 86% of marketers need to adapt to changing regulations, standards, and tools. 77% are prepared to do without third-party cookies. (Hubspot, 2023 State of Marketing Report)
Only 36% of marketers currently include interactive content in their content marketing strategy, with 64% missing out on the links it can provide. (Siege Media and ClearScope, “Content Marketing Trends and Insights 2023 Report”)

However, while tech-driven tactics like leveraging AI and automation are important, so is face-to-face interaction. 52% expect to host more in-person events compared to last year (Content Marketing Institute, “B2B Content Marketing Budgets, Benchmarks, and Trends 2023”)

What Is the Future of Content Marketing?

Content marketing faces some exciting, and sometimes conflicting, disruptions and trends.

Data privacy vs an increased thirst for more personalised content and relevant experiences. The explosion of generative AI vs a preference for content that demonstrates experience and the human touch. These are just two examples of how the future of content marketing demands a deft balancing act. Marketing professionals will need to be agile to walk the tightrope between digital transformation and their customers' need for genuine human connection.

It takes a complex blend of skills to pull it off successfully. As a content marketer, your role is multifaceted. You're not just a creator. You need to be on the cutting edge of technology, a writer, designer, strategic planner, audience researcher, data analyst, SEO expert, workflow manager... It’s a lot!

1827 Marketing is here to help. We are equipped to support your team with the tools, insights, and guidance you need. Get in touch with us today for a chat about transforming your content marketing strategy for the digital age, without losing the human touch.

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1827 Marketing

Why Content Marketing Matters: The Statistics, Evidence and Trends You Need to Know

Does Content Marketing Work?

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Benefits of Content Marketing for B2B Businesses and Beyond

The Importance of Content Marketing Strategy

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Challenges for Content Marketing Teams to Answer

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Audience Preferences to Consider When Building Your Strategy

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Using Social Media and Email Marketing for Channel Distribution and Promotion

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What Are the Latest Trends in Content Marketing?

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What Is the Future of Content Marketing?