Marketing has changed significantly over the past ten years, I don't think there is anyone who will argue with that. The advent of digitalization has brought with it new possibilities, new opportunities, extensive data insights and... increased complexity.
Despite the fact that it's become much easier to push your messages to very specific targeted groups, the competition for their attention has also increased dramatically.
So what are you going to do about it? My advice, let the data speak - and there's a lot of it out there to put you on the right path.
Here are some 2022 statistics that I find fascinating and may help you find your way:
Content marketing is hot! (Not a surprise)
Content marketing is king these days! In fact 97% of marketing professionals surveyed by Semrush said content marketing was part of their strategy for 2022. Of those 57% said they had a content strategy in place.
Of 1,500 content marketers surveyed by Semrush, only 23% use content marketing to drive customer brand loyalty while 45% stated they primarily use it to create brand awareness.
The most commonly used media format for content marketers is video (59% using it) followed by a 48% use of blogs, 46% use images regularly, 45% infographics and 42% post case studies.
Content producers (writers, photographers, videographers, etc.) will be in high demand in 2023 with 47% percent of companies stating they will need to hire or contract these skills in 2023 according to Content Marketing Suite. In contrast only 25% said they would hire content marketers to manage the materials. So the message - content creation will be a core driver next year.
Social media and speaking event opportunities are the most common way companies today distribute their content on organic channels. The company's website, blog and newsletters are the most common forms of distribution of content from owned channels.
The humble website is underrated!
Your website is (still) very important! In fact, its the second most important channel for marketing after social media according to recent HubSpot report. A total of 44% of respondents stated that their primary focus is on social media marketing, followed by 36% that will focus on their website and blog.
Updating your previously published website content regularly improves organic traffic by 437% according to research by Safari Digital.
The 800-1000 word "rule" regarding content on your website (eg a blog article) is not working - in fact, more lengthy content will generate better search results on Google with average content of highly rated sites standing at 1,890 words. (Backlinko)
Companies that push out over 16 blog posts per month get 3.5 times more traffic and 4.5 times more leads than those that publish up to four posts every month. (BlogTyrant)
Once you have between 24 and 51 articles posted on your site, your leads go up by 30% according to research by Traffic Generation Cafe. Once you are over 52 posts this figure goes up to an impressive 77% increase.
The average blog post takes 3.5 hours to develop today (Optinmonster) driven by a drive for differentiation, higher quality and more lengthy content.
Social media is king!
According to Statistica, there are 5 billion internet users (July, 2022) of which 4.7 billion are making use of social media.
Facebook is still the most used social media platform (with 2.9bn users) according to Statistica, followed by YouTube (2.6bn), WhatsApp (2.0bn), Instagram (1.6bn), WeChat (1.3bn) and TikTok (1bn). At the "lower" yet equally impressive end of the scale are LinkedIn (740m), SnapChat (560m), Telegram (550m), Pinterest (440m) and Twitter (436m).
Globally the average person spends 2:26 hours per day on social media according to GWI. People in the Philippines spent the most time on social (4:08 hours/day) while South Koreans spent only 1:13 hours/day. But the lowest daily consumption of social media is for Japan at a "mere" 50 minutes per day. European and North American users average out at about 2 hours per day.
Keeping in touch with friends and family is the single most important reason people use social according to GWI research. In fact, it's something that is common across all generations with 48% of GenZ, 47% of Millennials, 51% of Gen X and 54% of Baby boomers stating this is their primary reason for being on these platforms.
An impressive 77% of internet users will use social media to learn more about brands and discover new ones.
Your SEO cannot be "so so"
If you don't show up on the first page of Google the chance that someone will click on your link is 0.83%! (Safari Digital)
Google uses over 200 different judgement factors in its algorithm - used for ranking websites.
Leads from effective SEO have a close rate of 14.6%. Compare that to traditional outbound leads which have a 1.7% close rate. (Optinmonster)
According to Google, 27% of all searches on their platform are voice enabled.
A total of 91% of all websites listed on Google never obtain any major traffic because they don't have any backlinks.
Proximity is increasingly the name of the game. Searches for "near me" and "where to buy" have grown by 200%
There are of course a lot more statistics out there - digital means data generation and that enables marketers to have a much stronger base to argue for improved digital engagement with company leadership - my tip - make use of it to to define your strategy and convince others of its worth!
About the author
Frederique Depraetere is a native English and Dutch speaker with a UK/US education and background. He is a marketing & communications professional with an extensive background in both Public Relations and (Digital) Marketing and is based in Belgium. As a freelancer he supports customers globally across a wide array of industries, from start-ups to established companies. On top of being a marketing professional with 23 years of experience at some of the highest levels in leading companies, Frederique is a pro copywriter, expert content creator and highly creative mind. He is also the author of "The Scarlet Crown", a thriller which he wrote and published under the name "Frederic Dalton".
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