Digital Marketing Statistics: Trends Shaping the Future

Digital marketing is constantly changing, and it's crucial to keep up with the latest developments. 

Knowing the latest statistics and trends helps you understand what strategies work best. Let us cover important digital marketing statistics in various areas, giving you a clear picture of the trends that are shaping the future.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Statistics

SEO remains a cornerstone of digital marketing, driving organic traffic and increasing visibility. The latest SEO trends below are valuable insights to ensuring your website ranks highly on search engine results pages, thus attracting more visitors and potential customers.

• 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. (Source: WebFX)
• 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. (Source: HubSpot)
• 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. (Source: HubSpot)
• Google accounts for over 90% of the global search engine market share. (Source: StatCounter)
• 70-80% of users ignore paid ads, focusing on organic results. (Source: LinkedIn)
• Updating old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%. (Source: HubSpot)
• The average top-ranking page also ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords. (Source: Ahrefs)
• 51% of all website traffic comes from organic search. (Source: BrightEdge)
• Pages with longer content (over 1,000 words) receive more traffic and shares. (Source: Backlinko)
• Voice searches will account for 50% of all searches by 2024. (Source: ComScore)

Local SEO Statistics

Local SEO is essential for promoting your products and services to local customers. By understanding and leveraging the latest trends in local SEO, you can optimise your online presence for local searches, resulting in increased foot traffic and sales from nearby customers.

• 46% of all Google searches are seeking local information. (Source: Search Engine Roundtable)
• 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. (Source: Nectafy)
• 78% of location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase. (Source: Search Engine Land)
• 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps. (Source: WordStream)
• 72% of consumers who did a local search visited a store within five miles. (Source: HubSpot)
• 92% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results. (Source: SEO Expert)
• "Near me" mobile searches grew by over 500% over the last few years. (Source: Think with Google)
• 75% of consumers looked online for local businesses in 2024. (Source: BrightLocal)

Content Marketing Statistics

Content marketing is essential for engaging audiences and building brand authority. Ensure your content strategies are effective, engaging, and capable of driving leads and conversions by keeping up with content marketing trends.

• Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. (Source: Content Marketing Institute)
• 60% of marketers create at least one piece of content each day. (Source: Forbes)
• Blogs produce 67% more leads for B2B marketers than those who don’t blog. (Source: HubSpot)
• Companies that publish 16+ blog posts per month get about 3.5 times more traffic than companies that publish 0-4 monthly posts. (Source: HubSpot)
• 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. (Source: Demand Gen Report)
• Marketers who prioritise blogging are 13 times more likely to achieve a positive ROI. (Source: Power Digital Marketing)
• 70% of people would rather learn about a company through articles rather than an advertisement. (Source: Harvard Business Review)
• 53% of marketers say blogging is their top content marketing priority. (Source: OptIn Monster)
• Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media. (Source: LinkedIn)
• Infographics are liked and shared on social media 3 times more than any other type of content. (Source: LinkedIn)

Social Media (Marketing & Advertising) Statistics

Social media platforms are vital for connecting with audiences and driving engagement. Social media marketing trends help you effectively reach and engage your target audience, enhancing brand visibility and customer loyalty.

• 54% of social browsers use social media to research products. (Source: GlobalWebIndex)
• 73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business. (Source: Buffer)
• 75.3% of Facebook’s monthly active users were shown an ad on the platform in the past 30 days up to the start of April 2023. (Source: Social Pilot)
• By 2025, Instagram is forecasted to have 1.44 billion monthly active users of the social media platform, which would account for 31.2% of global internet users. (Source: Statista)
• Tweets with hashtags get 2x more engagement. (Source: Buffer)
• LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter. (Source: HubSpot)
• 85% of all videos on Facebook are watched without sound. (Source: Digiday)
• Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. (Source: G2 Crowd)
• Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images. (Source: BuzzSumo)
• 93% of Pinterest users use the platform to plan or make purchases. (Source: Pinterest Business)

Email Marketing Statistics

Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for reaching and converting audiences. Staying informed with what’s on trend can help you craft compelling emails that increase open rates, engagement, and conversions.

• Email marketing has an ROI of 4,400%. (Source: Campaign Monitor)
• 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI. (Source: HubSpot)
• Emails with personalised subject lines generate 50% higher open rates. (Source: Yes Lifecycle Marketing)
• 81% of SMBs rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel. (Source: Emarsys)
• 49% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from their favourite brands. (Source: Statista)
• Data from nearly 6 million email marketing campaigns suggests the shift to mobile has made it more difficult to get readers to engage with your content. (Source: Campaign Monitor)
• Emails are 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter. (Source: McKinsey)
• Segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.32% higher than non-segmented campaigns. (Source: Mailchimp)
• Welcome emails have an average open rate of 83.63%. (Source: GetResponse)
• Drip campaigns are 80% more effective at nurturing leads. (Source: Demand Gen Report)

Video Marketing Statistics

Video content is increasingly preferred by consumers and drives significant engagement. The video marketing trends below will allow you to create engaging video content that can boost brand awareness, engagement, and sales.

• By 2024, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic. (Source: Cisco)
• 87% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads. (Source: Wyzowl)
• 80% of users recall a video ad they have seen online in the past month. (Source: Forbes)
• Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year. (Source: OptinMonster)
• 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. (Source: Wyzowl)
• Companies that use video enjoy 41% more web traffic from search than non-users. (Source: LinkedIn)
• Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. (Source: G2 Crowd)
• 59% of executives agree that if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video. (Source: WordStream)
• Live videos receive 10 times more comments than pre-recorded videos. (Source: Facebook)
• Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. (Source: Insivia)

Mobile Marketing Statistics

With the rise of smartphones, mobile marketing is more critical than ever. Ensure your strategies are optimised for mobile devices, leading to better user experiences and higher conversion rates with the trends below.

• Mobile devices account for nearly 70% of all digital media time. (Source: MarTech)
• 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site. (Source: BrightLocal)
• 70% of mobile searches lead to an online action within an hour. (Source: Social Media Today)
• 51% of customers say that they use mobile devices to discover new brands and products. (Source: Think with Google)
• Mobile email opens account for 46% of all email opens. (Source: HubSpot)
• Users spend an average of 69% of their media time on smartphones. (Source: Worldmetrics)
• Mobile ecommerce could reach $3.56 trillion by 2024. (Source: Statista)
• 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing. (Source: Google)
• In-app advertising accounts for 51.2% of total mobile ad spend. (Source: eMarketer)
• Mobile ads can increase brand favorability by 46%. (Source: Think with Google)

Lead Generation Statistics

Generating quality leads is a top priority for marketers to drive growth. Being updated on lead generation trends helps you and your team develop effective strategies to attract and convert high-quality leads, driving revenue growth.

• 61% of marketers consider lead generation their biggest challenge. (Source: Forbes)
• Companies with mature lead generation practices achieve 133% greater revenue versus their plan than average companies. (Source: LinkedIn)
• Content marketing generates 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing but costs 62% less. (Source: Content Marketing Institute)
• B2B marketers who implement lead nurturing programs generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost. (Source: LinkedIn)
• 24% of marketers say their top challenge is creating content that generates leads. (Source: HubSpot)
• 36% of sales managers think follow-ups sent to high-quality leads is the most important tracking metric (Source: HubSpot)
• SEO is the best lead generation tactic according to 57% of B2B marketers. (Source: LinkedIn)
• The most successful lead generation strategies involve a mix of inbound and outbound techniques. (Source: Neil Patel)
• 50% of B2B marketers say email marketing is the most impactful channel in their multi-channel marketing strategy. (Source: eMarketer)
• Lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times the response rate compared to standalone email blasts. (Source: Databox)

Advertising Statistics

Digital advertising continues to advance with new formats and targeting options. With the trends below, you can ensure your ad campaigns are effective, targeted, and capable of delivering a high return on investment.

Adblocking

• 26.4% of internet users use ad blockers. (Source: Statista)
• Adblocker usage is growing at an annual rate of 30%. (Source: LinkedIn)
• Over 763 million devices worldwide are using ad blockers. (Source: Business Insider)
• 52% of users install ad blockers to avoid interruptive ads. (Source: Blockthrough)
• Over 70% of ad block users are willing to view some form of ad content if given the choice. (Source: Adtoniq)
• Mobile ad blocking is growing faster than desktop ad blocking. (Source: Marketing Charts)

Mobile Advertising

• In the Digital Advertising market, 73% of total ad spending will be generated through mobile in 2028. (Source: Statista)
• 63% of all digital ad revenue comes from mobile. (Source: IAB)
• 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last six months. (Source: OuterBox)
• Mobile video ads are 2-3 times more engaging than PC video ads, highlighting their effectiveness on mobile devices. (Source: Enhencer)

Display Advertising

• Retargeting ads are 76% more likely to get clicks than regular display ads. (Source: Connectio)
• The average click-through rate for display ads across all formats and placements is 0.46%. (Source: WordStream)
• Display ads on the Google Display Network reach over 90% of internet users worldwide. (Source: Google)
• Personalised display ads convert 10 times better than non-personalised ads. (Source: AdRoll)

Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising

• Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. (Source: Google Economic Impact Report)
• PPC visitors are 50% more likely to purchase something than organic visitors. (Source: Unbounce)
• Paid ads on Google receive 65% of the clicks for high commercial intent keyword searches. (Source: WordStream)
• 41% of clicks go to the top three paid ads on the search results page. (Source: Gitnux)
• The average cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 on the search network. (Source: WordStream)
• 75% of people say paid search ads make it easier to find the information they need. (Source: Clutch)
• The average conversion rate in Google Ads across all industries is 3.75% on the search network. (Source: WordStream)

Video Advertising

• Video ads have an average click-through rate of 1.84%, the highest CTR of all digital ad formats. (Source: Business Insider)
• 72% of people prefer video over text when learning about a product or service. (Source: HubSpot)
• 91% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. (Source: Wyzowl)
• YouTube ads reach more 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the US. (Source: Google)
• Viewers globally watch more than 1 billion hours on average of YouTube content on their TVs every day. (Source: YouTube)
• Video ads on Facebook have an average engagement rate of 6.13%. (Source: Stream Creative)
• Videos under 2 minutes long get the most engagement. (Source: Wistia)

Marketing Technology

Adopting marketing technology is essential for staying competitive and optimising campaigns. Your business must leverage the latest tools and technologies to enhance your marketing efforts. Check out the trends below: 

• 87% of marketer claim marketing technology is improving marketing performance at their companies. (Source: Chief Marketing Technologist)
• AI and machine learning will be key priorities for 61% of marketers in the next year. (Source: Master of Code Global)
• 45% of companies use marketing automation software. (Source: WebFX)
• 84% of marketers believe that marketing technology helps them stay competitive. (Source: Salesforce)
• Data-driven marketing is being used by 64% of marketing executives to gain a competitive edge. (Source: Forbes)

Website Statistics 

A well-optimised website is crucial for digital marketing success. Staying updated on website trends helps you to tailor your website to provide a great user experience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

• 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. (Source: WP Rocket)
• 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive. (Source: Adobe)
• 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. (Source: LinkedIn)
• Users spend an average of 5.94 seconds looking at a website’s main image. (Source: Entreprenuer)
• 50% of website visitors will use the navigation menu to orient themselves. (Source: KoMarketing)
• 48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the credibility of a business. (Source: Blue Corona)
• A well-designed user interface could raise your website’s conversion rate by up to 200%. (Source: Forrester)

Conclusion

These statistics show just how quickly the digital marketing industry is changing. By staying informed and adapting to these trends, you can leverage data-driven strategies to enhance your marketing efforts, engage your audiences, and drive growth. 

The future of digital marketing lies in understanding these trends and harnessing the power of data to make informed decisions.