Part One

If you’re like us, you have a love-hate relationship with statistics. We love useful information about new digital marketing trends, and statistics tell us what’s happening in the field. They can also make our eyes cross: Those multiple pages of ultra-long lists of numbers often end up blurring together, making it tough to pull out the information that’s useful for our business.

But because we still have that love of useful statistics—and want to share it— we’ve done the hard work of slogging through hundreds of numbers to highlight the digital marketing statistics we think are particularly relevant to businesses in 2022. In Part One of this post, we’ll share those facts along with new trends in digital marketing. In Part Two, we’ll use that knowledge to make recommendations you can use now.

Ready to begin a new love-love relationship with digital marketing statistics and create an actionable to-do list? Read on!

Digital Marketing in 2021: The Statistics

Brand awareness is more important than sales. According to HubSpot’s Annual State of Marketing Report, brand awareness is the number one goal of most marketing campaigns (increasing sales is number two). It makes sense. Customers aren’t always ready to buy, so a smart business helps people remember its name for when they are ready.

Content is still king…

• 87% of businesses believe that content marketing helps them meet brand awareness goals.
• The most successful marketers set aside 40% of their total marketing budget for content marketing. 
• 70% of internet users prefer learning about products and services through content instead of traditional advertising.

…Even more so when it’s presented via video.

• Video is the #1 content type two years in a row. 
• 94% of video marketers believe video helps increase understanding of their product or service. 
• Almost 90% of video marketers say video is a good return on investment (ROI).
• 93% of brands gained a new customer after posting a video on social media channels.

Blogs are big, too. More than half of marketing teams used blogs in 2021 and for good reason: Besides helping visitors learn about products and services through content, businesses with blogs reap 67% more leads every month than those without.

Data determines direction. 91% of businesses make decisions based on customer feedback, 88% use market research to garner that feedback, and 67% of marketers plan to increase their market research budget in the next year. 

Automation doesn’t just save time. Even though it seems like an oxymoron, automation can help personalize sales. That may be the reason it’s the fourth most prioritized investment area for businesses—or may be because it pays for itself: 76% of businesses that embrace automation see a positive ROI within a year.

Email is effective and engaging. A recent survey found that 50% of B2B marketing professionals believe email is most effective for producing a high ROI.  In another report, 77% of marketers said they saw increased engagement with email in 2021. And 91% of respondent in yet another survey said that email marketing is vital to the overall success of their business.

Social media was the top marketing channel in 2021. Instagram was most popular, but Facebook produced the best ROI.

…But SEO may be more important. Why? Because most people jump online to find something—68% of online experiences begin with a search. Businesses use SEO to be found during those searches and it works: 75% of those employing SEO believe those tactics are extremely or very effective in terms of meeting marketing goals.

New Digital Marketing Trends for 2022

Several of the hottest trends in digital marketing dovetail nicely with the statistics above:

Video will be vital. Not just important, but key. Social media channels and streaming platforms are already working on new ways for marketers to use video, which will become the marketing asset campaigns are built on.

Email’s impact will grow. In a recent survey, over 40% of businesses plan to increase their investment in email in 2022. Why? Email marketing is not just effective and engaging as mentioned earlier, but also easy to automate and personalize.

Some trends reflect users’ current desires:

Users demand personalized service, ASAP. It’s a bit of a Catch-22: Consumers want custom assistance without feeling targeted, and they want it now. One study found that 82% of users want an immediate response no matter the time. Conversational marketing can solve this time-based customer service conundrum by using chatbots and virtual assistants that answer customers’ questions in real-time. Dialogue-focused conversational marketing can give customers the personalization they want, too, in email exchanges and even personalized video. It’s a trend that’s already shown solid success. Best Western, for example, saw a 48.6% increase in visits after offering travelers personalized trip recommendations.

Online visitors want interactive content, too. Users like to engage with content, and marketers want users to engage with their businesses. Interactive marketing content is the obvious answer. That can mean anything from Instagram polls to virtual tours to online tools like calculators. And interactive content is another trend with teeth: It receives twice the engagement of static content.

Other new digital marketing trends have evolved from recent events and experiences:

Virtual and hybrid events will become standard. Though it may seem more difficult to ensure virtual access to events, doing so has two outstanding benefits for businesses: a wider audience reach using the number one marketing tool right now—video!

First party data collection is on the rise.  As we say goodbye to third party cookies, forward-looking companies are already investing in first party data collection. The transition away from third-party cookies may seem challenging to digital marketers, but first party data can be more accurate—and it’s proprietary.

Two More Important Digital Marketing Statistics

Before we move on to Part Two and our recommendations for your marketing to-do list, there are two more stats we’d like to share with you:

• 45% of businesses lack a well-defined digital marketing strategy.
• 70% of marketers don’t have an integrated or consistent content strategy.

If you’re one of those 45 or 70%, Globe Runner can help. We can create an overall digital marketing plan that leads to success and take care of the moving parts. We provide foundational services like SEO, web design and content marketing, and can also help you take advantage of trends like video, conversational marketing, and data collection.  

Don’t let lack of planning get in the way of your company’s success. Plan to succeed. Contact us today.