Digital marketing has emerged as the most powerful form of marketing in the post-pandemic era. With the internet becoming the go-to space for businesses to operate and for consumers to purchase, traditional marketing has taken a backseat. As a result, brands are relying on their digital strategies like never before. According to the latest CMO Survey, 56% of businesses are modifying their business models to capitalize on digital opportunities. 

As a means to cash-in on the world’s transition to digital interactions, businesses of all sizes are trying to market themselves online, making the digital marketing landscape more competitive than ever in 2021.  

If you’re a digital marketer by profession or a business owner looking to grow their digital presence, keeping an eye on the latest digital marketing stats will help you take stock of the current situation and plan for the future. 

In this article, we’ve put together some interesting and hard-hitting digital marketing facts and stats to look ahead to how digital marketing can influence your business and marketing outcomes in 2022 and beyond. 

Digital Marketing Facts    

  1. Content is the king as this business strategy promotes long-term profitability. It necessitates having specific objectives and a thorough plan. 
  2. Blogs are a fantastic method to gradually grow your audience and demonstrate your subject-matter knowledge in your field and product line.
  3. The most effective marketing plans use both online and offline concepts to strengthen your brand and increase visibility to your target market.
  4. The amount spent on digital advertising in 2022 is up 16.2 percent from $491.70 billion in 2021.
  5. You can more clearly see how well your company is performing and what areas might require improvement to assist you to reach your goals by calculating ROI.
  6. The common profitability statistic of return on investment (ROI) is used to assess how well an investment has done.
  7. By personalizing or focusing your marketing efforts, audience segmentation helps you avoid mediocrity. It might be a massive operation requiring a lot of resources and labor, depending on the magnitude.
  8. Marketers are aware that of all data types, first-party data generates the best return on investment.
  9. Consumer services are an investment rather than a cost when the businesses can provide their client's sufficient services. This aids in establishing a positive reputation for the business, and it will be able to attract more customers who will be around for a very long time. 
  10. An improvement in the ROI may play a significant part in the decision-making process given the amount of money that any organization spends on video marketing.

Digital Marketing Stats    

‘Quality’ Content Is Still the King

70% of internet users want to get information about products through content instead of traditional advertisements. While information overload is a major stressor for consumers today, there’s still a demand for marketing content that allows buyers to make informed decision.  

Blogging Is a Marketing Priority

Despite the fact that 500 million blogs out there and more than 2 million posts go live every day, blogging is still a key component of digital marketing plans for most marketers. 53% of marketers agree to have blogging on the top of their content marketing agenda.

And why not? Blogging drives 97% more links to business websites (compared to ones that don’t) and over 68% of consumers feel that a blog makes a website more trustworthy. 

Offline Gets a Beating

According to a report by Accenture, global revenue from offline commerce channels will see a 20% dip by 2021, while B2B Commerce market, in the US alone, will hit $1.2 trillion within that period. This signals far-reaching implications for B2B organizations and a cautionary nudge for businesses to level up their strategies to grab buyers’ attention in the virtual world 

Digital Ad Spend Is Booming

Global digital ad spend is predicted to jump to $389 billion in 2021. Though worldwide digital ad spending witnessed a humble 2.4% growth in 2020, it’s expected to bounce back with a 17% growth in 2021.

ROI Matters the Most

In a DemandGen report, 89% marketers pointed out improving the ability to measure and analyze marketing impact as a top priority. In an era where businesses are pouring big $$$ into digital marketing, marketers are increasingly under pressure to justify the investments.   

ROI Is Also a Leading Challenge 

40% of marketers believe ROI to be the top marketing challenge they face. While businesses are allocating large portions of their marketing budgets to digital, marketers are unable to make a proper estimation of their results. 

Below is a snapshot of research from TrackMaven that shows the main hurdles marketers face when it comes to proving ROI.  

top-challenges

(Source: MarketingProfs)

Audience Targeting/Segmentation Is a Challenge 

Forrester reports that 58% of marketers are struggling to target or segment their audience. One of the major reasons is not being able to leverage the rich first-party data sources at their disposal, which makes it hard for them to personalize consumer experiences. 

Marketers Recognize That They Need to Increase Their Use of First-Party Data 

In contrast to the previous stat, marketers seem to be learning the lesson of taking their first-party data seriously. 88% of marketers say that collecting first-party data is their priority in 2021 to get a better understanding of their customers and meet their needs. 

Consumer Calls Play a Greater Role in Digital Marketing 

One of the trends that has emerged since the COVID-19 outbreak is that businesses are receiving a wave of consumer calls, which is a critical and often untapped source of first-party data. As such, Forrester survey shows that 85% of marketers consider inbound calls and phone conversations as an important part of their organization’s digital-first strategy. 

Video Marketing Promises Good ROI

Nearly 90% of video marketers experience a good return on investment. 

Videos not only have a high engagement factor but also play a role in conversions. The average conversion rate for websites using video is 4.8%, while it’s 2.9% for those without one. 

Search Engine Optimization Statistics

  • Currently, Google holds 86.86 percent of the global search engine market.
  • An SEO expert makes an average yearly pay of about $60.5k.
  • 59.2% of all online traffic worldwide comes from Google organic search.
  • The best ROI of any marketing channel, according to 49% of marketers, is achieved via organic search.
  • In 2025, it is anticipated that the market for SEO services would grow to $83.7 billion.

Content Marketing Statistics

  • 81% of marketers consider content to be a key marketing strategy.
  • 51 percent of companies that use content marketing regularly post new articles.
  • 69 percent of respondents said they would rather watch a brief clip to learn more about a service or a product. An article, website, or blog post with text is what 18% of people like to read. An infographic is preferred by 4% of people. 3 percent favor reading an ebook or manual on their computer. 3 percent would rather watch a pitch or webinar. 2% of people would rather have a sales call or demos.
  • The top three objectives for content creation are to increase sales, improve customer connections, and raise brand recognition.

Social Media Statistics

  • Moreover, half of the world's population (58.4%) now utilizes social media. The typical individual uses social media for 2 hours and 27 minutes every day.
  • Comparatively to Facebook, which has a 14.5 percent market share, Instagram has a 14.8% market share. With 15.7 percent of internet users who are of working age choosing WhatsApp as their preferred social network, the messaging app leads the global rankings.
  • According to the most recent data, more than 12½ trillion hours will be spent online worldwide alone in 2022.
  • Globally, there were 4.62 billion social media users in January 2022, an increase from 4.2 billion in January 2021. This is accountable for the 10.1% YOY increase in worldwide social media usage.
  • In 2021, social media advertising brought in $47.71 billion in revenue.

Video Marketing Statistics

  • Over the past three years, there has been a 23% growth in the use of video for marketing purposes.
  • According to video marketers, video has directly increased revenues by 78 percent.
  • 95 percent of video marketers claimed that employing video has improved consumer knowledge of their goods or services.
  • Ninety-two percent of marketers still view video as a "essential aspect" of their marketing technique.
  • The pandemic's influence on the budget for video marketing appears to be decreasing. Although this is a significant percentage, compared to 63 percent last year, 50 percent of marketers anticipate the pandemic to have an impact on their video marketing spend for 2022.

Email Marketing Statistics

  • A large number of email marketers use mobile-friendly communications in their marketing plans.
  • 77 percent of marketers assert that email engagement has risen in the last 12 months.
  • 4 billion people use email every day. By 2025, this figure is anticipated to increase to 4.6 billion.
  • Email marketing often uses automation for segmentation, drip or nurture programs, and the sending of triggered emails.
  • Email marketing is used by small firms to contact clients in 64% of cases.

Lead Generation Stats

  • Lead generation is cited by 61% of marketers as their greatest difficulty.
  • 53% of marketers pay out at least half of their marketing budget on lead generation.
  • 27 percent claimed that leads were produced mostly through organic search.
  • One of the main challenges for 37% of marketers was finding high-quality leads.
  • When firms follow-up on leads within 5 minutes, they are 9 times more likely to convert.

Advertising Stats

  • In 2022, global spending on digital advertising is expected to increase to $ 389 billion.
  • Even though digital advertising expenses worldwide increased by a modest 2.4% in 2022, they are predicted to boost again by 17% in 2022.
  • 90% of those conducting searches haven't made up their minds about a brand yet.
  • By 2024, it is expected that global digital ad expenditure would reach $645 billion
  • PPC expenses for small firms using Google Ads range from $9,000 to $10,000 per month.

Marketing Technology Stats

  • Over 75% of marketers say their marketing technology initiatives directly affect sales, and 91% are confident that their platform investments impact the company's value.
  • Although 68 percent of companies employ marketing technology tools, too few have a strategy for them.
  • More successful startups invest more than 25% of their marketing budget in marketing technology.
  • Experiential marketing is seen as an effective tactic by 58 percent of marketers that use it nowadays.
  • 35 percent of marketers used AR or VR in their campaigns in 2021. 42 percent of these marketers want to boost their investment in 2022.

Learn the Skills to Up Your Digital Marketing Game Today! 

Digital marketing in 2021 is nothing like before. It’s more crowded, more competitive, and way more fast-paced. Simply trying a bunch of different strategies and waiting for something to stick is no longer working. To get the much-raved benefits out of digital marketing practices, the approach needs to be more ROI- and data-driven. This requires solid digital marketing skills which include a crystal-clear understanding of key concepts, working knowledge of marketing and analytics tools, editorial skills, and more.       

If the above digital marketing stats are any indication, digital marketers in 2021 need to have a well-rounded understanding of the digital marketing ecosystem and the various channels, platforms, and tools to develop and execute successful strategies. 

Begin your digital marketing journey by accumulating the necessary skills. Free courses from Simplilearn like the Digital Marketing 101 Course is a great place to start. For advanced learning, you can explore our Post Graduate in Digital Marketing Program that are delivered by Silicon Valley experts.   

Our Digital Marketing Courses Duration And Fees

Digital Marketing Courses typically range from a few weeks to several months, with fees varying based on program and institution.

Program NameDurationFees
Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing

Cohort Starts: 19 Dec, 2024

8 Months$ 3,000
Digital Marketing Specialist8 Months$ 1,649

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