The content world is rapidly changing, with millions of blogs published daily and thousands of content marketers joining the fray. And that is not all; users are demanding more, as witnessed with the Google Helpful Content Update in 2022 that focused on the quality and relevance of content to users.
To this end, I have broken down helpful content marketing numbers and statistics you need to ace the dynamic and constantly-changing content marketing world.
10 Key Content Marketing Statistics for Every Marketer (Editor’s Pick)
- The content marketing industry’s revenue was approximately $63 billion in 2022.
- 72% of very successful content marketers in 2022 used paid channels for content promotion.
- 80% of very successful content marketers in 2022 had a documented content marketing strategy.
- The maximum estimated salary for senior American content marketing jobs in 2022 was $320,000.
- Most companies (54%) measured content marketing ROI in 2022.
- 45% of content marketers reported that videos performed best of all content formats in 2022.
- 53% of successful content marketers in 2022 used paid social media to promote content.
- 42% of organizations in 2022 had one person/team doing content marketing for the entire organization.
- 22% of content marketers in 2022 ranked their content marketing strategies as advanced.
- 49.2% of marketers in 2022 planned to increase their content marketing budgets in 2023.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-10-content-marketing-statistics.png" alt="10 Key Content Marketing Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="958.08" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-10-content-marketing-statistics-768x958.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-10-content-marketing-statistics-240x300.png 240w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-10-content-marketing-statistics-821x1024.png 821w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-10-content-marketing-statistics.png 1200w" sizes="auto"></a>
General Content Marketing Statistics
1. In 2022, only 8% of marginally successful content marketers used a marketing automation platform.
That was also the case for 18% of very successful, 14% of successful, and 3% of unsuccessful content marketers in 2022.
2. 5% of unsuccessful content marketers in 2022 used visual content creation tools.
That was compared to 24% of very successful content marketers.
Furthermore, 21% of successful and 21% of slightly successful content marketers also used visual content creation tools.
3. In 2022, 15% of somewhat successful content marketers used an editorial calendar.
This was slightly lower than the share of very successful (16%) and successful (16%) content marketers in the same boat but higher than unsuccessful (7%) content marketers in this regard.
4. The content marketing industry's revenue was approximately $63 billion in 2022.
This figure is expected to increase to $72 billion by 2023 and $107 billion by 2026.
5. Graphics design was the most outsourced content marketing service (47%) in 2022.
43% of content marketers outsourced animation, and 37% outsourced copywriting.
The table below summarizes the types of content marketing services outsourced by content marketers in 2022.
| Type of Content Marketing Service | % of Content Marketers Outsourcing |
|---|---|
| Graphic design | 47% |
| Video design/animation | 43% |
| Copywriting | 37% |
| Editing/proofreading | 31% |
| SEO | 27% |
| Content marketing strategy | 25% |
| Analytics/audit | 15% |
Content Marketing Strategy/Promotion Statistics
6. Creating and posting content more frequently was the top rank-boosting tactic for 55% of content marketers in 2022.
Content marketers also ranked content quality improvement (53%), producing research-driven content (37%), improved keyword research (36%), and search intent analysis (35%) in the top five.
In comparison, 38% of marketers believed in analyzing and addressing blog readers’ concerns and adding visuals to blog posts (33%).
A further 27% reported in-depth search intent analysis, link building (26%), improving blog post structure (24%), producing in-depth blog posts (23%), and organizing blogs into topic clusters (16%) as top blog ranking tactics.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-voted-blog-ranking-factors.png" alt="Top Voted Blog Ranking Factors" width="768" border="0" height="644.0251572327" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-voted-blog-ranking-factors-768x644.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-voted-blog-ranking-factors-300x252.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-voted-blog-ranking-factors-1024x859.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/top-voted-blog-ranking-factors.png 1431w" sizes="auto"></a>
8. In 2022, 1 in 2 companies updated their online content every time it became outdated.
39% of brands only updated high-performing blog posts as a preventive measure, and 36% updated existing content when the content traffic/rank went down.
In comparison, 9% of organizations rarely updated their content.
9. In 2022, 53% of companies improved their engagement by updating existing content.
A further 49% experienced improved rankings/traffic, while others reported no change (15%), decreased ranking/traffic (13%), or reduced engagement (12%).
The rest did not update their content (4%).
10. 72% of very successful content marketers in 2022 used paid channels for content promotion.
68% of successful and 51% of slightly successful content marketers also used paid content promotion channels in the same period.
Conversely, 58% of unsuccessful content marketers used paid channels for content promotion.
11. Social media engagement was the top content marketing success measure for 61% of brands in 2022.
52% of brands focused on organic traffic, 47% on email marketing engagement, and 41% on search ranking to measure content success.
Here is a breakdown of the top content marketing success metric for brands in 2022.
| Content Marketing Success Metric | % of Brands |
|---|---|
| Social media engagement | 61% |
| Organic traffic | 52% |
| Email engagement | 47% |
| Search ranking | 41% |
| Subscribers and followers numbers | 38% |
| Page times | 33% |
| Leads | 28% |
| Conversion rates | 27% |
| Bounce rates | 22% |
| Content marketing ROI/revenue | 17% |
| Media/influencer mentions | 16% |
| Leads/customer/subscriber costs | 14% |
| Backlinks | 11% |
12. Around 77% of global content marketers used Google Analytics to measure their content marketing strategies’ performance.
39% used Adobe Analytics, while 30% used Parse.ly as of November 2022.
Similarly, 30% of marketers used Content Management Systems (CMS) to the same effect.
14. As of July 2022, 40% of global content marketers documented their content marketing strategies.
This figure was the same as in 2021 (40%) but 3% lower than in 2020 (43%).
15. Creating brand awareness was the most common (41%) content marketing objective for global content marketing professionals as of November 2022.
38% of marketers wanted to generate sales/revenue, while 33% sought to build and grow customer loyalty.
16. 80% of content marketers in 2022 reported that their content marketing strategy was “very successful.”
In contrast, 52% said that their content marketing strategy was unsuccessful, while 73% were happy with their content strategy.
17. In 2021, 97% of marketers had content marketing as a marketing strategy.
Representing a 20 points increase from 2019.
18. 80% of very successful content marketers in 2022 had a documented content marketing strategy.
In contrast, only 59% of unsuccessful content marketers also had a documented strategy. 73% of successful content marketers had a content marketing strategy, like 50% of slightly successful content marketers.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/documented-content-strategy-marketers.png" alt="Marketers With Documented Content Strategy" width="768" border="0" height="718.31644583009" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/documented-content-strategy-marketers-768x718.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/documented-content-strategy-marketers-300x280.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/documented-content-strategy-marketers-1024x957.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/documented-content-strategy-marketers-1536x1436.png 1284w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/documented-content-strategy-marketers.png 1283w" sizes="auto"></a>
19. Attracting more website traffic is the top content marketing goal for 46% of brands in 2023.
While increasing brand awareness and generating leads were the key content marketing goals for 45% and 34% of brands in 2023.
The table below summarizes the key content marketing goals for businesses in 2023.
| Content Marketing Goals | % of Businesses |
|---|---|
| Attracting more website traffic | 46% |
| Increasing brand awareness | 45% |
| Generating leads | 34% |
| Generating sales/revenues | 25% |
| Improving customer loyalty/engagement | 23% |
| Building and nurturing a subscriber/customer base | 17% |
| Promote new products/improve product positioning | 11% |
Content Marketing Adoption Statistics
20. As of November 2022, 76% of content marketing professionals tracked their content performance.
In contrast, 24% of professionals had no clear idea of their content’s performance.
21. As of November 2022, 66% of content marketers tracked page views to gauge the success of content marketing strategies.
In contrast, 55% monitored email engagements (email open rate, clicks).
The table below summarizes the top metrics marketers used to gauge the success of content marketing activities.
| Content Marketing Metrics | % of Marketers Tracking the Metric |
|---|---|
| Page views | 66% |
| Email engagement | 55% |
| Social media engagement | 55% |
| Website engagement | 51% |
| Conversions | 47% |
| Search rankings | 44% |
| Email subscribers | 29% |
22. As of November 2021, 18% of content marketers monetized online content by selling Ad spaces.
Another 14% generated revenues from online content by creating paywalls or subscriptions.
Content Marketing Demographic Statistics
23. As of May 2021, limited content marketing time was the biggest challenge for 56% of marketers in Danish companies.
48% of content marketers faced difficulty in producing content instead.
Content Marketing Roles/Positions Statistics
24. In 2022, the most common content marketing role (50%) in the US was Content Marketing Manager.
Which was followed by content marketing specialist (26%), content marketing director (8%), content strategist (5%), content creator (4%), copywriter (4%), content producer (1%), VP of content (1%) and head of content marketing (1%).
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketing-roles-usa.png" alt="Content Marketing Roles in the USA" width="768" border="0" height="721.12676056338" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketing-roles-usa-768x721.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketing-roles-usa-300x282.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketing-roles-usa-1024x962.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketing-roles-usa.png 1278w" sizes="auto"></a>
25. The top skill (59%) for senior American content marketing professionals was excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
Followed by an average of 6 years of relevant experience in marketing (46%) and a relevant bachelor’s degree (44%) rounded up the top three.
This also extends into having a demonstratable track record (28%) and leadership skills (26%), according to a 2022 survey.
26. Writing (29%) was the top marketing skill for senior American content marketing professionals in 2022.
Analytics (25%) and videos (18%) were equally important in the top three.
Here is a summary of the top marketing skills for senior American content marketing professionals in 2022.
| Skill | % of Content Marketers |
|---|---|
| Analytics | 25% |
| Videos | 18% |
| SEO | 14% |
| Content strategy | 10% |
| Content creation | 9% |
| Storytelling | 8% |
| Writing skills | 7% |
| Content management | 4% |
| Copywriting | 3% |
27. Most (8.2%) senior American content marketing professionals in 2022 understood Microsoft Office tools.
Other top tech skills for American content marketers included PowerPoint (6.9%), Google Analytics (4.87%), Excel (4.63%), Adobe Photoshop (4.20%), and HubSpot (3.04%).
28. The maximum estimated salary for senior American content marketing jobs in 2022 was $320,000.
In contrast, the maximum salary for a non-senior content marketing position in the period was $250,000.
The table below summarizes the maximum, average, median, and minimum salaries for senior and non-senior content marketing professionals in 2022.
| Salary Range | Senior Content Marketer | Non-Senior Content Marketer |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum salary | $320,000 | $250,000 |
| Average salary | $109,000 | $62,000 |
| Median salary | $105,000 | $62,000 |
| Minimum salary | $31,000 | $20,000 |
Content Marketing ROI Statistics
29. 64% of brands used Google Analytics to measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts.
Others used social media tools (44%), SEO tools (34%), Salesforce (28%), specialized content marketing tools/platforms (27%), and tableau dashboards (14%).
A further 2% of brands used other ROI measurement tactics, while 3% were unsure of their ROI measurement methods.
30. In 2022, 67% of organizations measured ROI using content marketing leads/conversion revenues.
Other companies considered organic traffic revenues (48%), savings on advertising costs (24%), and revenues from non-paid channels (24%).
Still, 5% of the surveyed brands were unsure how they calculated content marketing ROI.
31. Most companies (54%) measured content marketing ROI in 2022.
In contrast, 33% of brands did not measure content marketing ROI, and 13% were unsure if they measured it.
32. 22% of brands felt their content marketing ROI measurement in 2022 was highly effective.
42% of companies felt their content marketing ROI measurement was relatively good, and 36% believed it was average, at best.
33. 70% of very successful content marketers measured their organization's content marketing ROI.
As per 2022 data, successful (68%), slightly successful (46%), and unsuccessful (56%) content marketers also measured their organization’s content marketing ROI.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/successful-content-marketers-content-marketing-roi.png" alt="Successful Content Marketers Measure Their Content Marketing ROI" width="768" border="0" height="544.35912581217" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/successful-content-marketers-content-marketing-roi-768x544.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/successful-content-marketers-content-marketing-roi-300x213.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/successful-content-marketers-content-marketing-roi-1024x726.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/successful-content-marketers-content-marketing-roi-1536x1089.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/successful-content-marketers-content-marketing-roi.png 1693w" sizes="auto"></a>
34. 3% of unsuccessful content marketers in 2022 believed they effectively measured their content marketing ROI.
This was true for 34% of very successful content marketers, 23% of the successful bunch, and 12% of those considered slightly successful.
Content Marketing Channel Statistics
35. Short-form video was the best-performing video format for 43% of content marketers in 2022.
This was followed by “about company/product videos” (33%) and customer success story videos (32%) in the top three places.
| Video Format | % of Content Marketer |
|---|---|
| Product overviews | 29% |
| How-to | 27% |
| Industry expert interviews | 25% |
| Webinars | 20% |
| Industry research | 13% |
| Interactive | 12% |
That was the highest, compared to emails (53%), social media/paid ads (51%), organic searches (33%), and sponsorships (29%) to round up the top five.
Another 32% of content marketers optimized content for search, while 26% used Facebook groups for organic content promotion.
The table below breaks down popular organic content promotion tactics used by content marketers in 2022.
| Organic Content Promotion Tactics | % Marketers That Used the Tactic |
|---|---|
| Sharing content on social media | 56% |
| Optimizing content for search | 32% |
| Facebook groups | 26% |
| PR/Media relations | 25% |
| Link building | 19% |
| Articles on third-party publications | 18% |
| Linkedin groups | 17% |
| 165 | |
| Influencer & expert partnerships | 15% |
| Quora | 12% |
| Forums | 8% |
Following closely was Meta (Facebook’s parent company)-owned Instagram (54%), YouTube (38%), LinkedIn (36%), TikTok (35%), Twitter (29%), and Pinterest (13%).
Additionally, marketers reported search ads (45%), YouTube Ads (40%), display Ads (32%), sponsorships (24%), and partner emails/newsletters (19%), among others.
40. 45% of content marketers reported that videos performed best of all content formats in 2022.
While 31% felt short-form articles performed best.
Other platforms that served content marketers best, included success stories (28%), long-form blog posts (24%), case studies (19%), webinars & online events (18%), gated content (17%), and infographics (17%).
41. Only 8% of unsuccessful content marketers in 2022 used influencer marketing to promote content.
In comparison, 30% of very successful and 31% of successful content marketers used influencer marketing to promote content.
42. In 2022, 50% of slightly successful content marketers used email marketing to promote content.
Fewer very successful (49%), successful (55%), and unsuccessful (37%) content marketers did the same.
13% of marketers used videos for content marketing in the same period.
This was also the case for 49% of very successful, 49% of slightly successful, and 29% of unsuccessful content marketers.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketers-paid-social-media-promotion-success-rate.png" alt="Content Marketers With Paid Social Media Promotion and Their Overall Success Rate" width="768" border="0" height="718.31644583009" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketers-paid-social-media-promotion-success-rate-768x718.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketers-paid-social-media-promotion-success-rate-300x280.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketers-paid-social-media-promotion-success-rate-1024x957.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketers-paid-social-media-promotion-success-rate-1536x1436.png 1284w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/content-marketers-paid-social-media-promotion-success-rate.png 1283w" sizes="auto"></a>
45. In 2022, 18% of unsuccessful content marketers used PR and media outreach for content promotion.
While more very successful (31%), successful (32%), and slightly successful (23%), content marketers used PR and media outreach to promote content.
46. In 2022, 52% of global marketers believed interactive emails were the most effective content marketing tool.
In contrast, 47% thought the same of live streaming/interactive videos.
47. 65% of US video content marketers used explainer videos as of October 2021.
58% used influencer/expert interview videos instead, while 51% went with customer stories or case studies.
48. According to 48% of American video marketers, ineffective use of existing videos is a serious challenge.
43% felt a lack of in-house skills was another significant video marketing challenge as of September 2021.
The table below summarizes US content marketers’ top video marketing challenges as of September 2021.
| Video Marketing Challenge | % of US Marketers |
|---|---|
| Not effectively utilizing existing videos | 48% |
| Lack of in-house skills | 43% |
| Shortage of video budget | 40% |
| Video optimization challenges | 22% |
| Lack of managerial support | 17% |
| Video quality issues | 13% |
| Others | 24% |
Content Marketing Team Statistics
49. In 39% of companies, content managers were the foremost in-house content specialists in 2022.
In some other instances, the primary in-house content specialists were the writer/content creator (39%), a social media manager (36%), or a content marketing manager (35%).
| Main In-House Content Specialist | % of Companies |
|---|---|
| Content managers | 39% |
| Writer/content writer | 39% |
| Social media manager | 36% |
| Content marketing manager | 35% |
| Content marketing strategist | 25% |
| SEO specialist | 25% |
| Head of marketing | 23% |
| Designer | 22% |
| Web developer | 18% |
| Email marketing specialist | 15% |
| Project/campaign manager | 12% |
| Editor | 12% |
| Data scientist | 6% |
50. 42% of organizations in 2022 had one person/team doing content marketing for the entire organization.
Different departments in 23% of companies had content marketing teams/managers. A further 24% of organizations had a centralized content marketing structure and individual content marketing teams for different departments.
51. Only 3% of content marketing teams in 2022 had over 50 content specialists.
Another 36% had 1-3 specialists, 25% had 4-10 specialists, 14% had 11-20 specialists, and 19% did not have a dedicated content person or team.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dedicated-content-marketing-team-surveyed-organizations.png" alt="Dedicated Content Marketing Team in Organizations" width="768" border="0" height="610.73558648111" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dedicated-content-marketing-team-surveyed-organizations-768x611.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dedicated-content-marketing-team-surveyed-organizations-300x239.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dedicated-content-marketing-team-surveyed-organizations-1024x814.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dedicated-content-marketing-team-surveyed-organizations-1536x1222.png 1508w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dedicated-content-marketing-team-surveyed-organizations.png 1509w" sizes="auto"></a>
52. 44% of organizations planned to grow their content marketing teams in 2023.
A further 53% of companies planned to maintain their current content marketing team size, while 2% planned to downsize their content marketing teams.
53. In 2022, 28% of slightly successful content marketers had more than four specialists in their content marketing teams.
In comparison, 66% of very successful content marketers had marketing teams with more than four specialists. 53% of successful and 32% of unsuccessful content marketers also had more than four specialists in their content marketing teams.
54. 36% of slightly unsuccessful content marketers planned to grow their content teams in 2023.
This was also the case for very successful (53%), successful (49%), and unsuccessful (29%) content marketers.
B2B Content Marketing Statistics
55. 78% of B2B content marketers planned to invest in video content marketing in 2023.
A further 60% planned to invest in events (in person, digital, hybrid) and 63% in owned media assets.
56. As of July 2022, 83% of global B2B marketers reported that brand awareness creation was their organization's key content marketing goal.
Others focused on building credibility and trust (77%) and audience education (72%).
As of July 2022, 72% of marketers had used Pay Per Click (PPC) & search engine marketing, while 62% relied on sponsorships (workshops, events).
The table below summarizes the top paid content distribution methods globally in July 2022.
| Type of Content Distribution Methods | % of Usage Among Marketers |
|---|---|
| Promoted social media Ads | 85% |
| Search Engine Marketing (Pay-Per-Click) | 72% |
| Sponsorship (Events, Workshops) | 62% |
| Native Ads/sponsored content | 46% |
| Partner emails | 35% |
| Others | 3% |
That is compared to 21% of marketers who used Facebook in the same capacity.
59. The value of content was the most significant content marketing success factor for 73% of B2B marketers surveyed in July 2021.
In contrast, more than a third (36%) believed changing buyer/consumer behavior was a content marketing success factor.
While 43% of marketers rated YouTube and Twitter highly instead.
B2C Content Marketing Statistics
61. As of July 2022, 73% of North American B2C content marketers had a content marketing strategy.
Of these content marketers, 37% had documented their content marketing strategies.
62. Creating brand awareness was the key achievement for 81% of North American B2C content marketers in 2022.
While creating credibility/trust was the key achievement for 77%.
63. 88% of North American B2C content marketers used Facebook to distribute content as of July 2021.
At the same time, 91% used Facebook for paid content marketing distribution in the same timeframe.
The table below summarizes the social media platform usage of North American B2C content marketers as of July 2021.
| Social Media Platform | Organic | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 88% | 91% | |
| 78% | 43% | |
| 74% | 59% | |
| 60% | - | |
| YouTube | 55% | 27% |
| 24% | - | |
| TikTok | 13% | - |
64. As of July 2021, 86% of North American B2C content marketers used short posts/articles.
That is compared to 71% who used videos and 51% who used visuals (such as infographics and charts) in the same year.
65. In 2022, 77% of very successful content marketers measured their organization’s overall content performance.
This figure was lower for successful marketers (73%), slightly successful marketers (61%), and unsuccessful marketers (50%).
66. 29% of unsuccessful content marketers performed content audits twice or more in 2022.
Which was lower than very successful marketers (61%), successful marketers (59%), and slightly successful marketers (43%) who also completed the same frequency of audits.
67. 22% of content marketers in 2022 ranked their content marketing strategies as advanced.
42% thought their strategies were only somewhat developed, while 36% pegged theirs as undeveloped.
68. Audience research was the top content marketing success factor for 47% of content marketers in 2022.
That was more than marketers who prioritized Search Engine Optimization (46%) and increased posting frequency/posting more content (45%).
The table below summarizes the top content marketing success factors from content marketers surveyed in 2022.
| Top Content Marketing Success Factor | % of Marketers |
|---|---|
| Audience research | 47% |
| Search Engine Optimization | 46% |
| Increasing posting frequency/publishing more content | 45% |
| Improving content value and quality | 44% |
| Updating/repurposing existing content | 42% |
| Competitor analysis | 41% |
| Creating more video/visual content | 40% |
| Team collaboration (sales, product teams) | 38% |
| Website optimization | 34% |
| Content diversification | 24% |
| Content optimization for mobile | 23% |
| Utilizing new distribution channels | 17% |
69. Attracting leads through content was the top content marketing challenge for 45% of marketers in 2022.
In contrast, 38% of marketers reported that faster content creation was their biggest content marketing challenge.
The table below summarizes the top content marketing challenges for marketers in 2021.
| Content Marketing Challenge | % of Content Marketers |
|---|---|
| Lead attraction using content | 45% |
| Faster content creation | 38% |
| Content ideas generation | 35% |
| Traffic generation using content | 35% |
| ROI and sales generation using content | 34% |
| Search engine ranking | 29% |
| Creating customer-centric content | 28% |
| Organizing the company’s content marketing process | 25% |
| Original and high-quality content | 24% |
| Hiring high-quality content marketing talent | 19% |
| Other | 1% |
Content Marketing Budget Statistics
70. 49.2% of marketers planned to increase their content marketing budgets in 2023.
In contrast, 26.2% expected their budgets to remain the same.
Another 19% expected a decrease.
A further 51% allocated portions of their budgets to content management tools, and 36% invested in analytic tools.
72. In 2022, 9% of very successful content marketers spent less than 5% of their marketing budget on content.
In contrast, 79% of very successful content marketers spent over 10% of their marketing budget on content.
The table below shows the proportion of marketing budgets allocated to content by different types of content marketers in 2022.
| Type of Content Marketer | Spent Less Than 5% of the Marketing Budget | Spent More Than 10% of the Marketing Budgets |
|---|---|---|
| Very successful | 9% | 79% |
| Successful | 9% | 75% |
| Slightly successful | 27% | 53% |
| Unsuccessful | 31% | 52% |
73. By 2023, 28% of content marketers would increase their budgets by 11%-25%.
25% planned a 10% increase, and 16% would increase their budgets by 25%.
Conversely, 3% of marketers planned on decreasing their content marketing budgets, while 6% were unsure of their content marketing budget plans.
74. In 2022, 43% of very successful content marketers had monthly marketing budgets exceeding $5,000.
Thus, making the highest share compared to successful (38%), averagely successful (23%), and unsuccessful (24%) content marketers who had similar budgets.
75. In 2022, 31% of content marketers felt that the economy affected their content marketing budgets in a small way.
24% felt the recession severely affected their ability to do content marketing, while 23% reported that the economic situation did not affect their content marketing efforts. 13% were unsure of their status.
Content Marketing Costs
76. 50% of unsuccessful content marketers in 2022 spent less than $1,000 monthly for content marketing.
But some very successful (17%), successful (20%), and slightly unsuccessful (45%) content marketers also had the same monthly budget.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unsuccessful-content-marketers-spending.png" alt="Unsuccessful Content Marketers Spending" width="768" border="0" height="544.35912581217" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unsuccessful-content-marketers-spending-768x544.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unsuccessful-content-marketers-spending-300x213.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unsuccessful-content-marketers-spending-1024x726.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unsuccessful-content-marketers-spending-1536x1089.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unsuccessful-content-marketers-spending.png 1693w" sizes="auto"></a>
77. 27% of content marketers in 2022 spent less than $1,000 monthly for content marketing.
In the same period, 19% of marketers spent $1,000 – $3,000, followed by those who spent $3,000 – $5,000 (20%), $5,000 – $10,000 (17%), $10,000 – $20,000 (10%), and over $20,000 (6%) monthly on content marketing.
78. Most organizations (33%) in 2022 conducted content audits twice yearly.
This was followed by those doing one content marketing audit (24%) and more than three (21%) per year.
In contrast, 16% never conducted content audits, while 6% conducted content audits once every 2-3 years.
Content Marketing Blog Statistics
79. The average time readers spent on “everything you need to know" articles in 2022 was 219 seconds.
These article types also averaged 665 unique monthly pageviews, 7 Facebook shares, and 31 backlinks.
Here is a breakdown of the average duration, number of referral links, Facebook shares, and unique monthly visitors for various article types in 2022.
| Article Type | Average Unique Monthly Pageviews | Average Facebook Shares | Average Backlinks | Average Page Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everything you need to know | 665 | 7 | 43 | 219 |
| Comparison | 610 | 11 | 36 | 224 |
| Top + Number (i.e., Top 5) | 315 | 13 | 44 | 209 |
| Guide | 309 | 14 | 52 | 216 |
| How To | 299 | 12 | 70 | 228 |
| Mistakes to avoid | 239 | 13 | 56 | 198 |
| Where, What, Why | 236 | 9 | 43 | 201 |
| Question | 193 | 9 | 34 | 186 |
| Infographic | 146 | 7 | 17 | 147 |
| Best Practices | 118 | 6 | 38 | 221 |
| Increase your… with… | 57 | 8 | 21 | 178 |
80. Most low-performing articles (35%) had no H2s as of September 2022.
While 20% of such articles had only H2s, 12% had H2 and H3s, 11% had H2, H3, and H4s, while 27% had a wrong header structure.
81. As of September 2022, most medium-performing articles (60%) only had H2s.
In comparison, 59% had H2, H3, and H4 tags. Another 59% had only H2 and H3 tags, while 53% had no H2s.
That contrasts those with H2 and H3 tags (28%), only H2 tags (20%), no H2 tags (13%), and wrong header tag structure (15%) that were also high-performing in their rights.
83. 68% of articles published in 2022 had no lists.
These articles performed the worst compared to those with lists.
For example, they averaged the least pageviews (155), shares (11), and backlinks (28).
84. In 2022, articles with 4 or more lists/500 words had 564 unique page views.
Articles with 3 lists/500 words had 407 unique page views, while those averaging 2 lists/500 words got 268 unique page views, followed by one list/500 words (251 unique pageviews).
In comparison, articles with 3 lists/500 words were shared 14 times, 2 lists/500 words (12 times), 1 list/500 words (11 times), and articles with no lists (11 times).
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/article-list-density-shares.png" alt="Article List Density vs. No. of Shares" width="768" border="0" height="727.38752959747" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/article-list-density-shares-768x728.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/article-list-density-shares-300x284.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/article-list-density-shares-1024x970.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/article-list-density-shares.png 1267w" sizes="auto"></a>
86. Articles with no lists got only 28 backlinks as of September 2022.
In contrast, those with 4 lists/500 words (96 backlinks) fared better, followed by articles with 3 lists/500 words (57 backlinks), 1 list per 500 words (55 backlinks), and 2 lists/500 words (41 backlinks).
87. As of September 2022, only 5% of surveyed articles had 7+ images.
In contrast, 6% of articles had zero images, 51% had 1 image, 24% had 2-3 images, 10% had 4-5 images, and 5% had 6-7 images.
88. Most articles (92%) in 2022 had no videos.
Only 8% of articles had at least 1 video.
89. In 2022, articles with no videos received 184 unique page views.
But they fared worse than posts with at least one video (313 unique page views).
The 2022 data also shows that articles with no videos averaged 11 shares.
91. In 2022, articles with at least 1 video amassed 33 backlinks.
Which was lower than for articles with no videos (37).
92. Most low-performing articles (24%) in 2022 were over 12 months old.
13% were 6-12 months old, and 12% were 3-6 months old.
Likewise, 13% and 15% of low-performing articles were between 1-3 months and less than a month old, respectively.
93. 65% of medium-performing articles were 6-12 months old in 2022.
In comparison, 57% of medium-performing articles were over 12 months old.
Another 61% were aged 3-6 months, followed by those aged 1-3 months (61%) and below one month (58%).
94. Most high-performing articles (27%) were less than a month old.
While 26% of high-performing articles in 2022 were between 1-3 months.
A further 26% and 22% between 3-6 months and 6-12 months, respectively.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/content-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/high-performing-articles-article-age.png" alt="High Performing Articles vs. Article Age" width="768" border="0" height="522.15297450425" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/high-performing-articles-article-age-768x522.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/high-performing-articles-article-age-300x204.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/high-performing-articles-article-age-1024x696.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/high-performing-articles-article-age-1536x1044.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/high-performing-articles-article-age.png 1765w" sizes="auto"></a>
95. Most low-performing blogs (27%) published articles once in several weeks.
In contrast, most high-performing blogs (24%) published one blog per day.
The table below summarizes blog performance by publishing frequency as of September 2022.
| Publishing Frequency | Low Performing Blogs | Medium Performing Blogs | High Performing Blogs |
|---|---|---|---|
| One article/day | 26% | 50% | 24% |
| Several articles/day | 16% | 63% | 21% |
| Every 2-3 days | 23% | 56% | 21% |
| Every 4-6 days | 26% | 56% | 17% |
| Once a week | 19% | 62% | 19% |
| Once per several weeks | 27% | 56% | 17% |
96. As of September 2022, most low-performing blogs (22%) were very difficult to read.
In contrast, most high-performing blogs (33%) were easy to read.
The table below summarizes the impact of readability on blog performance for poor, medium, and high-performing blogs as of September 2022.
| Readability Score | Poor Performing Blogs | Medium Performing Blogs | High Performing Blogs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12% | 59% | 29% |
| Fairly easy | 12% | 54% | 33% |
| Standard | 15% | 52% | 33% |
| Fairly difficult | 17% | 54% | 30% |
| Difficult | 21% | 60% | 19% |
| Very difficult | 22% | 62% | 17% |
97. High-performing articles that appeared in Google's top 100 results ranked for 111.9 keywords on average.
According to September 2022 data, medium-performing blogs ranked for 20.8 keywords, while poor-performing articles ranked for 5.5 keywords.
98. Low-performing articles in Google's top three search results ranked for 1.2 keywords.
In 2022, the medium and high-performing articles ranked for 3 and 5.5 keywords, respectively.
99. As of September 2022, high-performance articles averaged 1,152 words.
That was compared to medium- (902 words) and low- (668 words) performance articles.
100. Low-performing articles in 2022 averaged 17.5 organic visitors.
While medium and high-performing articles got 41.6 and 277.2 organic visitors.
Win With Content Marketing
Content marketing, if done right, can skyrocket your rankings on search engines, increase organic traffic, and win you more high-converting leads.
So whether you are a solopreneur, an agency, or an established online business, content marketing is a low-lying fruit with excellent Returns On Investment.
And if you want to understand your market better, read our comprehensive Internet Usage Statistics, Facts & Trends to understand why content marketing is a game changer in the digital space.
- Content marketing revenue 2026 | Statista
- Content marketing budgets change 2023 | Statista
- Effectiveness of content marketing strategy 2022 | Statista
- Marketers who track content marketing metrics 2022 | Statista
- Top B2B content marketing investment areas worldwide 2022 | Statista
- Use of content marketing for B2C purposes North America 2021 | Statista
- Goals for B2C content marketing North America 2022 | Statista
- Use of content marketing among B2B marketers worldwide 2022 | Statista
- Organizational goals for B2B content marketing worldwide 2022 | Statista
- Companies with content marketing strategies 2021 | Statista
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/265269/types-of-content-marketing-used-in-the-us/
- Most used technologies in content marketing 2022 | Statista
- Denmark: obstacles to content marketing success 2021 | Statista
- Most effective B2B marketing social media worldwide 2022 | Statista
- B2C marketing: social media platform usage 2021 | Statista
- Content marketing metrics tracked 2022 | Statista
- Goals of sponsored content 2022 | Statista
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115701/content-marketing-tactics-used-in-b2c-communications-in-north-america/
- B2B content marketing success factors 2021 | Statista
- Content marketing budget by target 2021 | Statista
- Ways content is used to drive revenue 2022 | Statista
- Video types used in content marketing USA 2021 | Statista
- Tools used to measure content performance 2022 | Statista
- Social media used by B2B marketers 2022 | Statista
- Top interactive content types for marketing effectiveness 2022 | Statista
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1297784/content-marketing-outsource/
- Video marketing challenges U.S. 2021 | Statista
- https://www.semrush.com/goodcontent/state-of-content-marketing/
