The Content Marketing Institute created an infographic on the history of content marketing. It shows that content marketing for the internet started between 2004-2006, with brands such as Microsoft, LiveVault, and Nike at the forefront.

Image Source: Content Marketing Institute

Fast-forward to the 21st century – content marketing represents a significant portion of marketing budgets. A study compiled by the Chief Marketing Officer Council World Wide found that “69% of senior marketers are currently allocating their digital marketing funds to website content, development and performance optimization. 53% are spending part of their budget on social media community growth and engagement.”

Will your team experience success with the content marketing, and will the return on investment be worth it? If you focus on the right content marketing statistics, you will outpace competitors.

We’ve compiled a list of 7 content marketing statistics for success from industry experts. Double down on your tasks and initiatives in these areas, and you’re sure to see graphs and charts move in the right direction.

1 From 2011 – 2014, nearly half of all emails were opened on a mobile device.

Source: Litmus Email Analytics

Takeaway: Ensure your emails are mobile friendly. Marketing Land offers an outline of the design approaches available. If you subscribe to an email marketing service, your provider should offer a variety of tools to ensure emails are optimized for mobile devices. If they don’t, get a new one.

2 Businesses with websites larger than 400 pages get 6x more leads than those with less than 100 pages.

Source: HubSpot Marketing Benchmarks

Takeaway: Build pages. Your website has the potential to expand on the number of pages with some basic development changes. Does your website house pdf documents? Turn them into webpages. Is the blog set up so that each entry can be crawled as a separate page? Do you publish the newsletter as a resource page after it’s sent out? Do you have a partnership with a group of qualified web content writers who can deliver content on a regular basis? Don’t procrastinate on this objective; competitors who have reached the 400 page mark didn’t get there overnight.

3 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of a purchase is one of the most important features a website can offer.

Source: Forrester Research

Takeaway: That statistic is too high to ignore, and the survey wasn’t created by a live chat service provider. Does a live chat window really fall under the content marketing umbrella? If an asset on the website changes visitors into customers, then yes, it’s a very valuable piece of content.

4 52% of marketers cite difficulties in accurately measuring social media ROI as their biggest source of frustration.

Source: Search Engine Journal and Adobe

Takeaway: There is a goldmine of conversion opportunities via social media, but if you aren’t tracking them correctly, your team will waste time, energy and dollars on the wrong channels. Granted, trial and error is a necessary part social media marketing, but failing to measure referral traffic & conversions is a terrible way to run a campaign. For example, the data may show that Twitter is a waste of time in terms of referral traffic, but commenting and interacting on LinkedIn groups delivers a steady stream of new visitors. You can set up goal tracking in Google Analytics for social tracking (visit Unbounce for details). Sprout Social delivers granular-level tracking with monitoring and publishing options.

5 62% of respondents think that a news site loses credibility if it publishes sponsored content from a brand.

Source: Contently

Takeaway: Tread lightly with native advertising campaigns. If you try to research statistics and information about this content marketing option, you’ll find that much of the information has been created by the service providers, and third-party surveys & case studies are sparse. Native advertising is expensive, and it can hurt a brand if it is not executed correctly. If native advertising is part of your content marketing future, check out this post from Search Engine Journal, and proceed with caution.

6 B2B companies with blogs generate 67% more leads per month on average than non-blogging firms.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Perhaps your industry is a little dry or boring, and ideas for a blog were squashed long ago. It’s time to revisit this decision, and take a look around.

Takeaway: Find a popular topic that relates to your industry, and tie them together in blog posts. For example, many industrial or commercial service companies have taken the concept of “being green”, combined it with their industry, and blog about how their business is making changes or utilizing products that are helpful to the environment.

Another option for blog content is industry news. Perhaps your industry is not making waves on social channels, but several news topics related to the industry will generate interest. When in doubt, focus on content that is interesting, and likely to be shared or searched for via the internet.

7 82% of B2B marketers reported success with video marketing initiatives.

Source: B2B Video Marketing Survey from Demand Metric & Vidyard

Digital marketers are quick to take “No” for an answer when their client or management team doesn’t agree with making video marketing a priority.

Brands can no longer ignore video marketing as a lead and conversion tool
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Takeaway: Video marketing doesn’t have to be difficult, and there are plenty of companies that can help get your initial plan off the ground. If you’re worried about creating boring videos, check in with Amy Schmittauer and learn how to add a dash of pizzaz to your campaign. Already have a plan? Check out Wistia, they offer a full suite of hosting, analytics, and marketing tools.

There you have it! The seven content marketing statistics for success, with clear takeaways to move forward and dive deeper in each area. Impressions and views are exciting, but if they’re not followed by increased website visits, leads and new customers, they’re not worth pursuing in the long run.