- Overall Inbound Marketing Landscape
- SEO and Inbound Marketing Statistics
- Social Media and Inbound Marketing Statistics
- Content Marketing Statistics
- Email Marketing Statistics
- Video Marketing Statistics
- B2B Inbound Marketing Statistics
- B2C Inbound Marketing Statistics
- Technology and Tools in Inbound Marketing
- Unlocking Success
The internet has truly changed our lives, giving us the power to make smarter decisions when we buy things with a whole host of tools in our hands. This is where ‘inbound marketing’ — AKA ‘pull marketing’ — steps up its game.
Inbound marketing uses social media, SEO, blogging, and email to connect with customers — everything about creating engaging content instead of just relying on ads.
How do we craft an ‘Inbound Marketing’ masterpiece and be perfectly chosen by customers among all the options out there? Let’s dive into some key inbound marketing statistics that will be important next year.
Overall Inbound Marketing Landscape
Inbound marketing is on the rise, gaining more traction, while outbound marketing is losing its prominence. This shift is driven by factors like evolving consumer preferences and a growing weariness towards constantly encountering overly sales advertisements.
- 46% of marketers said that inbound marketing yielded a higher ROI than outbound marketing. (Hubspot)
- Since 2021, more than 76% of companies have been leveraging Inbound marketing automation. (Emarsys)
- Inbound marketing reportedly has a 67% lower cost per result than outbound marketing. (HubSpot)
- The number of marketers transitioning from traditional marketing to inbound marketing tactics has increased by 12%. (Orbit Media Studio)
- Inbound marketing has triumphed over traditional outbound strategies, with 86% of TV viewers skipping through ads. (HubSpot)
- For 49% of businesses using inbound marketing strategies, the main goal is to build brand awareness. (HubSpot)
- The Inbound market is forecasted to reach multimillion USD by 2029, with an unexpected CAGR from 2022 to 2029. (Chemical Industry Latest)
- Recent statistics indicate that a U.S. inbound marketing specialist earns an average annual salary of approximately $50,156. (Serpwatch)
- North America, especially The United States, will still play an important role in inbound marketing development. (Chemical Industry Latest)
- Inbound Marketing costs $14 less per newly acquired customer compared to traditional marketing. (Emarsys)Inbound Lead Generation and Conversion Stats
Inbound marketing utilizes a uniquely compelling mechanism to effortlessly draw in customers, resulting in a cost-effectiveness that outperforms out-of-home media placements. This approach not only leads to a continual flow of sales and conversions but is also bolstered by the growing decision-making influence of customers.
- In lead conversion, inbound marketing stands out with an effectiveness of 10 times higher than outbound marketing. (Serpwatch)
- 59% of marketers prefer inbound, while only 16% opt for outbound when asked about the most effective tactic for generating high-quality leads for the sales team. (Ironpaper)
- Inbound marketing helps generate leads with 61% less cost than outbound strategies. (Hubspot)
- Inbound marketing efforts can reduce lead costs by 80% within five months. (Serpwatch)
- Inbound marketing conversion rates vary from 1% to 10%, influenced by factors like industry, seasonality, demand, reputation, SEO, and more. (Teknicks)
- 54% believe content marketing, as a part of inbound marketing, is most valuable when it targets leads in the early stages of the buyer’s journey. (Content Marketing Institute)
- The average cost per inbound lead was $135, compared to outbound’s at $346. (Hubspot)
- 28% of marketers report that incorporating additional account-level fields enhances the effectiveness of their lead scoring. (Emarsys)
- Automating lead nurturing cycles leads to a 10% revenue increase within 6 to 9 months for companies. (Gartner)
- Less than 20% of marketers actually believe that outbound marketing generates qualified leads. (Userguiding)
SEO and Inbound Marketing Statistics
SEO become a big deal when it comes to inbound marketing. Customers these days like to do their research, especially checking out reviews. That’s why having blog content for each brand is super strategic to meet those customer needs.
- Most business decision-makers (80%) prefer receiving information through a series of articles rather than advertisements. (Exact Target)
- 83% of online tech buyers found their vendor via Google search. (MarketingSherpa)
- 88% of marketers who do SEO inbound marketing plan to maintain or increase how much they do this year. (Hubspot)
- Catchy blog headlines bring in 500% more visitors, and marketers who blog are 13 times more likely to see larger ROIs. (CXL)
- 56% of marketers agree that blogging is effective, with 10% noting it provides a higher ROI. (Roketto)
- Blogs with more than 2,000 words generate nine times more leads that convert to customers compared to shorter ones. (Semrush)
- For the best results in inbound marketing, aim to publish content 2-4 times a week. (Hubspot)
- On average, companies who blog produce 67% more leads per month. (Hubspot)
- SEO leads to a 14.6% close rate, significantly higher than the 1.7% close rate for outbound leads like direct mail or print advertising. (Search Engine Journal)
- Articles with images get over 94% more views than those without an image. (PR News)
Social Media and Inbound Marketing Statistics
Social media stands as the world’s largest hub for online users today. Bursting with real-time information and fostering interactive engagement, it plays a pivotal role in shaping brands’ inbound marketing strategies to attain their specific goals.
- 80% of marketers prioritize social media as the main channel for inbound marketing. (Orbit Media Studio)
- 66% of marketers generate leads from social media after spending only six hours per week on social marketing. (Social Media Examiner)
- The top 3 social media platforms boasting the highest number of global users in 2023 are Facebook (3.03 billion MAUs), YouTube (2.5 billion MAUs), and Instagram (2 billion MAUs). (Buffer)
- 68% of marketers say social media marketing has helped them generate more leads. (DataReportal)
- Creating engaging content (22%) is ranked the top challenge among social media marketers. (Hubspot)
- 56% of marketers will increase their TikTok investment next year. (Hubspot)
- YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels are on the rise with 31% of marketers using them for business purposes. (Hubspot)
- Social media and social media advertising accounted for 73% of most implemented inbound marketing tactics in 2020. (Serpwatch)
- 21% of marketers reported that ‘organic’ social media was the most effective in generating leads. (Ruler Analytics)
- Social media ads help around 28% of millennials discover new products. (Serpwatch)
Content Marketing Statistics
Content marketing has become the backbone that shapes contemporary marketing into a comprehensive ‘inbound marketing’ approach. In current trends, there’s a growing investment in content creation, underscoring the significance of prioritizing ‘quality over quantity’ in content development.
- 70% of marketers actively invest in content marketing. (Content Marketing Institute)
- 47% of buyers engage with 3-5 pieces of a company’s content before initiating a conversation with a sales representative. (Content Marketing Institute)
- Video emerges as the powerhouse of return on investment (ROI), outshining images, blog posts, and podcasts or other audio content. (Hubspot)
- Just 35% of marketers personalize content for each social platform, but these are the most successful in engaging customers across all channels. (Hubspot)
- Content marketing can save marketers up to 62% and generate three times more leads compared to traditional marketing. (Emarsys)
- Marketers prioritize creating high-quality content, even if it means posting less often (83%), than posting on social media as frequently as possible with lower-quality content (17%). (Roketto)
- 40% of respondents use ‘Sales’ as their main KPIs in content marketing. (Hubspot)
- Marketers predominantly utilize videos (59%), followed by blogs (48%), images (46%), and infographics (45%) as their top media formats. (Roketto)
- Content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising. (Zipdo)
- 67% want content that prominently features the point of view of a clearly identifiable author. (TopRank)
Email Marketing Statistics
Email marketing still leads the charge in personalized inbound marketing. Many brands and businesses are proven to actively elevate their email content to meet industry standards and enhance personalization to counteract persistent customer unsubscribing, driven by various factors.
- Investing in email marketing is an unparalleled strategy for engaging with customers, as brands typically yield an average return of $36 for every $1 spent on this channel. (Litmus)
- 95% of marketers believe that their email marketing efforts are doing the job when it comes to meeting their business goals. (Roketto)
- Approximately 37% of brands are boosting their email budget, while only a minimal 1.3% are making reductions. (Litmus)
- Half of customers buy from marketing emails at least once per month. (SaleCycle)
- The most impactful approaches for successful email marketing initiatives include dividing subscribers into segments (78%), tailoring messages to individual preferences (72%), and implementing automated email campaigns (71%). (HubSpot)
- 83% of customers are totally fine with sharing their data if it means getting a more personalized experience. (Litmus)
- Subject lines customized for individuals result in email campaigns achieving open rates that are 50% higher. (Emarsys)
- 63% of businesses adjust the frequency of their email sent to subscribers based on their engagement levels. (Databox)
- The majority of email views stem from mobile devices, accounting for 41%, closely trailed by desktop views at 39%. (HubSpot)
- Implementing a mobile-responsive email design has the potential to boost unique mobile clicks by 15%. (MailChimp)
Video Marketing Statistics
Absolutely, platforms like TikTok and YouTube are now game-changers in how content is created and marketed. The spotlight is on video content, reflecting the shift from reading text or viewing photos to a preference for engaging with videos in online media consumption.
- 91% of marketers are using video content in 2023. (NogenTech)
- 52% of companies create videos to educate their audience about their products. (Wistia)
- 52% of online users are more likely to share video content than other types of content like social posts. (Wyzwol)
- Most marketers, a big 83%, believe that short-form video content should be under 60 seconds long. (Hubspot)
- Almost 7 in 10 consumers feel that a product demo is the most helpful when they’re deciding to make a purchase. (Wyzwol)
- More than half of consumers, 58%, consider user-generated content (UGC) to be more authentic compared to branded content. (TINT)
- However, only 7% of marketers are executing UGC content. (TINT)
- Websites incorporating videos, on average, experience a 4.8% conversion rate, surpassing the 2.9% rate observed on sites that do not use videos. (Yansmedia)
- Over the last 15 years, the average attention span has decreased by 30%, with people now able to focus for only 8.25 seconds, compared to the previous span of 12 seconds. (Synthesia)
- 73% of businesses report acquiring new customers from an Instagram Story. (Animoto)
B2B Inbound Marketing Statistics
B2B buyers typically undergo a more elaborate and prolonged purchasing process compared to B2C counterparts. However, even in this digital age, inbound marketing and content creation persist as core strategies. People lean towards independently researching and consuming content, favoring this approach over the traditional outbound methods of the past.
- 80% of business decision-makers favor getting brand information via articles rather than by way of paid advertisements. (Content Marketing Institute)
- 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn and 45% of marketers have gained a customer through this platform. (SocialPilot)
- The three most effective types of content that B2B marketers utilize for content marketing purposes are ebooks/white papers (50%), case studies (47%), and social media posts (41%). (Content Marketing Institute)
- 71% of B2B researchers begin their research with generic Google searches. (Bluenoda)
- 59% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals. (Marketing Charts)
- 45% of enterprises are investing more than $20,000 in SEO each month. (Medium)
- 68% of B2B businesses use a strategic landing page to acquire leads. (Marketo)
- Over 90% of decision-makers do not respond to cold outreach efforts. (Harvard Business Review)
- 96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders. (Demand Gen Report)
- 73% of B2B buyers say they want a personalized, B2C-like customer experience. (Accenture Strategy)
B2C Inbound Marketing Statistics
In today’s marketing for everyday consumers or B2C, it’s not just about content and blogs. Now, the real deal is creating authentic content that speaks to people personally. Customers expect a more personalized touch, and that’s why influencers, user-generated content (UGC), and customer loyalty programs are becoming even more important as we head into 2024.
- In 2023, there are 2.64 billion online buyers in the world — making up 33% of the world’s total population. (eMarketer)
- Gen Z in the United States will have a buying power of $44 billion by 2025. (Yaguara)
- 61% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on a recommendation they found in a blog. (Content Marketing Institute)
- Ratings and reviews play a crucial role for 74% of consumers in learning about products they’ve never bought before. (Power Reviews)
- 90% of Gen Z consumers say authenticity is essential when deciding which brands to support. (Morning Consult)
- To align with the current trend in customer purchasing behavior, influencer marketing is on the rise and is expected to grow, reaching a value of $21.1 billion in 2023. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
- Almost 75% of brands actively monitor and track sales resulting from their influencer campaigns. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
- 39% of brands prefer collaborating with nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) as their top choice for partnerships, closely followed by 30% opting for micro-influencers (10K-100K). (Influencer Marketing Hub)
- 58% of B2C marketers say their brand has a loyalty program, and 42% of them boasted their brand’s strategies for customer loyalty are highly effective. (Cordial)
- 59% of brand with customer loyalty program has a whopping retention rate of 50% – 75%. (Cordial)
Technology and Tools in Inbound Marketing
AI and automation have become hot topics in the last 5 years, and now they’re everywhere. This includes things like AI generative tools, social media managers, and CRM systems. Let’s dive into how much AI is catching on with inbound marketers, see what strategies they’ve been using recently, and peek at what might be coming in the future.
- In 2023, 44.4% of businesses have used AI for content production. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
- The AI tool most often used by marketers is Jasper.ai (32.8%). (Influencer Marketing Hub)
- Surprisingly, 75% of consumers trust content written by generative AI. (Capgemini)
- At the same time, the use of social media scheduling tools has decreased from 80% in 2022 to 73% in 2023. (Content Marketing Institute)
- The same is the case for customer relationship software (CRM) systems’s usage which has also decreased from 53% in 2022 to 51% in 2023. (Content Marketing Institute)
- The chatbot market is expected to surge to approximately 1.25 billion U.S. dollars by 2025, marking a substantial growth from its size of 190.8 million U.S. dollars in 2016. (Statista)
- 57% of B2B marketers used chatbots in their demand generation programs to understand their audience better. (Statista)
- The primary benefit reported by 58% of marketers whose companies leverage generative AI for content creation is an increase in performance. (eMarketer)
- 67% of executives said that generative AI can improve customer service through automated and personalized support. (Capgemini)
- Facebook reveals that 15% of on-feed content from non-followed accounts is from artificial intelligence. (Hootsuite)
Unlocking Success
From what we see, it’s clear that Inbound Marketing plays a significant role in the online business world today, embedded in every aspect of communication with consumers.
Whether it’s SEO, Social Media, Content, or Email, it attracts customers more than the traditional outbound communication methods of the past.
We hope everyone takes our prepared inbound marketing statistics and applies them to get ready for your business goals in 2024 — it’s just around the corner!