Digital Marketing Statistics You Must Know for 2023

Digital marketing can be tough. With so many channels and platforms, selecting the right marketing strategy while maintaining a cost-effective approach can be quite challenging. As 2023 approaches, we already know that some marketing trends are here to stay – AI-SEO tools, voice search, people-first content, and mobile optimization for sites. To help your business further prepare for the year of changes ahead, here are some 2023 digital marketing statistics that you must know to stay well ahead of the competition. 

With these trends and statistics, your business can better predict and tweak your marketing approach to optimize your strategy for current industry trends. 

2023 Digital Marketing Statistics 

General Digital Marketing Statistics

• Mobile phones generate 52.2 percent of all website traffic (WebFx) 
• 72% of overall marketing budgets get allocated to digital marketing channels (Web Strategies) 
• In just this past year, 63% of businesses have increased their digital marketing budgets (Localiq) 
• Consumers use mobile commerce to connect with businesses in many ways, including receiving appointment notifications (66%), order notifications (65%), text or email marketing messages (57%), text or email loyalty messages (56%), scanning QR codes (46%), texting with a business (37%), and receiving invoices (28%). (SquareUp) 
• 53% of mobile users leave websites after 3 seconds. A high web-access rate no longer reflects that users are valuing your content. It is important for businesses to create sites that are attractive, and can engage users quickly. (UK Web Host Review)
• 49% of businesses say that the best marketing ROI was through organic growth. Having a marketing plan that focuses on organic growth is often overlooked at many organizations, but is a cornerstone in edging out the competition. (Backlinko)
• 93% of people read online reviews before making a purchase. A healthy reputation is hence important, especially for companies starting out. Good reviews also contributes to your SEO strategy. (Wordstream)

SEO Statistics

• The SEO industry was worth $43 billion in 2019, and it is projected to reach $86 billion in 2023. (The Business Research Company)
• 64% of SEO marketers find mobile optimization to be an effective investment (HubSpot)
• Google holds 92% of the total worldwide search engine market share (StatCounter Global Stat) 
• There is an estimate of 3.5 billion searches on Google each day. (Internet Live Stats)
• 46% of all Google searches are for a local product or service (Backlinko)
• Having a dedicated budget for conversion rate optimization can increase ROI by 30% (Thinkific)

Organic Search

• 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine (Brightedge).
• 71% of B2B researchers start their research with a generic search instead of branded search (Google). (Generic keywords are keywords that are not identified as being attributed to a specific brand.) 
• 53% of shoppers report that they always do research prior to a purchase, so as to ensure they are making the best possible choice (Google).
• Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 search results within a year of publication. (Ahrefs) Hence, optimizing your content for search is crucial to increasing visibility.
• About 60% of all global online search comes from mobile devices (Perficient).
• 69% of marketers actively invest in SEO (HubSpot).
• 88% of marketers who have an existing SEO strategy will increase or maintain their investment in 2023, which is a 4% increase from the year before. (HubSpot) 
• The average #1 ranking page will also rank in the top 10 for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords (Ahrefs).
• 39% of purchasers are influenced by a relevant search. (Think With Google)

Mobile Search 

• About 50% of smartphone users discover a new company or product when they conduct a search on their smartphones. (Think With Google)
• 18% of local searches on smartphones lead to a purchase within a day, while only 7% of non-local searches achieve the same result. (Think With Google)
• Local SEO is important. 30% of all mobile searches are related to location. (Think With Google)
• Almost 80% of people who search for something nearby on their smartphones visit the business within a day. (Think With Google)
• 54% of smartphone users search for business hours, and 53% search for directions to local stores. (Think With Google)
• Mobile searches for “xx store open near me” (e.g., “pet store open near me”) have grown by over 250% from 2017 to 2019. (Think With Google)
• The cut off page load time for mobile sites is 5 seconds. Mobile sites that require more than 5 seconds to load see a 70% lower mobile session rate than those that load in under five seconds. (Safari Digital)

Voice Search 

• 40.7% of all voice search answers as part of a featured snippet. (Backlinko)
• The average voice search result is only 29 words in length. Ensure that you use only the relevant keywords, to remain concise and voice-search competitive. (Ahrefs)
• More than 70% of voice search results rank in the top three for their corresponding queries. (Backlinko)
• Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant are the leading digital assistants in voice technology, with each holding about 36% of the market share. (Blogging Wizard)
• More than half of all search engine use will include a voice or image search by 2023. (Safari Digital) 

General Content Marketing Statistics

• 82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing (HubSpot).
• Content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing, but generates over 3 times as many leads. (Demand Metric)
• 73% of respondents prefer to learn about a product or service from a short video (69% in the previous year). This is followed by reading a text-based article, website, or post (11%), viewing an infographic (4%), downloading an ebook or manual (3%), attending a webinar or pitch (3%), and receiving a sales call or demo (3%) (Wyzowl).

• 50% of marketers are using videos in their content marketing, with 47% leveraging images, posting blogs articles (33%), infographics (30%) and podcasts or other audio content (28%). (HubSpot) 
• In 2023, 24% of marketers plan to invest more in video than any other media format. Podcasts will see the next highest investment, with 10% of marketers investing more in audio content than any other media format. (HubSpot) 
• Video content marketing will continue to rise. 90% of marketers using short-form video will increase or maintain their investment in 2023. 20% of marketers plan to start leveraging short-form video in 2023. (HubSpot)
• 67% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads, which is an increase from last year (60%). 72% of marketers say that content marketing helps to educate the audience, and 63% say that it helps build loyalty with existing clients/customers (CMI).
• Video was the primary form of content being created in 2022, followed by blogs, and images (HubSpot).
• 51% of the businesses that invest in content marketing publish content every day (The Manifest).
• 70% of viewers purchased from a brand after seeing its branded content on YouTube (Google).
• 78% of people have been convinced to buy or download a software/application after watching a video (Wyzowl).
• Short-form videos (TikTok, IG Reels) and live streaming were the most effective social media marketing formats in 2022 (Hubspot).
• 96% of people have previously watched an explainer video to find out more about a product or service (Wyzowl).
• Video marketing remains a platform yet to be fully exploited. 88% of people had wanted to see more videos from brands in 2022 (Wyzowl).
• 80% of podcast listeners listen to all or most of each podcast episode (Podcast Insights).
• Weekly podcast listeners tune in to an average of eight podcasts per week (Edison Research)

B2B Content Marketing

• 93% of B2B marketers have developed or are planning to develop a content marketing strategy. (CMI).
• To differentiate their content, B2B marketers should focus on high-quality and unique stories. 83% of B2B marketers try to differentiate from the competition by content quality and 72% by covering untapped topics/stories (CMI).
• In the past 2 years, top performing B2B content assets were short articles (less than 3000 words), videos, and virtual events/webinars/online courses (CMI).
• Relevance is key. 87% of B2B marketers prioritize their audience’s informational needs over the organization’s sales/promotional messages (CMI).
• LinkedIn is used by 96% of B2B content marketers (CMI).
• 67% of B2B marketers use paid content distribution channels (CMI).
• Almost 80% of B2B marketers employ keyword research for SEO while creating content (CMI).
• The top created/used content assets by B2B marketers in the past year were short articles (89%), videos (75%) and case studies (67%) (CMI)
  *short articles refer to text of less than 1500 words
  

• The top 10 B2B content assets that produced best results in the past year were in-person events (48%), virtual events/webinars (47%), and research reports (46%). (CMI) 

• The top owned-media platforms that B2B marketers used to distribute content in the past year were the company’s website (90%), blogs (78%) and email newsletters (69%). (CMI) 

• The top organic social media platforms used by B2B content marketers in the past year were LinkedIn (96%), Facebook (76%) and Twitter (70%) (CMI).

• 60% of B2B content marketers found LinkedIn to be extremely effective or very effective as an organic social media platform. 39% found YouTube to be extremely effective or very effective, followed by 25% for Instagram, 23% for Facebook and 17% for Twitter. (CMI) 
• 81% of B2B content marketers measure content performance. (CMI) 
• The top metrics used by B2B marketers to track content performance the past year were website traffic (86%), email engagement (83%) and website engagement (83%). (CMI) 

• The top paid social media platforms used by B2B content marketers in the past year were LinkedIn (78%), Facebook (56%) and Instagram (29%) (CMI) 

• B2B marketers cite content marketing to have helped them create brand awareness (83%), build credibility (77%) and educate their audience (72%). (CMI) 
• Top areas of B2B content marketing investment in 2023 are video content (78%), owned-media assets (69%) and events (60%). (CMI)

B2C Content Marketing 

• 95% of B2C marketers have developed or plan to develop a content marketing strategy (CMI).
• 65% of B2C marketers prioritize their audience’s informational needs over the organization’s sales/promotional messages (CMI).
• Top performing B2C content assets in 2021 and 2022 were short articles (less than 3 k words), videos, and data visualization/3D models (CMI).
• B2C marketers who use non-paid social media platforms report that Facebook (63%), LinkedIn (53%), and Instagram (39%) produced the best overall content marketing results (CMI).
• 78%% of B2C marketers use paid content distribution channels (CMI).
• 73% of B2C marketers employ keyword research for SEO when creating content (CMI).
• The top three technologies used by B2C companies to assist with content marketing are Social Media Publishing (82%), Analytics tools (78%) and Content creation (74%) 

• Of all B2C video formats used, How-to videos produced the best results (38%), followed by interviews with industry experts (37%) and webinars (31%) 

Social Media Marketing Statistics

• 71% of Gen Zs prefer to discover new products on social media (HubSpot) 
• 51% of millennials today utilize social media. (HubSpot) 
• Marketers leverage an average of four social media platforms in their roles. Facebook is the most used social media platform, used by 64% of marketers. This is followed by Instagram (58%), YouTube (57%), Twitter (43%), TikTok (42%), and LinkedIn (33%). (HubSpot) 
• 68% of marketers believe that social media marketing has helped them generate more leads. (Social Media Examiner)
• 20% of Gen Zs and nearly 25% of Millennials have contacted a brand on social media for customer service in the past three months. (Hubspot) 
• The most common publishing frequency for social media marketers is three-to-four times per week. (HubSpot) 
• Among B2C marketers who used paid social media platforms, 91% used Facebook,. This is followed by Instagram used by 59% of B2C content marketers, Linkedin at 43% and Youtube at 27%. (CMI) 

• Among B2C marketers who used paid social media platforms, 70% agree that Facebook produced the best result, followed by LinkedIn (57%), Instagram (39%) and Youtube (32%).

Facebook 

• Facebook remains the primary content distribution channel for marketers today, followed closely by LinkedIn and Instagram. (Meltwater) 
• Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users. (Backlinko) 
• 98.5% of Facebook users access the app on mobile. (Backlinko) 
• Of all organic (non-paid) social media platforms, Facebook is the organic social media platform most used by B2C content marketers (88%). This is followed by LinkedIn (78%) and Instagram (74%). (CMI)

• Among B2C marketers who used paid social media platforms, 91% used Facebook, with 70% who feel that Facebook produced the best results. (CMI) 

Linkedin 

• 4 of 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions. (LinkedIn) 
• Over 90% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for organic social marketing. (CMI) 
• As of November 2022, LinkedIn has more than 875 million users in over 200 countries. (LinkedIn) 
• 57% of LinkedIn traffic is from mobile devices. (VentureBeat)
• LinkedIn is generating revenue for 38% of B2B marketers. (FoundationInc)
• Links to Youtube videos play directly in the LinkedIn feed, typically giving a 75% higher share rate. (LinkedIn) 

Instagram 

• Instagram is expected to have over 2.3 billion users in 2023. (DemandSage) 
• 18 to 34 year olds make up the biggest share of Instagram’s current audience. (HootSuite)
• Instagram reels get 22% more interaction than standard Instagram video posts. (Social Pilot) 
• 74% of marketers use Instagram to reach a new target audience, 69% to improve brand awareness, and 46% to increase sales. (Social Pilot) 
• Users spend an average of 11 hours a month on Instagram. (Techjury) 

Email Marketing Statistics 

• There are 4 billion daily email users and this number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista)
• 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times per month. (Databox)
• 47% of marketers stated that email is their most effective marketing channel, followed by social media marketing (39%), SEO (33%), and content marketing (33%). – GetResponse
• The average open rate for email newsletters across all industries is 21.33%. – Mailchimp
• Welcome emails have the highest open rates (91.43%) with an average CTR of 26.9%, outperforming other email marketing types. (Hive)
• 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. (Not Another State of Marketing)
• QA, A/B, and spam testing your emails leads to higher ROI. Enjoy up to a 28% higher return when you put testing to work for your email program. (Litmus)
• The most effective email subject lines engage curiosity, include promotional offers, and are personalized to each recipient’s interests. (HubSpot Blog Research)
• 81% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are their most used form of content marketing. (Content Marketing Institute)
• The three major benefits of email automation for businesses are saving time (30%), lead generation (22%), and an increase in revenue (17%). (GetResponse)
• Email marketing revenue worldwide is predicted to grow from $7.5 billion in 2020 to $14 billion in 2025. (The Loop Marketing)
• Email marketing is a leading marketing channel influencing revenue growth according to 31% of B2B and 19% of B2C companies. (The Loop Marketing)
• 65% of marketers globally use automated email marketing. (Demand Sage)

Lead Generation 

• 50% of marketers consider lead generation a top priority in their marketing campaigns (HubSpot)
• 53% of marketers spend approximately half of their budget generating leads. (Salesmate)
• The mean cost per lead across all industries is $198.44 (Hubspot)
• Personalization during lead nurturing enhances the potential of conversion by 63%. (Salesmate)
• Email marketing is the primary choice of 89% of marketers for lead generation. (Salesmate)
• Podcasts (77%), blog posts (76%) and videos (59%) are the top three content types in generating awareness and demand. (CMI)
• 80% of marketers have seen an increase in leads after getting marketing automation (Venture Beat)
• Over 60% of marketers said their CAC has increased in the past three years. (HubSpot) 

Are you ready for marketing in 2023?

That’s a whole lot of numbers! Well, take your time to process what the numbers mean for your business. However, let us summarise some important takeaways for you. 

From SEO to content marketing to PPC, all these are useful in creating a comprehensive marketing strategy for your business. What we know, however, is that businesses are going to be expanding their content marketing strategies, leverage on marketing automation, and turn to newer channels such as videos and targeting voice search. Some good old practices are here to stay as well, with continued focus on lead generation, optimising content for SEO and evergreen platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.  

Certainly, spending all these marketing dollars might sound like a huge uncertainty for your business. However, keep in mind that many other businesses are ramping up their marketing plans to beat the competition, and it might be wise for you to decide which basket you want to place your eggs in. 

Let us help you with this! Speak to us, and allow Digital Squad to provide a suitable recommendation for your business.