Marketing statistics every B2B marketer should know

We’ve scoured the web to pull together the top digital marketing facts every B2B marketer in the technology, manufacturing and engineering sectors needs to know in 2021.

Content Marketing Statistics

Content remains as popular as ever – customers are expecting it and everyone’s producing it. This means it’s vital to understand the importance of good quality, valuable marketing content to make you stand out from the crowd. Thrown-together, low value content is simply not enough to convert. The good news is that many B2B companies still don’t see the value of high quality content despite all the stats to back it up, so there’s great opportunity to take advantage of this and invest wisely in content marketing.

• 49% of businesses outsourced at least one content marketing activity in 2020, with content creation being the most outsourced activity by far, at 86%. (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• The top reported challenge for B2B marketers who outsource is finding partners with adequate topic expertise (69%). This is where using an industry specialist marketing agency such as Motion Marketing can offer significant value to businesses. (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• Blogs remained the most popular content type for 93% of B2B businesses in 2021. (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• Webpages featuring on the first page of Google contain an average of 1,447 words, with the average blog post now containing over 1,000 words. (Source Backlinko)
• Long headlines (defined at 14-17 words) outperform short headlines for social sharing by 76%, and headlines containing a question receive 23% more social shares. The average headline contains 6-8 words. (Source Backlinko)
• The IT industry consumes the most B2B content, with manufacturing in third place. (Source Marketing Insider Group)/
• B2B buyers typically consume between 3-7 pieces of content before speaking with a salesperson, and 85% would rather research online first before making contact. (Source Demand Gen Report)

Social Media Marketing Statistics for LinkedIn

With LinkedIn remaining the social media platform of choice for B2B organisations, it’s useful to consider not only how you should be using it to maximise results, but also how other B2B companies are using it too. The social media marketing stats speak for themselves – if you can get your LinkedIn strategy right, it can be a great way to get ahead of (or at least keep up with!) the competition.

• LinkedIn is the most popular B2B social media channel, with 96% of B2B marketers using LinkedIn to distribute organic content. It is also the social platform that generated the best organic results for B2B organisations (66%). (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• The use of B2B social media advertising increased from 60% to 83% in 2021, with LinkedIn the most popular platform used for paid posts (80%). (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• It’ll come as no surprise that B2C content is shared 9.7x more than B2B content due to its broader appeal. However, B2B content is by its nature more niche, with a smaller, more targeted audience, so it can be like comparing apples to oranges. This is why all B2B marketing metrics should be looked at in context. (Source Backlinko)
• 57% of LinkedIn traffic now comes from mobile devices, so it’s extra important to ensure any content you share is mobile-friendly. (Source Social Pilot)
• LinkedIn pages with complete company information receive 30% more views, while companies posting weekly see their engagement double, showing the importance of keeping your company’s LinkedIn page up to date and active. (Source Social Pilot)
• 46% percent of the social media traffic to B2B company sites comes from LinkedIn, significantly outperforming rivals Twitter and Facebook. (Source LinkedIn)
• Likes and shares aren’t necessarily the best measure of engagement on LinkedIn. 39% of LinkedIn users never share content, despite there being 9 billion content impressions in LinkedIn feeds weekly and 310 million monthly active users (40% of which visit the site daily). This doesn’t mean users are not absorbing your content though. Instead, treating LinkedIn as a brand awareness tool and focusing on impressions and clicks can provide a better indication of your reach. (Source Social Pilot)
• 30% of a company’s engagement on LinkedIn typically comes from its employees, and employees are 14x more likely to share content from their company’s own LinkedIn page than other content. (Source LinkedIn)
• The LinkedIn ads “matched audience” targeting feature typically results in a 32% increase in post-click conversion rates and a 30% boost in CTR, so is well worth using. (Source Social Pilot)

SEO Statistics

It’s easy to bury your head in the sand when it comes to SEO – it’s so complicated, so why bother? Relying on PPC is sadly not a viable alternative, and should only be used to enhance your already well-optimised site. As these SEO stats show, your website must be optimised for search engines if you want to be found by potential customers and beat your competition. Using an SEO marketing agency like Motion can be a great investment to ensure you’re on the right path for search success.

• In a recent survey, 69% of B2B marketers stated that SEO and organic traffic generate more leads than any other marketing initiative. (Source HubSpot)
• 71% of B2B customers begin their research with generic Google searches, and 50% of these search queries are four words or longer, so it’s important to get your SEO right with the correct keywords targeted. (Source B2B Digital Marketers)
• The percentage of B2B search queries made on smartphones is projected to reach 70% by the end of 2021. (Source BCG)
• 47% of internet users worldwide used some type of ad-blocker in 2019. With this figure only set to rise, it’s even more important to focus on good SEO and not rely solely on PPC ads. What’s more, over 70% of people ignore paid search results, choosing to only click on organic results. (Source Digital Information World)

Email Marketing Statistics

Email remains an important channel for B2B marketers, especially with millennials between the age of 25 and 39 now being decision-makers in the majority of businesses. Stats have shown time and again the that this age group represent the tipping point at which emails become a far greater preference than phone calls as a primary communication method, so these email marketing facts will help explain the state of email in 2021.

• Emails are the second most used content distribution channels for B2B marketers, after social media, with 88% usage. Email is also the second most popular content type after blog posts, with 77% of B2B marketers embracing email newsletters. (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• The average B2B open rate is 15.1%, compared to 19.1% for B2C. However, CTRs are 47% higher for B2B email campaigns than B2C email campaigns, showing that it’s quality, not quantity that wins in B2B email campaigns. (Source Campaign Monitor)
• 59% of B2B marketers say email is the most effective channel for generating revenue. (Source Wordstream)
• Cold calling is not dead yet, but 80% of B2B buyers say they’re rather be contacted via email than phone. (Source UK Marketing Management)
• 20% of marketers are using automated email marketing campaigns, with automated emails often achieving higher open rates due to their greater personalisation and triggered delivery which catches recipients at the right time to engage. (Source HubSpot)

Event Marketing Statistics

Covid has wreaked havoc with events in the last year, so the latest event marketing stats are every bit as wild as you’d expect, with vast changes in the way customers attend B2B events. Video marketing statistics show that this channel has become an increasingly popular way for people to consume information which they typically would have attended industry events to receive in the past, signalling a shift in how B2B marketers are approaching their marketing mix.

• As expected due to Covid, the use of virtual events, webinars and online courses increased to 67% from 57% in 2020, with some platforms reporting a 1,000% increase in the number of virtual events hosted. (Source Forbes)
• Unsurprisingly, the use of in-person events as a B2B marketing channel decreased to 42% from 73%, with many events expecting to adopt a more hybrid approach as part of their long term strategies, with a mix of face-to-face and online events. (Source Content Marketing Institute)
• With the reduction in live events, 91% of marketers feel the pandemic has made video more important for brands. (Source HubSpot)
• 53% of B2B tech buyers think video is the most useful form of content. (Source Elise Dopson)
• 97% of marketers claim that videos help customers understand products. This can be particularly valuable in a B2B space where products are often complex and there is currently over-reliance on providing demonstrations at shows and exhibitions or face-to-face meetings. (Source HubSpot)

As a specialist B2B marketing agency, we can help you navigate all areas of your marketing. Whether you’re looking for support with social media, content, events, email or SEO, contact us to talk to our expert team.