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15 Stats You Should Know About Content Marketing: It’s all in the data

Content marketing can help you achieve many things. It builds your brand identity. It creates brand loyalty. It educates potential customers, and lets them engage directly with you.

Content creation is an obvious (and important) piece of the strategy, but content marketing is much more. It’s about how your content gets noticed and how effective it is. But, you need the right kind of content, on the right channels, and targeted to the right groups of people. And, you need to measure its results.

We know content marketing is the best strategy to help you drive new leads. Don’t take our word for it. Here are 15 content marketing stats that you should know:

  1. Companies that published 16 or more blog posts per month got almost 3.5 times more traffic than companies that published 0-4 monthly posts.
  2. 43% of people say they skim blog posts.
  3. Only 30% of B2B marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing.
  4. 72% of adult internet users use Facebook.
  5. Facebook sends 82% of social media traffic to longer stories on the web and 84% of social traffic to shorter news articles.
  6. 59% of Instagram users are on the platform daily, including 35% who visit several times a day.
  7. 90% of all marketers say that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses.
  8. At least 61% of businesses investing a minimum of six hours per week in social media marketing saw improvements in search engine rankings.
  9. 54% of marketers say increasing engagement rate is their top email marketing priority.
  10. 15% of marketers say their company does not regularly review email opens and clicks; only 23% say they have integrated their website and emails to track what happens after a click.
  11. The ability to segment email lists and individualize email campaign messaging are the most effective personalization tactics for 51% and 50% of marketing influencers, respectively.
  12. Lack of resources, such as staff, funding, and time remains the biggest obstacle to successful lead generation for 61% of B2B marketers.
  13. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.
  14. 64% of B2B marketers outsource writing.
  15. 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement.

Let us help you create a content marketing strategy that works for you. We’ll craft your content and make sure it reaches the right people. Give us a call today.

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How to Identify Short-Term and Long-Term Marketing Goals

What comes first – the chicken or the egg? Well, in marketing, it’s pretty clear. You need goals before you can celebrate wins because, without a goal, how do you really know what constitutes success anyway?

Embracing Goal Setting

Like with many things, it can be easy for marketers to become hyper-focused on results. Results, results, results. You hear it all day long from the literal or metaphorical boardroom. But what is a result anyway without a goal attached to it? 

Before you go down the rabbit hole of scouring data to come up with results, define your objectives first. Here’s what to know about identifying short-term and long-term marketing goals for your business.

What’s the Purpose of Your Goal?

Short-term goals are generally achievable within 3-6 months. Looking for a quick win? That’s a short-term goal. They help drive immediate results that build momentum.

Long-term goals usually span 6 months to several years. They focus on sustained growth, such as building brand authority, achieving market share or developing a loyal customer base.

How Do They Align with Your Objectives?

Next, you want to tie your goals to business objectives. Does that mean boosting revenue? growing web traffic? building brand loyalty? The key is to balance short- and long-term marketing goals to maintain momentum while building lasting business and brand success.

Make Your Goals SMART

Yes, you’ve heard this before, but it’s because it works! A SMART goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. An example of a short-term SMART goal might be: “Increase email newsletter sign-ups by 15% within 3 months through social media ads and blog CTAs.”

Similarly, a long-term SMART goal could be: “Grow organic web traffic by 50% in 12 months by optimizing content for SEO and targeting relevant keywords.”

As you set about identifying goals for your marketing objectives, keep the short and long game in mind. Sometimes you need bursts of speed while balancing endurance, but whatever you do, make sure you have a plan. Goals help focus your efforts, so you start seeing results faster. 

To learn more about setting goals and building a successful marketing program, contact our team at The Found Gen today. 

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How to Get Quick Wins in Marketing

Sometimes you just need a quick win, amirite? 

When the slog feels especially sluggish and your marketing efforts don’t seem to be having the impact you need them to have, it might be time to shake things up. 

While many content marketing efforts are slower to ramp up (those bots need time to chomp on your site, after all!), you can augment your ongoing marketing strategies to shore up some quick wins. 

Here are some areas with low-hanging fruit that you can pluck off for faster results:

  • Spend some green – Dropping money on paid advertising can be a quick way to get immediate traffic to your site and ensure your content gets in front of your target audience. That is, if your budget allows for it.
  • Refresh old content – Don’t reinvent the wheel. Look back on top-performing content and give it a new spin. If you’re missing keywords or haven’t added meta tags to your website yet, do that now (no one’s judging). This is an easy way to move up the ranks in search engine results faster. 
  • Focus on high-impact efforts – Review your marketing data. If one channel (or topic) pulls more favorably than others, double down your efforts there rather than spreading yourself thin on things that don’t have as much impact. 
  • Drop a flash sale or host a contest – Creating urgency and offering incentives are tried-and-true ways to get consumers to act fast.
  • Call in professionals – If you need to move the needle on your marketing, here’s the ultimate quick win – call in a team of experts. As you scout out potential partners, here’s what to look for in a content marketing company. 

While marketing is often about taking the long view, we all benefit from some quick wins every now and then. If you need to jump-start your efforts or are looking for a little marketing magic as you head into 2025, turn to us at The Found Gen.

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Have You Built Your 2025 Marketing Strategy Yet? If Not, You’re Behind. 

If you’re not looking ahead, you’re already behind. And spoiler alert – if you haven’t started developing your 2025 marketing calendar yet, you’re dangerously close to falling behind. 

So, stop thinking about pumpkin spice lattes and all the feels of fall. It’s time to snap out of it and get to work on the road ahead.

Why Build Your Marketing Strategy Now?

Success in marketing relies on a thought-out plan that builds upon itself to deliver long-term results. This is especially true for content marketing. Blogs can grow into long-form posts, be leveraged in newsletters, and turn into infographics or fun social reels. But if you want to do this, you can’t wing it. You need a strategy – and one that aligns with your goals to fuel your pipeline. 

Although 2025 might feel far off, we’ll be turning the page on the new year before we know it. Dedicate time now to reviewing key data, revisiting your goals and objectives, and mapping out your content for the next 12 months. 

What is a Content Calendar?

A content marketing calendar helps you organize your strategy, maintain consistency and ensure your messaging aligns with your goals. A little upfront effort now also makes things waaay easier down the road.

Before you start filling in your calendar, get clear on what you want to achieve in 2025. Are you aiming to increase website traffic, build brand awareness or generate leads? Your content calendar should directly support these goals. Defining your objectives will help you decide on the type of content you need and how frequently you should post.

Next, you’ll hone in on some of the basics:

  • Who’s your audience? 
  • What answers are they looking for?
  • Which channels will you use for marketing?
  • What posting frequency makes sense for your channels and goals?

Then, it’s brainstorming time. As you generate your content calendar, go for a mix of evergreen content (stuff that will stand the test of time), timely goodness, promotional posts and engaging content. Consider how your content can build off itself (linking for the win!) and be used across channels.

Get Organized but Remain Flexible

A content calendar helps you map out your year, but like any road trip, you need to be prepared to pull over if you see something shiny out the window. Allow some flexibility for last-minute opportunities or adjustments. Keep an eye on your data and don’t be afraid to pivot if your strategy isn’t working. Still have questions? Give our team at The Found Gen a call today.

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How Can I Speed Up My Marketing?

We get it – you want results, and you want them now! For all the Veruca Salts of the world, waiting for your marketing efforts to take effect can put you on the verge of a chocolate meltdown – and who are we kidding, don’t we all want a little instant gratification from our hard-earned efforts? Before Tantrum Town sets in, take a breath and know there are ways to accelerate marketing results when applied strategically and as part of your overall marketing plan. 

Stop, Wait a Minute

But first, we must qualify this post by saying that marketing is truly about the long game. When played well, consistent content marketing and SEO efforts will start delivering results in a few months, but the true power comes from the compounding value it delivers for years to come. Moreover, you can measure success in any number of ways, but without a goal to tie those results to, the numbers will be, well, just numbers.

As you attempt to speed up your marketing, it’s critical to step back and review the big picture. What are your short- and long-term goals? How will your marketing efforts help you achieve them? Once you have some answers, then you can dive in.

Smart Strategies to Speed Up Your Marketing

Marketing is about communicating and delivering value. Do more of this to the right people and you will see results. The challenge is connecting with those right people at the right time. To speed up results, you need to meet them where they’re at. This means having answers to what they’re looking for and providing them when and where they’re looking for them.

For faster results, do this:

  • Focus on high-impact channels – Review your marketing data. If you want to know if your marketing is working, look at key data points. Pay attention to your most effective areas. Is your website data trending positively? How about your emails or social engagement? If one channel (or topic) is pulling more favorably than others, double down your efforts there rather than spreading yourself thin on things that don’t have as much impact. 
  • Optimize for SEO – You can shore up some quick wins by focusing on long-tail keywords that have less competition. This is one way to move up the ranks in search engine results faster. Another is to jeuje up old content to keep things fresh and garner new attention by the internet bots.
  • Consider paid opportunities – Spending money can often (but not always) accelerate marketing results. You could start by taking a bite-sized chunk out of your marketing budget and try something like pay-per-click advertising to ensure your content gets in front of your target audience. 
  • Outsource your efforts – If you need to move the needle on your marketing, it may be time to turn to a team of experts rather than manage the task yourself. Not only will you gain immediate headcounts (including writers, designers and strategists), but you’ll also be tapping into their expertise. This can help speed up your marketing as they’ll be able to execute strategies more efficiently and effectively. 

Speeding up your marketing efforts doesn’t mean cutting corners—it’s about working smarter, leveraging the right tools and optimizing what’s already working. If you want help, give us a ring. That’s what we’re here for.

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How to Measure Success in Marketing

It’s easy to become hyper-focused on the numbers. Numbers pay the bills. Numbers keep your doors open. But what numbers really matter when you’re trying to assess the success (or failure) of your marketing efforts?  

Here are some things to consider when you’re trying to identify measurable marketing outcomes. 

Success is Relative, So Know Your Goals 

Before going down the road of measuring performance, you need to know exactly what you’re measuring and why. Define success based on the goals you’re trying to achieve. Are you looking to generate more leads, convert more leads, increase revenue or improve email marketing performance? 

You can measure just about anything. The point is that without understanding the goals and strategy behind your efforts, the data you pull will be nothing more than numbers. Make the data meaningful by tying them to strategic benchmarks. Then, once you’ve identified your priorities, you can then begin tracking data.  

Marketing KPIs to Track 

The key performance indicators (KPIs) you choose to track will be tailored to your goals, but below are several general metrics many marketing pros find helpful. 

  • Email marketing performance – Email is one of the most effective lead-generation strategies, and it can be even more effective when done well. Tracking things like open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates and unsubscribes can tell you how helpful (or not) your content is. 
  • Website traffic and performance – Another important place prospects learn about your business is your website. Paying attention to which pages people are landing on and how long they’re staying is insightful in and of itself. Tracking conversation rates is even better. 
  • Cost per lead (CPL) – Spend enough money and you can have just about any customer in the world, but that’s not a very cost-wise strategy. On the whole, you want to keep your CPL low. That means a lot of leads for not a lot of money. 
  • Lead-to-customer conversion – How many leads are turning into customers? An understanding of this data point will help your team know if you need additional support, better leads or a larger volume of leads to meet your targets.  
  • Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) – MQLs are those leads the marketing team hands off to sales. A lead is classified as “marketing qualified” if the person filled out a web form or took some other step toward conversion that was based on the marketing team’s efforts. 
  • Sales qualified leads (SQLs) – This is the number of customers who become sales opportunities. The data point helps you understand how well your sales team is doing overall, as well as assess the effectiveness of the tools and resources they have at their disposal.  

And the list goes on. As you look to measure success in marketing, consider how the data points you’re tracking are meaningful to your overall strategy. If your marketing efforts are not meeting the mark, refine them and remeasure. It may take time to see results, but a consistent, strategic approach will yield the results you’re after. To learn more about building a successful marketing program, give our team at The Found Gen a call today.