5 Digital Marketing Stats That Every Marketer Should Know

1. Digital marketing budget is expected to increase to over half of a company’s overall marketing budget by 2016 (source: IDC)

More companies are realizing the power, efficiency, and accountability that digital marketing activities can bring and this is being reflected in the amount of investment over time. With buyer journeys becoming more complex and unique, companies are realizing that they must show up at the right time, in the right place, and more often.

Being where customers are searching and consuming content is critical, and a lot of this is taking place online. According to Google’s Shopper Sciences study, “The largest hub for every category was online search. No matter where consumers entered their journey, they touched down on search at least once, and usually many times”.

2. Mobile users check their phone 150 times each day (source: Huffington Post)

Admit it, most of us own multiple devices and we go to bed with our mobile phones. According to SAP, there are now more mobile devices than what there are people on Earth. It is difficult to ignore the rise of mobile usage and the impact that it will have on your marketing efforts.

As we are reminded that more searches will come from mobile than desktop in 2015, not to mention the penalties that Google say they are applying to non-mobile friendly sites, the time to get your company’s mobile presence in order is fast running out.

3. Apps continue to dominate the mobile web with 86% of time spent (source: Flurry)

From airlines, hotels, insurance companies, banks and Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and start-ups, mobile app development has gone through the roof – some more useful and well-thought out than others. With over 2 million mobile apps in the app store (and growing), app store optimization is becoming increasingly important for companies and app developers who want to get found.

4. Social Media is the most powerful content distribution channel (source: Business Insider)

• …83,333 links are shared
• …85,000 comments are left
• …54,976,850 pieces of content are posted or shared

With stats like these, the power of social media (and the growing correlation of social factors on SEO) as a content distribution system cannot be ignored. But with this, companies have to remember that we can no longer rely on just organic social media to drive results. The development of well-targeted paid social advertising is an important driving force when it comes to social media.

5. Photos increase sharing, with 27% of photo tweets being retweeted (source: Twitter)

Pictures really do speak a thousand words, especially when it comes to social media. In a study looking at the effects on retweets (tweets that are re-shared with a person’s followers), tweets that included a photo URL came out on top, further reinforcing the power of imagery in social media. It’s no wonder why sites such as Instagram and Pinterest have grown in popularity. In a study by ROI Research, 44% of respondents were more likely to engage with brands if they posted pictures compared to any other media.