71 Eye-Opening Content Marketing Statistics (2025 Guide)
Looking for the latest content marketing statistics? You’re in the right place.
The content marketing landscape is constantly in flux. Each year brings new trends in the way people create and consume content, and marketers need to be ready to adapt to these changes.
To help you keep your finger on the pulse, I’ve compiled a list of 71 content marketing statistics that you need to know this year.
Top picks
- Over 90% of businesses utilize content marketing (Demand Metric)
- The size of the content marketing industry is over $564.8 billion and is set to reach $1.95 trillion by 2032 (Research Drive)
- Video (especially short-form video) is the top-performing content format (Semrush2)
- Website traffic is the top metric used to measure content marketing performance (Semrush)
- Organic social media is the top channel used to distribute/promote content (Semrush2)
- 71% of brands spend under $1,000 per month on content marketing (Semrush)
- 48% of marketers spend less than 5 hours a week writing content (Semrush)
- 67% of brands now use AI for content marketing (Semrush)
- The top use case for AI in content marketing is to generate ideas (HubSpot)
General content marketing statistics
1. At least 90% of organizations use content marketing
Content is still king as we approach the end of 2024. The vast majority of businesses are now using content in their digital marketing campaigns.
Source: Demand Metric
2. Content marketing generates 3x as many leads as traditional marketing
Content marketing has proven to be much more effective than traditional marketing channels. Not only does it drive 3x as many leads on average, but it also costs 62% less.
Source: Demand Metric
3. The content marketing market is estimated to be worth around $564.8 billion…
According to industry forecasts from Research Dive, the global content marketing market is predicted to reach around $564.8 billion this year.
The market size stood at $413.3 billion in 2022 and was forecast to grow with a CAGR of 16.9%.
Source: Research Dive
4. …And is forecast to reach a size of ~$1.95 trillion by 2032
If those forecasts turn out to be correct, that’ll mean the content marketing industry will almost quadruple in size over the next 8 years.
According to industry reports, the main drivers behind that growth include increasing demand for diverse content formats, particularly video content, as well as the ‘growing acceptance of content marketing as a powerful tool for consumer engagement’.
Source: Research Dive
5. 49% of businesses rate their content marketing performance as ‘effective’
Of those, 11% rate it as ‘very effective’ while 38% rate it as ‘effective’.
A further 43% are more modest and rate their content marketing performance as ‘average’. Only 11% rate it as ‘ineffective’
Source: Semrush
6. Consumers spend 10.6 hours engaging with online content every day
Gen Z consumers spend an incredible 10.6 hours consuming and engaging with content every single day, while millennials spend around 8.5 hours doing the same. That shows just how much demand there is for quality content this year.
Source: We Are Arise
Content marketing metrics & KPIs
7. ‘Traffic’ is the #1 metric used to measure content marketing performance
55% of marketers look at traffic to measure their content performance, making it the #1 KPI.
50% look at social media engagement and shares. Conversion and leads comes third at 42%, on-page engagement ranks fourth at 40%, and ROI fifth at 37%.
Source: Semrush
8. 54% of companies measure content marketing ROI
Most brands (54% now make some effort to measure the return on investment of their content marketing campaigns. Of the rest, 33% say they don’t measure ROI, while 13% aren’t sure whether they do or don’t.
Of those that do, 42% say they’re relatively good at measuring it, 36% rate their attempts as average, and 22% say they’re highly effective.
Source: Semrush2
9. 67% of content marketers measure ROI by calculating the leads/conversions/revenues generated by content marketing
Measuring the ROI of content marketing can be tricky, but most marketers look at how many leads, conversions, and revenue their content generates to do so.
The next top way to measure ROI was to look at revenue generated by organic traffic (48%), and the third was to look at how much they managed to save on advertising costs (24%).
Source: Semrush2
10. 64% of marketers use Google Analytics to track content marketing ROI
Google Analytics is the #1 most common tool used to measure content marketing ROIs, followed by social media analytics tools (44%), and SEO tools (34%)
Source: Semrush2
Content creation statistics
11. 8 in 10 marketers write their content themselves
The majority of content marketers write content themselves, while 17% let their in-house writers take care of it, and 14% work with freelancers.
Source: Semrush
12. 48% of marketers spend <5 hours a week writing content
Roughly half of surveyed marketers say they spend less than 5 hours writing content weekly. A further 32% say they spend 5-10 hours writing content weekly, while 15% spend 11-12 hours, 4% spend 21-40 hours, and 2% spend >40 hours.
Source: Semrush
13. 40% of marketers say it takes <1 hour to write a long-form content piece
Surprisingly, most marketers (40%) spend less than an hour writing a blog post or similar long-form content piece.
A further 38% say they spend 2-3 hours writing long-form content, making this the next top response. 12% spend 4-5 hours, 5% spend 6-8 hours, and 5% take even longer than that.
Source: Semrush
14. 47% of businesses outsource the graphic design work for their content
This is the most commonly outsourced content service. The next most commonly outsourced task in content production is video design/animation (43%), followed by copywriting (37%), editing/proofreading (31%), and SEO (27%).
Source: Semrush2
15. 78% of content marketers conduct content audits at least yearly
Of those, 24% conduct an audit once a year, 33% do so twice a year, and 21% do so 3+ times a year.
6% conduct content audits every 2-3 years, and only 16% say they never conduct any content audits.
Source: Semrush2
16. 50% of marketers update content when they see it’s become outdated
When asked when they update their old content, the most common response was ‘when it’s become outdated’ (50%).
39% of surveyed marketers also said they update high-performing content as a preventative measure, while 36% said they do so when they see rankings/traffic are down, and only 9% said they rarely update content at all.
Source: Semrush2
Content distribution statistics
17. 73% of marketers promote their content on organic social media
This makes organic social media the most popular content distribution/promotion channel. The next top channel for promoting content is via email marketing (53%), followed by paid social media (51%), and organic search (33%).
Tip: Not sure how to promote your content on social media effectively? Check out these social media post ideas.
Source: Semrush2
18. 55% of marketers think Facebook is the best social media channel for sharing content
When asked which social media platforms they share their content on, 55% of surveyed marketers said Facebook, making this the #1 response.
Instagram came second (54%), followed by YouTube (38%), LinkedIn (36%), and TikTok (35%)
Tip: Did you know Facebook is also the most used social media platform in the world? Check out our roundup of social media statistics for more insights like these.
Source: Semrush2
19. 66% of marketers say social media advertising is the best paid channel for promoting content
This was the number one paid channel identified in the survey. Paid search ads came second (45%), followed by YouTube ads (40%), and display ads (32%)
Source: Semrush2
The costs of content marketing
20. 71% of businesses have a monthly content marketing budget of <$1,000
The majority of businesses surveyed by Semrush didn’t have a huge budget for content marketing. 71% said they spend less than $1,000 a month.
A further 12% said they have content marketing budgets of between $1k and $2k, while 8% said $2k to $4k, 4% said 4k to 6k, 3% said 6k to 10k, and only 2% said their budget was higher than that.
Source: Semrush
21. 61% of marketers spend $0 on a single piece of long-form content piece (i.e. a blog post)
Because they write it themselves!
Of those that do spend money to produce long-form content, 16% spend <$100 per piece. 10% spend $100-$300, 7% spend $300-$500, 2% spend $500-700, and only a small fraction spend more than that.
Source: Semrush
22. 83% of content marketers want to reduce spending by bringing their content creation process in-house and/or consolidating their technology systems
According to data from Bynder, reducing agency and tech spending is a big content marketing priority this year.
Source: Bynder
23. 84% of marketers plan to repurpose existing content on owned channels as a way to save costs
By owned channels, we’re talking about things like the brand website or email marketing lists.
Source: Bynder
Top content types & formats
24. 45% of marketers say video content performs best
When asked which content formats perform best, 45% of marketers said video, making this the #1 response.
A further 31% pointed to short-form articles, 28% said success stories, 24% said long-form blog posts and 19% said case studies.
Source: Semrush2
25. 43% of marketers say short-form is the best format for video content
When asked which video formats perform best, 43% of marketers said short-form videos. A further 33% said ‘about our company/product videos’, while 32% pointed to ‘success story videos’, and 29% to ‘product overview videos’.
Source: Semrush2
26. 30% of marketers who didn’t use short-form video planned to start this year
And 56% planned to increase their investment in TikTok this year too!
Source: HubSpot
27. 14% of marketers want to try out ‘interactive’ content this year
Interactive content includes formats like polls, games, live streams, etc.
Source: HubSpot
28. ‘How-to articles’ are the most common type of blog content
76% of bloggers have published how-to articles, which is more than any other type of post. List posts came next (55%), followed by news and trends (47%), guides and e-books (47%), and opinion posts (43%)
Source: Statista
B2C content marketing statistics
29. 70% of B2C marketers said content marketing became more important last year
Of those who didn’t say that, 26% said the level of importance stayed about the same, while 4% said it became less important.
Source: CMI1
30. 52% of B2C marketers rate their content marketing efforts as ‘moderately successful’
This was the most common response. A further 25% rated them ‘very successful’, 17% said ‘minimally successful’, and 4% said ‘extremely successful’. Only 2% said they were not successful at all.
Source: CMI1
31. Only 37% of B2C marketers have a documented content marketing strategy in place
But a further 36% have a strategy that’s not documented. 21% don’t have a strategy at all but plan to develop one over the next year, and just 6% don’t have one or plan to make one.
Source: CMI1
32. 45% of B2C businesses hire or contract content producers
That might include writers, designers, photographers, videographers, etc.
A further 27% hire/contract content marketers, 26% hire/contract community managers/social media specialists, and 21% hire/contract UX designers.
Source: CMI1
33. 86% of B2C marketers create/use short articles and posts
That’s as of 2022, according to data from CMI. Short articles/posts were classed as any written content under <1500 words.
Source: CMI1
34. 71% of B2C marketers used video in their content marketing strategy
And 77% said they’d continue to invest in video in 2023, making it the top area of content marketing investment in the B2C sector for the 2nd year in a row.
Source: CMI1
35. 87% of B2C marketers distribute content on their websites
This makes it the top owned-media distribution channel.
Websites are followed by blogs (76%), email newsletters (68%), emails other than newsletters (61%), and in-person or digital events (48%).
Source: CMI1
36. 95% of B2C marketers distribute content on social media platforms
This makes social media the top organic distribution channel.
Social media is followed by speaking/presenting at events (56%), media/PR (53%), and guest posts/third-party publications (47%).
Tip: Social media automation tools make it easier to distribute your content on social media platforms at scale while saving time and reducing costs.
Source: CMI1
37. 84% of B2C marketers try to stand out from the competition by producing better-quality content
When asked how they differentiate their content from the competition, this was the top response.
A further 70% said they cover topics/stories that their competitors don’t to help them stand out, and 45% said they actively promote the content they publish (beyond distributing it) to get ahead.
Source: CMI1
B2B content marketing statistics
38. 71% of B2B marketers said content marketing became more important last year
25% said it stayed about the same, and 4% said it became less important. This is very similar to the results of the survey of B2C content marketers
Source: CMI2
39. 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content strategy in place
Slightly more B2B marketers have a documented content strategy than B2C marketers (40% to 37%).
A further 33% of B2B marketers have an undocumented strategy in place, while 20% have no content strategy but plan to make one in the near future. Only 7% have no strategy and no place to create one.
Source: CMI2
40. 47% of B2B companies hire or contract content producers
Again, this is in a very similar ballpark to B2C companies. A further 25% hire content marketers, and 22% hire community managers/social media specialists.
Source: CMI2
41. 83% of B2B content marketers try to produce better quality content than their competitors
Like B2C, this is the top way that B2B marketers try to differentiate their content from the competition.
Other popular strategies include trying to ‘cover topics/stories that our competitors aren’t covering’ (72%) and ‘actively promote the content we publish’ (50%).
Source: CMI2
42. 89% of B2B marketers create/use short articles & posts
This makes short articles the top content format used by B2B content marketers, followed by video (75%) and case studies (67%).
Source: CMI2
43. 90% of B2B marketers distribute content on their organization’s website
As with B2C, websites are the top owned-media content distribution channel for B2B businesses, followed by blogs (78%) and email newsletters (69%).
Source: CMI2
44. 95% of B2B marketers distribute content on social media
Social media platforms are the top organic content distribution channel for B2B brands, followed by events (64%), media/PR (56%), and guest posts (50%).
Source: CMI2
AI in content marketing
45. 67% of businesses are now using AI for content marketing
Semrush surveyed thousands of small businesses this year and asked if they’re using any AI tools for content marketing and/or SEO. And 67% of respondents said ‘yes’.
Source: Semrush
46. The main reason businesses don’t use AI for content is that they don’t know how to do so effectively
Semrush also asked those who don’t use AI yet what was holding them back.
35% said they didn’t know it was an option, while 37% said they didn’t have a good enough understanding of how to use AI tools effectively.
A further 31% said they were worried about the originality of AI-generated content, and 30% said their main concern was quality.
Source: Semrush
47. Content marketers using AI are 95% more likely to rate their strategy as very effective
Using AI is paying off for content marketers, as those who do are 95% more likely to say their strategy has been very effective.
Source: HubSpot
48. 45% of marketers use AI for content ideas & inspiration
The top use case for AI in content marketing is to come up with new ideas and inspiration (45%). That’s followed by creating outlines (31%), drafting content (18%), and writing content (6%).
Source: HubSpot
49. 63% of marketers think most content will be created at least in part with the help of GAI this year
Almost two-thirds of marketers think generative AI will play a key role in creating content this year.
Source: HubSpot
50. 77% of marketers who use generative AI say it helps them create more personalized content
And 72% also say it helps them to personalize customer experiences.
Source: HubSpot
51. Most marketers spend 5-10 hours per week on content production without AI…
Amongst marketers who don’t use AI, 39% say they spend 5-10 hours a week producing content, making that the most common response. A further 24% say they spend 11-20 hours, 24% spend <5 hours, 9% spend 21-40 hours, and 4% >40 hours weekly.
Source: Semrush
52. …but less than 5 hours per week with AI
Amongst marketers who do use AI, 40% say they spend less than 5 hours per week, making this the most common response. A further 36% spend 5-10 hours, 16% spend 11-12 hours, 6% spend 21-40 hours, and 2% spend >40 hours.
Source: Semrush
53. 78% of content marketers are satisfied with their AI tools
To break that down, 46% say they’re satisfied and 32% say they’re very satisfied. A further 19% say they feel neutral about their AI tools, and just 2% say they’re not satisfied.
Source: Semrush
54. 58% of content marketers who use AI do so to research content & topic ideas
This makes research the top use case for AI in content marketing as identified in Semrush’s study.
What’s more, 52% say they use AI to rewrite/paraphrase text, 50% use it to write content from scratch, 47% use it to create their content marketing strategy, 40%use it to expand text, and 39% use it to create outlines.
Source: Semrush
55. 58% of content marketers who use AI use it to create blog posts
The most common content type created by AI is blog posts (58%). That’s followed by social media posts (55%), short articles (49%), short videos (31%), emails/newsletters (29%), and images (28%).
Source: Semrush
56. 79% of businesses who use AI for content think it has improved their content quality…
Of those, 47% report a moderate improvement, and 32% report a significant improvement.
Source: Semrush
57. …and 65% think it’s improved their SEO performance
Of those, 43% report a moderate improvement, and 22% report a significant improvement.
Source: Semrush
58. 42% of marketers say they’re worried that content produced by AI isn’t original
Originality seems to be the #1 challenge for AI in content production—42% of surveyed marketers are worried about it.
The next top barrier stopping marketers from using AI is that it’s hard to integrate their unique tone of voice (36%).
Source: Semrush
59. 46% of marketers would start using AI tools to produce content if they had proof that it could rank
When marketers who don’t use AI for content yet were asked what development in AI content tools would prompt them to start using them, 46% said they’d need real-life proof that AI-generated content is original and can rank.
A further 45% said they’d need AI tools to become easier to use & understand, while 38% said they’d want to see lower costs, and 36% said they needed to see an increase in the quality of AI-generated content.
Source: Semrush
Content marketing & SEO
60. Content production is no longer the most challenging part of an SEO professional’s job
In 2023, surveyed marketers said producing content was their top challenge. But in 2024, that dropped to fourth place (12.9%).
The new number one challenge is now algorithm changes (22.2%). The emergence of AI-powered search has left SEOs increasingly worried that their content is getting swallowed up and fed to AI algorithms for zero-click experiences.
Source: Search Engine Journal
61. 69.8% of SEOs rate SERP competition as ‘more difficult’ this year
It seems the majority of SEO professionals think it’s getting harder to rank in the SERPs. Over two-thirds said SERP competition was increasing this year, while 22.4% said there’s no change and 7.8% said it was getting easier to compete.
Source: Search Engine Journal
62. The most significant disruption in SEO over the next few years is expected to be generative AI in search
36.3% of surveyed SEO professionals pointed to this when asked what they think the biggest disrupting factor will be.
A further 23.8% said AI-generated content and 15.8% pointed to generational changes in how people use the internet.
Source: Search Engine Journal
63. 76% of marketers say their AI content is ranking in search
Of those, 36% say their content has ranked a few times, 22% say that’s happened a lot, and 18% say at least once. 11% either haven’t tried or don’t track rankings
Source: Semrush
64. 55% of marketers say the best tactic for improving rankings is ‘creating more content’
Posting content more often is the best way to jump up the SERPs, according to most marketers.
The next best thing you can do according to marketers is improve the quality of your content (53%), create more research-driven content (37%), and pay more attention to keyword research (36%).
Source: Semrush2
65. 18.1% of marketers say the most effective link-building strategy is creating ‘superior content’
When asked what the best strategy for building links is, the most common response was ‘create superior content’. That was followed by utilizing alternative media strategies like infographics and video content (13.7%), leveraging PR and journalism (13.7%), and guest posting (12.9%)
Source: Search Engine Journal
Content marketing strategies
66. 73% of marketers say content personalization is important…
Almost three-quarters of marketers think personalization is one of the most important parts of an effective content strategy. What’s more, 96% say content personalization leads to repeat business, and 94% say it boosts sales,
Source: HubSpot
67. …but only 35% of marketers think their brands currently offer very personalized customer experiences
However, those who say they do offer personalized experiences are 215% more likely to rate their strategy as ‘very effective’.
Source: HubSpot
68. 54% of marketers say improving content personalization & localization is their key objective
This was the top goal of surveyed marketers last year. The second top goal was to ‘create consistent content experiences across all platforms’ (50%).
Source: Bynder
69.. 47% of marketers say ‘researching their audience’ leads to success in content marketing
When asked what factors lead to success in content marketing, 47% said ‘researching our audience’, making this the top response.
That was followed by search engine optimization (46%), publishing more content (45%), and improving the quality and value of our content (44%).
Source: Semrush2
Content marketing challenges
70. The top challenge content marketers face is ‘finding ideas for new content’
16% of those surveyed by HubSpot identified this as their top challenge. The next top challenge was creating content that gets high levels of engagement (16%), followed by creating content that attracts more website traffic (15%) and reaching your target audience (15%).
Source: HubSpot
71. 45% of content marketers say ‘attracting quality leads with our content’ is a key challenge
A further 38% say ‘creating more content faster’ is their biggest challenge and 35% say it’s ‘generating content ideas’.
Source: Semrush2
Final thoughts
I hope you found these content marketing statistics useful.
As these stats show, the content marketing landscape has shifted dramatically over the last few years.
It’s getting harder to drive organic SEO traffic through written content, and the focus is shifting to video.
Meanwhile, generative AI is also causing huge disruptions to the industry, bringing both opportunities and challenges for content marketers.
Looking for more statistics to inform your marketing efforts this year? Check out our roundups of influencer marketing stats, Facebook video stats, and YouTube Shorts stats. You might also want to take a look at these Instagram video ideas.