As winter comes to an end, so too does the Winter Wonderland of Marketing Stats series that’s been running here over the past few months. This final installment covers some fascinating though sometimes contradictory and confusing stats about business blogging and the value of marketing.
For example, what percentage of businesses maintain company blogs? It seems to depend who you ask: one source below says 62%, another says 80%, and still another, 86%. First, all of these numbers seem a tad high; other (fairly) recent research has reported that 55% of small businesses have blogs but just 31% of Fortune 500 enterprises do.
Second, such findings can be significantly impacted by factors like sample set (Is it large enough to be representative? Is it truly random?); the survey methodology (a phone or email survey, for example, is likely to find much different results than one done on Twitter or LinkedIn); and how the questions are asked (a company can “include blogging as part of content marketing strategy” through influencer outreach, LinkedIn Pulse, guest blogging, or other tactics—without actually maintaining its own corporate blog).
Image credit: Association of National Advertisers
Another apparent contradiction is much more fundamental: does marketing have value? One may have thought this question was answered years ago by Milan Kundera who famously said, “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.”
But apparently not. As noted below, just 29% of CMOs say they can quantitatively prove the long-term impact of marketing on the business. 23% say they can’t prove any impact at all. But, seemingly in support of Kundera’s quote above, Forrester Research says marketers are the ““sole source of sustainable competitive advantage.”
The resolution of both of these paradoxes may lie in yet in another study cited below, in which 72% of respondents agreed that “having a societal purpose will be a key competitive advantage in the future.” Blogging is the ideal vehicle for communicating brand purpose, beyond just “selling stuff.” For example*:
- Videoconferencing and unified communications provider Advanced AV writes about meaningful applications for video technology, such as keeping sick children engaged and reshaping healthcare delivery.
- Meghan M. Biro at TalentCulture writes passionately and practically about encouraging girls and young women to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, blogging about women in STEM and STEM recruiting.
- Samsung uses its blog to explore trends like the role of IT in improving healthcare delivery.
- Records management systems provider TAB not only provides guides and resources to help records managers improve their skills but also works to raise the profile of the profession and educate executives on it s organizational impact.
Draw your own conclusions after checking out the these 16 intriguing business blogging and marketing statistics and facts.
9 Business Blogging Stats and Facts
1. There are approximately 250 million blogs online today, and this number doesn’t even include blogs on Google’s Blogger platform, which does not disclose usage statistics. (Stratabeat)
2. Two out of three people read blogs at least several times a week. 45% have reached out to a blogger to inquire about a product when considering a purchase, and 84% buy products based on the content they find on blogs. (ClickZ)
3. 86% of B2B companies surveyed are currently blogging, along with 77% of B2C companies. (Stratabeat)
4. 62% of B2B technology companies use a blog to market their products. (MarketingProfs)
5. 19% of startups use blogs for marketing. (TNW News)
6. 80% of B2B marketers include blogs in their content marketing strategy. But just 60 percent of surveyed marketers consider them effective. (ClickZ)
7. More than three-quarters of companies that have a blog report a positive ROI for inbound marketing, and 79% of best-in-class marketers rank blogs as the most effective marketing tactic. (Stratabeat)
8. B2B businesses that blog generate 67% more monthly leads than those that do not. (Stratabeat)
9. Blog posts continue to drive traffic and generate impressions up to 700 days after they go live. (ClickZ)
7 Other Marketing Stats and Facts
Winding up the Winter Wonderland of Marketing Stats series, here are seven final stats and facts that just didn’t fit anywhere else. These research findings address high-level topics like the value of marketing and the future of brand differentiation.
10. Overall, 70% of senior marketers are optimistic about the state of the economy, up from 58% three years ago and just 52% four years ago. (The CMO Survey)
11. 57.9% of CMOs say they feel increasing pressure from CEOs or the board of directors to prove the value of marketing; not a single one (in a recent survey) said they felt decreasing pressure. Perhaps not coincidentally, CMOs also plan to boost spending on marketing analytics from 6.4% of total marketing budgets currently to 11.7% three years from now. (MediaPost)
12. Just 29% of CMOs say they can quantitatively prove the long-term impact of marketing on the business. 23% say they can’t prove any impact at all. (The CMO Survey)
13. The average tenure for a CMO or marketing VP is about four-and-a-half years. (The CMO Survey)
14. Half of all senior marketing professionals believe superior product quality and service excellence will be the most important factors for buyers in the next year. Just 17% say low price will be most important, and a mere 3% say brand. (The CMO Survey)
15. Having a societal purpose will be a key competitive advantage in the future, according to 72% of respondents in a Marketing2020 research study. (ANA)
16. Millennials now account for a plurality of the workforce (35%), with baby boomers and Gen Xers each at 31%. As recently as 2000, boomers were nearly half of all workers. (Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends)
This was the ninth and final post of the Winter Wonderland of Marketing Stats series on Webbiquity.
#1: A Winter Wonderland of Marketing Stats and Facts
#2: 47 Superb Social Media Marketing Stats and Facts
#3: 20 Tremendous Digital Marketing Stats and Facts
#4: 45 Phenomenal Email and Mobile Marketing Stats
#5: 33 Thought-Provoking B2B Social Media and Marketing Stats
#6: 49 Noteworthy Social Networking Stats and Facts
#7: 14 Fortuitous SEO and SEM Stats and Facts
#8: 22 Tantalizing Content Marketing Stats and Facts
#9: 16 Enigmatic Business Blogging and Other Marketing Stats
(But don’t despair—planning is already underway for a Sunshine and Stats series targeted for late spring.)
*Disclaimer: The companies cited in this section are clients of marketing agencies V3 Broadsuite or KC Associates.