35+ Telling Digital Marketing Statistics [2024’s Update]

Why are marketing statistics so important?

As you know, numbers never lie and will tell you if you’re doing things the right way.

There are so many advertising statistics, content marketing statistics, and online marketing statistics out there that it’s easy to get lost in the numbers.

This is why we’ll take a look at the most important digital marketing statistics. That way, you will understand them better and take your business to the next level.

Fascinating Digital Marketing Statistics:

• 86% of business professionals prefer using email for business communication purposes.
• 53% of marketers use interactive content in lead generation efforts.
• 72% of people prefer watching a video to learn about a product or service rather than reading a text.
• 43% of US adults get news from Facebook.
• 61% of marketers agree that improving SEO and growing organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority.
• 47% of internet users use an ad-blocker today.
• 62% of customers now expect companies to anticipate their needs.
• 47% of email recipients will open your email based solely on the subject line.

Digital Marketing Statistics in 2022

For the rest of 2020, digital marketing facts indicate the ad spend will decline. The expectation is that it will recover in 2021. Previous forecasts for 2022 to 2024 will change as the pandemic continues.

1. Global Ad Falls in 2020, Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic

(Source: Adweek)

• Uncertainty and a rise in Covid-19 cases pushed ad spend levels 10% below the pre-pandemic levels by July, according to new digital marketing statistics.
• The industries with the most significant declines are technology and computing, business and home and garden.

For instance, media owner ad revenue in the United States is forecast to decrease from $224 billion in 2019 to $213 billion in 2020. The forecast by Magna, also says that digital advertising statistics show future growth of 2% year-over-year with digital video expected to grow 10% and social by 7%.

2. Digital Ad Spending to Hit Single Digit Growth in 2020

(Source: eMarketer)

• Although a 2.4% growth in the digital ad spend market is positive, it will be the lowest recorded by digital marketing stats.
• This category has never experienced single-digit growth.
• Display ad spending could increase by 5.3% to hit 179.39 billion.

In the forecast by eMarketer, Google and Facebook are the duopolies that stand tall in the ad business. Google will suffer a loss of 3.3% this year. That, according to the web advertising statistics, is negative since they started tracking the company. This fall is due to a decline in travel searches, as everyone stays home due to the pandemic.

Digital marketing stats for 2020 show that Facebook will most likely see a 5.9% growth in the display business. Although it seems significant, it is still a downturn compared to growth in ad revenue from last year, where Facebook saw a 26.6% increase.

3. 2020’s Decline is Modest in Comparison to the 2009 Global Financial Crisis

(Source: GroupM)

• When GDP declined by 1% in 2009’s financial crisis, global advertising fell by an estimated 11.2%
• In the mid-year digital marketing statistics by GroupM, it is estimated that global advertising will decline by 9.9% in 2020.
• The expectation is that global advertising will grow to 8.2% in 2021.

The marketing statistics paint a picture of expected growth in the coming year. In the U.S., including political advertising, the expectation is that there will be a 0.9% decline, with China set to experience growth of 9.2% next year.

The top 10 markets that will most likely see double-digit growth include Japan, the U.K., Germany, Brazil, and Australia, further highlighting the importance of digital marketing.

4. Deloitte and Salesforce Say Adaptation Will be Crucial for the Slingshot Phase

(Source: Deloitte)

• Retail and consumers have had to shift to digital-only for sales and purchases
• The digital marketing growth in sales for Q1 of 2020, compared to Q1 of 2019, show an 18% increase
• Traffic growth for Q1 of 2020, compared to Q1 of 2019, show a 13% growth
• Where desktop traffic declined by 9% in Q1 of 2019, it has grown by 9% in Q1 of 2020.

The statistics for marketers clearly show that digital media is the way to go, and most businesses are either getting flooded with orders or seeing a decline. It all comes down to what is essential in a pandemic.

Food, household items, pet supplies, merchandise in general and pharmacy, have all seen growth. Automotive, luxury, home appliances, and hospitality industries have all experienced decline.

Importance of Digital Marketing

5. 90% Of People Haven’t Made Their Mind About a Brand Before Starting a Search.

(Source: Omnicore)

• 86% of people look up the location of a business in Google Maps.
• 50% of search queries are made up of four words or more.
• 93% of all website traffic comes from search engines.
• A thumbnail in the search results can increase your traffic by 50%.

Yes, you’ve read that right. The customers may not have made their mind before they started a search but a brand has ONLY 10 seconds to make an impression on them.  

To make the matter more difficult, you do not exist if Google does not know about you. And if Google knows little about you, people will too. Customers will not turn stones to find you.

You must help them find you. Insist that they find you.

According to marketing data, only 7% of traffic to your website comes from sources outside search engines. Therefore, do your best to optimize and reach potential customers.

6. 47% Of Buyers Looked at 3-5 Pieces of Content Before Contacting a Sales Representative.

(Source: Hubspot)

• 66% of marketers use blogs in social media content.
• 83% of US shoppers’ purchases are influenced by friend’s social media posts
• 6-13 words in the title attract the highest amount of traffic.
• 38% of marketers publish content at least once per week.
• 63% are creating content with the buyer in mind above all else.

If you want to be successful in digital marketing, you must have strong content. Posting regularly, using the right words in perfect grammar, and thinking about the customer – these are just some of the essential steps, according to internet marketing statistics.

According to content marketing stats, people stay more on pages that have visual content. 32% of marketers even choose it as the most important form of content for their businesses.

Podcasts are on the rise with 32% of Americans being podcast listeners. 17% of marketing specialists plan to add podcasts to their content in the next year.

What Are the Types of Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing can be split into two major groups – online and offline. Offline marketing involves things like television, radio, and phone advertising. Online marketing can be divided into 7 categories. Here’s an image to make things clearer:

Social Media Marketing Trends

7. 90% of brands rely on social media to increase their brand recognition.

(Source: Hootsuite)

• 4-10 social profiles are the amount most businesses maintain.
• People aged 18-34 are most likely to follow a brand on social networks.
• 74% of people say they use Facebook for professional purposes.
• 86% of consumers prefer a business to be authentic and honest on social media.
• 2 million businesses used Facebook for advertising in 2018.

Recent social media marketing data reveals that brands rely heavily on social media. Advertising statistics show that 2 million businesses advertised on Facebook in 2018 and that number is only going higher.

So, use social media the smart way. Be unique and engage people with your content. Apply color psychology to your brand and product. Make it stand out. Know your target groups and speak to them with confidence and passion. You don’t even need to necessarily spend money on advertising, but it will surely help.

8. Over 40% of online transactions are done on mobiles.

(Source: BlueCorona)

• 91% of smartphone owners made a purchase after seeing a relevant ad.
• More than 60% of buyers said that mobiles played a big role in a recent purchase.
• 51% of marketing and advertising budgets now go into mobile ads.
• And yet, 69% of Gen Z think of ads as disruptive.

Digital marketing statistics in 2019 would not be the same without smartphones. There’s a greater amount of people who purchase on their mobiles now than ever. And ad statistics emphasize that more than half of advertising budgets are now spent on mobile ads.

One-third of people use their smartphone as a primary device to access the internet. This means your website must be mobile-friendly. In addition, marketing statistics show people spend 70% more time on mobile websites that load for 5 seconds or less.

What Is Digital Marketing Research?

Keeping up to date with the latest research in the industry. Monitor good practices, connect with your customers. Look for methods to promote your brand, product, or service through one or more forms of electronic media. This includes the internet, mobile instant messaging, wireless text messaging, podcasts, online radio channels, digital television, and mobile apps.

Digital Marketing Channels

9. Hubspot Is the Preferred Marketing Automation Software by 26% Of the Customers.

(Source: Statista)

With the growing popularity of digital omnichannel marketing, Oracle, Adobe, and Hubspot marketing automation solutions account for close to half of the market.

The global marketing automation market is expected to reach 25 billion US dollars by the end of 2023.

10. In 2019, 80% Of Global Internet Usage Was Video Content.

(Source: RenderForest)

• 70% of marketing professionals are optimizing their video content for search engines.
• You can increase conversions by 80% by including video on your home page.
• Users spend 88% more time on websites with video.
• 4.6 billion video ads are watched online each year.

Marketing numbers are absolutely clear here. Simply using the word ‘video’ in an email subject line boosts the open rates by 19%. It’s easy to explain why.

After all, only a simple click is required to watch a video and most people would prefer watching, instead of reading an article. Analyzing the marketing stats – it’s always a good idea to include a video in your content. It will make people spend more time with your brand.

11. 54% Of Marketing Influencers Cite Increasing Email Engagement Rate as a Top Priority.

(Source: Ascend2)

• 91% of consumers open their email on a daily basis.
• US companies were estimated to spend $350 million on email advertising in 2019.
• It is 6 times more likely to get a click from an email than from a tweet.
• 47% of email recipients will open your email based solely on the subject line.

A whopping 91% of customers want to hear from companies they do business with via email. And according to company statistics, the best day of the week to send a marketing email is Tuesday.

But don’t overdo it. 78% of consumers have canceled their email subscriptions because a brand was sending them too many emails.

Digital Marketing Industry Statistics

12. 72% Of Organizations That Calculate ROI Say Their Marketing Strategy Is Effective.

(Source: Hubspot)

• Strategic landing pages are used by 68% of B2B businesses to acquire leads.
• According to 61% of marketers, their top challenges are generating traffic and leads.
• 53% of content marketers use interactive content in lead generation efforts.
• In 2018, 70% of marketers say their demand gen budgets will increase and 34% say their spending will grow by more than 20%.

More and more money is being spent on lead generation budgets, online marketing statistics reveal. Most marketing professionals agree that acquiring leads is their main goal, and actually, more than three-thirds of companies that calculate ROI see that their marketing strategy is effective.

Why Is Digital Marketing Important?

You have an enormous audience in front of you. On top of that, if you’re good at digital marketing, you can create brand loyalty.

13. 75% Of Companies Say Closing More Deals Is Their Top Sales Priority.

(Source: Hubspot)

• 28% of companies are prioritizing social selling.
• 30% of salespeople say closing deals is getting harder.
• 18% of salespeople don’t know what a CRM is.

At the end of the day, revenue is the most important thing for every company. A lot of businesses are trying different approaches towards selling, including social selling and SLA’s (Service Level Agreement).

Furthermore, three-fourths of companies consider their top priority to be closing more deals. This is why skilled salespeople are always important. Marketing statistics indicate 80% of sales are made by only 20% of sales reps!

Digital Advertising Statistics

14. Online Advertising Is Expected to Reach $329 Billion by 2021, Accounting for 49% Of All Global Ad Spend.

(Source: Zenith)

• 47% of internet users have an ad-blocker today.
• 73% of people dislike pop-up ads.
• A person gets bombarded with 1,700 banner ads per month. 
• Google drives 95% of all paid search ad clicks on mobile.
• 53% of users say they are more likely to look at a native than a banner ad.

The biggest difference between online and traditional advertising is people can actually block online advertising. Understandably, almost half of internet users have an ad blocker installed. Still, this doesn’t mean putting ads on your site is useless.

Advertising statistics forecast that in two years’ time, online advertising will account for nearly half of ad expenditure globally. So, you just have to be careful and balanced with their placement.

15. Digital Advertising Is the Priority as Markets Adapt to the Pandemic.

(Source: World Economic Forum)

• In the last ten years, global GDP has grown by 3-6% every year.
• The ad market grew with GDP growth to hit $646 billion by 2019.
• Before coronavirus, the marketing statistics indicated that the ad market would grow to over $860 billion by 2024.
• Covid-19 has changed the state of online advertising statistics with first-quarter data from all over, showing year-on-year revenue was down in China, Europe, and the U.S.

Digital platforms like social, streaming, and gaming, have all experienced a surge in 2020. The online medium is perfect for direct response advertising campaigns, using new social media marketing trends.

The implication here is that digital markets are better positioned to weather the impact of the virus. For example, Tencent’s digital marketing industry statistics in China, for the first quarter, showed an increase of 32% year-on-year.

China reopened early and is seeing things return to normal much faster than in other places. The ad market there is projected to grow by 8.4% even after accounting for Covid-19. That’s a figure higher than the pre-coronavirus online advertising statistics projecting 8% ad growth in the U.S.

16. Up to 43% Of Voice Speaker Owners Use Their Devices to Shop.

(Source: Dialogtech)

• By 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice searches.
• 52% of people who search by voice are interested in receiving info about deals, sales, and promotions from brands.
• 51% use search by voice to find information about a product they’re interested in.
• 32% of marketing organizations are using smart speakers like Alexa and Siri.

Voice search marketing is something of which we will hear more about in the future. Voice speakers are becoming the way of choice to shop for many people. And voice search is expected to be a $40 billion channel by 2022.

Statistics should be clear enough for marketers: optimize voice search for your website – 50% of people will soon be using it and most of them are interested in doing business.

17. 29% Of Marketers Now Use AI, Compared to 20% In 2017.

(Source: Salesforce)

• 62% of customers now expect companies to anticipate their needs.
• 24% of marketers currently use virtual or augmented reality.
• Marketers anticipate a 257% growth in AI use over the next two years.

Recent marketing data shows artificial intelligence is gaining popularity in the past couple of years. It’s also predicted that the growth of AI will boom over the next two years.

What marketing numbers reveal may sound a bit odd. Almost two-thirds of customers now expect companies to anticipate their needs. AI can certainly help achieve that.

What Are the Benefits of Digital Marketing?

After reading the essential digital marketing stats, you can clearly see there are at least a dozen benefits of digital marketing. Higher revenues, improved conversion rates, and real-time results, to name a few.

Now you know why marketing statistics are so important. And why digital marketing statistics are even more so.

All the marketing facts and marketing data you’ve just learned will help you plan your marketing strategy effectively.