56 Reasons Why Content
Marketing Works
2014 Edition

Presented by NewsCred, the world’s most
comprehensive content marketing platform.
www.newscred.com

We believe three things absolutely:
1. Content marketing is necessary to efficiently build your business
2. Customer acquisition requires many simultaneous tactics
3. Blogging, email marketing, and social media are the main drivers
of brand engagement

Where Are We Coming From?
Last year we created 50 Stats You Need to Know About Content Marketing,
which garnered over 200,000 views. This year we’re taking it a step further,
demonstrating not only why you should invest in Content Marketing, but why you
need to as well.

Where Are We Going?
Content marketing is not a tactic, it’s a long-term strategy. The best content
marketers prove the value of their efforts, showing how content drives brand
awareness, lead generation, engagement, and sales.
The following slides will demonstrate the value of Content Marketing and how it
can help build your business. We hope you can walk away with a better
understanding of Content Marketing – and even convince your CEO – why this
should be your number one marketing priority.

This deck covers the following
themes:
1. Banner ads are the problem and content marketing is the answer
2. Businesses with a defined content strategy have smarter
marketing
3. Investing in a content marketing team is crucial to building your
business
4. Blogging and social media drive customer acquisition
5. Email marketing generates revenue
6. Visual, relevant, and social content builds brand engagement

The Claim:
Banner ads are the problem and content marketing is the answer

Consumers reject banner ads at
rates greater than 99%.
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

The average click-through rate
for display ads is 0.11%.
Source: http://coull.com/our-blog/digital-advertising-click-through-rates

Mobile banner ads have an
average click-through rate of
0.35%.
Source: http://coull.com/our-blog/digital-advertising-click-through-rates

58% of B2B marketers and 60%
of B2C marketers will increase
their content marketing budgets
in 2014.
Source: http://i0.wp.com/mktcdn.uberflip.com/final%20-%202014-trends-infographic-alternate-colours2.png

78% of CMOs believe custom
content is the future of
marketing.
Source: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/83-exceptional-social-media-marketing-statistics-2014-0846364#!bycEvI

The Claim:
Businesses with a defined content strategy are better marketers

80% of B2B marketers who have
a documented content strategy
are creating more content than
they did one year ago.
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

Average website conversion for
companies with defined content
processes is more than twice that
of companies without (5.9% vs.
3.8%).
Source: http://content.kapost.com/Aberdeen-ContentChaos

Using content-driven tactics
saves an average of 13% in overall
cost per lead.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

Testing content efforts propels
ROI improvements: Companies
who test are 75% more likely to
show ROI for content marketing
than those who fail to test their
strategies.
Source: http://offers.hubspot.com/2013-state-of-inbound-marketing

The Claim:
Investing in a content marketing team is crucial to building your
business

86% of the most effective B2B
marketers have someone who
oversees content marketing
strategy; however, only 46% of
less effective marketers do.
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

Marketers work in very small
teams: 81% of all content teams
contain fewer than six people.
Source: http://offers.hubspot.com/2013-state-of-inbound-marketing

Blogs require roughly 9% of
marketers’ total full-time staff
dedications and demand just 7%
of marketers’ total budgets.
Source: http://offers.hubspot.com/2013-state-of-inbound-marketing

16% of companies employ a full-time
social media specialist and
11% are paying a dedicated email
marketer.
Source: http://offers.hubspot.com/2013-state-of-inbound-marketing

The Claim:
Blogging drives customer acquisition

82% of marketers who blog see
positive ROI for their content-driven
marketing.
Source: http://www.stateofinboundmarketing.com/

79% of ‘best-in-class’ B2B
marketers rate blogs as the most
effective customer acquisition
tactic.
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

82% of marketers who blog daily
acquired a customer using their
blog, as opposed to 57% of
marketers who blog monthly.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

Brands that create 15 blog posts
per month average 1,200 new
leads per month.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

Blogs produce low-cost leads for
24% of the marketing
community.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

Companies that excel at lead
nurturing generate 50% more
sales-ready leads at 33% lower
cost.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30901/30-Thought-Provoking-Lead-Nurturing-Stats-You-Can-t-Ignore.aspx

The Claim:
Social media drives customer acquisition

77% of buyers say they are more
likely to buy from a company
whose CEO uses social media.
Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008929&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4

52% of marketers generated a
lead from Facebook in 2013.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

43% of marketers generated a
customer from LinkedIn in 2013.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

36% of marketers found a new
customer from Twitter this year.
Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/2013-inbound-marketing-stats-charts

Customers spend more money
when they convert from
Pinterest than any other social
referral.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/pinterest-marketing-guide-tips

The Claim:
Email marketing generates revenue

CMOs say email marketing:
generates brand awareness
(76%), increases customer
retention (75%), increases
website visits (73%), drives lead
generation (69%), and generates
sales (65%).
Source: http://www.icontact.com/blog/blog/email-marketing/

59% of B2B marketers say email
is the most effective channel in
generating revenue.
Source: http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/53/blog/docs/ebooks/120-marketing-stats-charts-and-graphs.pdf

Subscriber to lead conversion
rates increase 51% when video is
included in email marketing
campaigns.
Source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

Consumers who received email
marketing spend 83% more when
shopping. Their orders are 43%
larger and they order 28% more
often, too.
Source: http://www.icontact.com/blog/blog/email-marketing/

The word "exclusive" in email
promotional campaigns
increases unique open rates by
14%.
Source: http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/53/blog/docs/ebooks/120-marketing-stats-charts-and-graphs.pdf

The Claim:
Visual content builds brand engagement

The top three most widely
adopted content marketing
tactics are videos (87%), website
articles (86%), and in-person
events (85%).
Source: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/04/enterprise-2013-content-marketing-research/

90% of information transmitted
to the brain is visual, and visuals
are processed 60,000X faster in
the brain than text.
Source: http://www.billiondollargraphics.com/infographics.html

Photos are liked 2x more than
text updates, while videos are
shared 12x times more than links
and text posts combined.
Source: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/visual-content-marketing-infographic/

80% of your online visitors will
watch a video, while only 20%
will actually read content.
Source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

Video constitutes 50% of all
mobile online traffic and over
90% of internet traffic.
Source: http://www.diodedigital.com/work/onlinevideo2013/

58% of online video watchers
watch content on a social
network site.
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/datasets/july-2013-online-video-omnibus/

Infographics have seen the
largest year-over-year increase in
usage. In 2013, 38% of B2B
marketers were using
infographics, compared with 51%
in 2014.
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

The Claim:
Relevant content builds brand engagement

73% of online consumers get
frustrated with websites when
content appears that has nothing
to do with their interests.
Source: http://offers.hubspot.com/scare-your-boss-into-better-marketing

90% of consumers find custom
content useful and 78% believe
that organizations providing
custom content are interested in
building good relationships with
them.
Source: http://www.cmocouncil.org/content-roi-program-details.php

The most effective B2B
marketers tailor content to the
following categories: trends
(65%), decision maker profiles
(59%), company characteristics
(55%), buy-cycle stage (43%),
content preferences (21%),
competitor's content (11%).
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/B2B_Research_2014_CMI.pdf

Twitter users follow a median of
six brands on Twitter, looking for
things like interesting and fun
content, news and updates, and
discounts and promos.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/writing-great-tweets-scientific-guide

The Claim:
Social content builds brand engagement: Facebook

Among retail brands, posting 1-4
times a week on Facebook
generates 71% more engagement
Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/more-likes-on-facebook/

Facebook posts with photos get
53% more likes, 104% more
comments, and 84% more click-throughs.
Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/more-likes-on-facebook/

Facebook posts with 80
characters or less get 66% more
engagement.
Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/more-likes-on-facebook/

Facebook posts with questions
get 100% more comments.
Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/more-likes-on-facebook/

Among retail brands, posting 1-2
times on Facebook a day gets
40% more engagement.
Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/more-likes-on-facebook/

The Claim:
Social content builds brand engagement: Twitter

Twitter drives amplification for
brand messages. 78% of user
engagement with a brand’s
Tweets is in the form of
retweets.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/writing-great-tweets-scientific-guide

Tweets that specifically ask
followers to “retweet” receive
12x higher retweet rates than
those that do not.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/writing-great-tweets-scientific-guide

Content that is greater than 1500
words on average receives 68.1%
more tweets.
Source: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/02/06/how-content-marketing-affects-search-engine-rankings/

The Claim:
Social content builds brand engagement: LinkedIn

LinkedIn accounts for 64% of all
social referrals to corporate
homepages.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/7-vital-statistics-to-help-with-your-linkedin-marketing-strategy

60% of LinkedIn users are
interested in industry insights.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/7-vital-statistics-to-help-with-your-linkedin-marketing-strategy

Posting at least 20 times per
month can help reach 60% of
your unique audience.
Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/7-vital-statistics-to-help-with-your-linkedin-marketing-strategy

The Claim:
Content fuels our social web - Instagram

By using just 3 hashtags, brands
can gain a 110% increase in likes
on their Instagram posts.
Source: http://go.piqora.com/Dec2013InstagramStudyLP.html/

By using 5 hashtags, brands can
gain a 180% increase in likes on
their Instagram posts.
Source: http://go.piqora.com/Dec2013InstagramStudyLP.html/

The Claim:
Social content builds brand engagement: YouTube

90% of internet users say that
watching a video about a
product is helpful in the decision
process.
Source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

50% of executives watch
business-related YouTube videos
at least once a week.
Source: http://www.videobrewery.com/blog/18-video-marketing-statistics/

Website visitors are 64% more
likely to buy a product on an
online retail site after watching a
video.
Source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

About
NewsCred helps brands create content people love.
As the world’s most comprehensive content marketing platform, we provide the
strategy, technology, and content brands need to reach and engage their audiences –
in real-time at global scale.
NewsCred’s Content Marketing Cloud provides the first end-to-end solution for content
workflow, creation, publishing and analytics. In one place, brands gain unprecedented
access to the world’s largest content marketplace, including licensed content from over
4,500 publishers and original content from our award-winning journalist network.
Through NewsCred, global brands like Pepsi, P&G, General Electric, Dell and Diageo
have seen explosive growth in brand awareness, engagement and sales.
Want to transform your content marketing? Get in touch today.
sales@newscred.com | @NewsCred | www.newscred.com

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