One habit that isn't changing anytime soon is that most people take time to research a company, product, or service on the internet before making a purchase. Digital marketing is a necessity for companies. Often, your website is your first opportunity to impress potential clients. For today's consumer, 67%-80% of the buyer’s journey is digital.

A well-rounded content marketing strategy will help you connect with your ideal buyer, move potential customers through a buyer's journey, and delight your clients to improve retention.

Here are the Content Marketing Strategies You Can't Ignore 

Write Blog Content

A well-written blog article will clearly convey your message to your reader and search engines. It's important for both to understand the context of your content. By utilizing SEO best practices, you will increase your content's opportunities to show up in search queries for different keywords relevant to your industry or niche. It takes time and money to develop high-quality content. However, it's the cornerstone of every digital marketing strategy because of all the different ways you can repurpose a long-form piece of content.

Blog Stats to Note for 2023:

• Businesses with a blog receive 55% more visitors to their website than those that don’t. Source
• Businesses with a blog produce 67% more leads every month. Source
• 77% of people regularly read blogs. Source
• 61% of online users in the US have completed a purchase after reading a blog post. Source

Video Marketing

Adding a video is one of the quickest ways to enhance your written content and greatly improve your opportunities to rank in search. There are two ways to include written and video content together in a blog post. If you start with the video, you can add a transcript of the video's spoken words. Need a simple video editor? Type Studio enables you to edit videos simply by editing the transcribed text.

If you start with the written content, you can add a video to provide deeper content on a topic. This may draw in visual learners who don't have the time or patience for longer blog posts.

Another great way to use video marketing is on social media. Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, and Google web stories all offer visual opportunities to connect with potential leads in unique ways.

Video Stats to Note for 2023:

• According to recent research, video utilized as a marketing tool has assisted over 80% of marketers in generating leads.
• In 2022, streaming online videos and downloads accounts for 82% of internet traffic.
• More than 75% of all videos are viewed on mobile devices.
• LinkedIn users are 20 times more likely to share a video than other types of content.

Source: PersonifyCorp

Google Web Stories

Google Web Stories are video-first pieces. A web story allows audiences to interact through tappable pages featuring audio, images, and text.  

Web Stories are incredibly versatile and appear in standard Google Search results and as carousels in Google Discover. They can be embedded in newsletters and shared on social media accounts as well as YouTube Shorts. The ability to repurpose the content is a bonus.

According to Google, the web story styles that work the best are stories focused on evergreen information. Focus on first-person narratives, live stories, educational and experiential stories, quizzes, and polls.

Web Story Stats to Note for 2023:

• Web stories are among all the shared stories on platforms
• 3% of stories are text only
• 13% are short videos
• 84% of web stories incorporate some form of visual content
• People tend to use 15 pages per web story

Source: Storifyme

Audio Content

If you want to expand your audience and video isn't your preference, consider developing a podcast or recording an eBook. Podcasts are constantly growing in popularity, along with audiobooks. While audiobooks are sometimes more of an investment, they are becoming more accessible as libraries invest in Libby and Hoopla memberships.

Podcast Stats to Note for 2023:

• 17% of podcasters record videos of their episodes
• 82.4% of podcast listeners spend an average of 7 hours a week listening to their favorite podcast listening app.
• 50% of surveyed Americans between 12 and 34 years old listened to a podcast in the last month.

Source: Neil Schaffer

Audiobook Stats to Note for 2023:

• Audiobook revenue in the United States was $1.6 billion in 2021, a 23.1% increase compared to the previous year.
• Over the last 5 years, audiobook revenue in the United States has increased by 113.3%, making it the fastest-growing book format in the US.
• As of March 2022, 9% of all book sales in the United States are attributed to audiobook format.

 Source: Wordsrated.com

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a key part of a holistic content marketing strategy because it allows you to personalize and target your communication with each contact. Email is used for every aspect of a customer's buyer's journey, starting with lead generation. You can continue to engage your customers and delight them by offering insider discounts on new products or services.

Email Stats to Note for 2023:

• 81% of recipients prefer to open emails on their smartphones.
• 21% of recipients open emails on their tablets.
• 42.3% of people will delete an email if it’s not optimized for mobile.
• 320% more revenue is driven from automated emails than non-automated ones.

Source: OptinMonster

Visual Content is Key

The visual learning style popularized by Neil D. Fleming is one of three distinct types. Fleming explains that visual learners need to see information to learn it. This "seeing" takes many forms from spatial awareness, photographic memory, color/tone, brightness/contrast, and other visual information. Include visual content in your content marketing such as infographics, photos, graphs, charts, slide decks, and web stories. One easy way to incorporate visual content is to have a custom image with every blog post.

Visual Content Stats to Note for 2023:

• Using colored infographics can boost a reader’s attention span and comprehensibility by 82%.
• Readers retain 65% of the information when it is paired with a relevant infographic.
• 50% of users are more focused on content with images.
• Users are 30 times more likely to initiate a payment when prompted by visuals.

Source: DemandSage

Social Media Marketing

As you strive to extend your digital reach, it's helpful to leverage social media. Social media channels like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn are excellent places to connect with your target audience, share content, and answer questions.

It's essential to spend time developing a buyer persona. This way, you will know which social media platforms will best connect your brand with your target buyer. You will want to plan out your social media posts and look ahead and consider ways you can incorporate interactive content such as polls.

Social Media Stats to Note for 2023:

• Only 33% of adults have "some or a lot of trust" in social media
• Over 75% of the world’s population aged 13+ uses social media
• The average user will visit 7.2 social media platforms each month
• The main reasons people use social media are to stay in touch with friends and family, fill their spare time, and read the news

Source: Hootsuite

Global Social Media Monthly Active Users as of January 2023:

Facebook – 2.958 million 

YouTube – 2.514 million

WhatsApp – 2 Million

Instagram – 2 Million 

TikTok – 1051 Million

Twitter – 556 Million

Pinterest – 445 Million

Source: DataReportal

As you develop your content marketing strategy, consider how to incorporate each of these aspects into your overall digital marketing efforts. If you're looking to delegate your content marketing strategy development or need help thinking through how to implement your ideas best, give us a call. We're content marketing experts who specialize in customized strategies.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on February 11, 2021, and has been updated with fresh content.