Digital Marketing Statistics: Surprising Facts You Need To Know

Nowadays, digital marketing statistics soar high as our digital trend continues to evolve. As a result, 2021’s digital marketing landscape has become more competitive than ever. Marketers are eager to stay ahead of the game as they take advantage of the search engine optimization and social marketing perks. However, the majority pays attention to prioritize personalized and a more integrated customer experience. This approach can be complex as consumers express concerns about data privacy. 

Below is a compilation of digital marketing statistics to help you execute your strategies for 2021. 

Digital Marketing Statistics: A Competitive Industry

As digital marketing rises, digital advertising spendings also soar high. This 2021, the overall digital ad spending worldwide will reach more than $389 billion. According to eMarketer: 

• As we enter 2021, our worldwide digital ad spending will experience 2.4% growth.
• Experts foresee that our global digital ad spending will bounce back with at least 17% growth throughout the year.  

Due to the ongoing competition between brands, we all know the increase in demand for digital ads will be reflected in its price. Currently, the average CPA or cost per action is worth $49 for every paid search. Meanwhile, the average cost for every display ad is now worth $75.

As for social media ads, the US reached more than $43 billion worth spending last 2020. It shows a 20% increase compared to 2019. Going back, the sudden increase in ad spending is due to the effect of COVID-19 on our eCommerce. Indeed, all of us experience first-hand how businesses scramble to enter the online market.

 As a result, it completely changed the eCommerce industry, closely affecting digital marketing and ad spendings. As businesses managed to establish their footing rapidly, the eCommerce industry continues to evolve. According to the ROI Revolution, it is expected to surpass all our expectations until 2025 and is expected to bring in more than $843 billion worth of sales this year. 

Digital Marketing and Social Media

Facebook

According to Business Insider, US Facebook ads exceeded more than $31 billion worth of ad spending. It represents at least a 5% increase compared to 2019. 

LinkedIn

According to eMarketer, the ad spending in LinkedIn reached more than $1.02 billion. Compared to Facebook’s ad spending growth, LinkedIn experienced a 40% growth since 2016. It shows that LinkedIn proves to be one of the growing advertising channels for professionals worldwide, especially for B2B marketers.  

Mobile Ads

• In general, mobile display ads generated around $61 billion last 2020. It showcased at least a 22% increase compared to 2019 (eMarketer). 
• According to Statista, mobile ad spending worldwide will reach more than $247 billion by 2022. 

Digital Marketing Strategies

According to Dialogtech, marketers are using ineffective marketing strategies. Here are a few digital marketing statistics that show marketer’s ineffective approach. 

• As per HubSpot’s statistics, only 61% of marketers are convinced to have an effective marketing strategy. On the other hand, even though most marketers doubt their approach, they still invest large amounts for digital ad spendings. 
• Proving the ROI is the number one concern for at least 40% of marketers (HubSpot). 
• According to Forrester, 58% of marketers find targeting and segmenting their audience as challenging. It shows their frustration to acquire first-party resources. Due to this, marketers fail to deliver a personalized approach for consumer experiences. 
• Meanwhile, 57% of marketers admit that it’s challenging to optimize marketing decisions. Also, marketers feel that they lack the data they need to guide customers through the marketing funnel. 

It’s evident that marketers still struggle to cope and analyze the data concerning their consumers. The number one reason appears to be the lack of quality data, which results in a barrier in lead generation. At least 42% of B2B marketing professionals admit to their struggles to generate quality data (BrightTALK). 

Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

According to Dialogtech, omnichannel personalization drives better marketing results. Omnichannel is defined as a multi-channel type of sales approach. It provides an integrated and more personal experience for customers. 

This type of approach is immersive and prioritizes the customer at its core instead of your brand’s product. It aims to deliver a seamless experience for the consumer as they shop online through different mediums. According to ClickZ, here are the benefits of utilizing an omnichannel approach: 

• It generates at least an 18.96% engagement rate. Meanwhile, a single-channel strategy only generates a 5.4% engagement rate.
• It produces more than a 250% rate of purchase compared to single-channel campaigns. 
• The customer retention rate is 90% higher when using an omnichannel approach.  
• According to 80% of consumers, they will engage with a business if it offers a personalized experience. 

Third-Party Data and Personalization Issues

• According to eMarketer, 81% of marketers are worried about using third-party data as it raises their consumer’s privacy concerns. 
• As per Signal’s statistics, 82% of marketers prioritizes gathering first-party data. It means that marketers are changing their strategies as they tap into internal data. 

First-Party Data Through Consumer Phone Calls

As a solution to third-party data and privacy concerns, marketers opt to leverage first-party data through consumer phone calls. 

• According to BIA/Kelsey, mobile ads generated more than 162 billion phone calls in 2019.
• After running Google search inquiries, consumers mostly call brands to inquire about their services (LSA). 
• At least 28% of internet users perform a local voice search to call a business. (BrightLocal).  
• Compared to web leads, calls convert ten to fifteen times more revenue (BIA/Kelsey). 
• According to Forrest, 30% of calls convert more than web leads. 

Although business calls are deemed unimportant because of our digital age, it is a valuable tool for conversion. However, most successful conversion happens as long as consumers are the ones who approach a brand for inquiries.

Conversation Intelligence Data and Revenue

As a strategy to generate first-party data, businesses tap into conversations they receive from consumers. By doing this, it helps marketers to deliver a more personalized experience to their clients. Furthermore, it’s a proven strategy to drive more revenue. Here are some insights from Forrester: 

• At least 48% of marketers verified an enhanced customer experience after scaling data from their enterprise conversation.  
• 43% of marketers expect to improve customer retention as they process first-party data from consumers. 

This type of approach shows that it’s essential to pay attention to your consumers and use your internal data. By doing this, you’ll gain valuable insights that will help you mold your digital marketing strategies. 

Conclusion

As we go over the digital marketing statistics and trends, it only proves its evident popularity. The demand for digital ads is higher than ever as marketers try to keep up with the evolving trends. We know for sure that the number one priority is to give consumers a more personal and immersive approach. We’re at the digital age point where all our search queries, link clicks, and emails are closely tracked. It’s no wonder there’s a growing concern about data privacy. 

In the end, COVID-19 left a lasting impact on our eCommerce industry. It completely rules over the rapid change in our digital marketing, content strategy, and digital ad spendings. The effect is expected to completely mold our digital trends into a more personal approach as the competition between brands grows more competitive.