With the new year comes the time for making resolutions, lifestyle changes, and just having a new outlook on life. Why not also hit refresh on your online marketing in 2021? In this post, we round-up some of the most exciting digital marketing statistics we could find on the Internet.

4,083,105,000

The internet is BIG. Over 40% of the world’s population has access to the amazing thing we call the Internet. In 1995, it was less than 1%.
Now in 2019, there are an estimated 4,083,105,000 Internet Users in the world. Internet Live Stats has a real-time visualization of what this looks like. #OddlySatisfying

Search Marketing Statistics for 2019

We cannot talk about the Internet or digital marketing without talking about Google, responsible for 90% of all searches in the US (if you combine Google Search + Google Image Search). Globally, there were an estimated 3.5 billion searches per day, meaning there could have very well been more than 1.2 trillion searches in 2018 (keep earning those backlinks people).
What were people searching for in 2018? Thanks to Google Trends Year In Search 2018, we can find out.

Search Trends in 2018

Zero-Click Searches

We also now see an uptick in no-click searches. For example, a user searching for “elements of literary analysis” might get a search results page like the screen below, where they find their answer immediately and leave the page, never even clicking on a single result. No clicks for anyone. No one wins, except Google, and the searcher, of course. Google continues to add more and more search features like this, including knowledge graphs, carousels, local packs, and more.

The “no-click” phenomenon seems to be more prevalent on mobile. 61% of mobile searches result in no click, in contrast to 34% of desktop searches. This doesn’t mean that SEO is dead, it just means you may need help navigating the waters – and help understanding your marketing reports. For instance, a dip in traffic may not mean you’re doing anything wrong, but that SERP features are crowding your targeted queries!
If you want to keep up with what SERP features are creeping in on your keywords, SEMRush has some great tools to help.

Keep It Local

Google searches are trending more and more local.

• 46% of all searches on Google are seeking local information.
• 72% of consumers, who search for local businesses, end up visiting stores within five miles.
• 92% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Statistics for 2019

But what about on-page? What are trends showing when users land on a website? 90% of searchers haven’t made their mind up about a brand before starting their search. This means once someone does click on your website, you’ve got a lot of convincing to do! The art of conversion is a growing topic in the world of digital marketing.

• Using videos on landing pages will increase conversions by 86%.
• For every $92 spent acquiring customers, only $1 is spent converting them.
• Only about 22% of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rates.

Ecommerce Statistics for 2019

It’s not just B2C anymore. B2B ecommerce sales are expected to outgrow B2C sales, reaching 6.7 trillion USD by 2020. B2C isn’t slowing down either. According to US Department of Commerce reports, 53% of global internet users made an online purchase in 2016.

Retargeting works.

We can’t escape advertising on the web today. It literally follows us around the internet. Don’t believe me? Add something to your cart on Amazon and try surfing Instagram the next two days without seeing that product promoted in your feed. It’s inevitable. But does it work?

• Retargeting makes it 70% likelier to convert previous visitors into paying customers.
• Retargeting can result in a 147% increase in average conversion rates.
• Retargeting can increase your branded search results by over 500%.
• Retargeting can deliver a 700% increase in overall site visitors.
  Source: ReadyCloud.com

Blogging & Content Marketing Statistics for 2019

Sales & marketing have invaded the blog. Blogging used to be just for stay-at-home moms who wanted to share their latest slow cooker recipe. But in recent years, the blog and content strategy has been one of the most widely used sales and digital marketing tools. And there’s a great reason why… content marketing gets three times more leads than outbound marketing, and costs 62% less. Talk about a win-win!

A More Desirable Ad Method

Users want to do their own research before engaging with a sales representative. This is becoming more and more prevalent in the buyer’s journey, and it’s the primary motivation behind using inbound marketing rather than a traditional outbound approach.

• 70% of consumers want to learn about products through content as opposed to traditional ad methods.
• 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.
• 96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders.

Podcasts

Podcasts are also on the rise. With smart speakers and wireless headphone technology becoming more popular and affordable, the demand for audio media is growing, creating yet another viable digital marketing channel.

• 17% of marketers plan to add podcasting to their marketing efforts in the next 12 months.
• Monthly podcast listeners grew from 24% of Americans to 26% year over year.
• Podcast listeners are more likely to own a smart speaker.
• 69% of podcast listeners agreed that podcast ads made them aware of new products or services.

Social Media Statistics for 2019

Facebook continues to dominate all social media with just over 65% of social media user share, although, steadily declining since 2016, when they boasted over an 85% share.  Instagram, however, has been booming, hitting 1 billion monthly active users in late 2018.

• The average LinkedIn user spends 17 minutes on the site per month.
• As of January 2018, the age group with the most Instagram users worldwide is 18-24, followed by 25-34-year-olds.
• Instagram’s user count is growing close to 5% per quarter.

The Robots Are Taking Over

Most social media users are aware that bots are among us, but it may surprise you just how proliferating fake bot accounts are in the past year.

• Justin Beiber (@justinbeiber) reached 105 Million twitter followers, but sadly enough over 13 million of those are fake.

Video Marketing Statistics for 2019

With smartphone cameras becoming better and better, come the rise of social video in marketing. Not only are phone cameras better, but video production, hosting, and streaming costs are declining, due to higher demand. This means more and more small businesses are using video in their digital marketing strategies.

Why not, too? We already know that using video on a landing page can increase conversions by more than 86%.

• 64% of consumers say watching a marketing video on Facebook has influenced a purchase decision of theirs in the last month.
• 65% of senior executives navigate to a site after viewing a related YouTube video.
• YouTube continues to dominate the social video market.

Email Marketing Statistics for 2019

Ah, the old and reliable email: everyone’s best friend. And although it might be one of the oldest forms of digital marketing on this list, it’s certainly still a powerhouse. Active email accounts are expected to hit 5.6 billion this year.

• 79% of B2B marketers credit email as the most effective distribution channel for demand gen efforts.
• Segmented campaigns have a 14.31% higher open rate than non-segmented campaigns.
• Best time to send a marketing email is 11 AM ET.

Also, it’s helpful to note that every industry’s benchmarks are a bit different, but MailChimp did a good job sorting out the numbers.

Advertising Statistics for 2019

87% of people say there are more ads than two years ago. Facebook Ads, search ads, display ads… Ads are literally everywhere. They have seemed to fill up every lonely pixel on the web. We even—quite intentionally—put one just below this paragraph.

Ad Blockers

With more ads come more ad blockers. Adblocker Plus, the most popular ad blocking app, has reached 500 million downloads worldwide. Google Chrome recently announced that their built-in ad blocker will go global on July 9, 2019.

PPC

• The average conversion rate in Google Ads across all industries is 3.75% on the search network and 0.77% on the display network.
• The average cost-per-click in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 on the search network and $0.63 on the display network.
  Source: WordStream

Learn about other important Google Ads metrics to keep an eye on.

Video Advertising

• If video and text are both available on the same page, 72% of people will watch the video to learn about a product or service rather than read the text.
• By 2021, the video advertising will grow to a $22 billion industry.

Ever wonder what skills are most important for marketing? Find out the essential marketing skills needed for success in 2019.