As the landscape continues to change, so should content marketing strategy. The businesses that survive and thrive will be those that are most in tune with the latest trends. Knowing where and how to spend content budget effectively is a must.
To help keep you informed, we’ve put together a rundown of all the top content marketing statistics and trends that you need to know moving forward.
Although only 31% of marketers report it as being effective, 45% plan to invest in social responsibility campaigns.HubSpot
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61% of content marketers expect increasing spending towards in-person events in 2022.Content Marketing Institute
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42% of marketers plan to increase budget in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).HubSpot
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51% of content consumption derives from organic search.Kuno Creative
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36.7% of marketers report that creating engaging visual content consistently is one of their top struggles.Venngage
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94% of senior marketers thought their results were successful in 2021.Oracle
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33% of marketers who don’t use automation or artificial intelligence (AI) plan to in 2022.HubSpot
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The top three roles marketing leaders will prioritize hiring are content creators, content marketing managers and content strategists.HubSpot
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Only 12% of marketers are currently using voice search tactics as part of their strategy.HubSpot
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38% of marketers plan to leverage infographics for the first time in 2022.HubSpot
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76% of content marketers use organic traffic as a key metric to measuring content success. Only 22% use backlinks.SEMrush
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Virtual events are the B2B marketing channel that reported the best results in 2021.Content Marketing Institute
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Video is the most-used content format, with 59% of marketers that perform content marketing using video.HubSpot
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94% of content marketers are using social media as a distribution channel for their content.SEMrush
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Marketers report using sales, site traffic, and social engagement to determine the effectiveness of their content marketing strategy.HubSpot
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Interactive content, behind-the-scenes information, and content relating to brand values are the top three types of content.HubSpot
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97% of businesses include content marketing in their marketing strategy, but 42% report being in the early stages of their content marketing journey.SEMrush
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83% report they’d rather post less often to create better content than post more often with lower-quality content.HubSpot
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CHAPTER 2
Mobile Statistics
Now that everyone carries a computer in their pocket, a website optimized for mobile search is non-negotiable, as these statistics show.
People have twice as many interactions with brands on mobile than anywhere else.Think With Google
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53% of mobile users will close a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.Think With Google
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57% of users report they wouldn’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.Form Stack
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3 in 4 smartphone owners turn to search first to address their immediate needs.Think With Google
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U.S adults spend an average of 3 hours and 10 minutes per day on their smartphones.Insider Intelligence
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97% of U.S. adults report owning a cellphone.Pew Research
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Mobile ad spending is reported to be $341 billion in 2021, and expected to be almost $500 billion by 2024.Statista
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92.1% of internet users report accessing the internet on a mobile phone, compared to 71.2% who use a computer.Hoot Suite
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More than 58.99% of all web traffic worldwide is attributed to mobile queries.StatCounter
Email campaigns (87%) and educational content (77%) are the top content marketing methods B2B marketers use to nurture their audience.Content Marketing Institute
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Virtual events produced the best results for B2B marketers in 2021, with 58% of content marketers reporting strong outcomes.Content Marketing Institute
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63% of content marketers use their content strategy to build loyalty with their existing clients.Content Marketing Institute
37% of small organizations, 54% of medium-sized organizations, and 75% of large organizations report outsourcing part of their content marketing efforts.Content Marketing Institute
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Experts predict Twitter Spaces will be a growing area of audio investment.Social Media Examiner
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Only 66% of B2B marketers frequently prioritize their audience’s needs over their sales message when creating content. Of the most successful content marketers, 88% do.Content Marketing Institute
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47% of B2B marketers don’t measure ROI from their content marketing efforts.Point Visible
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40% of marketers who use automation leverage chatbots.HubSpot
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64% of B2B buyers report that podcasts were helpful at the beginning of their buying journey.DemandGen
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40% of B2B buyers said they engaged with at least 3 pieces of content before they contacted a sales rep.DemandGen
Globally, the B2C market is worth $3.67 trillion, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 9.7%. Content strategy for B2C markets differs from B2B markets, as evidenced in the statistics below.
Social media (94%), blog posts/short articles (80%) and email newsletters (74%) are the top three types of content B2C marketers used in 2018/2019.Content Marketing Institute
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40% of B2C content marketers only look at competitors once per year (or not at all).Conductor
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B2C marketers dedicate an average 26% of their total marketing budget towards content marketing. The most successful content marketers dedicate 40%.Content Marketing Institute
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Only 33% of B2C content marketers reported always utilizing data in their distribution strategies.Conductor
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62% of B2C marketers plan to use influencer marketing in 2022.HubSpot
When texting first came onto the market, a few Debbie downers predicted the death of email.
Fortunately for marketers, that didn’t happen. Instead, email marketing statistics show the value of a content marketing strategy that effectively leverages emails.
There are 4,140,000,000 email users worldwide.Statista
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Personalized subject lines in email outreach increased the unique open rates by 27% and lead to an 11% higher click-to-open rate.Experian Marketing Services
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Segmented email campaigns achieve 14.31% higher open rates than non-segmented email campaigns.MailChimp
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72% of consumers report that they are more inclined to open an email that offers a discount.Campaign Monitor
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86% of professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes.Hubspot
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For every $1 dollar marketers spend on email marketing, they receive an average ROI of $42.Litmus
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Email marketing revenue worldwide is reported to be more than $8,490,000,000.Statista
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The best time to send emails is between 6-9am PST on Monday.Siege Media
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There are more than 319,000,000,000 emails sent per day worldwide.Statista
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61% of consumers would like to be contacted by brands through email.Adobe Campaign
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Open rate is the most frequently tracked email metric (95%), while only55% of businesses track conversions from email marketing.Hubspot
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CHAPTER 6
Video Marketing Statistics
Video marketing statistics are clear: Video is only gaining in popularity thanks to social networks like TikTok and YouTube. Whether animation or live action, video production can level up your content marketing efforts.
29% of marketers expect to use short-form video for the first time in 2022.Hubspot
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Most companies with video marketing strategy (49%) use a mix of in-house and agency-created production to create their videos.Hubspot
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Social media experts predict that YouTube shorts are not an area you should focus in 2022.Social Media Examiner
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81% of adults report using YouTube, the highest of any social network.Pew Research
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YouTube is the consumer’s leading source of video content in the U.S. at 75%, followed by Facebook at 64%.Hubspot
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97% of consumers and online marketers report that video helps customers understand their product.Wyzowl
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When purchasing online, consumers ranked video as the #1 most useful type of content.Animoto
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After publishing a video on social media, 93% of businesses acquired a new client.Animoto
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93% of consumers thought watching a product-related video was useful during the buyer journey.Animoto
In one study, 94% of the respondents reported using video to make a purchase decision.Lemonlight
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67% of consumers report that watching a marketing video on social media has influenced a purchasing decision.PR Newswire
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In one survey, 99% of respondents said they enjoy watching video content from brands online.Lemonlight
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Quality over quantity: the largest segment of brands (31%) only release 2-4 videos a month.Hubspot
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89% of global marketers plan to spend the same or more in short form video.Hubspot
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65% of customers report viewing videos at least once every day.Animoto
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81% of marketers plan to include video content in their marketing strategy over the next few years.Lemonlight
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86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, which is a 63% increase over the past three years.Wyzowl
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The top three social channels for video content ROI are YouTube (33%), Facebook (26%), and Instagram (33%).Animoto
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CHAPTER 7
Blogging Statistics
Perhaps the most famous component of content marketing, blogging, will never go out of style. What will change, though, is the type of content you publish on your blog. For a more detailed look at all things blogging, check out the latest blogging stats here.
20 billion WordPress pages are viewed by over 409 million people each month.WordPress.com
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41% of bloggers create content around original research.Orbit Media
38% of bloggers who spend more 6+ hours on writing a post report “strong results”.Orbit Media
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The average blog post published in 2021 is 1416 words long. Bloggers who write 3000+ words (36%) report the “strongest results.”Orbit Media
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In 2021, 22% of bloggers published new posts on a weekly basis.Orbit Media
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WordPress users alone produce 70 million new posts each month.WordPress.com
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Bloggers report that their most effective content types are gated content and roundups.Orbit Media
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43% of readers admittedly “skim” blog posts.Hubspot
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Marketers who prioritize marketing efforts (e.g. making blogging a serious priority) are 13 times more likely to see positive ROI.Hubspot
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47% of bloggers typically include two or three images in their posts. Only 3% report of including ten or more.Orbit Media
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55% of marketers say blog content creation is their number one inbound marketing priority.Hubspot
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Influencer outreach was seen as the most effective promotion channel among bloggers.Orbit Media
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Only one in five bloggers report generating strong results from their efforts.Orbit Media
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47% of B2B customers view three to five posts before talking to a salesperson.Demand Gen Report
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Long-form content (3000–10,000 words) gets shared more than short-form content.OkDork
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90% of typical blog posts contain images, while only 60% contain lists and 59% statistics.Orbit Media
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There are 600,000,000 blogs on the internet today.WebsiteSetup.org
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Each year, bloggers spend more and more time creating content. In 2021, bloggers reported spending 4 hours on average for a blog post.Orbit Media
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76% of bloggers create how-to articles, the most common content type.Orbit Media
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CHAPTER 8
Podcast Statistics
While no one can agree on who exactly invented podcasting or what the first podcast actually was, content marketers can agree that podcasts are a powerful way to build brand awareness and grow your business.
Consumers from ages 35–54 are the most common monthly podcast listeners.Edison Research
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An estimated 120 million people listen to podcasts each month.Statista
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The popular listening brand is Spotify at 31%, followed by Pandora at 18%.Edison Research
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68 million Americans reported having listened to online audio in 2021.Edison Research
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Over the past two years, the number of podcast titles and episodes has surged by approximately 200%.Nielsen
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The reported podcast listener breakdown by gender is 52% men and 48% women.Edison Research
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27% of monthly podcast consumers (18+ years old) have attended a four year college. 34% have attained some grad school or advanced degree.Podcast Insights
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48% of podcast listening is at home, 26% is done while driving.Edison Research
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17% of marketers plan to incorporate podcasts into their content marketing strategy.State of Inbound
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The average time spent listening to online audio was 16 hours, 14 minutes per week.Edison Research
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43% of monthly podcast users listen to an entire podcast episode.Edison Research
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CHAPTER 9
ROI Statistics
It’s no secret that quality content marketing has one of the most significant marketing ROIs out there. Don’t take our word for it — these content marketing ROI statistics speak for themselves.
Businesses that blog see lead growth of 165% compared to companies that don't, which only see a 73% lead growth.Hubspot
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When blogging is part of your marketing strategy, a positive ROI is 13 times more likely.HubSpot
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Compared to other types of material, infographics are three times more likely to be shared.Jeff Bullas
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Companies with successful content marketing strategies focused on improving content quality (55%), optimizing for SEO (46%), and including video and other visual content mediums (41%).SEMRush
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79% of the least effective businesses don't have a recorded content marketing strategy, compared to 60% of top performers.Content Marketing Institute
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Compared to sponsored search advertising, content marketing tactics provide over 400% more leads per $1,000 over a 36-month period.PR Web
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CHAPTER 10
SEO Statistics
It doesn't matter how great your content is if the search engines aren't seeing it. Poor SEO can keep great content in the bowels of the internet, and great SEO can help launch it to new heights.
67.6% of all clicks go to the top five organic results.Zero Limit Web
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Google's top result typically has 3.8 times more backlinks than results 2-10.Backlinko
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Direct traffic accounts for 22% of all website traffic in 2022. Organic search (17%) and social media (16%) make up the rest of the top three website traffic sources.HubSpot
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Position on the SERP matters: in comparison to a page in position #10, the #1 organic result is 10 times more likely to be clicked.Backlinko
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Google presently has 83.84% of the global market share of search engines.StatCounter
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Pages whose title tags are between 40-60 characters have an 8.9% higher CTR than pages whose title tags are shorter.Backlinko
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CHAPTER 11
Social Media Marketing Statistics
Social media started as a way to connect to family and friends but it’s grown into an entertainment and information platform businesses may ignore — at their peril. Focus your social media strategy where your customers are rather than trying to be present on every channel.
Use these social media marketing statistics to guide you, whether you’re a pro or just getting your feet wet.
Content marketers report the top three most effective types of content on social media to be funny (80%), interactive (77%), and authentic/behind-the-scenes (68%).Hubspot
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In American companies with over 100 employees, 91.9% were expected to use social media marketing in 2021.Business of Apps
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Social media marketing was either somewhat or highly effective in 2021 according to 77% of social media marketers.HubSpot
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According to 82% of B2B marketers, LinkedIn brings in more leads than any other social media platform.LinkedIn
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82% of marketers reuse material across social media platforms.HubSpot
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LinkedIn accounts for more than 46% of all social media traffic to business websites.LinkedIn
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Globally the average person uses 7.5 social media platforms each month.Hoot Suite
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Facebook, YouTube, Whatsapp, Instagram, WeChat, and TikTok are the top five most-used social media platforms.Hoot Suite
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76.1% of internet users report using a social media platform for brand or product research.Hoot Suite
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CHAPTER 12
DEI Marketing Statistics
For any business looking to succeed, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is more than just a buzzword: It is a do-or-die marketing strategy according to the latest research.
70% of Gen Z are more likely to trust brands that feature diversity in their advertising.Microsoft Advertising
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Of younger millennials, 54% believe retailers have a duty to address social and political issues related to diversity.Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey
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57% of consumers are loyal to companies that actively seek to correct social injustices in their business practices.Deloitte
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An overwhelming majority (93%) of marketers feel inclusive marketing is crucial to business success.iProspect
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67% of ethnic minorities report they trust a company more when they see themselves in their marketing campaigns.Microsoft Advertising
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The majority of people (71%) expect businesses to showcase inclusivity and diversity in online advertising.Meta Research
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49% of Gen Z no longer supports a brand that didn't align with their values.Microsoft Advertising
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94% of Gen Z expects businesses to speak out on social issues.Deloitte
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Despite the fact that consumers are seeing more inclusivity in ads, 54% of them still believe their culture is not adequately represented in online marketing and 64% wish to see more diversity.Meta Research
