Content Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in [2025] for Explosive Growth

Is content still the king?

Only three years ago, most people would have said yes without a second thought. But now, with people’s attention spans getting shorter and AI becoming the go-to information sidekick, many businesses are unsure whether content marketing is still effective for winning over customers.

After exhaustive research and analysis, we can put this debate to rest. 

The latest content marketing statistics show that content marketing is still an effective way to reach and close clients.

Let’s look at the trends and stats you must keep in mind as you prepare and refine your 2025 content marketing strategy.

General content marketing statistics for 2025

How many companies use content marketing?

Our content marketing statistics show that 90% of organizations still use content marketing. And it’s not surprising. This type of marketing is effective on many fronts, one being customer retention. 

According to one study, content marketing ranks as the 3rd most effective digital marketing tactic for customer retention.

Which platforms are most used by businesses to distribute content?

Forty-three percent of marketers use X (formerly Twitter), and 42% use Facebook. LinkedIn (35%), YouTube (34%), TikTok (22%), and Instagram (21%) are also popular choices among marketers. 

Surprisingly, 3% of marketers still use Tumblr for content marketing. 

Facebook and Instagram are the top platforms for organic content and paid ads.

Content marketing ROI

How do businesses feel about the returns from content marketing?

Seven in ten businesses are pretty happy with the ROI from their content marketing efforts. 

A 2025 Content Marketing Institute(CMI) study reveals the specific business impacts: 

• 87% of marketers increased brand awareness with the help of content marketing initiatives
• 74% generated demand or leads through content marketing
• 49% directly attributed the revenue growth to their content marketing

Other surveys have found content marketing to be 62% cheaper and generate 3X more leads compared to outbound marketing. 

Content creation and distribution statistics

Organic social is the most popular content distribution channel for most marketers. However, 76% of B2C marketers have used blogs to share content, making it the second most popular distribution channel.

What about the content formats? Which is most popular among marketers?

More than half of marketers (55%) claim that short-form articles and long-form articles are the highest-performing content types.

On the other hand, 45% of marketers say video is the top-performing content format.

Specifically, short-form video is expected to deliver the best ROI in 2025, with 21% of marketers predicting strong returns.

Other popular formats include:

• Images: (19%)
• Live-streamed video: (16%)
• Podcasts/Audio content: (13%)
• User-generated content: (11%)

Cost of content marketing in 2025

How much does content marketing cost?

Here’s what we found while researching the latest statistics on content marketing.

Content marketing costs between $5,001 and $10,000 per month. How does this compare to the total marketing budget?

In a WebFx study, 55% of businesses admitted to dedicating between 11% and 50% of their marketing budget to content marketing. 

Social media accounts for the largest portion of content marketing budgets. 

From the study, 31% of businesses spend $1,001 to $3,000 monthly on social media content, while 23% allocate $501 to $1,000 monthly for blog content.

AI in content marketing

Now, let’s deal with the elephant in the room.

Just how much has AI infiltrated content marketing?

The short answer is a lot! 

CMI reports that 89% of marketers are already using AI tools. 

How exactly:

• 62% of marketers use AI to brainstorm new topics
• 53% use it to summarize content
• 44% use AI for drafting
• 41% to optimize content
• 38% use AI for writing email copy
• 38% to create social content
• 32% use it to create outlines

But writing isn’t the only way marketers use AI. About 12% use it to analyze marketing data, and 10% to create buyer personas. 

Visuals are yet another way marketers rely on AI, although to a lesser extent. For instance, only 9% of marketers use AI to create graphics, and an even smaller percentage (4%) use it for video creation.

AI use in B2B marketing

AI is not limited to just the B2C market. Business buyers are also taking advantage of this technology.

The same CMI report reveals that 54% of B2B marketing teams use AI ad hoc, primarily for testing, though it’s not yet widely integrated. 

Only 19% of B2B marketers have AI integrated into their daily processes.

However, 56% of top-performing marketers using AI say it leads to more efficient workflows. Additionally, 55% see improved content optimization from AI.

B2B content marketing statistics

B2B marketers are going all-in on content marketing, with only 7% holding out on creating a strategy. 

However, more than half (58%) of marketers admit their content strategy is just ‘moderately effective.’

Most B2B companies have already recognized the need for dedicated content teams, with 76% bringing specialists in-house. Still, 24% of businesses are trying to manage their content marketing without dedicated staff.

On the content side, B2B marketers were most successful with videos, case studies, and white papers. 

As expected, 85% of marketers cited LinkedIn as the best-performing social media platform. Facebook was the 2nd best, and YouTube 3rd. 

Video content marketing statistics

A recent Wyzowl survey of 205 marketers reveals just how integral video has become in today's content marketing mix.

Eighty-nine percent of companies now use video as a key marketing tool. The confidence in video is evident, too, because 95% of video marketers consider it vital to their overall strategy. 

Looking ahead, 93% of marketers plan to either maintain or increase their video marketing budget in 2025.

Interestingly, while video marketing is booming, most businesses are focusing on organic reach. Only 36% of marketers have invested in paid video ads.

Video types and creation

Here’s how marketers create videos for marketing:

• 54% of marketers primarily create live-action videos
• 73% of marketers have created explainer videos, making it the most popular use case
• 51% of video marketers have used AI tools to help create or edit their videos
• 51% of marketers spend a third or less of their budget on video content

Customer response to video content marketing

Consumer behavior strongly validates video marketing investment. 

Almost all consumers (98%) have watched explainer videos to learn about products or services. 

The impact of videos on purchasing decisions is mindblowing. In fact, 87% of consumers have been convinced to buy from a brand after watching a video. 

Fortunately for video marketers, (83%) of consumers actually want to see more videos from brands in 2025. 

What keeps marketers from using video marketing? 

The main barrier for 37% of marketers is not knowing where to start with video marketing. Still, 68% of marketers who don't currently use video plan to start in 2025.

Podcast content marketing statistics

Since 2014, podcast listening time has increased by 450%. More interestingly, nearly half (46%) of weekly podcast listeners have made a purchase after hearing an advertisement on a podcast.

If you’re still not sold on podcast content marketing, get this: Podcast listeners tend to be more employed, better educated, and have higher incomes than the general U.S. population. 

In other words, podcast listeners are prime targets for your advertising efforts.

Content marketing challenges

What's holding B2B teams back?

It's two things. 

Many teams lack clear goals, and many others simply lack enough resources to execute their plans.

Other key challenges for content marketing teams:

• Measuring content results (47%)
• Aligning content with the buyer's journey (45%)
• Aligning sales and marketing (43%)
• Communicating across organizational silos (40%)

The future of content marketing

In 2025, content marketing will look very different from what we would have imagined a decade ago.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect based on our latest content marketing statistics:

• AI Takes Center Stage: According to the current stats, 89% of marketers already use AI tools. This trend will only grow as teams integrate AI more into their daily workflows.
• Authenticity will become non-negotiable: Brands must balance automation with authentic storytelling as marketing becomes more AI-aided.
• Video will be the top content format: 98% of consumers watch explainer videos, and 87% are convinced to buy a product after watching branded content. Video is no longer optional.
• Voice search optimization: Content strategies are shifting to accommodate the growing use of voice-activated devices. Marketers will continue to adapt their content to match natural speech patterns and conversational queries.
• More user-generated content (UGC): As B2B and B2C brands adopt AI for content creation, UGC will become increasingly valuable for building authentic connections with audiences. 

FAQs

What is the success rate of content marketing?

70% of businesses report positive ROI from content marketing. It's most effective for brand awareness (87% success rate) and lead generation (74% success rate).

What are the 4 Ps of content marketing?

The 4 Ps of content marketing include:

• Product: Creating content that aligns with the needs and interests of your target audience
• Price: Offering content that is both accessible and appropriately priced
• Place: Distributing content through the right platforms
• Promotion: The visibility tactics you use to drive traffic to your content

What are the 3 C's of content marketing?

The 3 Cs of content marketing are:

• Company: Your brand identity and what you can authentically offer
• Customers: Who you're trying to reach and what they need
• Competitors: What others are doing and how you can stand out

Takeaways

The latest content marketing statistics show that 70% of businesses are achieving positive content marketing ROI. 

Success comes down to 4 key factors: smart AI adoption (with 89% of marketers already on board), a strong focus on video (driving 87% of purchase decisions), and getting your content out there through multiple channels. 

Even though content marketing has changed a lot, the demand for authentic, value-driven content remains central to engaging audiences.

Sources

1. Demand Metric. Content Marketing Infographic
2. Invesp. Customer Acquisition Vs Retention Costs
3. Statista. Social Media Used by B2B Marketers in North America
4. WebFX. Content Marketing Pricing
5. Content Marketing Institute. Content Marketing Statistics
6. Content Marketing Institute. B2C 2023 Research
7. SEMrush. State of Content Marketing Report
8. SEMrush. Types of Content Marketing
9. HubSpot. State of Marketing 2025
10. Content Marketing Institute. Content Marketing Salary Outlook
11. Content Marketing Institute. B2B 2023 Research: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends
12. Content Marketing Institute. B2B Content Marketing Trends Research
13. Wyzowl. Video Marketing Statistics
14. Edison Research. The Podcast Consumer 2024 Presentation