18 Marketing and PR Statistics that Read Like a Meta Description for the Year 2018

18 Statistics that Read Like a Meta Description for the Year 2018 in Marketing and PR

Every year I pour over dozens (hundreds?) of studies and surveys – some of which I had a hand in producing – dissecting the results and connecting dots where it looks appropriate.

As we close in on the year’s end, I looked back over these marketing and PR statistics in an effort to surface those points that in some way, shape or form, help to summarize 2018 as a year. Some of these are more like factoids than statistics, but are interesting just the same and can be grouped are heavily weighted along the following topics:

Statistics about – or for – the CMO;
Statistics about digital and B2B marketing;
Statistics about PR or media relations; and
Statistics about content marketing.

Each statistic links to the blog post that covered that particular study or survey which provides attribution and a path to the underlying source. In many cases, I’ve included a graphic from the original post or study. Here are those statistics in the order cited above:

1) CMOs as agents of trust.The C-Suite views the top marketer as a publicly facing agent of trust. They used words like “critical” and “paramount” and “loyalty” to describe the CMO and the function of marketing.

2) The marketing budget as a percentage of revenue.

As a percentage of revenue, B2B product organizations invest 6.3% of revenue in marketing, compared with 7.9% overall. As a vertical, technology companies invest 9.7% of revenue in marketing.

3) The CMO priorities – according to CMOs

A survey by the IBM Institute for Business Value asked CMOs for their top priorities over the course of the next year, and then categorized them in this order:

a) Increasing sales revenue;
b) Improving the omnichannel customer experience;
c) Reinventing customer experience through channel innovation;
d) Demonstrating the ROI of marketing initiatives; and
e) Championing a customer-centric corporate culture

4) The composition of marketing spending is changing

It’s changing because of several interrelated challenges. On one hand, competition is fierce (56%), people are increasingly intolerant of advertising (46%) and “information overload” is a genuine problem (44%).

The evolution also attributed to the fact what we consider “media” is evolving: “The definition of media is changing and has moved beyond distribution channels alone. CMOs also choose to define it more broadly across technology (48%), content (44%), distribution channels (41%) and data (38%). Each of these provides a potential source of consumer insight and a more holistic way of using media to reset strategy.”

5) The CMO role in the 4Ps may be changing.

A survey of CMOs out of Duke suggests the composition of marketing is changing:

72% of CMOs say they have a leading role in promotion;
34% of CMOs say they have a leading role in new products;
31% of CMOs say they have a leading role in pricing; and
25% of CMOs say they have a leading role in market selection.

Those statistics track closely to the 4Ps of Marketing – product, price, place and promotion. The 4Ps is the classic construct that articulates the four traditional levers available to drive growth.

6) On average buyers examine 5 sources in decision making.

“Buyers use multiple resources when researching products because none are perfectly adequate or trustworthy,” according to a study, which put the average number of resources reviewed at five (5).

7) Buyers cool to new ideas as they slide down the funnel.

A survey of buyers found “71% said they want to hear from vendors when they’re looking for new ideas and possibilities to drive stronger results to improve their business… a majority (62%) said they want to hear from vendors when they’re actively looking for a solution to fix what’s broken or solve a problem. Buyers were more intent on hearing from vendors in both of those cases than when they’re identifying and evaluating possible providers (54%).

8) Executives use personal emails in registration forms.

“C-level executives at companies with at least 5,000 employees used their personal email 51% of the time [when registering for gated content], with business emails used the remaining 49%.” Personal email addresses might be better too since they don’t bounce when a person leaves a company for a new position.

9) The purpose of marketing metrics

A survey by Spiceworks found the purpose of metrics marketers cited most often were:

79% said to optimize future campaigns;
77% said to evaluate the most effective channels;
62% said to measure the success of messaging;
58% said to prove marketing success to the business;
57% said to course-correct existing campaigns;
51% to refine goals or objectives; and
42% to maintain or secure additional budget.

10) Growing challenges of media relations

A survey of communications professionals found more than half (51%) said media relations is getting harder. About one third (32%) said it’s about the same and 14% are unsure. Just 3% said it’s getting easier.

Read more: Is Media Relations Getting Harder?

11) The media is the least trusted institution.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 7 in 10 people worry about fake news; 63% say the average person can’t discern journalism from rumors or falsehoods; and 59% say it’s harder to tell if news was produced by a respected news organization. Importantly, people define “media” as both content and the platforms – search and social media – on which they are distributed. Trust in platforms declined 11 points in this year’s study.

12) Reporters say getting the story right matters more than getting it first

Most (59%) of U.S.-based reporters said, “fake news is making readers more skeptical than ever about what they read and see” and … “A majority (78%) of U.S.-based reporters said, “ensuring content is 100 percent accurate is the most important” in their organization.”

13) Storytelling the hottest trend in PR in 2018

In January, a survey of communications professionals found most felt the following concepts would be more important to PR in 2018: 79% of respondents said storytelling; 71% said content marketing; and 67% said thought leadership.

14) Most respondents say brands should stay clear of politics.

Nearly half (49%) of overall respondents said brands should not weigh in on political issues. However, it’s not a majority because about one-third said they believe brands should get involved, while another 22% were unsure. Sentiment analysis around this question suggests context matters.

However, if the quality, convenience or price of a product or service is better than the competition, respondents said they would still buy from a brand even if they took a political position with which they disagree.

Read more: New Study: Should Brands Take a Public Stand on Politics? (also see why?)

15) PR salary growth remains flat.

The median salary in the last 12 months came in at $95,000. This is more or less flat with the $91,000 median reported in 2017 and the $92,125 reported in 2016. Median salaries across corporate, agency and non-profit positions break down as follows: Corporate: $132,000 Agency $88,000 Non-profit: $78,300.

16) Creativity as an employable skill

Creativity will be among the top skills employers’ desire by 2020 According to the World Economic Forum.

17) Combining analytics with creativity drives growth

A study by McKinsey found businesses need both art and science to drive growth. It found analytical creatives do three things:

“They treat creativity and data as equal partners.”
“They make integration a way of life through an agile marketing operating model.”
“They seek ‘whole-brain’ talent” – that is both left- and right-brained.

18) Successful content marketers put the audience first.

“Nearly all of the most successful B2B content marketers (90%) prioritize the audience’s informational needs over their sales/promotional message, compared with 56% of the least successful.”

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The summary of statics from last year is also an interesting read: 33 Statistics Summarizing the Year 2017 in Public Relations, Content Marketing, Social Media and SEO.

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