Top Digital Marketing Reports You Need in 2025 to Keep up With Marketing Trends

The post was updated with the fresh editions of all marketing industry reports in January 2024.

I’m a sucker for good reports. I have been carefully collecting these like a botanist gathering new specimens in her herbarium. But the difference is that dried plants stay the same, while interesting statistics have a way of living a life of their own. They are changing over time and they can point not only to current facts but to underlying trends. And following them is now more important than ever, with global economic uncertainty and the rise of AI.

This is why, rather than devouring everything eMarketer or Statista have to offer, I prefer to follow specific reports over time. These are reports I trust and reports I find trustworthy in terms of research methodology. And they are much better than looking at “predictions for the new year” posts – it’s a way to predict the future on your own by regularly observing where the world has been headed.

I thought it was worth sharing my favorite reports, what makes them valuable, and when you can expect their upcoming editions. Here’s the full list:

• Edelman Trust Barometer
• Salesforce’s State of Marketing
• Digital Yearbook
• Hubspot’s State of Marketing (formerly, State of Inbound)
• Social Media Marketing Industry Report
• Annual Blogger Survey
• B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks
• B2C Content Marketing Benchmarks

Over the years, I’ve seen a few of my favorites die out, but they should get an honorary mention: Buffer’s State of Social, Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends, and Ogilvy’s Key Digital Trends were treasure-troves of data, but are no longer in circulation.

I also created a Google calendar with reminders. You can make sure you go to the website and download fresh info even before everyone starts talking about it! See it here and just copy it to your account.

Edelman Trust Barometer

Goes out in mid-January. Latest edition: 2024

Why should you care?

Trust Barometer is extensive international research into the perception of trust in different opinion leaders, organizations, and industries. It has a very good track record of predicting what would be trustworthy spokespeople for your brand, influencers in your niche, etc. And it has now been running for 20+ years, giving you an excellent opportunity for longitudinal analysis.

The most striking results of the latest editions

• Business has increased its ethics score for the fourth straight year, rising 21 points since 2020. It is viewed as both competent and ethical, which isn’t the case for the government and the media.
• People trust brands to implement new products and new solutions in society. Businesses outperform all other organizations in terms of trust. This is both an excellent opportunity for businesses and a big responsibility.
• Family-owned businesses are more trusted than any other type. I believe the reason for this is that people are able to see the human face behind the brand. So, humanizing your company is crucial for building trust.
• People want to hear from their peers. The rise of influencers and content creators aligns with the fact that “someone like me” is someone customers trust when it comes to innovation (or new information, in general, I think). There’s also a lot of trust put in people we share commonalities with – like neighbors or citizens of the same country.
• When it comes to public leaders, CEOs come higher than journalists or government leaders.
• Online information sources are the most commonly used and the most trusted. “Online searches” head the list, but in today’s world, this may mean searching on content discovery platforms like TikTok and YouTube, too!

And a few data points from the 2023 report that are still key for marketers:

• We’re more divided than ever. Just 30% say they’d help someone they disagree with! And this puts businesses at risk, too. While most people believe businesses need to take an active social stance, doing it may result in boycotts and worse.
• When asked who can unify our increasingly polarized societies, people put teachers, NGO leaders and business leaders at the top of the list. 41% believe business representatives can be a unifying force for good.
• These high expectations influence consumer needs. 63% say they buy or advocate for brands based on their beliefs and values. 69% expect that their employer will have strong societal impact.
• To navigate this polarized world, businesses need to take a public stance on societal issues, while demonstrating long-term focus on the same values, and supporting trustworthy sources of information.

Salesforce’s State of Marketing

Goes out mid-January. Latest edition: 2023

Why should you care?

Salesforce has the budget, the talent, and the connections to conduct a well-prepared report. And the fact that they’ve been working on The State of Marketing for years now helps them shine a light on new trends you may not have spotted yet.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• The biggest opportunities and challenges for marketers seem to be the effective use of marketing tech, experimentation and attribution, and doing personalization right (i.e., without being too creepy).
• Today’s customers want their values reflected in the brands they buy from, and marketers are responding. 85% of marketers say their external messaging reflects corporate values.
• Marketers are focused on video and interactive content to address changing consumer preferences. TV and streaming services are seeing quick growth, 27% YoY, as they offer more personalized ways to reach potential customers. 89% of marketers work with pre-produced or live video.
• And while new trends and channels are here, email remains a strong part of the marketing mix. Email use has increased year over year, accounting for 80% of all outbound messaging. Moreover, the number of outbound emails increased 15% in the last year.
• Getting the right data – and lots of it – is a main issue for marketers. In 2023, they predict they’ll be collecting data from 18 sources, on average. The biggest components include transactional data, zero-party and first-party data on identities and interests, and more.
• Marketers track many more KPIs than before. There are the usual website and app analytics, as well as financial metrics, but there’s also customer experience data, engagement, retention, and more.
• More than ever before, customers are looking to buy from companies that clearly state their values. 66% of customers have stopped buying from a company whose values didn’t align with theirs. 88% of customers say they expect to see brands demonstrate clear and strong values. That’s why marketers recognize the need to lead with a values-based message. 93% of high-performing marketers say their external messaging reflects their corporate values.
• Looking ahead, marketers see improving skills in content marketing, campaign strategy, and data analytics as crucial to success in the next 2 years. Creativity and communication also make the Top 5 list.

Digital Yearbook

Goes out at the end of January. Latest edition: 2023

Why should you care?

The Digital Yearbook is a joint research of the Philippines-based agency We Are Social and the social media scheduling platform Hootsuite. They collect useful data on trends in internet usage, social media, and digital media. And they provide detailed country-level data, too.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• Although we may feel like everyone is online now, it’s worth remembering that just 64.4% of the global population has internet access.
• For the first time in a while, the amount of time we spend online has declined significantly (almost 5% YoY) – that’s about 20 minutes per day! According to the authors, this may be just a correction to pre-COVID levels. We’re also becoming more mindful of the… well, crap that’s available online. So, we tend to be more considered with our time spent online.
• 17.7% of purchases are now made online and this share is continuing to grow. The total revenue of e-commerce went down by 6.5% last year, but that’s due to the overall harsh market situation rather than a change in online shopping habits.
• Streaming platforms now account for 45% of time spent on TV content.
• Social media usage spiked during the pandemic, but now the growth seems to be stalling – just 3% over the last year compared to two consecutive +10% growth years. Almost 40% of our time spent online is spent on social media.
• The biggest social media platforms based on number of users are still what you’d expect: Facebook, YouTube, Whatsapp, Instagram, and TikTok cover the Top 5 (I’m excluding WeChat which is bigger than TikTok, but mostly local). But when it comes to time spent, TikTok takes the top place, closely followed by YouTube. It’s a powerful sign people’s social behavior is changing, moving to platforms focused on content discovery rather than direct interaction with people you know.
• Still, that doesn’t mean people are abandoning some platforms. They’re just divesting their time. 82.5% of TikTok users still use Facebook every month. On average, users get on 7.2 social platforms on a regular basis (monthly).

State of Marketing (former State of Inbound)

Goes out in January. Latest edition: 2024

Why should you care?

The report is created by Hubspot – the company also has a large reach among marketers, so getting a big enough sample is not an issue. I have to admit their report tends to be a bit preachy, so sometimes it’s hard to sift through the “Inbound marketing is awesome!!!” message and get proper information. In recent years, they’ve been focusing on AI and personalization to push their AI services. Still, it proves an interesting read, especially now that it’s made in partnership with other digital marketing heavy-hitters like Litmus and Search Engine Journal.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• In 2024, marketers face the biggest challenges when it comes to finding content ideas and creating engaging content (16% each), generating traffic through content and reaching the right audience (15% each), and generating leads (14%).
• 55% of businesses predict that by 2024 most people will turn to chatbots over search engines for answers. This means we need to ensure personalization at scale.
• Social media is the #1 product discovery channel for Gen Z and Millennials. 31% of consumers use social media to find answers to questions. This is in line with the increased use of TikTok and YouTube as de facto search engines.
• Businesses are finding the most success with smaller, more niche influencers — 47% of marketers report successful micro-influencer partnerships. Micro-influencers offer access to engaged, loyal communities at a lower price point. This also enables more long-term brand collaborations, with 49% of marketers working multiple times with the same partners.
• The highest ROI for marketers comes from SEO and social shopping (16% each), Paid social content (14%), email and content marketing (14% each).
• Short-form video is in. It’s the format that most marketers state brings the highest ROI. 30% of marketers who don’t use short-form video now will start in 2024.
• Personalization is important. 96% of marketers say personalization leads to repeat business, and 94% say it increases sales. Marketers whose brands give customers a personalized experience are 215% more likely to say their marketing strategy in 2023 was very effective.
• Marketers use AI in all aspects of their work, but they still don’t enjoy robot writers. Just 6% use AI to actually write content, while most professionals use it for brainstorming and inspiration.
• AI is not just about time-saving: 85% report AI has increased their content quality, 77% say AI improved their capabilities for personalizing content.

Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Goes out at the end of May. Latest edition: 2023

Why should you care?

The report is created by Social Media Examiner the go-to media for social media marketers. They don’t just focus on how social media strategies are evolving – they analyze the development of the marketer’s role and expertise, too.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• Marketers’ main questions now seem to be how social media can bring true business impact. 29% are most interested in generating sales, and 25% want to know how to get more leads from social. While the top social media channels are good at generating exposure, just 1/3 or 1/4 of marketers get sales from different social media platforms (34% for Facebook, 25% for Instagram, 20% for LinkedIn, 19% for YouTube, and 10% for TikTok).
• Marketers have been diversifying away from Facebook steadily since 2018. When asked to select their single most important platform, only 45% selected Facebook, down from 67% in 2018. 14% plan to decrease their organic marketing on Facebook further. Still, 46% believe Facebook ads are the most efficient social ads (although the percentage fell from 51% in 2022).
• YouTube is getting a lot of attention. 59% plan on increasing their use of YouTube videos – the largest percentage of any platform.
• 80% already use Instagram, and 56% plan to increase their activity on the platform. It’s a major player and a well-established one.
• The most significant growth stays with TikTok. Adoption among marketers rose from 18% in 2022 to 26% in 2023.
• The decline of Twitter is evident – just 10% plan to increase their investment in the platform.

Annual Blogger Survey

Goes out in October-November. Latest edition: 2023

Why should you care?

Andy Crestodina’s Orbit Media Studios is already a seasoned survey with 10+ years of history now. It’s the only large study focusing solely on bloggers. And since I’m a blogger, and we bloggers are of the self-centered type, I’m bound to include it in this roundup Jokes aside, it shows how blogging has evolved from casual posting to almost a profession.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• The biggest issues bloggers are struggling with include attracting visitors, engaging readers, and getting traffic from search engines. The last point has been growing in importance over the last years, with the rise of zero-click searches. And it will only grow bigger with AI-assisted search.
• For the first time, there’s a significant decline in the time it takes to write a blog post. This may be the visible effect of AI tools.
• Speaking of AI, 65% of bloggers use AI to varying degrees. This mostly involves generating ideas (43%), writing headlines (29%) and outlines (28%), writing first drafts (21%) and suggesting edits (22%).
• Blog posts continue to grow in length. Shorter content is the domain of social media, blogs are where long-form content happens. Writing more substantial content also means you’ll be less impacted by quick answers in zero-click search and SGE. This is directly correlated with a steady decline in publishing frequency. Year after year, fewer bloggers report publishing more than weekly, while more bloggers publish less than weekly.
• Bloggers include more interactive elements in their posts, video being one of the major ones, along with images. It’s interesting, though, that video has reached some sort of natural plateau, with a quarter of posts including multimedia.
• Bloggers work with editors more (from 12% in 2014 to 32% in 2023) and they also spend time on updating older content (from 53% in 2017 to 74% in 2023). These both show a more serious, professional approach to blogging.

Based on the data in the survey, Orbit Media has compiled the strategy that will give you the highest chance of success:

B2B Content Marketing Trends

Goes out in October. Latest edition: 2023

Why should you care?

The Content Marketing Institute is the only proper institution focused on content marketing. They know this is more than a fad and are ready to prove it with numbers. Theirs is the key in-depth research on content marketing trends that you should follow. Splitting the results into two separate studies, a B2C and a B2B one gives you a bit more context in the evolution of the practice. Sadly, it only covers North America.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• 72% of B2B marketers already use generative AI tools. However, 61% say their organization doesn’t have guidelines for them.
• With the rise of AI, the biggest problem becomes how to create the right content (57%) rather than more content. It’s interesting to see content differentiation so high in the list (41%).
• While many marketers use diverse content formats, the most efficient ones include long-form written content and videos.
• When it comes to social media, LinkedIn is the key channel for B2B, with 84% of marketers saying it delivers the best value.
• Producing content involves a lot of challenges, the king among them being not enough focus on repurposing. 31% say they have no structured content production process, and 29% say they lack an editorial calendar with clear deadlines.
• The five most frequently used metrics to assess content performance are conversions (73%), email engagement (71%), website traffic (71%), website engagement (69%), and social media analytics (65%). It’s curious to see email engagement so high on the list.
• The priorities marketers have set for themselves in 2024 focus mostly on developing thought leadership and becoming a trusted resource. The other priorities include a better understanding of the audience, discovering how to use AI, better use of analytics, and repurposing existing content.

B2C Content Marketing Benchmarks

Goes out in January. Latest edition: 2022

Why should you care?

I already explained why I love Content Marketing Institute institute and their research. Although their content is usually very focused on B2B and old-school industries, they still conduct stellar research in B2C.

The most striking results of the latest edition

• B2C content marketers’ most prominent issue is creating multifaceted content that works for different audiences (57%). It’s curious to see measurement is still very high up on the list (44%). This isn’t on the list of B2B marketer’s challenges, but I’m guessing the decline of third-party cookies is partly to blame.
• B2C marketers differentiate their content mainly by producing high-quality assets (84%) and covering topics not covered by competitors (70%). Another key reason for success is actively promoting content (40%) and focusing on distribution (37%).
• Although content ran the gamut of different formats, the most efficient formats involved in-person events, posts, videos, and virtual events and courses.
• It’s curious to see LinkedIn at the top of most used B2C content platforms. 93% of marketers mentioned it, before Facebook (88%), Instagram (73%), YouTube (67%), and Twitter (61%). When it comes to paid content distribution, though, Facebook leads with 84%, and LinkedIn is a close second with 56%, closely followed by Instagram (50%).
• The top three most used metrics for B2C content marketers are website traffic (83%), email and website engagement (both at 81%), and conversions and social media stats (both at 78%). Still, the metric marketers rely on the most to assess performance is conversions (70%), followed by quality of leads (57%).

Stats, stats everywhere

Looking at reports is a useful way to sync with the industry. Still, it’s pointless to just look at the numbers. Think about what they mean for your business and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Don’t forget, you can easily get reminders for new editions by adding this Google Calendar.

Are there any great reports you follow on a yearly basis? What are they?