This year, marketing managers, business owners and CMOs everywhere included several online tactics as an integral part of their digital marketing strategy to much success. Many are looking to increase their digital marketing budgets for 2015.

Here are some digital marketing stats to ponder upon this holiday season.

SEO

Every month there are more than 10.3 billion Google searches, with 78% of U.S. internet users researching products and services online. CMO Council

60% of all organic clicks go to the organic top 3 search results. Business2Community

Most marketing experts agree that the best place to start for an SMB, and what will give your company the biggest bang for your buck, is implementing search engine optimization for your website.

Content Creation

Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI. HubSpot State of Inbound, 2014

61% of US consumers have made a purchase based on a blog post. Social4Retail

It just goes to prove that another highly effective tool in your marketing toolbox should be content creation.  As we all know, content is king...and queen and prince and princess...you get the picture.

Social Media Presence

3 in 5 SMBs say they have gained new customers using Social Media. Marketing Techblog

71% of internet users are more likely to purchase from a brand that they are following on a social networking site such as Twitter or Facebook. CMO Council

Most companies intuitively realize the value of a robust social profile and know they should have more of a Social Media presence. Sometimes there’s a gap between knowing and doing, so these startling stats that are sure to get your company moving to Social.

Paid Advertising

Search ad spend increased 19% YoY and 3% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ).
Search click-through rate increased 23% YoY driving an 11% increase in clicks. Kenshoo

As the numbers bear out, a well planned out paid advertising strategy can support your long term SEO strategy with quick lead generation.  Companies will see almost immediate results with just a small outlay of time and a fraction of their overall marketing budget.  Great ROI.

Email Marketing

80.8% of users report reading email on mobile devices. HubSpot

81% of US digital shoppers surveyed said they were at least somewhat likely to make additional purchases, either online or in a store as result of targeted marketing. Business2Community

Early adopters of email marketing have seen a surge in lead generation, conversion and business growth. With the move to mobile, as far as email marketing is concerned, this growth is destined to blast through the digital world.

With millions and millions of companies around the world doing business via email marketing every single day, what’s stopping you?

Digital marketing success

Gone are the days when a company had to be dragged kicking and screaming to adopt simple online marketing strategies. As you can see, the prime move for SMBs everywhere is into the webosphere.

It has become increasingly evident that the Internet is an integral part of business growth for most companies around the world today. So, if you haven’t already implemented these proven successful digital marketing activities, it’s high time to start planning for them in your 2015 marketing budget.