77 Copywriting Statistics: Data to Crush Your Competitors (2021)

Where can you find copywriting statistics to direct your marketing strategies?

Look no further, my friend.

We’ve gathered the latest data reflecting how online copy is consumed. And, regardless of your marketing budget, you’ll gain plenty of insights to boost your upcoming campaigns.

Not only that, but as a copywriter and marketer, you’ll discover where you need to make tweaks to your copy that will best benefit your business.

Ready to learn what’s currently driving conversions and what’s turning consumers off?

Let’s dive right in!

Current Trends for Online Copy

People consume web content differently than printed marketing material. And successful online copy requires much more than just writing prowess.

Copywriting is not just an art. It’s a science!

Let’s dive into the data!

Web Content & Landing Page Copywriting Trends

Internet users favor good copy that’s scannable, personalized, and upholds its headline promises.

Current copywriting statistics reflect this trend:

• 20+ years of eye tracking research confirms that most internet users only skim and skip around a webpage for relevant info. (Nielsen Norman Group)
• 73% of people admit to skimming rather than reading a blog post. (HubSpot)
• Readers spend an average of 37 seconds on an article. (NewsCred)
• Headlines with 10-13 words attract 2 times as much site traffic and 1.5 times as many shares as those under seven words. (Semrush)
• Most bloggers prefer writing how-to articles and list articles. (Orbit Media)
• “Listicles” receive 80% more page views than other content marketing types. (Semrush)
• Content writing with at least one list every 500 words receives 70% more traffic than those without lists. (Semrush)
• Personalized calls to action (CTAs) increase conversion chances by 202%. (HubSpot)
• Adding the word “because” with a reason to your CTAs can increase compliance by 34%. (Langer, 1978)

Unbounce’s 2018 landing pages study revealed:

• Landing page ad copy that exhibits social proof (like testimonials) average a 1% higher conversion rate over those that don’t.
• Pages with one CTA link have an average conversion rate of 13.5%.  Additional links lower that rate.
• Landing page traffic that originates from email produces the highest conversion rate (13%).
• Pages with under 200 words have the highest average conversion rate.

Social Media Copywriting Trends

Social media copy differs from other formats, with unique tactical considerations for each platform.

Consider these recently published stats from We Are Social:

• As of April 2021, 4.33 billion people worldwide (55% of the global population) use social media.
• 99% of the social target audience access social media platforms via a mobile phone.
• Almost 99% of global internet users ages 16-64 use a social network or online messaging platform each month.
• Internet users spend an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media each day.
• Nearly 45% of global internet users ages 16-64 conduct brand research on social media networks.
• Younger populations and women research brands on social media most frequently.
• People actively use or visit an average of six or more social media platforms monthly.

Regarding unique social sites:

• 81% of U.S. adults use YouTube, and 69% use Facebook. (Pew Research Center)
• YouTube and Facebook are the most widely used platforms, with user bases that best represent the entire population. (Pew Research Center)
• 28.1% of global internet users ages 16-64 say Facebook is their favorite social media platform. (We Are Social)
• LinkedIn is the favored and most effective platform among North American B2B marketers. (Content Marketing Institute)
• Small businesses, B2C marketers, and the self-employed all prefer marketing via Facebook. (Social Media Examiner)
• 11-word headlines receive the most shares across Facebook and Twitter. (BuzzSumo)
• Facebook posts under 50 characters receive the highest engagement. (BuzzSumo)
• Tweets between 100-115 characters are retweeted 34% more than those outside that range. (Dan Zarrella)
• Hashtags increase Twitter engagement by nearly 50% for brands and 100% for individuals. (Twitter)

Email Copywriting Trends

Half the battle with email copy is dodging spam folders and boosting conversion rates. But the effort is well worth it, as the following email marketing statistics show:

• Over 90% of internet users have an email account. (Statista)
• There are 4.1 billion email users worldwide. (The Radicati Group)
• Internet users worldwide send and receive 319.6 billion emails each day. (The Radicati Group)
• 43.5% of all emails are opened on a mobile device, and 86.8% of those devices are iPhones. (Litmus)
• Email marketing has the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel. (Litmus)
• 74% of North American B2C content marketers use email newsletters in their campaigns. (Statista)
• Email newsletters are one of the top content types used by 77% of B2B marketers. (Content Marketing Institute)
• Email is one of the top organic content distribution channels used by B2B marketers. (Content Marketing Institute)
• 60% of consumers have made a purchase in response to promotional emails they received. (Constant Contact)
• “Too many emails” is the primary reason why a reader unsubscribes from an email list or reports it as spam. (HubSpot)
• 47% of people decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject line alone. (OptinMonster)
• 69% of people will report an email as spam based on the subject line alone. (OptinMonster)
• Personalized subject lines boost open rates by 10-14%. (OptinMonster)

According to Campaign Monitor’s 2020 study of over 100 billion emails sent globally:

• The average open rate of an email is 18%.
• The average click-through rate (CTR) is 2.6%
• The average click-to-open rate (CTOR) is 14.1%.
• 0.1% is the average unsubscribe rate.
• Fridays are the best days to email for high conversion; Saturdays are the worst.

AWeber surveyed over 1,000 small business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide and found that:

• 72% use email marketing to promote offerings and communicate with their audience.
• Of all who use email marketing, 94.6% consider it important to their strategy.
• 36.1% say email marketing is the best strategy to drive sales.

Podcast Copywriting Trends

Podcasting has experienced a steady rise over the years.

Podcast Industry Insights (courtesy of Daniel J. Lewis, updated nightly) reports that Apple carries:

• over 2,288,000 total valid podcasts, and
• over 50 million podcast episodes.

According to The Infinite Dial 2021, of the American audience over the age of 12:

• 57% have ever listened to a podcast.
• 28% listen to podcasts weekly.
• 41% listen to podcasts monthly.

Of all the monthly listening audience:

• 43% are men, and 39% are women.
• 56% are 12-34 years old, 39% are 35-54 years old, and 26% are 55+ years old.
• 57% are Caucasian.
• The highest percentage of non-Caucasian listeners is Hispanic/Latino.

Additionally:

• 26% of B2B marketers reported using podcasts monthly. (Content Marketing Institute)
• 45% of bloggers who add podcasts or other such audio to their content strategy report better results. (OptinMonster)

Video Script Copywriting Trends

The creation and consumption of video content continue to increase each year.

According to TechSmith’s research:

• 53% of people watch two or more instructional videos weekly.
• 52% of people prefer visual content that is 3-6 minutes long.
• 45% of people find instructional and informational videos by way of internet search.
• Of all the high-rated videos, 92% are less than 20 minutes long.
• The title and description are the most common reasons someone chooses to watch a video.

Wyzowl surveyed both marketing professionals and online consumers in 2020. The marketers’ answers revealed the following:

• Of all businesses surveyed, 86% used video for their content marketing strategy; 24% used it for the first time in 2020.
• 93% of marketers using video considered it important to their strategy.
• Video helped 84% generate leads, 78% increase sales, and 86% increase site traffic.
• 83% saw an increase in the average time a site visitor spent on their page.
• 94% of video marketers reported that it helped their visitors better understand their offerings.
• Video reduced the number of support calls by 43%.
• Video engagement was the top-reported video marketing success factor, followed by number of views (reach), then leads and click-throughs.
• 87% used YouTube and considered it an effective channel.
• Webinar usage rose to 62% from 46% in the previous year.
• 73% created informational videos, 67% made social media videos, 51% made presentations, 41% made sales videos, and 41% created ads.

Online consumer data from the same Wyzowl survey revealed:

• Consumers watched about 18 hours of online video weekly and around 2.5 hours daily.
• They’re 2 times more likely to share videos than any other content.
• 96% of consumers have watched a posted video to learn more product information.
• 69% preferred to obtain information from a brief video over other media.
• 84% made a purchase after watching a brand’s video, and 79% bought or downloaded tech after watching a video.
• 85% hoped to see more video content from brands in 2021.

Stats for Other Components of Successful Copy

Having seen format-specific trends, let’s look at copywriting statistics that reveal trends affecting all types of copy.

Spelling & Grammar Stats

Proofreading your copy is crucial.

Although proper spelling and grammar clarifies your message and gives your brand credibility, copywriting errors undermine your message by:

• damaging consumers’ image of a brand (Disruptive Communications),
• decreasing site visitors’ time on a landing page by 8% and increasing bounce rate by 85% (Agility PR Solutions), and
• reducing by 70% the likelihood that internet users will click on a Google Ad on the same page. (Agility PR Solutions)

Page Layout & Design Stats

The quality of your page layout and responsive design will either showcase or stifle your brand image. Here’s where your business makes its first impression.

Sitejet reports:

• 93% of site visitors have left a site due to its poor display on their mobile devices.
• 90% of site visitors abandon a website due to its poor design.

SEO Stats

Using SEO copywriting tactics to create your copy helps to increase your web visibility.

According to HubSpot’s State of Marketing report for 2021:

• 69% of marketers invest in search engine optimization.
• 71% use strategic keywords for their SEO strategy.
• 75% rate SEO as either extremely or very effective.

CRO & Micro Copywriting Statistics

Tiny tweaks to prompts or CTAs in your copy can greatly impact conversion rates. The following businesses saw big conversion increases after making small changes:

• Unbounce switched from “Start your free 30 day trial” to “Start my free 30 day trial”, to increase CTR by 90%. (Unbounce)
• Canva increased CTR by 28% by changing button text to reflect the creative benefit of their tool. (Editor X)
• Veeam changed “Request a quote” to “Request pricing” which netted a 166.66% increase in CTR. (VWO)

A/B Testing Stats

A/B testing any changes you make to your copy helps pinpoint which variables are helping or hurting your cause.

Stats show:

• 58% of marketers reported using A/B testing, and 35% said they plan to use it in the future. (Marketing Charts)
• 57% of marketers test every email they send. (Litmus)
• Companies that A/B test their emails realize 37% higher ROIs than those that don’t. (Litmus)

Put These Copywriting Statistics to Good Use

You have the data.

Now it’s time to leverage that knowledge to plan and improve your marketing.

Use these insights to update current campaigns, create strategies for future ones, and boost your copywriting results.

Take an honest look at your copy. Identify any tweaks you can make and run some A/B tests.

Before you know it, you’ll be conquering the industry and showing your competitors who’s boss!

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