Annual goal setting feels a little more loaded now. 2020 shook us to our operational-budget-core and while 2021 already feels more promising than its predecessor, the rate of recovery is still unknown. Luckily, there are industry experts from McKinsey to Zenith who spent the year collecting data, sponsoring surveys, and calculating projected ad spend statistics based on the hellfire we survived.
Keep reading to uncover 21 statistics on the state of business in Q1 2021. From COVID recovery to small business insights, sales surveys to media spend predictions, here are the numbers you need to know to kick off your revenue strategy this year:
- 97% of companies report COVID-19 has sped up their digital transformation. (Twilio)
- Only 20–30% of B2B buyers want to ever interact with reps in-person even in their ideal/post-COVID-19 model. (McKinsey)
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83% of small business owners believe their business will perform better in 2021 than in 2020. (McKinsey)
- 75% of small business owners intend to spend more on technology in 2021 than in 2020. (McKinsey)
- 60% of all B2B tech buyers are millennials (age 25–39), and 2% are from Generation Z (24 and younger). (TrustRadius)
- 79% of business buyers say it’s absolutely critical to interact with a salesperson who is a trusted advisor — not just a sales rep — who adds value to their business. (Salesforce)
- Companies that personalize the buyer experience see up to a 50% reduction in acquisition costs. (McKinsey)
- 81% of sales reps believe it is essential to have a connected view of data across the entire customer journey. (Salesforce)
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Consumer Products and Education are the industries with the highest close rates for sales opportunities, at 97%. (HubSpot)
- Salespeople active on social media report 45% more sales opportunities. (LinkedIn)
- Today 77% of salespeople say selling collaboratively with other departments (especially marketing, customer support, and product) is important. (Salesforce)
- Salespeople who receive continuous training achieve at least 50% better results on average. (square2marketing)
- 80% of brands believe they deliver a ‘superior experience’ to customers, yet according to customers, just 8% of companies deliver on this. (Loop VOC)
- 95% of video marketers said that videos increased a user’s understanding of products and services. 83% of them said videos helped them generate leads. 80% said it helped increase sales. (Wyzowl)
- Media spend will rise by 6% in 2021 with growth entirely concentrated in digital budgets. (IAB)
- Digital budgets will rise by 14% and reach 71% of total spend while traditional media falls by 5%. (IAB)
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Worldwide advertising revenue for media owners will jump 10.2% to a record $651 billion in 2021 after falling 4.1% in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. (GroupM)
- Worldwide ad revenue for digital pure plays—Facebook, Google and other digital media companies—will surge 14.1% to $397 billion in 2021, giving digital ventures 61% of global ad revenue. (GroupM)
- The U.S. ad marketplace is expected to grow by 4%, reaching $230 billion for the year, surpassing 2019 ad dollars. Year-over-year digital media, led by search, social and video, is forecast to grow 8%. (Magna)
- U.S. ad spending is expected to rise 3.2% to $237 billion in 2021 following a 5.4% drop in 2020. (Zenith)
- U.S. internet ad spending is expected to grow 9.6% to $136 billion in 2021, with the internet capturing 58% of U.S. advertising. (Zenith)