Search “start content marketing” and 369,000,000 queries will stare back at you. Marketers understand that content is the engine of social media: it’s what gives brands something to talk about with their communities of customers and prospects. But they’re looking to do it and do it well. After all, if you produce and share fantastically useful content, your audience will be more likely to become customers, remain customers, and send you more customers.

Here are 25 content marketing stats to share in your next meeting to sell it in, keep it moving or grow it.

1. $118.4 billion will be spent on content marketing, video marketing and social media in 2013. (eMarketer)
2. Marketers spend over 25% of their marketing budget on content marketing. (B2B Marketing Insider)
3. Blogs give websites 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links. (Content+)
4. 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing. (Content Marketing Institute)
5. 78% of CMOs think custom content is the future of marketing. (Hanley-Wood Business Media)
6. 62% of companies outsource their content marketing — a 7% from 2011. (Mashable)
7. 86% of B2C marketers use content marketing. (Content Marketing Institute)
8. B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who don’t blog. (Social Media B2B)
9. Companies with less than 10 employees allocate 42% of their marketing budget to content. (Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs)
10. Interesting content is one of the top 3 reasons people follow brands on social media. (Content+)
11. Social media and blogs reach 8 out of 10 of all U.S. Internet users. (Content Marketing Institute)
12. Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound marketing leads have a 1.7% close rate. (Hubspot)
13. Articles with images get 94% more views. (Jeff Bullas)
14. 79% of B2B marketers use content marketing to achieve brand awareness goals. (Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs)
15. 78% of consumers feel that organizations behind the content are interested in building good relationships. (TMG Custom Media)
16. 9 in 10 organizations market with content. (Content Marketing Institute)
17. 37% of marketers say blogs are the most valuable type of content marketing.(Content+)
18. Companies with 10,000 or more employees use 18 different content marketing tactics. (Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs)
19. 58% of consumers trust editorial content. (Nielsen)
20. 61% of B2B marketers rate webinars as the most effective content marketing tactic. (Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs)
21. 68% of consumers spend time reading content from a brand they are interested in. (The CMA)
22. Mobile-optimized content marketing increased from 15% in 2011 to 33% in 2012. (Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs)
23. 90% of consumers find custom content useful. (TMG Custom Media)
24. Social media and blogs account for 23% of all time spent online. (Content Marketing Institute)
25. 87% of B2B marketers use social media to distribute content. (Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs)

Want more stats? Check out this infographic on the history of content marketing, dating back to the 1800s.

Now it’s time to get started. Read the ebook below to learn how to create a content marketing plan that gets bookmarked, downloaded, shared and devoured.

This post originally appeared on the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Blog.