As we enter 2023, it seems safe to say that the social media craze is not dying down anytime soon.
Given the omnipresence of social media in our lives, it makes sense that marketers would take advantage of those networks to build brand awareness and consumer relations.
With that in mind, we are going to cover some social media statistics that are absolutely essential for your brand’s marketing efforts.
Knowledge is power and with the right facts, you can make sure you are getting the most out of your company’s digital marketing efforts.
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1. Over 3.48 Billion People Use Social Media Worldwide
Over 3.48 billion people worldwide use social media in some form [1].
That’s almost half the world’s population and nearly 4 out of 5 internet users.
If you are going to invest in digital marketing, then social media seems like the exact place to focus your efforts.
A large reason for this high number is that mobile devices have made it infinitely easier to access social media.
Most social media platforms have a mobile app, which only increases their already global reach.
2. Facebook and YouTube Are the Two Largest Social Media Platforms
It probably comes as no surprise that Facebook is the single largest social media platform since virtually everyone and their mother has a Facebook account now.
Over 68% of adult Americans (18+) use Facebook while about 73% use YouTube [2].
Moreover, by the end of 2019, Facebook had hit over 45 billion monthly active users and over 1.56 billion users access the site daily [3].
These stats skew heavily on certain age ranges. About 41% of Facebook users are 65+ while a massive 94% of YouTube users are in the 18-24 demographic.
This data means that YouTube may become more popular overall than Facebook as the older generation “ages out’ of Facebook and younger uses continue to use YouTube.
3. Instagram Is the Current Fastest Growing Social Media Platform
Even though Facebook and YouTube currently dominate the online marketing space, Instagram is a fast-rising star.
Instagram passed 1 billion users in 2018 and showed a 5% growth rate every quarter, faster than Facebook growth rates [4].
Several companies have already figured out that Instagram is a hot new ground for marketing and more companies in the future will put a larger portion of their marketing budget towards targeting Instagram users.
4. 90.4% of Millennials Use Some Form of Social Media
By far the largest demographic that uses social media is Millennials.
Nearly 9 in 10 millennials use social media, the majority of the users Facebook [5].
The next highest demographic is Gen X with 77.5% of Gen X-ers on social media and almost 50% of Baby Boomers.
These statistics make sense, considering that Millennials were raised in the generation when social media was invented.
Moreover, millennials are more likely to have smartphones while Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers are more likely to use tablets or desktop computers.
5. The Average User Uses Social Media for Over 2 Hours a Day
A lot of people caution that we as a society are becoming social media addicts, and their concerns are based in reality.
The average social media user spends almost 2 hours a day on their platform of choice [6].
Keep in mind that these stats are skewed by age.
Those 16-24 use an average of 3 hours a day while those 55+ use social media for only 1 hour a day.
Interestingly enough, the Philippines was the country with the most social media usage in the world in 2019, with the average Filippino user spending nearly 4 hours a day on social media.
Concerns about social media addiction notwithstanding, it seems that this trend will only continue in the future as social media and the internet become more integrated into our everyday lives.
6. The Average Social Media User Has Accounts Over 8 Platforms
In addition to the general usage of social media increasing, more people are becoming comfortable having accounts across multiple platforms.
As of 2019, the average social media user has 8 accounts on different platforms, almost double the average of 4 in 2013 [7].
Millennials have the highest number of accounts with an average of 9, which is ahead of Gen Z, who actually seems to be moving away from social media multi-networking.
India, Vietnam, and Indonesia have the highest amount of multi-platform social media users.
What this means for digital marketers is that they should focus their marketing efforts across a diverse range of platforms, not just one or two.
The more visibility across platforms a brand has, the more likely the brand will reach their intended audiences.
7. 1 in 3 Social Media Users Say That One of the Main Reasons They Use the Platform Is to Follow a Brand or Find Products to Buy
About 1 in 3 users say that one of their main reasons for using social media is to follow a brand or find products to buy [6].
This is not the majority of users, but it is still a sizable minority that should not be overlooked.
Further, even though it might not be their main reason for using social media, nearly half of social media users say that they have used social media to follow a brand or look for products.
Digital marketers need to focus their efforts on social media to not only capture the demographic that is actively looking for products but those who might be enticed by a marketing campaign.
8. 60% of People Say They No Longer Trust Social Media
Despite the fact that more and more people seem to be using social media, research indicates that nearly 60% of surveyed respondents indicated they no longer trust social media [8].
The same study indicated that the vast majority of consumers think that brands need to pressure social media to act more honestly, and nearly half of the 9000 respondents surveyed in the study say that brands are complicit in social media ills.
Moreover, 54% are nervous about brands tracking in-store purchases for targeted ads and nearly 40% say that it should be illegal for a brand to buy personal information from another company the consumer has done business with.
These findings indicate that individual brands must make a greater effort to combat bad behavior on social media and monitor their social media activity.
47% of respondents in this study also said that the points of view that appear next to a brand’s marketing are indicative of the brand’s values.
This gives companies an incentive to monitor their online activity and make sure their brands are not appearing next to any content with hate speech, violence, or sexually inappropriate content.
9. The Average Brand Garners a 0.09% Engagement Rate per Post
Going from a baseline of 0.97 posts a day, the average brand sees about a 0.09% engagement on their posts [9].
That means that out of every 10,000 people who see a brand’s post, about 9 people actually click on it to comment, like, subscribe, etc.
Among social media pages, Instagram saw the highest user engagement per post at nearly 1.6% while Twitter seems to have the lowest engagement rate at just 0.048%.
Facebook engagement on brand posts significantly dropped in the last year
Keep in mind that these stats are just for post engagement, not necessarily post visibility.
So just because Twitter has a very low engagement rate per post, that does not mean that digital marketers should write Twitter wholesale as it can still be an extremely valuable platform for promoting brand visibility.
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Facebook Statistics
10. 89% of Marketers Use Facebook in Their Brand Marketing Efforts
Nearly 9 in 10 current digital marketers are using Facebook to promote their brands [10].
Considering that Facebook is the single largest social media platform, this statistic makes sense.
Facebook also offers marketer special tools that let them market to specific demographics, including age ranges and interest among other metrics.
Facebook offers a powerful method for targeted advertising so you can make sure the relevant demographics are seeing your ads.
11. 66% of Facebook User Follow Some Brand on the Platform
66% of surveyed Facebook users claim that they follow or like some brand on the platform [11].
This stat just further highlights how fertile a ground Facebook is for marketing activity.
Nearly 2 out of 3 Facebook users have used Facebook to follow brands.
12. Mobile Advertising Revenue Made up Approximately 93% Of Facebook Ad Revenue in Q1 2019
According to HubSpot, over 93% of Facebook’s ad revenue from Q3 2019 came from mobile advertising [12].
In the days of smartphones, having a mobile-friendly brand is practically a necessity.
Considering that over 2 billion people in the world have smartphones [13], ratcheting up your company’s mobile presence is a way to attract a wide demographic of consumers.
13. More Than 80 Million Small Businesses Have Facebook Pages for Their Brand
Facebook has over 80 million small companies that promote their brands using their Facebook page [11].
Building a page allows you to directly connect with users and build a substantial audience and online presence.
Facebook also offers businesses a suite of tools that let them create targeted ads based on Facebook user data.
You can set ads based on age groups, interests, likes, and more.
All of this is to say that Facebook is still one of the best platforms for small businesses to promote their brands.
It is entirely free to make a basic page and you get access to useful analytics tools that let you track post engagement, mentions, video views, shares, and more so you have real-time data about your page’s performance.
14. The Highest Traffic Posts on Facebook Are Posted Midweek Between 1-3 PM
One of the more difficult parts of social media marketing is finding the right time to post so your post has the maximum visibility and engagement.
For instance, if your brand posts an update at 4 am on a Sunday, you will likely see much fewer engagements than if you had posted it at another time.
Data found that the best time to make a post on Facebook was M-F between 1-3 pm, though posts made between 11-8 pm have little variance in engagement [14].
The absolute best days to post are on Thursday and Friday which garner almost 18% more engagements.
This is important because if you make a post at an inopportune time, there is the risk your post will be lost in the mishmash of other posts before it can garner some traction.
Like it or not, even the most mundane of posts can see a lot of traffic if they are made at the right times, so plan your brand’s posting schedule accordingly.
15. India Has the Most Facebook Users in the World
It might be surprising to some, but the US does not have the most Facebook users in the world.
That title goes to India which has over 300 million active Facebook users [11], about 90 million more than the US.
This stat makes perfect sense when you think about it; after all, India is the second-most populous country in the world after China, and China has heavy restrictions on the usage of foreign social media platforms.
However, the US does have a higher percentage of the population that uses social media compared to India even though India has more users in terms of sheer numbers.
The basic lesson to take from these statistics is that brands should also make efforts to expand their social media marketing campaigns outside of the US.
While the US has one of the highest user rates as a percentage of the population, many other countries have more users and use social media more frequently and for longer times.
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Twitter Statistics
16. 22% of Adults in the US Use Twitter
Although it does not have as high penetration rates as Facebook, nearly 1 in 5 adults in the US have a Twitter profile they actively use [15].
However, even though a relatively small portion of the population uses Twitter, about 92% of the population is familiar with Twitter and a sizable percentage have browsed Twitter even if they do not make accounts.
Further, 44% of US 18-24-year-olds use Twitter, with Gen Z being the most likely generational group.
17. 66% of Twitter Users Are Male
Approximately 66% of Twitter users identify as male and about 34% identify as female [16].
In other words, in global terms, Twitter seems to be more popular with men than women and men outnumber women on the platform by a 2:1 ratio.
However, at the same time, women tend to interact with brands on Twitter more than men, in fact, women seem to interact with brands more commonly across social media sites, regardless of platform.
This means that marketing campaigns should not focus their efforts based solely on demographics, but demographics and engagement rates in that demographic.
18. 62% of B2B Companies Use Twitter as a Digital Marketing Tool
The amazing thing about Twitter and social media more generally is that it gives brands a means to engage directly 1-on-1 with consumers.
The brand-consumer relationship is no longer one-sided and if often bi and multi-directional.
Nearly 67% of all B2B businesses in the country use Twitter as a digital marketing tool [17].
Twitter gives businesses a powerful method to engage directly with consumers and businesses, which helps build brand visibility and reputation.
19. Nearly Half a Billion Tweets Are Sent Each Day
If we are just going by the sheer number of posts, then it seems Twitter is king.
Nearly half a billion tweets are sent each and every day [18].
This comes out to nearly 6,000 tweets per second. That’s a lot of tweets!
What does this mean for marketers?
It means that marketing on Twitter is not just something you can walk in, lay down a few tweets, and call it a day.
You need to maintain a constant online presence so you can react immediately to any user engagement.
Consider playing around with your posting schedule to find ideal times and analyze your tweet analytics to gauge your visibility and user engagement.
Instagram Statistics
20. 64% of 18-29-Year-Olds Use Instagram
Once again, it seems that Millenials and Gen Z are the most active demographics on Instagram.
64% of 18-29-year-olds in the US use Instagram; that’s almost 2 out of 3 [19].
To be clear, Instagram has a diverse user base of all ages but by far it’s most popular among young users.
This percentage has increased by nearly 10% in the past 2 years, further reinforcing the point.
In other words, if your brand is targeting Millennials and Gen Z, then Instagram is a great choice of platform.
Also, Instagram seems to be evenly split between men and women with a 52:48 ratio.
21. 80% of Accounts Follow a Business on Instagram
Instagram might just be the king when it comes to brand follows.
Nearly 4 out of 5 Instagram accounts follow at least one business and over 200 million Instagram users visit business pages every day [20].
This is why Instagram has one of the highest ROI on marketing in social media.
Further, one-third of the most-viewed stories on Instagram were from businesses.
Also, here is a funny yet slightly related tidbit of knowledge: The single most liked picture on Instagram with 53 million likes is a picture of an egg.
That’s right, an ordinary egg. The internet is weird sometimes.
22. The Best Time to Post on Instagram Is M-F From 10 AM to 3 PM
The absolute best times to make a post on Instagram are Monday through Friday from 10 am to 3 pm [21].
The highest engagement times were on Wednesdays at 11 am and Fridays between 10-11 am. The high-engagement windows are the best times to make posts on Instagram.
Posting during these windows can help small businesses get off the ground and generate a following.
23. Instagram Is the Most Popular Social Media Platform Among Teens
Technically, YouTube is a more popular platform than Instagram, but there is some debate over whether YouTube counts as a social media platform so it’s being excluded from this ranking.
72% of teens say they use Instagram, a higher percentage than both Snapchat and Facebook [19].
However, Snapchat sees the most use among teens in terms of the amount of time spent on the platform.
24. 62% of Users Say They Have Become More Interested in a Brand After Seeing in in Stories
If you are not using Instagram Stories yet then you should.
Data from Instagram itself shows that nearly 2 out of 3 people say they have become more interested in a brand or business after seeing it on Instagram [22].
There are lots of great guides on how to make a compelling story that will captivate viewers.
By the same token, about 11% of social media users in the US say they use Instagram specifically to shop for products while a further 81% say they have used it to shop for items in the past.
All this means that Instagram is probably one of the best social media platforms for generating sales from leads.
25. US Marketers Spend 69% of Their Influencer Budgets on Instagram
US marketers spend nearly 69% of their influencer budgets on Instagram [23].
This is an absurdly high number, much higher than the next highest of YouTube at just 11%. Basically, paying a popular Instagram personality to promote your products is an amazing way to build brand visibility and boost consumer interest.
If you are planning on incorporating influencers into your marketing strategy, Instagram seems to be the platform to do so.
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Summary
As social media becomes ever more prevalent in our everyday lives more and more marketers are taking advantage of the wide reach of social media to promote brand awareness.
In fact, if your marketing department is not currently putting efforts into their social media campaigns, they are behind by quite a bit.
Social media is probably the single most powerful marketing tool in human history and you would be remiss to leave it out of your brand’s marketing strategy.
This guide has been brought to you by SupplyGem.
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