Social media has completely changed the landscape of human interaction. Marketers need to keep their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in this consumer arena.
Prior to the age of social media, marketers would conduct elaborate studies to survey and assess engagement, affinity, and sentiment for their brands. In today’s digital world, social media platforms allow brands to communicate and interact with consumers while leveraging invaluable analytics to measure performance and growth. Brands must be present on social media in a meaningful way, or they could lose revenue in the long run.
Social media metrics: investment is increasing
Sprout Social recently curated a comprehensive list of social media stats that you need to know to grow. We’ve pulled out some key metrics that will help drive your strategy for scale and efficiency with your social media campaigns.
In terms of sheer growth, advertisers continue to increase investment in social media within their marketing mix.
- Social media advertising spend in the US is expected to reach $18.4 billion in 2019
- Emarketer estimated that the ad spending on social video in the US increased by 38.1% during 2018, reaching $7.85 billion
- Social media is the most relevant advertising channel for 50% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials
- People prefer visual content over text and static ads, and they view social platforms as an effective alternative to traditional lines of customer support.
- 58% of consumers prefer visual-first content, with their main preferences being graphics and images and produced video
- 74% of consumers share video content from brands on social media
- Consumers are equally likely to share and engage with inspirational posts from brands
- For 45% of consumers, social media is one of the first channels they go to in case they have any questions or issues
Social media metrics: Facebook facts
According to Sprout, Facebook retains its position as the leading platform for social media advertising. With over 2 billion active users, it’s still the most popular social network even with usage remaining fairly static from 2016 to 2018.
- 97% of social advertisers choose Facebook as their most effective social media platform.
- While YouTube is the premier platform for consuming videos, 40% of Facebook users said they watch the most videos on the social media site.
- The platform has managed to double its revenue per user in three years. Its first-quarter earnings for 2018 was $13.2 billion–a 42% increase in revenue year over year.
Social media metrics: Instagram
For a long time, conversations about Instagram revolved around how it would monetize the platform. As we now know, it not only has a solid monetization model but has influenced the way users engage with social media. One example of an impactful addition to the platform was IGTV, which allows users to share long-form video content.
Marketers should monitor the metrics, and shift investment accordingly, as Instagram evolves and expands:
- The number of monthly active Instagram users has grown to 1 billion according to the latest social media statistics
- Instagram is ahead of Facebook with a median engagement rate of 1.60% per post for brands
- Among marketers, Instagram still takes second place to Facebook with 83% of them using the platform
- Users upload more than 100 million photos and videos on a daily basis
Social media metrics: Twitter stats
Twitter has announced substantial updates coming in 2019 to increase activity and create authentic engagement on the platform. As these changes roll out, keep an eye on performance and stay up to date on new policies and offerings.
In terms of growth and engagement, Twitter is still a contender with 88% of marketers advertising:
- The platform earned a total of $575 million in ad revenue during the first quarter of 2018
- There are currently 326 million monthly active users on the platform
- Twitter users send out 500 million tweets per day
LinkedIn statistics
While LinkedIn might not be the place to reach a broad, general audience, it is the professional network that allows B2B companies to engage with a niche audience.
If your company services other organizations, you’ll want to monitor its growth metrics to inform your strategy:
- LinkedIn now has 590 million users with 260 million of them being active on a monthly basis
- LinkedIn performs 277% better than Facebook and Twitter when it comes to generating visitor-to-lead conversions
- 80% of social media B2B leads come from LinkedIn
- 89% of B2B marketers include LinkedIn in their digital marketing mix
Keep a close eye on social media metrics
If you’re responsible for marketing your business or care about social media marketing trends, it’s important to stay on top of these trends.
If you want to learn how to take your social advertising programs to the next level, check out Skai Social or contact us today for more information or to schedule a demo.
