Latest Social Media Marketing Statistics in 2024 [Updated]

Social media!

Who’s never heard of Facebook? Anyone? Even our grandparents use it.

But there’s more – Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn… The list seems nearly infinite.

We might moan we waste too much time on social media, but we can’t live without it.

Why is this important?

Here’s the deal:

If you have a business, you absolutely need to use social media. It is your new ally that will help your business grow and succeed.

Just look at these amazing social media marketing stats and you’ll see why:

Fascinating Social Media Marketing Statistics

• There are more than 3.5 billion active social media users today.
• There are more than 50 million small businesses using Facebook Pages to connect with customers.
• According to 90% of marketers, their social media marketing efforts have increased the exposure of their business, and 75% say they’ve increased traffic.
• 71% of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.
• 21% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that they can reach on social media.
• 74% of consumers share video content from brands on social media.
• 80% of social marketers say their key strategy is to increase engagement across social channels.

Impressive, isn’t it?

So many marketers are focusing their efforts on social media. You should too if you aren’t already.

Increased exposure, recognition, and another avenue for interaction with your audience – these are only some of its awesome advantages.

There’s no doubt – using social media is a top strategy to increase brand awareness and sales.

If you wish to learn more about the incredible benefits of social media for your business, just keep reading.

Up next are all the crucial social media stats you need to succeed. Let’s start with some social media user statistics.

Social Media Users Statistics

1. More than half of the world population uses social media today.

(Source: We are social)

The number of social media users increased by more than 10.5% (over 376 million new users) between July 2019 and July 2020, reaching a total of 3.96 billion. This equals about 51% of the world population and 83.36% of internet users.

This is only natural. More and more people have access to the internet and decide to join social media.

Here are the differences in social media use by generation:

• 90.4% of Millennials,
• 77.5% of Gen X,
  and
• 48.2% of Baby Boomers

are social media users.

It is no surprise that younger people (born the 1980s – 2000s) use social media more, as they’ve grown up with it.

Following them are those born 1960s – 1980s and they’re catching up quickly.

Meanwhile, those born between 1946 and 1964 can’t compare, but nearly 50% is still a good number – showing that age is only secondary to the desire to connect.

These social media statistics are helpful when planning your digital marketing strategy and indicate what age group you should focus on.

The number of people using social media is only expected to grow. So is the time spent online – just look at these social media usage stats:

2. People spend on average 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media every day.

(Source: Oberlo)

That’s a lot! And it is constantly increasing.

In fact, 16-24 year-olds spend the most time every day on social media – an average of 3 hours.

On average, here is how much time people spend on each social platform every day:

• 40 minutes on YouTube
• 35 minutes on Facebook
• 30 minutes on Snapchat
• 15 minutes on Instagram
• 1 minute on Twitter

That can point you to where you should focus your attention if you want to attract as many clients as possible. YouTube and Facebook are the undisputed favorites.

3. The active number of global mobile social media users is 3.3 billion.

(Source: DreamGrow)

This means that you need to make your content accessible on mobile. Otherwise, chances are you’ll fall behind the competition.

• Users spend on average 69% of their media time on smartphones.
• US adults spent an average of 3 hours and 10 minutes per day on mobile devices in 2019.

All facts point to this: mobile devices make it possible to reach your customers anywhere, at any time! Just make sure to optimize your content so it works flawlessly on mobile. Otherwise, you might lose clients.

4. A typical user is present on almost 9 social media platforms.

(Source: We are social)

People are now active on more social media platforms than ever before. Although the use of social media has been steadily increasing for several years, researchers are of the opinion that the coronavirus pandemic also played a role in it. As people all over the world stayed in their homes and spent significant amounts of time online, they tried out several new social media apps and platforms. This has created a lot more opportunities of social media marketing for companies.

5. Internet users will spend more than one-third of their online time on social media in 2020.

(Source: We Are Social)

According to the we are social’s Digital in 2020 report, internet users are going to spend a total of 1.25 billion years online, out of which more than one-third will be spent on social media.

Now let’s see how businesses benefit from that.

Social Media Marketing for Business

Following are some important user-related social media statistics for businesses to help them realize how big of marketing avenues the digital social platforms are:

6. More than 1 in 3 online users say they go to social media when looking for more information about a brand or a product.

(Source: Small Business Trends)

Younger people are more likely to search for info on social networks.

• Close to 40% of internet users aged 18-34 in the US are interested in purchasing via social media. Aged 55 and older are a lot less enthusiastic to buy via the same channels – only 11% of the respondents.
• According to GlobalWebIndex, 54% use social media to research products.
• 49% of consumers say they depend on recommendations from social media influencers to help with their purchasing decision.
• 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend it to their friends and family.

It is clear that social media marketing is a solid strategy. People are now used to checking everything online first to make a more informed decision. If you are active on social media, you show customers you care about them and want to make their buyer’s journey as smooth as possible.

This will help you build positive relationships with clients – don’t ignore them, and aim to respond quickly and efficiently.

In return, they will happily share their positive experience with friends and family, which may bring you, new customers.

Moreover, connecting with trusted influencers (you’ll find them mostly on Instagram and YouTube) is also a great tactic to promote your products and reach a larger audience.

7. 73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.

(Source: Buffer)

In general, social media gives your business the boost it needs. Look at that:

• Almost 90% of marketers say their social marketing efforts have increased exposure for their business, and 75% say they’ve increased traffic.
• Over 50% of marketers who have been implementing social media marketing tactics for at least 2 years have reported improved sales.
• 44% of local businesses say they depend on social media to generate brand awareness, and 41% depend on it to drive revenue.
• 77.6% of small businesses report using social media to promote their businesses. (Facebook is their top used platform by far – and no wonder since 68% of U.S. adults are Facebook users).

Marketers are taking full advantage of social media and their efforts certainly pay off.

But let’s see what consumers have to say:

8. Visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than any other type.

(Source: Oberlo)

Social media allows for video marketing that reaches customers. Here’s the proof:

• Over 4.4 million videos were uploaded directly to Facebook in February 2016, generating over 199 billion views.
• In 2015, YouTube accounted for 40 billion all-time views for branded content.
• On Instagram, videos get 21.2% more interactions compared to images and 18.6% more interactions compared to carousels.
• During 2018, the ad spending on social video in the US increased by 38.1%, reaching $7.85 billion.

All these social network statistics imply that visual content is a must nowadays. If you want to attract people’s attention and make them remember your brand, this is the way to go. All social media allow for video marketing, and the stats don’t lie – pictures are great, but videos are even better.

That’s not all. Here’s what else you need to know to be successful:

Social Media Marketing Usage Stats

9. Social networking is the most popular activity in social media in 2020.

(Source: Statista)

• 79% of internet users in the US have a social network profile and their number is projected to increase to 257 million in 2023.
• The most popular social media in 2020 is Facebook with close to 56% of all social media site visits in the US.
• Are you interested in more Facebook statistics? If yes, then you can check the latest Facebook statistics we have prepared and see how powerful this platform is. You’ll be amazed.
• In terms of the most popular activity in social media as of June 2020 over 50% of social media users responded that they “commented on posts”.

Social networking, Facebook, and post comments seem to be a steady trend in 2020 as well.

10. 90% of weekly Pinners use Pinterest to make purchase decisions.

(Source: Social Media Today)

• 59% use Pinterest to learn more about their purchases.
• 78% of Pinners say they find content from brands on the platform helpful.
• 66% buy something after seeing a brand’s Pins.

It seems that Pinterest inspires people to shop even when they are simply browsing and not looking for anything specific. Claim your spot on Pinterest too, then. It will be worth it.

11. 68% of Instagram users engage with brands regularly.

(Source: Small Business Trends)

Instagram is one of the places where people engage with brands the most.

• Instagram has 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook and 120 times more than Twitter.
• 50% of Instagram users follow a business.
• 60% of Instagrammers learn about a service or a product on Instagram.
• 75% of Instagrammers will visit a website, search, shop, or tell a friend when they get inspired by a post.

These high numbers clearly show that Instagram is the place to be. Customers are way more likely to engage with brands on Instagram than on Facebook. However, don’t write off Facebook just yet.

12. 32% of influencers claim that Facebook is the best social media platform for influencer marketing.

(Source: Small Business Trends)

This means if you work with influencers, you can take advantage of that too.

• 8% of social media marketers worldwide stated that Facebook produced the best ROI.

And back to the power of visual content:

• Images are responsible for 75 to 95% of an ad’s performance on Facebook.

So the lesson is the same – always include images. And when it comes to videos, don’t forget to include subtitles, because most people watch them on mute (yes, just like you do).

Alright then, on to some Twitter statistics:

13. 81% of Twitter users claim that Twitter impacts their purchasing decisions more than TV.

(Source: Small Business Trends)

You’ve probably already realized that TV ads are a thing of the past. Big money is in social media advertising now.

• 70% of small business followers retweet content.
• 72% of brand followers are likely to make a purchase in the future.
• 53% of Twitter users say they bought a product they first saw on the platform.
• Promoted tweets boost offline sales by 29%.

Marketing on Twitter looks better than ever. As one of the major social media platforms, Twitter is here to facilitate the development of your business.

You see how effective social media marketing is.

Just remember to be active and responsive because

• 78% of people who complain to a brand on Twitter expect a response within an hour.

If you respond to their complaint quickly, they’ll be more willing to forgive you and remain your loyal customer.

Now let’s move on to YouTube:

14. Monthly, there are 1.8 billion logged-in YouTube active users.

(Source: DreamGrow)

• In 2015, YouTube accounted for 40 billion all-time views for branded content.

YouTube is one of people’s favorite platforms. Brands can take full advantage of that. What’s more, YouTube is the land of visual content, which has been proven to work best when it comes to engaging customers. No wonder billions of people visit YouTube every month and stay there for many hours.

Last but not least, here’s what LinkedIn has to offer:

15. 50% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn when making purchasing decisions.

(Source: Small Business Trends)

• 7 out of 10 professionals describe LinkedIn as a trustworthy source of professional content.
• Right now the number of marketers sharing video content on LinkedIn is about 55% and this is expected to rise to 65% in 2021.

Perhaps you didn’t expect this, but LinkedIn works for social media marketing too. Maybe it’s because it looks more professional and trustworthy. Make sure to be present on LinkedIn as well and incorporate these tips – and start sharing engaging video content.

Include links in your posts and ask questions – that’s a sure way to get more engagement.

Look at you! After reading all these cool social media marketing statistics, you are way ahead of where you were just a few minutes ago.

To top it off, let’s read what people ask on Google regarding social media marketing.

Wrapping Up

Alright, let’s the recap.

You’ll do well to find which social media are relevant to your business. Being active on as many of those as you can help you grow faster and attract more clients.

Showing customers you care and maintaining a short response time is a must. Another necessity is pictures and videos, in short – visual content.

And of course, make all your content accessible by mobile devices. You can always come back to this article and check how you’re doing.

Now that you’ve seen these mind-blowing social media marketing statistics, it’s time to use your new knowledge.

Happy marketing and see you soon!