21 Social Media Facts You Should Know Right Now

Millennials are still on Facebook. Images get shared more. Digital ad spending is increasing. People will unfollow your Facebook page if you overpost.

Yes, these are things you need to know – and there’s proof to back it up.

Earlier in 2016 I wrote a post with 16 marketing and social media facts you needed to know heading into the year and now I’ve rounded up 21 facts you need to know right now. They span over a broad range of topics and yes, I already know Snapchat is no where on the list. Not that I’ve had my head in the sand, I just am not drinking the Snapchat-is-where-it’s-at-for-brand-marketing kool-aid. I have an account. I use it. I believe Snapchat still has a long way to go for it to be a viable, legit marketing option for brands, especially the ones I work with.

These stats are incorporated into my now-revived Marketing Fact Friday series that you’ll see on my social channels, so feel free to share the graphics as they post each Friday 🙂

Here are 21 marketing and social media facts you need to know right now…

Social Media Facts

• Facebook’s user base is estimated to reach 1.43 billion monthly users by the end of 2016. Mobile is estimated to account for 82% of Facebook’s US digital ad revenue this year. (Source: eMarketer)

• 95.8% of social media marketers worldwide said Facebook produced the best ROI. (Source: eMarketer)

• 21% of Facebook users say they unfollow brands that post repetitive or boring content. 19% say they would unfollow a brand on Facebook if the brand posted too often (more than six times a day). (Source: Adweek)
  
  
  
  • True story – I was a conference this Spring where a social media “expert” told the group of about 300 that they needed to post “as much as possible” on their Facebook pages. I was horrified! I wanted to stand up and yell NO!!! because you are asking to have scores of people unfollow you if you do that. Yes, you can post multiple times per day, but it has to be done strategically and not “as much as possible”. And the organizers (who I know) consider her an “expert” and selected her pitch over mine…

• 7% of U.S. companies with 100 employees or more used Facebook for marketing activities in 2015. That share is projected to rise to 85.3% this year and 85.8% next year. (Source: MediaPost)

• 91% of millennials (aged 15-34) are on Facebook. (Source: Infinitdatum)

• There’s an average 45% increase in engagement when a LinkedIn post contains a link, a 50% increase in comments when a post contains a question, and a 98% increase in comments when the post contains an image. (Source: DMR)

• 32% of U.S. companies with 100 employees or more used Instagram for marketing activities in 2015. That number is predicted to increase to nearly 49% this year and 70.7% next year. (Source: MediaPost)

• 81% of B2B decision makers use online communities and blogs to help make purchasing decisions. 74% use LinkedIn and 42% use Twitter. (Source: Marketing Think)

• 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. (Source: Get Ambassador)

• Visual content 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. (Source: Hubspot)

• 78% of people who complain to a brand via Twitter expect a response within an hour. (Source: Lithium)

• When it comes to communicating with businesses, 33% of Millennials prefer using social media over any other channel. (Source: Marketing Sherpa)

• Internet users have an average of 54 social media accounts. (Source: Global Web Index)

• When making a purchase, 75% of B2B buyers use social media for their decision-making. (Source: IDC)

Content Marketing Facts

• Marketers who blog are 13 times more likely to generate ROI. (Source: Contently)

• 74% of readers trust educational content from brands as long as it doesn’t push a sale. (Source: Contently)

• 88% of B2B marketers in North America use Twitter for content distribution. (Source: DMR)

Advertising Facts

• 56% of general internet display ads are never seen by actual humans. (Source: Contently)

• Half of B2B buyers are using smartphones for business purchases — with 40% of these purchases directly influenced by such devices. Conversely, the allocation for mobile in digital marketing only amounts to 3%. (Source: PureB2B)

• Total spending on Internet advertising is predicted to grow 12.9% next year. Ahead of TV, Internet will become the largest medium for advertising this year. (Source: MediaPost)

And the most concering stat I read…

• One-third of marketers say they don’t know which digital marketing channel has the biggest positive impact on revenue. (Source: MarketingProfs) THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO TRACK YOUR ACTIVITIES!!!

Which of these stats surprised you the most? I could have added so many more, but these were the ones that stuck out the most to me. Have you found any interesting marketing statistics lately? Share them with me below in the comments!

(5)