Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Over 4.76 billion people use social media worldwide as of early 2023
The average internet user spends 151 minutes per day on social media
71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family
Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy
Social media videos generate 1200% more shares than text and image content combined
85% of social media videos are watched without sound
The influencer marketing industry is valued at approximately $21.1 billion as of 2023
61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations, compared to 38% for branded social media content
Micro-influencers have a 60% higher engagement rate than macro-influencers
Social media ad spending is projected to reach $207 billion in 2024
The average CTR (Click-Through Rate) for social media ads is 1.3%
26% of social media users say they tend to buy brands they see advertised
Facebook is the most popular social media platform for marketers, utilized by 90% of them
LinkedIn generates 80% of B2B social media leads
90% of Instagram users follow a business
Consumer Behavior & Engagement
- 1Over 4.76 billion people use social media worldwide as of early 2023
- 2The average internet user spends 151 minutes per day on social media
- 371% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family
- 454% of browsers use social media to research products
- 576% of consumers purchase a product they saw in a brand's social media post
- 691% of consumers accessing social media use a mobile device
- 7Brands that reply to customers on social media receive higher customer advocacy scores
- 849% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations on social media
- 968% of consumers agree that social media enables them to interact with brands and companies
- 1033% of consumers would rather contact a brand via social media than by telephone
- 1145% of consumers are more likely to unfollow a brand if they post too much self-promotion
- 1221% of consumers will unfollow a brand due to repetitive content
- 1390% of users follow at least one business on Instagram
- 14Gen Z uses social media for brand discovery more than search engines
- 1550% of internet users say they check social media first thing in the morning
- 1651% of socially engaged consumers will report a crisis via social media
- 1779% of consumers expect a response to their social media posts within 24 hours
- 1859% of the world's population uses social media
- 19Users view 40% more content on social media on Sundays compared to other days
- 2096% of hungry people who follow food brands on social media do so to get recipe ideas and inspiration
Interpretation
With 4.76 billion people spending an average of 151 minutes a day on social platforms and 91% of them on mobile, social media is a mobile-first, discovery-driven marketplace where authentic, timely two-way engagement and smart influencer partnerships turn browsers into buyers and advocates, while relentless self-promotion or repetitive posts will cost you followers and invite public complaints.
Content Strategy & Video
- 1Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy
- 2Social media videos generate 1200% more shares than text and image content combined
- 385% of social media videos are watched without sound
- 493% of brands got a new customer because of a video on social media
- 5Tweets with video get 10x more engagement than those without
- 6Live streaming usage increased by 55% in a single year for marketers
- 7Native video uploads to Facebook have 10x higher reach than YouTube links
- 8LinkedIn users are 20x more likely to share a video post than any other type of post
- 954% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support
- 10Stories ads on Instagram have a higher click-through rate when they are video-based rather than static images
- 11User-generated content (UGC) videos on TikTok are 22% more effective than brand-generated videos
- 12Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without
- 13Long-form content generates 9x more leads than short-form content on LinkedIn
- 14Using emojis in tweets can increase engagement by 25.4%
- 15Interactive content (quizzes/polls) generates 2x more conversions than passive content
- 16Question-based posts receive 100% more comments than standard posts
- 1780% of marketers say visual assets are an essential part of their social media strategy
- 18Infographics are liked and shared on social media 3x more than any other type of content
- 19The optimal length for a Facebook video is between 2 and 5 minutes
- 204x as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it
Interpretation
If you want marketing that actually pays off, stop treating social like print and start leading with native, captioned video and live streams, because short clips and user generated content earn dramatically more shares, reach and customers, tweets with video get ten times the engagement, Instagram story videos click better, LinkedIn long form drives nine times more leads, and simple moves like hashtags, emojis, questions and interactive polls double engagement even when most people watch without sound.
Influencer Marketing & Creator Economy
- 1The influencer marketing industry is valued at approximately $21.1 billion as of 2023
- 261% of consumers trust influencer recommendations, compared to 38% for branded social media content
- 3Micro-influencers have a 60% higher engagement rate than macro-influencers
- 493% of marketers have used influencer marketing in their campaigns
- 5For every $1 spent on influencer marketing, businesses earn an average of $5.20 in earned media value
- 672% of marketers use Instagram for their influencer marketing campaigns
- 789% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels
- 867% of brands use Instagram Stories for influencer campaigns
- 9Usage of TikTok for influencer marketing grew from 16% in 2020 to 45% in 2022
- 1082% of consumers are likely to follow a micro-influencer's recommendation
- 1150% of Millennials trust product recommendations from influencers, dropping to 38% for celebrities
- 1277% of fashion micro-influencers prefer working with brands via long-term partnerships
- 13User-generated content is 35% more memorable than other media
- 1451% of marketers say influencer marketing helps them acquire better customers
- 15Brands utilize an average of 10-50 influencers per campaign
- 1642% of marketers consider virtual influencers to be an emerging trend
- 1717% of companies spend over half their marketing budget on influencers
- 18Nano-influencers (fewer than 10k followers) yield the highest engagement rates on Instagram
- 1960% of marketers shared that influencer-generated content performs better than branded posts
- 2034% of marketers use influencers to improve brand reputation
Interpretation
Valued at about $21.1 billion and returning an average of $5.20 in earned media value for every dollar spent, influencer marketing has moved from novelty to necessity as most marketers use it and report comparable or better ROI, consumers trust influencers more than branded content so brands favor micro and nano creators for their higher engagement and authenticity because people trust people more than logos, they lean on Instagram and increasingly TikTok, amplify user generated content that is more memorable, run campaigns with dozens of partners or invest heavily in long term relationships, and even experiment with virtual influencers to acquire better customers and protect reputation.
Platform Specific Trends
- 1Facebook is the most popular social media platform for marketers, utilized by 90% of them
- 2LinkedIn generates 80% of B2B social media leads
- 390% of Instagram users follow a business
- 4TikTok has the highest engagement rate per post of any social network
- 5Twitter users spend 26% more time viewing ads than users on other platforms
- 6Pinterest users are 7x more likely to say the platform helps them decide what to purchase
- 7YouTube Shorts receives 30 billion daily views
- 863% of LinkedIn users access the network weekly
- 9The education industry has the highest engagement rate on Instagram
- 1070% of YouTube viewers bought a brand as a result of seeing it on YouTube
- 11Facebook Stories has 500 million daily active users
- 12Snapchat users launch the app nearly 30 times a day on average
- 1340% of TikTok users do not have a Facebook account
- 14LinkedIn is rated the most trusted social media platform by users for 3 years running
- 1525% of Pinterest's monthly active users are Gen Z
- 16Threads reached 100 million users in its first 5 days
- 1756% of Reddit users are male
- 18Instagram Reels have a 22% higher engagement rate than standard video posts
- 1948% of Twitter users turn to the platform to get news
- 20WhatsApp has open rates of roughly 98% for business messages
Interpretation
Taken together these stats show that Facebook remains the marketer's Swiss Army knife with half a billion daily Stories viewers, LinkedIn dominates B2B leads and trust, Instagram and Reels excel at business reach and education engagement, TikTok delivers the highest per post engagement and attracts many users who are not on Facebook, YouTube and Shorts convert audiences at scale, Pinterest sparks purchase intent especially among Gen Z, Twitter users spend more time with ads and turn to it for news, Snapchat drives habitual daily use, Threads proved there is still appetite for new networks, Reddit skews male, and WhatsApp achieves almost universal message opens, so be deliberate and match platform strengths to your goals or risk diluting your impact.
Social Commerce & Advertising
- 1Social media ad spending is projected to reach $207 billion in 2024
- 2The average CTR (Click-Through Rate) for social media ads is 1.3%
- 326% of social media users say they tend to buy brands they see advertised
- 4Social commerce sales in the US are expected to reach $79.6 billion by 2025
- 544% of internet users say they would likely purchase a product from a brand that offers a "buy" button on social media
- 6Retargeting ads are 76% more likely to get clicks than regular display ads
- 750% of Generation Z consumers have made a purchase through social media
- 8Facebook ads reach 33.3% of the global population aged 13 and older
- 9The cost per thousand impressions (CPM) on social media increased by 41% year-over-year in 2021
- 1028% of internet users have blocked ads on social media
- 11LinkedIn ads can reach 14.6% of the world’s population
- 1287% of e-commerce shoppers believe social media helps them make a shopping decision
- 13Pinterest delivers a $2 profit for every $1 spent on advertising
- 14130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month
- 15Carousel ads on Facebook drive 10x more traffic than static single-image posts
- 1677% of consumers have chosen a brand over a competitor after seeing a social ad
- 17Clicks on sponsored posts on Instagram grew by 17% in 2022
- 18Mobile advertising spending accounts for 70% of all social media ad spend
- 19Brands spend 25% of their total digital ad budget on social media
- 2098% of B2C companies use Facebook for advertising
Interpretation
Social media has quietly become the internet’s open mall: with advertisers set to spend $207 billion—mostly on mobile—shoppable posts, retargeting and carousel ads are turning millions of taps into purchases and brand preference, even as rising CPMs and ad blockers force smarter targeting to reach Facebook’s one-third global audience and the Gen Z and B2C buyers who are increasingly buying there.
