Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Social media advertising spending was projected to reach $207 billion in 2023
89% of marketers say social media is important to their overall marketing strategy
80% of business executives think it is very important to invest additional resources in social media marketing
Short-form video is the #1 social media content format for lead generation and ROI
66% of consumers find short-form video to be the most engaging type of in-feed social content
Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images
76% of consumers have purchased a product after seeing it in a social media post
54% of social browsers use open social media to research products
71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend it to others
LinkedIn generates leads at 3x the rate of visitor-to-lead conversion than Twitter and Facebook for B2B
96% of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn for organic social marketing
Instagram Stories generate a quarter of the platform's ad revenues
Influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $21.1 Billion in 2023
Businesses earn $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing
61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations compared to 38% who trust brand-produced content
Consumer Behavior
- 176% of consumers have purchased a product after seeing it in a social media post
- 254% of social browsers use open social media to research products
- 371% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend it to others
- 449% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations on social media to inform their purchasing decisions
- 590% of Instagram users follow at least one business on the platform
- 663% of customers expect companies to offer customer service via their social media channels
- 781% of consumers say social media increases their accountability to brands
- 81 in 3 consumers use social media to discover new products and brands
- 959% of consumers say that social media content is the primary reason specifically facilitating their purchasing decisions
- 1045% of internet users worldwide turn to social networks when looking for brand information
- 1179% of people say that user-generated content on social media highly impacts their purchasing decisions
- 1233% of consumers would rather contact a brand via social media than by telephone
- 1357% of consumers will follow a brand specifically to learn about new products or services
- 14Response time on social media matters: 42% of consumers expect a response within 60 minutes
- 1560% of Gen Z users say they use Instagram to discover new brands, services and products
- 1627% of consumers mentioned they would boycott a brand due to its stance on a social or political issue on social media
- 1767% of consumers bought something they saw on TikTok while 25% do so solely because it is a trend
- 1880% of consumers say sustainability content on social media influences their purchasing behaviors
- 19Only 21% of consumers say they would buy from a brand that doesn't have a social media presence
- 2091% of consumers believe that social media has the power to connect people, increasing brand community value
Interpretation
Taken together, these statistics make one thing clear: social media is no longer optional theater but the marketplace's front door, where discovery, research, influencers, trends and user generated content drive purchases, expectant customers demand fast service and authentic engagement builds community and recommendations, and brands that ignore the channel risk being overlooked, boycotted or dismissed as irrelevant.
Content & Engagement
- 1Short-form video is the #1 social media content format for lead generation and ROI
- 266% of consumers find short-form video to be the most engaging type of in-feed social content
- 3Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images
- 4Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without
- 5Video posts on social media get 48% more views on average than other formats
- 685% of social media videos are watched without sound emphasizing the need for captions
- 7Carousel posts on Instagram have the highest engagement rate per post at 1.92%
- 854% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support
- 9Social media posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without
- 1090% of consumers claim a video will help them make a purchasing decision
- 11Stories on Instagram accounts with smaller followings have higher reach rates than larger accounts
- 12Live videos on Facebook and Instagram get 3x more engagement than pre-recorded videos
- 1380% of people would rather watch a live video from a brand than read a blog
- 14Long-form content generates 9x more leads than short-form content generally but trails in social engagement specifically
- 15LinkedIn posts with images have a 98% higher comment rate
- 16Using emojis in tweets can increase engagement by 25.4%
- 17Instagram videos receive 2x more engagement than Instagram photos
- 18Interactive content (quizzes, polls) generates 2x more conversions than passive content
- 1945% of people unfollow brands on social media if they post too much self-promotion
- 20User-Generated Content posts shared to social channels see a 28% higher engagement rate than standard brand posts
Interpretation
Think of social media as a fast-moving conversation: short, captioned videos and striking visuals or carousels drive the most engagement and ROI, live and interactive formats multiply attention, hashtags, emojis, and user-generated posts nudge shares and comments, and brands that stop the hard sell and start entertaining will win, because while long-form can generate leads, bite-sized, visual, and conversational content rules feeds.
Influencer & UGC
- 1Influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $21.1 Billion in 2023
- 2Businesses earn $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing
- 361% of consumers trust influencer recommendations compared to 38% who trust brand-produced content
- 4Micro-influencers (10k-100k followers) have a 60% higher engagement rate than macro-influencers
- 593% of marketers have used influencer marketing in their campaigns
- 689% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels
- 7User-generated videos on YouTube get 10x more views than brand-generated content
- 880% of marketers find influencer marketing effective
- 951% of marketers say that influencer marketing helps them acquire better customers
- 1036% of brands use user-generated content in their social media marketing strategy effectiveness plans
- 11Ads featuring user-generated content achieved a 4x higher expected click-through rate
- 1286% of millennials believe that user-generated content is a good indicator of the quality of a brand or service
- 1372% of marketers prefer Instagram for influencer campaigns
- 1460% of marketers agree that influencer-generated content performs better and drives more engagement than branded posts
- 1592% of consumers trust earned media such as recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising
- 16Influencer campaigns on TikTok are growing with 45% of marketers using the platform for influence in 2022
- 17User-generated content results in 29% higher web conversions when included in campaigns
- 18Cost per mille (CPM) for influencer marketing is often lower than traditional social ads averaging $6.85 on Instagram
- 1967% of marketing professionals plan to increase their influencer marketing budget over the next 12 months
- 20Brands that incorporate user-generated content into their marketing see an 18% increase in retention
Interpretation
Influencer marketing has quietly become the most efficient word of mouth engine brands can buy, growing into a $21.1 billion industry where businesses average $5.20 back for every dollar spent, consumers and millennials trust influencer and user generated recommendations far more than brand content, micro influencers and user generated videos drive much higher engagement and conversions than branded posts, and with most marketers increasing budgets and favoring Instagram and TikTok the ROI, retention, and click through metrics make a strong case that influence now outperforms many traditional channels.
Platform Performance
- 1LinkedIn generates leads at 3x the rate of visitor-to-lead conversion than Twitter and Facebook for B2B
- 296% of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn for organic social marketing
- 3Instagram Stories generate a quarter of the platform's ad revenues
- 4Facebook is the most heavily used social media platform by marketers worldwide at 90%
- 5Pinterest is used by shoppers to make purchasing decisions 7x more than other platforms
- 6TikTok has an engagement rate of 5.96% per post considerably higher than Instagram's 0.83%
- 7YouTube mobile advertising is 84% more likely to hold attention than TV advertising
- 880% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn social media marketing efforts
- 9Twitter Ads reach 5.8% of the world population over age 13
- 1062% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn produces leads effectively compared to only 34% for Facebook
- 11The average reach of a Facebook Page post is only 5.2% of the page's total likes
- 12Snapchat users are 60% more likely to make impulse purchases than non-users
- 13Instagram has the 4th most users of any mobile app worldwide boosting ad visibility
- 1470% of YouTube viewers bought a brand as a result of seeing it on YouTube
- 15Facebook ads have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 0.90% across all industries
- 16Twitter users spend 26% more time viewing ads than users on other leading platforms
- 1772% of B2B marketers who use paid social media use LinkedIn Ads
- 1850% of Instagram users visit a website to make a purchase after seeing a product in Stories
- 19Ad recall on TikTok is 11 percentage points higher than TV ads
- 2058% of Pinterest users say the platform helps them make shopping decisions
Interpretation
Summing it up, the data say something both blunt and useful: LinkedIn is the heavyweight for B2B lead generation and conversion—driving roughly three times the visitor-to-lead rate of Twitter and Facebook and around 80 percent of B2B leads—while Facebook remains the ubiquitous platform for marketers despite low organic reach and a modest ad click-through rate; Instagram and TikTok dominate engagement and shopping, with Stories accounting for a quarter of Instagram’s ad revenue and half of Story viewers visiting a site to buy, TikTok posts and ads delivering far higher engagement and ad recall than rivals, YouTube mobile ads holding attention far better than TV and prompting purchases, and Pinterest and Snapchat strongly influencing shoppers and impulse buys even as Twitter still reaches a notable slice of the global audience and keeps users watching ads longer.
ROI & Strategy
- 1Social media advertising spending was projected to reach $207 billion in 2023
- 289% of marketers say social media is important to their overall marketing strategy
- 380% of business executives think it is very important to invest additional resources in social media marketing
- 4Social media marketing has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing
- 591% of marketing executives plan to increase their social media marketing budget in the next 3 years
- 677% of social media marketers say social media marketing has been somewhat or very effective for their company this year
- 7Companies that provide a clear mobile social media experience see a 30% increase in sales
- 8Retargeting ads on social media can increase conversion rates by up to 70%
- 9The average CPC (Cost Per Click) for Facebook ads across all industries is approximately $1.72
- 10Brands relying on social media for lead generation save an average of 13% in overall marketing costs
- 1161% of marketers state that generating leads is their top challenge in social media marketing efficiency
- 1250% of consumers say user-generated content ads would increase the likelihood of them buying products from a brand
- 1393% of marketers used Facebook for business which translates to highly competitive ad costs
- 1473% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been somewhat effective or very effective for their business
- 1585% of businesses that do social commerce say they will increase their budget for it in the coming years
- 16The global social commerce market size is expected to reach $2.9 trillion by 2026
- 17Organizations with aligned sales and marketing teams via social channels achieve 24% faster three-year revenue growth
- 1844% of local businesses said they depend on social media to generate brand awareness and revenue
- 19Social media ad impressions increased by 20% year-over-year showing higher market saturation and spending
- 2052% of social media marketers listed calculating ROI as their top challenge
Interpretation
Social media has graduated from optional megaphone to essential revenue engine, drawing billions in ad spend and delivering higher lead-to-close rates plus big gains from mobile optimization and retargeting, but soaring competition, rising CPCs and persistent ROI and lead-generation headaches mean marketers must get smarter, not just shout louder.
