Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy
91 percent of businesses use video as a marketing tool in 2023
TikTok users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the app
The influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $21.1 billion in 2023
69 percent of consumers trust influencers more than information coming directly from a brand
Micro-influencers boast an average engagement rate of 3.86 percent compared to 1.21 percent for mega-influencers
The number of social media users globally has reached 4.95 billion as of late 2023
The average user spends 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media per day
Social commerce sales globally are expected to reach $1.29 trillion by 2023
Social media ad spending is projected to reach $207 billion in 2024
Facebook remains the most used social platform globally with over 3 billion monthly active users
LinkedIn has over 1 billion members in more than 200 countries
80 percent of B2B leads generated on social media come from LinkedIn
90 percent of marketers say AI tools save them time in content creation
76 percent of consumers expect a response on social media within 24 hours
B2B Marketing & Customer Service/AI
- 180 percent of B2B leads generated on social media come from LinkedIn
- 290 percent of marketers say AI tools save them time in content creation
- 376 percent of consumers expect a response on social media within 24 hours
- 461 percent of marketers used AI for social media copy generation in 2023
- 5Businesses that engage with customers on social media see 20-40 percent more revenue per customer
- 696 percent of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn for organic social media marketing
- 785 percent of customer interactions will be handled without a human agent by 2025 via AI
- 860 percent of B2B marketers utilize a social media employee advocacy program
- 979 percent of consumers expect brands to use AI to improve their customer service experience
- 10Cost per lead on LinkedIn is 28 percent lower than on Google AdWords
- 1131 percent of B2B marketers say social selling has allowed them to build deeper relationships with clients
- 1277 percent of marketers are using AI to personalize the customer experience on social channels
- 13Responding to a complaint in social media can increase customer advocacy by as much as 25 percent
- 1458 percent of B2B marketers plan to increase their LinkedIn ad spend in 2024
- 15Chatbots on social media can reduce customer support costs by up to 30 percent
- 1684 percent of C-suite executives use social media to make purchasing choices
- 1748 percent of marketers are using AI to analyze social media data for insights
- 18Companies with a defined social customer care strategy see a 92 percent customer retention rate
- 1965 percent of B2B companies have acquired a customer through LinkedIn
- 20Nearly 50 percent of marketers use AI tools to optimize post scheduling times
Interpretation
Welcome to the new reality, where LinkedIn and AI quietly run the B2B playbook—show up on the platform, use AI to craft timely, personalized responses and chatbots for service, and you’ll pay less for leads, build deeper client relationships, boost revenue per customer and enjoy far higher retention than competitors who ignore social.
Consumer Behavior & Social Commerce
- 1The number of social media users globally has reached 4.95 billion as of late 2023
- 2The average user spends 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media per day
- 3Social commerce sales globally are expected to reach $1.29 trillion by 2023
- 440 percent of Gen Z uses TikTok and Instagram for search instead of Google
- 590 percent of social media users follow at least one brand
- 676 percent of consumers have purchased a product they saw in a social media post
- 727 percent of internet users use social media specifically to find inspiration for things to do and buy
- 850 percent of consumers will boycott a brand if they see offensive content on their social channels
- 9The average internet user visits 6.7 different social platforms each month
- 1082 percent of shoppers prefer discovering a brand on social media rather than seeing a traditional ad
- 11Cart abandonment rates on mobile apps including social commerce are around 85 percent
- 1268 percent of consumers have made at least one purchase directly from social media
- 1355 percent of shoppers have made a purchase through a social media channel such as Facebook Shops
- 1444 percent of people use Instagram to shop weekly using features like Tags and the Shop tab
- 1571 percent 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
- 1649 percent of consumers rely on influencer recommendations on social media for their purchase decisions
- 1723 percent of shoppers are influenced to buy by the number of likes or comments on a social post
- 18Social media is the most popular channel for product research among Gen Z at 48 percent
- 1998 percent of consumers plan to make at least one purchase through social shopping or influencer commerce in 2024
- 2035 percent of US consumers have used social media for customer service issues
Interpretation
Social media has become a nearly five billion person, two hours and twenty-four minutes a day, double tap economy where discovery, influence and commerce are merging into a roughly $1.3 trillion market, so brands that deliver shoppable inspiration, frictionless mobile experiences and respectful content will win, because consumers will follow and buy on social just as readily as they will recommend or boycott based on what they see.
Influencer Marketing & Creator Economy
- 1The influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $21.1 billion in 2023
- 269 percent of consumers trust influencers more than information coming directly from a brand
- 3Micro-influencers boast an average engagement rate of 3.86 percent compared to 1.21 percent for mega-influencers
- 482 percent of marketers are dedicating a budget specifically to influencer marketing in 2024
- 5User-Generated Content (UGC) videos on TikTok get 22 percent more engagement than branded videos
- 6For every $1 spent on influencer marketing businesses are making $5.78 on average
- 750 percent of Millennials trust product recommendations from influencers
- 872 percent of Gen Z followers have bought something based on an influencer recommendation
- 967 percent of marketers and brands are planning to increase their influencer marketing budget over the next 12 months
- 10Nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) have the highest engagement rates on Instagram at 4 percent
- 1160 percent of marketers say influencer-generated content performs better than studio-shot content
- 1231 percent of social media marketers prefer working with micro-influencers over celebrities
- 1363 percent of brands use AI in executing their influencer marketing campaigns
- 14TikTok is the most popular influencer marketing channel utilized by 56 percent of brands
- 1593 percent of marketers have used influencer marketing in their campaigns
- 1642 percent of Americans aged 18-34 have made a purchase due to a social media influencer
- 17Brands relying on influencers see a 37 percent higher retention rate
- 1886 percent of women use social media for purchasing advice
- 19The Creator Economy is estimated to be worth over $104 billion globally
- 2039 percent of marketers say finding the right influencers is their biggest challenge
Interpretation
Influencer marketing, valued at about $21.1 billion in 2023 and part of a creator economy topping $104 billion, proves that people prefer people over polished PR, with 69 percent of consumers trusting influencers more than brands and 50 percent of Millennials and 72 percent of Gen Z acting on recommendations; micro and nano creators and TikTok UGC outperform studio shot ads in engagement and retention, deliver an average $5.78 return per dollar and have 82 percent of marketers budgeting for influencers, 67 percent planning to increase spend and 63 percent using AI, even as 39 percent of marketers struggle to find the right creators.
Platform-Specific Growth & Advertisement
- 1Social media ad spending is projected to reach $207 billion in 2024
- 2Facebook remains the most used social platform globally with over 3 billion monthly active users
- 3LinkedIn has over 1 billion members in more than 200 countries
- 4Instagram ad reach has grown by 23.5 percent in the past year
- 5The cost per thousand impressions (CPM) on Facebook has increased by 61 percent year-over-year
- 6Pinterest has over 482 million monthly active users with 85 percent of weekly users making purchases based on pins
- 7Snapchat's daily active users grew to 406 million in Q3 2023
- 8TikTok’s ad revenue is expected to surpass $18 billion in 2024
- 9Twitter/X saw a 12 percent decline in ad revenue in 2023
- 1062 percent of marketers plan to increase their budget for TikTok ads in the coming year
- 11Ads in Instagram Explore reach over 50 percent of Instagram accounts every month
- 12LinkedIn marketing generates 2x conversion rates compared to other platforms for B2B
- 1326 percent of all social media ad spend goes to Instagram stories
- 14Threads reached 100 million users in its first five days of launch
- 15The average click-through rate (CTR) for Facebook ads across all industries is 0.90 percent
- 1693 percent of social media advertisers use Facebook Ads
- 17Sponsored InMail on LinkedIn has an average open rate of 52 percent
- 18YouTube generates 11.35 percent of all social media ad revenue
- 19X (formerly Twitter) has approximately 550 million monthly active users
- 2050 percent of users follow brands on threads within 3 months of joining
Interpretation
Social ad spending is set to hit $207 billion in 2024, and the scene looks like a crowded global marketplace where Facebook still draws the most eyeballs and advertisers, TikTok’s ad revenue and budgets are surging, Instagram’s reach and Stories command huge spend, LinkedIn delivers twice the B2B conversions with standout InMail open rates, Pinterest and Snapchat turn inspiration into purchases, YouTube holds a meaningful revenue slice, Threads and TikTok show blistering early adoption while X struggles, and with Facebook CPMs up 61 percent and average CTRs under 1 percent, marketers who aren’t strategic about platform, format and creative will pay more for less.
Video Content & Short-Form Trends
- 1Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy
- 291 percent of businesses use video as a marketing tool in 2023
- 3TikTok users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the app
- 466 percent of consumers report short-form video to be the most engaging type of social media content
- 5YouTube Shorts receives over 50 billion daily views globally
- 6Instagram Reels offer a 67 percent higher engagement rate than standard Instagram videos
- 773 percent of consumers prefer to watch a short-form video to learn about a product or service
- 8Vertical video has a 90 percent higher completion rate compared to horizontal video on social platforms
- 9Marketers investing in short-form video will increase their spend by 21 percent in 2024
- 10Tweets with video attract 10x more engagement than those without
- 1196 percent of marketers continue to view video as an 'important part' of their marketing strategy
- 12Over 70 percent of viewers say YouTube makes them aware of new global brands
- 1357 percent of Gen Z prefer to learn about products through short-form videos rather than long-form
- 14Facebook videos get 135 percent greater organic reach than photos
- 15Viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10 percent when reading it in text
- 1687 percent of marketers say video has helped them directly increase sales
- 17Captions on short-form videos increase average watch time by 12 percent
- 1854 percent of marketers say that video is the most valuable content type for achieving social media goals
- 19Live video usage is expected to grow 15-fold by the end of 2024 compared to 2017 levels
- 2033 percent of all time spent online is allocated to watching video content
Interpretation
Short-form vertical video with captions is marketing’s crown jewel, delivering the highest ROI and already used by 91 percent of businesses, commanding attention with TikTok users averaging 95 minutes a day and YouTube Shorts logging over 50 billion daily views, driving 67 percent higher engagement on Reels and 90 percent higher completion for vertical formats, preferred by 73 percent of consumers to learn about products, boosting message retention to 95 percent versus 10 percent for text and directly increasing sales for 87 percent of marketers, which is why marketers will boost short-form video spend by 21 percent in 2024 and why ignoring it is a strategic risk your competitors will happily exploit.
