Social Media Facts Every Marketer Should Know

As social media marketing is continuously evolving, the way people are using social media is constantly changing. If you’re a social media manager for your business, it’s important to know key statistics such:

where does your target audience spend most of their time online?;

how much time are they spending on these platforms?;

and what social media marketing trends can we expect to see this year?

We’ve put together the latest social media marketing statistics of 2014. Let’s start by looking at the who and where of social media users:

  • 72% of all internet users are now active on social media.
  • 18-29 year olds have an 89% usage.
  • The 30-49 bracket sits at 72%.
  • 60 percent of 50 to 60 year olds are active on social media.
  • In the 65 plus bracket, 43% are using social media.
  • Time spent on Facebook per hour spent online by country. Here are the top three. USA citizens get the top gong at 16% followed by the Aussies at 14 minutes and the Brits at 13 minutes.
  • 71% of users access social media from a mobile device.

Facebook

  • 1.28 billion monthly active Facebook users – a 15% increase year over year.  
  • 802 million login to Facebook daily – a 21% increase year over year.
  • 1.01 billion mobile active users – a 34% increase year over year.
  • 66% of 15 – 34 year olds use Facebook.
  • 45% of Internet users 65 years and older use Facebook.
  • 114 billion minutes spent on Facebook a month in the U.S. alone on desktop PCs and smartphones.
  • Average time spent per Facebook visit is 20 minutes.

42% of marketers report that Facebook is critical or important to their business. (Source: State of Inbound Marketing 2012. Does Facebook play a big role in your social media marketing strategy?

Twitter

  • 1 billion registered Twitter users; however 44% have never sent a tweet
  • 255 million monthly active users.
  • 500 million Tweets are sent per day.
  • 78% of Twitter active users are on mobile.
  • On average, users spend 170 minutes per month on Twitter.
  • 45% between ages 18 – 29 years old.
  • 29% of users check Twitter multiple times a day.

Facebook is still the pack leader when it comes to monthly active users.

Google+

  • Google+ has 1.6 billion total users.
  • 540 million monthly active users.
  • Users spend an average of 7 minutes per month on Google+.
  • 70% of brands have a presence on Google+.
  • 53% of interaction between Google+ user and a brand is positive.

If you’re not on Google+, now is the time to create a Google+ page for your business! Google+ is expected to surpass Facebook in social shares by 2016, according to a study by SearchMetrics.

Pinterest

  • 70 million total users (and counting!)
  • 40 million monthly active users.
  • 80% of Pinterest users are female –why do you think this is?
  • 84% of women and 50% of men stay active on Pinterest.
  • 92% of Pinterest pins are done by women.
  • 23% of Pinterest users use it at least once in a day.

Although Facebook and Twitter represent roughly 75% of all content sharing, Pinterest is considered the fastest growing platform for online content sharing.

Instagram

  • 200 million monthly active users.
  • 23% of teens consider Instagram as their favourite social network.
  • 13% of Internet users use Instagram.
  • Instagram’s mobile app usage has grown by 25% from December 2013 to May 2014.

Surprisingly, Instagram grew its user base to 150 million monthly active users in half the time that it took Twitter and in two years less than Facebook, according to research by the think-tank L2 Intelligence.

Do you think Instagram will continue on this impressive growth path in 2014?

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Did you know we help business owners drive business results through effective social media marketing strategies? Contact us today to find out how we can help you stand out from the crowd.

How to Stay Up-to-Date With Social Media Changes

Social media is an incredibly fast moving industry. It is literally impossible to stay on top of every relevant story in the industry. So how do you stay up-to-speed with the most important social media news?

We’ll let you in on our go-to resources for the latest social media changes.

 

Social Media News Sites

We suggest bookmarking these top 3 social media sites in your web browser:

  • Mashable covers the top social media news on topics like Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest and more.

 

  • The Next Web publishes international news on technology, business, and culture. You can choose to see only social media updates by selecting the channel “Social Media” in the column on the top left of the page.

 

  •  Social Media Examiner is the world’s largest online social media magazine.  You can subscribe to their newsletter so automatic updates sent directly to your inbox.

 

Subscribe to Social Media E-Newsletters

Don’t have the time to surf the web for the latest social media news? Well you don’t have to! Subscribe to these leading e-newsletters so you can have the news delivered directly to you.

  • SocialFresh.com delivers weekly social media insights from around the web on the business of social media directly to your mailbox.

 

 

  • Social Times is a popular social media source providing daily social media news.

 

Follow Social Media Enthusiasts

Take to Twitter to follow social media leaders to stay up-to-date on social media. Social media experts are essentially doing all the work for you so you don’t have to. Some people to consider following are:

  • Jay Baer – @jaybaer is is an American marketing consultant, speaker, and the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Youtility.

 

  • Brian Solis – @briansolis is a world-renowned digital analyst and futurist.

 

  • Jeff Bullas – @jeffbullas is a social media marketing blogger, expert, and speaker.

 

  • Mari Smith – @MariSmith is one of the world’s leading social media strategists and widely recognized as the top Facebook marketing expert in the world.

 

  • Andrea Vahl – @AndreaVahl is an internally recognized social media consultant and speaker.

 

How are you staying in the social media loop?  Feel free to share your favourite social media resources below.

What Are The Most Effective Social Media Platforms For Your Business?

Match Your Social Media Objective With The Most Effective Social Media Platform

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Objective: Improve SEO

Google+ and YouTube are two social media platforms that can improve your SEO results. Google+ is by far the most popular search engine in the world [searchengineland]. The content within your Google+ profile will be indexed by Google and searchable on the web. Your content can gain page rank and appear in search results indefinitely.

YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world with over 2 billion searches per day [seoinc]. Since Google acquired YouTube, users can search for YouTube videos in Google search which makes it all the more favorable for search engine optimization. Uploading quality, relevant videos to your YouTube page is a great way to stand out from the competition and improve your search results.

Objective: Increase Traffic to Your Website

You should focus your social media marketing efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Integrating these social networks into your company webpage will contribute to an overall increase in website traffic. In a recent study by Shareaholic, Facebook drove the most traffic to publishers (a whopping 10.4%). Pinterest came in second at 3.7%, followed by Twitter at 1.2%.

With the share-friendly nature and strong community aspect of these three social media platforms, it’s no surprise that they are the top social media traffic drivers.

Objective: Increase Brand Visibility

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram could all increase your brand’s visibility. However, managing all of these social media platforms effectively is near impossible. Consider focusing your efforts on the platform with the largest population: Facebook.

Do not forget about LinkedIn – this platform is a great way to reach professionals if you’re a B2B company. The majority of users on LinkedIn are middle aged to older adults with a college education or higher.

*Focus on gaining quality “Likes” and followers, rather than building high numbers.

Objective: Improve Customer Engagement

The best way to improve customer engagement is by focusing on high engaging platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Facebook is a great platform to host contests and giveaways for your fans. Twitter allows you to engage with your customers by hosting your own real-time chats. Uploading interesting, useful, and time-worthy videos on your YouTube page encourages users to comment and share.

Objective: Increase Market Reach

With 1.19 million monthly active users on Facebook, it is easier than ever to reach your target market [Facebook 2013]. Facebook is no longer just for younger users. There has been an increase in the 45-65 age bracket, growing 46% since 2012. The market is there – you just have to know how to effectively reach them.

You can target your appropriate market by investing in Facebook advertising. With Facebook’s recent algorithm change, it is more difficult for brands to get seen. By spending a little bit of money on Facebook ads, you can expand your market reach.

Infographic Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/brianna5mith/1648356/how-choose-most-effective-social-media-platform-your-brand

Available Resources

What are the resources needed to effectively manage each platform?

Copywriting [Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+]

Graphic Design [Pinterest, Facebook, Google+]

Trend Spotting [Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest,                           Instagram]

Videography [YouTube]

Photography [Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest]