Social media is an ever-present force in our daily lives, and over the past 20 years, it has become one of the most important marketing platforms.
It’s essential for your business to have a social media plan that allows you to connect with your target market. With so many people using social media, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers if you’re not utilizing this platform.
Here, we’ve compiled a list of essential social media stats to ensure you know where to focus your marketing efforts. These stats will help you get the highest ROI in 2022.
Social Media Marketing Report Statistics from HubSpot
The HubSpot Blog conducted a survey of 300+ social media marketers in November 2021 to learn about their strategies, the formats they use, and the challenges they face.
Here are some of the most interesting stats we discovered:
- 77% of social media marketers say social media marketing has been somewhat to very effective for their company this year.
- What’s more, 37% of marketers who said social media marketing was somewhat to very ineffective cited COVID-19, likely due to the rapid change in strategy.
- The number one goal marketers report having for their social media marketing strategy is advertising their products or services, followed by increasing brand awareness.
- 82% of marketers say they repurpose content across social media channels.
- The majority of marketers surveyed say they post on most social media platforms four to six times a week.
- The platforms with the lowest reported engagement levels are Twitch, Snapchat, and Clubhouse.
- Short-form video is the top social media format used by 54% of social media marketers, followed by live streaming, live audio chatrooms, and user-generated content.
- 80% of marketers say funny content is the most effective on social media.
- 68% of marketers’ companies work with influencers on social media.
- The most popular cadence to search for new social media platforms is once a month, followed by once a week.
- 84% of marketers target Millennials as part of their social media strategy.
- The biggest challenge marketers face on social media is creating engaging content, reported by 27% of respondents.
- 67% of marketers say they work with micro-influencers with 10K-100K followers or subscribers. Conversely, only 29% say they work with mega influencers with more than 1 million followers.
- 64% of marketers say they invest in building social media communities.
- 25% of respondents said they believe funny content is most effective with Gen Z.
Channel-Specific Social Media Statistics
Facebook Statistics
- In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 79% of marketers report buying paid advertising on Facebook. (HubSpot)
- Users spend an average of 19.6 hours a month on Facebook. (HootSuite)
- Facebook is a popular source of news with 31% of Americans regularly getting their news from the platform. (Pew Research)
- According to the same poll, more than 50% of marketers plan on increasing their investments in Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok in 2022. (HubSpot)
Twitter Statistics
- Twitter has reached 229 million daily active users as of the first quarter of 2022. (Statista)
- In a HubSpot Blog poll, 79% of marketers plan to continue investing in Twitter Spaces in 2022. (HubSpot)
- Link clicks account for 92% of all user interaction with tweets. (HubSpot)
- The best time to post on Twitter is at 9 AM, and the best days to post are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (Sprout Social)
- Tweets with hashtags get 100% more engagement. (Twitter)
Instagram Statistics
- In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 58% of marketers plan to leverage Instagram Reels in 2022. (HubSpot)
- 64% of Instagram users are under the age of 34. (Statista)
- 20% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll report generating the biggest ROI when working with influencers on Instagram, only behind Facebook. (HubSpot)
- 98% of marketers say Instagram is the most influential platform for influencer marketing, which is 44% higher than Facebook. (Sprout Social)
- 90% of people on Instagram follow a business. (Instagram)
LinkedIn Statistics
- LinkedIn has more than 830 million active users in 200 countries and regions worldwide. (LinkedIn)
- The most popular day to post on LinkedIn is on Saturdays and Sundays. (HubSpot)
- According to a HubSpot Blog survey, most marketers post on LinkedIn four to six times a week. (HubSpot)
- When it comes to B2B display ad spend, LinkedIn makes up the largest share at 32.2%. (eMarketer)
- As of January 2022, 59% of LinkedIn users were between 25 and 34 years old. (Statista)
YouTube Statistics
- YouTube is the second-largest search engine globally. (Alexa)
- YouTube generates over 1.7 billion unique monthly visitors. (Hootsuite)
- 42.5% of marketers use YouTube for influencer marketing, according to a 2021 eMarketer report. (eMarketer)
- 50% of social media marketers surveyed by the HubSpot Blog say they plan to increase their investment in YouTube in 2022. In fact, 20% of respondents say they plan to invest in this platform the most. (HubSpot)
TikTok Statistics
- 70% of TikTok users agree they feel a deeper connection to people they interact with on TikTok compared to other social networks. (TikTok)
- In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 61% of marketers plan to increase their investment in TikTok marketing in 2022. (HubSpot)
- Douyin, TikTok’s original standalone app in China, had 300 million users at the time Musical.ly merged with TikTok. (The Verge)
- Two out of three users are likely to buy something on TikTok while using the app. (TikTok)
- TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021. (HootSuite)
- TikTok’s average engagement rate is high at all follower levels. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
Reddit Statistics
- As of Q3 2021, the Reddit mobile app was counting more than 13 million daily active users worldwide on iOS. (Statista)
- 50% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll plan to increase their investment in Reddit. (HubSpot)
- The site receives more than 50 billion+ monthly screen views. (Reddit)
Social Media Consulting Services
Many businesses hire outside companies to manage their social media accounts and reputation.
Some businesses create roles in-house for a social media consultant. The responsibilities of a social media consultant include increasing brand awareness, responding to customer service complaints across social media platforms, and engaging with your audience online.
Whether you’re considering hiring an external social media consulting service or creating a role in-house, take a look at these trends that demonstrate the importance of social media consulting:
- Answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by 25%. (Convince & Convert)
- 79% of consumers expect brands to respond within a day of reaching out over social media, but average brand response rates across all industries is lower than 25%. (Sprout Social)
- 79% of people say that user-generated content on social media significantly impacts their purchasing decisions. (Stackla)
3 Top Reasons Executives Should Be Active On Social Media
CEOs of enterprise organizations may be hesitant to engage in social media due to the potential for negative consequences if their posts are misinterpreted.
The data indicates that a lack of leadership on social media is more detrimental to a business and its associated brand than having no presence at all.
It explains why social media is so important for executives.
1. They’re natural influencers that impact the brand.
Your company’s CEO and other top executives may not be naturally personable or engaging, but they are in a good position to be influencers as they already represent the company.
Leadership’s posts may not be getting a lot of engagement, but they’re still having an impact by just being active on social media.
When leadership teams are visible to the public, it makes the executives seem more human. This means that your audience can see that there are real people with genuine insights leading the company.
There can often be a lack of trust in company leaders or a feeling of cynicism, but when executives sound like themselves – rather than like corporate robots – it creates more empathy for both them and the brand they represent.
Being present on social media has its benefits, as shown by a Hootsuite report that said execs on social media are seen 23% more positively than companies without social media presence.
Additionally, a much higher percentage of executives whose CEOs are socially active say their company’s leaders are inspiring.
Having CEOs who are active on social media positively impacts the brand as a whole.
2. It improves communication and provides a competitive advantage.
It’s also about creating a forum where they can directly engage with customers, employees, and other stakeholders Social media is two-way communication, so having executives on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other networks is about providing a platform for leadership to share their thoughts and creating a forum where they can directly engage with customers, employees, and other stakeholders
It’s also about facilitating connections and staying current.
According to a study, 73% of CEOs on social media use it as a way to communicate with employees. In addition, half of consumers believe that CEOs who don’t use social media will be out of touch with customers.
Plus, having executives on social media gives employees, future hires, current customers, prospective customers, investors, and others the opportunity to have their voices heard directly by those with the power to make changes.
Engagement in social media encourages transparency and builds credibility by allowing executives to learn how they and the brand are viewed by consumers, what issues need to be addressed, and how they can improve the company. This in turn increases consumer trust, which is essential for a company’s success.
3. It makes them better leaders.
CEOs who actively engage in social media are seen as more effective leaders than those who don’t. A study by Development Dimensions International found that CEOs who are socially active ranked higher than non-social leaders for communication, networking, influence, decision-making, and empowering others.
Active social media CEOs are valued by their employees.
A vast majority of respondents believe that CEOs who are socially active are better equipped to lead companies, and an overwhelming amount of employees say they would rather work for a CEO who engages with people on social media.
CEOs want to be able to communicate with their employees through social media as 73% of them say that it is a top benefit to using it.
Tips to Help Executives on Social Media
If you’re eager to invest in CEOs and social media, we have some advice on where to start.
Align the core topics for posting.
Leadership should share topics on their social media accounts that they can speak to with authority. They should also try to attract a following that is interested in the same topics.
There still needs to be some social strategy at play if you want to get executives to engage with employees on LinkedIn or tweet a photo of their dog.
Here are a few questions to consider as your leadership begins to use social media:
- What kind of tone or voice will the executives have?
- What are the core topics of content that will be shared?
- What’s an appropriate mix of professional and personal content?
- How often will content be shared?
- What social channels will be most valuable for executives to be active on?
- How will you measure the effectiveness of your executives on social media?
Make social posting a habit.
User recognition of executives’ content is essential, and there should be ample opportunity to interact with this content.
If you want to be successful on social media, you need to be consistent in your postings. This might be a challenge for executives who already have a lot to do, but it’s important to keep posting, sharing, and engaging, even if your company’s leaders are not well-known.
Posting sporadically and just sharing links to company news is not effective. The user could easily find the same content by following the company’s social media accounts. Executives should offer unique takes or interesting insights to make their posts worth following.
It is important for executives to have a social media content strategy that is specific and actionable. They should also create a posting schedule and make sure to stick to it.
Don’t worry about super polished content.
Be personal. Be approachable. It’s important to be professional, but that doesn’t mean your COO’s tweets should sound like a press release or like they’ve been reviewed by a lawyer. So, ditch the generic copy. Be personal. Be approachable.
Many people follow executives on social media in order to gain insight and information that they may not be able to find elsewhere. These people want to see personality, vulnerability, empathy, and transparency from the executives that they follow.
They want to connect with a real human, not a corporate bot.
If you are an executive and on social media, it is recommended that you share your thoughts and experiences in your own voice, and mix in some personal content.
Make sharing easy with an employee advocacy platform.
An employee advocacy platform is the best way to get employees involved in content creation and social sharing. it’s also ideal for executives.
EveryoneSocial makes it quick and easy for anyone to create, share, or schedule posts in minutes.
The intranet is also a great way for executives to stay up to date on what is going on in other departments and with employees.
When executives are seen using and sharing information on the platform, it encourages more employees to do the same.
Employees who are active on social media can help promote their company’s brand and act as ambassadors for the company. This is just one more benefit of having an internal social media program.
Be patient.
Some executives grow their social media following quickly, while others take a slower, more gradual approach that takes time and attention.
Though it may not seem like it at first, growing an active, engaged social audience takes time and consistency. Even when results aren’t great, it’s important to stick to a posting schedule.
Do not get discouraged if you do not have many followers. Keep posting, liking, commenting, and engaging and you will eventually gain followers.
Would you like to harness the power of your employees to improve your social media strategy? Enabling employees to help with marketing, sales, employer brand, recruiting, and internal communications can improve your company as a whole.
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