The Social Media stats for 2019 are out and unless you have been living under a rock you can’t deny that social media has changed the way we live our lives. From the way we get our news to the way we interact with our loved ones. Social media is everywhere. It’s unavoidable, it’s powerful, and it’s here to stay.
Since 2004, social media has been growing rapidly and it hasn’t reached the peak of its popularity yet. Social media platforms are unique in the way they interact with customers. Not only do they provide a platform for users to communicate beyond local and social restrictions, but they also offer endless possibilities to share user-generated content, a very powerful tool
The question you may be asking yourself as a small business owner is, is it worth investing in social media for your business? Should social media marketing be a focus area for your marketing strategy in 2020? The answer depends on your customers, where they are and how they behave, but in no way should social media marketing be ignored.
With popular social media platforms growing in terms of size, each platform has a unique audience. In order to be successful with social media you need to cater your content for each unique audience.
Let’s take a look at the top social media statistics for 2019, and how they can help shape your Marketing in 2020.
Users
Social media statistics from 2019 show that there are 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, and this number is only growing. That equates to about 42% of the current population
Facebook has been shaping the social media landscape since its launch and is continually evolving to meet its user’s needs. With over 2.32 billion active monthly users, Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform
Social media usage has been broken down by Emarketer and the results by generation are most certainly interesting. To break down it down, 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are active social media users (Emarketer, 2019). So the next generation of consumers are as likely if not more to be using social media to influence their spending.
Millennials continue to be the generation with the highest use of social media, and also the broadest access to smartphones. Gen X, on the other hand, are more likely to be using tablets. Lastly, Baby Boomers are now bridging their gap with technology and are increasingly becoming more familiar with social media platforms
Usage
In this day and age, we’re all slowly becoming social media addicts. Whether it’s scrolling down our bottomless Facebook feeds, or posting the perfect selfie on Instagram, social media has become inescapable. These social media stats show that an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes are spent per day per person on social networks and messaging (Globalwebindex, 2018).
Marketing Impact
Businesses are set to benefit from social media marketing. 73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been somewhat effective or very effective for their business. (Buffer, 2019).
Brands are continuing to include social media in their marketing strategy paying attention to the social media stats year on year –rightly so. Social media allows brands to access cost-effective marketing, interact with their audience, and build brand loyalty.
Social media is growing in terms of its reach and impact, and this statistic is here to show just that. 54% of social browsers use social media to research products (GlobalWebIndex, 2018) A key element of this is reviews and recommendations. 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 (Lyfemarketing, 2018). By interacting with customers through social media platforms you show them that you care. This step could go a long way in terms of building positive relationships with customers. Make sure you respond to all your reviews and comments on your social media
The rise of mobile
It is no surprise that 91% of all social media users access social channels via mobile devices. Likewise, almost 80% of total time spent on social media sites occurs on mobile platforms (Lyfemarketing, 2018). Smartphones and social media are evolving side by side
To conclude
In conclusion, Social media is growing in both functionality and popularity. You can no longer avoid it if you want to compete for business. Creating a social media presence is simply not enough, you must engage with it and your audience to offer value and engagement.
If all this sounds like too much to cope with whilst running your business. Petite Digital are here to help with social media management packages.
