79 Social Media Marketing Statistics: Users, Ads, Revenue, and More

Social media has changed the way we live. It’s everywhere, which is why people from around the world use it to get news and interact with their friends and families.

Businesses have realized this, which is why most companies use different social media platforms to market their products and services online.

This article will cover 79 of the most recent and relevant user and marketing statistics for social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and more.

Top social media marketing statistics

Here’s a list of the top social media marketing statistics for this year:

• The social media advertising market is the second-largest market within digital marketing (Source: Statista)
• In 2021, the social media advertising market reached $153.7 billion in revenue (Source: Statista)
• There were over 90 million U.S. social commerce buyers in 2021 (Source: Statista)
• 8 out of 10 businesses invested in social media marketing in 2021 (Source: Hubspot State of Marketing Report 2021)
• In 2020, Facebook had over 10 million active advertisers (Source: Statista)
• Twitter’s ad engagement is up 35% year-over-year (Source: Twitter)
• 80% of Instagram users use the platform to decide if they want to make a purchase (Source: Instagram)
• YouTube “shorts” get 3.5 billion views a day (Source: GWI Social Media Marketing Trends Report 2021)
• TikTok has a 10% higher ad perceptivity than any other social media platform (Source: Kantar)
• LinkedIn is the #1 most trusted social media platform in the world (Source: Business Insider)
• Over 30 million businesses use Snap Map (Source: Snap Inc.)

General social media usage statistics

Let’s break down some general social media use statistics.

1. 3.78 billion people use social media

(Source: Statista)

The number of people who use social media continues to increase at a rapid pace, with this number expected to grow to 4.41 billion by 2025.

2. In 2021, 72% of U.S. adults used at least one social media platform

(Source: Pew Research Center)

During the same period in 2012, only 53% of U.S. adults used social media. This means that the number of U.S. adults who use social media increased by 19% in nine years.

3. The social media advertising market’s worldwide revenue was $153.7 billion in 2021

(Source: Statista)

With social media marketing becoming increasingly popular amongst businesses in several different industries, its revenue is predicted to grow to $252.6 billion in 2026.

4. Nearly 70% of businesses report using social media as their primary marketing approach

(Source: Hubspot State of Marketing Report 2021)

This means that social media remains one of the most popular marketing channels amongst marketers around the world.

5. There were over 90 million U.S. social commerce buyers in 2021

(Source: Statista)

This is an increase of 11 million buyers from 2020 to 2021. The number is predicted to grow another 37% — with 108 million U.S. Americans predicted to make a purchase through social media in 2025.

General social media marketing statistics

Now, let’s break down some social media marketing statistics.

6. Ad spending in social media advertising is predicted to reach $173.988 million in 2022

(Source: Statista)

Most of the ad spending is predicted to be generated in the U.S. It’s estimated that businesses in the U.S. will spend $62.998 million on social media advertising in 2022.

7. 98.8% of users access social media via mobile devices

(Source: The Global State of Digital 2021 Report)

It’s vital that businesses optimize their websites for mobile so that users have a seamless experience when they move over from their social media pages to their websites.

8. 8 out of 10 businesses invested in social media marketing in 2021

(Source: Hubspot State of Marketing Report 2021)

Many businesses use social media as their primary marketing method since all target segments can be reached on one or more social media platforms.

9. In 2021, 62% of companies used social listening as their primary social media marketing strategy

(Source: Hubspot State of Marketing Report 2021)

Companies stated that they used social listening to establish direct relationships with their audience in order to support and engage with them. This allowed more customers to become loyal brand advocates.

10. 88% of marketers see an increase in brand awareness as the main benefit of social media marketing

(Source: Social Media Examiner Industry Report 2021)

Increased brand exposure is followed by increased traffic and an increase in leads. These three top benefits indicate that social media is an excellent platform to grow an audience and earn people’s trust.

Facebook statistics

Now, we’ll break down Facebook marketing statistics.

11. 54% of marketers consider Facebook as the most important social media platform for their business

(Source: Social Media Examiner Industry Report 2021)

With Facebook’s massive user base that consists of people from all over the world and in different age groups, marketers tend to lean on this platform.

12. As of July 2021, 98.5% of Facebook users worldwide accessed Facebook via mobile devices

(Source: Statista)

This means that only 1.5% of users access the platform solely via laptop or desktop devices. Therefore, it’s essential for businesses to optimize their profiles for mobile to give their prospects a good experience.

13. In 2020, Facebook had 10 million active advertisers

(Source: Statista)

Advertisers use Facebook to promote their products and services. The number of advertisers on Facebook grew by 3 million from the previous year.

14. Over 66% of Facebook users visit the page of a local business on Facebook at least once a week

(Source: Facebook)

This means that most Facebook users don't merely use Facebook to stay up to date with things happening in their friends' and families' lives. Instead, they also use it to see business news, announcements, and content.

15. 51% of active social media users purchased products or services from Facebook in 2021

(Source: Statista)

This makes Facebook the most popular social media platform that people use to purchase products and services.

16. 47% of marketers say they’ll be increasing their organic marketing efforts on Facebook in 2022

(Source: Social Media Examiner Industry Report 2021)

Organic marketing refers to all the content posted on a business profile (photos, videos, links) without paid support. Though businesses still lean heavily on paid advertising on social media, many of them plan to focus on more organic content this year.

17. Women are contributing to 3x more conversations about holiday shopping on Facebook than men

(Source: Facebook)

Generally, women start browsing around for holiday season gifts far earlier than their male counterparts. They use Facebook to seek out the best holiday coupons and to get themselves ready for Cyber Monday, Christmas, and Black Friday deals.

18. 52% of marketers leverage video ads on Facebook

(Source: DataBox)

The remaining 48% of marketers said that they prefer to use images for their Facebook ads. This indicates a massive shift toward video over the past few years.

19. 59.3% of marketers say that video ads drive more engagement than image ads

(Source: DataBox)

Only 29.6% of marketers said that image ads drive more engagement for their businesses than video ads. A further 11.1% of them said that both formats deliver the same results.

20. 36% of Facebook users watch stories about political content

(Source: Statista)

This makes political content the most viewed genre of Facebook stories. General interest content comes in second after political stories with a 17% view rate.

Twitter statistics

Next, we’ll break down Twitter’s marketing statistics.

21. In 2020, 19.4% of Twitter’s users were based in the U.S.

(Source: Hootsuite Global State of Marketing Report 2020)

That makes Americans Twitter’s largest user base. Japan and India are the platform’s second and third largest markets.

22. Ads on Twitter reach 5.8% of people in the world who are 13 years or older

(Source: Hootsuite Global State of Marketing Report 2021)

This is a significant number of people if you consider that the world population stands close to 8 billion people.

23. Twitter’s ad engagement is up 35% year-over-year

(Source: Twitter)

Twitter ads continue to get more and more engagement from users every year — which is likely why many businesses plan on investing in Twitter ads this year.

24. 68.5% of Twitter users identify as male

(Source: Hootsuite Global State of Marketing Report 2021)

This means that less than 1/3 of Twitter’s users don’t identify as male — making it an excellent marketing platform for businesses that primarily target male audiences.

25. 42% of Twitter’s users have college degrees

(Source: Pew Research)

Only 25% of its user base has no college education whatsoever, and a further 33% of users have some college education (but didn’t finish their degree).

26. In 2020, Twitter generated more than $3.2 billion in advertising service revenues

(Source: Statista)

The platform’s revenue grew by over $210 million from 2019 and $370 million the year before that. This indicates that revenue obtained from Twitter ads continues to grow at a steady pace every year.

27.17% of Americans use Twitter to get their news

(Source: Digital News Report 2021)

Twitter is an excellent marketing platform for businesses that fall into the news and political industries.

28. Website carousel ads saw a 15% increase in click-through-rates for single asset ads

(Source: Twitter Business)

Additionally, app carousel ads saw an increase of 24% in engagement. Both of these figures come from Twitter’s Beta testing of its new ad format, which launched in November 2020.

29. #COVID19 was the most used hashtag on Twitter in 2020

(Source: Twitter Blog)

The hashtag was used over 400 million times in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic. The second most used hashtag found in tweets in 2020 was #BlackLivesMatter.

30. 93% of community members on Twitter want brands to get more involved on the platform

(Source: Twitter Marketing)

There are different ways in which brands can get more involved, but a study conducted by Twitter found that the best opportunity for brands is to provide help and support to Twitter communities.

Discover more Twitter statistics regarding its user base, growth rate, advertising, and more.

Instagram statistics

Now, we’ll break down Instagram marketing statistics.

31. 64% of Instagram users are under the age of 34

(Source: Statista)

This indicates that Instagram is an excellent platform for businesses that have younger audiences. People over the age of 55 only make up 7.1% of Instagram users.

32. Instagram is the second most popular social media marketing platform used by marketers

(Source: Social Media Examiner Industry Report 2021)

The number of marketers who use Instagram as a marketing platform grew by 2% from 2020 to 2021. This number continues to grow with more businesses adopting the platform.

33. There are more than 200 million business accounts on Instagram

(Source: Instagram)

Businesses find Instagram’s real-time insights (that’s only offered to business accounts) really useful as they help them optimize their profiles according to their follower’s needs.

34. In 2021, Instagram allocated $390 million to marketing

(Source: Statista)

This is more than double its marketing spending in 2020, which was $186.3 million. Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., continues to increase marketing spending for the platform each year.

35. 55% of fashion shoppers have bought a fashion item after seeing a creator promote it on Instagram

(Source: Instagram)

With Instagram primarily being a photo-sharing platform, fashion businesses and influencers have the opportunity to post beautiful fashion imagery on their platforms, which increases the likelihood of people buying their products.

36. The average engagement rate of Instagram business account posts is 0.96%

(Source: Hootsuite Digital Report 2020)

Though this number seems quite low, businesses are still seeing massive success rates on the platform since many of their followers view their posts without liking, sharing, or commenting on them.

37. In 2020, posts related to politics had the highest engagement rate at 2.74%

(Source: Statista)

Educational posts came in second after political posts at 2.56%. The top 11 industries with the highest post engagement rates all had engagement rates above 1.3%.

38. 80% of people use Instagram to decide whether or not they want to make a purchase

(Source: Instagram)

This indicates that people use Instagram to determine a brand's credibility and look at product images before they decide to buy it.

39. 90% of people on Instagram follow at least one brand

(Source: Instagram)

Furthermore, 2 out of 3 people who use Instagram say that one of the main reasons why they follow brands on Instagram is that the platform allows them to interact with them.

40. 50% of Instagram users are more interested in a brand when they see ads for it on the platform

(Source: Instagram)

Businesses that make use of ads on the platform tend to have higher following rates and more engagement on their pages.

YouTube statistics

Next, we’ll break down YouTube marketing statistics.

41. YouTube’s global ad revenue amounted to more than $7 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2021

(Source: Statista)

This number represents a 43% year-over-year increase in revenue, with the platform’s revenue growing by over $3.8 billion from 2019 to 2021.

42. 70% of people buy from a brand after seeing it on YouTube

(Source: Hootsuite Global State of Marketing Report 2021)

Since consumers can see the people behind the brand, they’re far more likely to see the brand as credible and trustworthy, which is why so many people purchase products after watching YouTube videos.

43. 62% of YouTube users aged 13 to 24 said that a YouTube influencer endorsement is more likely to convince them to purchase something than an ad

(Source: Statista)

This confirms that Generation Z is far more likely to respond to influencer marketing than businesses that promote their products through ads.

44. In 2021, close to 79% of YouTube.com visits came from desktop devices

(Source: Statista)

Only 21.2% of global traffic to YouTube.com came from mobile devices. This is primarily due to the fact that mobile users prefer using the YouTube app rather than using the website version of the platform.

45. Over 60% of businesses use video content as their primary form of media used for content marketing

(Source: Hubspot State of Marketing Report 2021)

Businesses know the value of video — especially for younger audiences who prefer to watch instead of read content. As such, YouTube is being adopted by many businesses around the world.

46. YouTube’s “shorts” get 3.5 billion views a day

(Source: GWI Social Media Marketing Trends Report 2021)

YouTube shorts are videos that can be up to 60 seconds long. These videos were originally inspired by TikTok videos.

47. 62% of marketers plan to increase their organic YouTube activities in 2022

(Source: Social Media Examiner Industry Report 2021)

Businesses have realized that videos attract a lot of organic traffic. Therefore, the majority of marketers want to focus on organic marketing strategies on YouTube in addition to paid methods this year.

48. YouTube ads that target user intent earn a 100% higher lift in purchase intent than ads targeting demographics

(Source: Think With Google)

Interestingly, ads that targeted both intent and demographics didn’t produce a significant lift versus using intent alone.

49. 80% of YouTube users prefer TrueView ads to standard in-stream ads

(Source: Business 2 Community)

TrueView ads are ads that play during a video and give the viewer the option to skip it after five seconds. Advertisers only pay for these ads if the viewer watches the entire ad or if they watch more than 30 seconds of it.

50. 72% of U.S. male and female internet users used Youtube in Q3 of 2020

(Source: Statista)

Of these U.S. users, 62% of them accessed the platform several times on a daily basis. This makes YouTube an excellent platform to use for U.S. businesses regardless of whether they target male or female audiences.

TikTok statistics

Now, we’ll break down TikTok marketing statistics.

51. TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users (MAUs)

(Source: Statista)

This represents a staggering 45% growth in its monthly users in one year, as TikTok had a user base of 689 million in July 2020.

52. TikTok has a 10% higher ad perceptivity than other social networks

(Source: Kantar)

TikTok ads are seen as enjoyable and optimistic by its users, which is why TikTok ads are far more likely to attract people’s attention than ads on other platforms.

53. TikTok reached a lifetime spending of $300 million on the App Store and Google Play in February 2020

(Source: Statista)

With the app being the third most downloaded app in 2019, it’s easy to understand why its lifetime spending continues to grow to new heights each year.

54. 72% of TikTok’s users prefer TopView ads over other ad formats

(Source: Kantar)

The main reason users prefer this ad format is that it has a more natural placement within the platform and full-screen and sound-on features.

(Image Source)

55. Branded hashtag challenges on TikTok have an average engagement rate of 17.5%

(Source: Statista)

Businesses can invite all users to create branded content around their campaign themes with branded hashtag challenges.

56. In 2020, the average minimum price per post of mega-influencers on TikTok was $1,631

(Source: Statista)

Mega-influencers refer to influencers who have more than 1 million followers. The average minimum price per post on macro-influencers’ profiles (who have more than 100,000 followers) was $197.

57. TikTok nano-influencers had the highest engagement rate at 17.9% in 2020

(Source: Statista)

Nano-influencers refer to influencers who have 1,000 to 5,000 followers. The reason for their high engagement rates could be that they have the ability to interact with their audience’s comments more frequently.

58. People consider ads on TikTok to be 21% more trendsetting than any other social media ads

(Source: Kantar)

With TikTok’s innovative ad formats, such as branded hashtags, businesses have the opportunity to enable their audience to create trends based on branded sounds, effects, and actions that can circulate across the TikTok community and start a trend.

59. In 2020, 27% of TikTok users watched a hashtag challenge

(Source: GWI)

A further 10% of TikTok users participated in hashtag challenges. This leaves excellent opportunities for businesses to increase their reach on the platform by creating their own hashtag challenges.

60. 63% of the highest performing TikTok ads have their key message or product in the first 3 seconds of the video

(Source: TikTok)

Businesses are encouraged to get straight to the point and keep their ads as direct as possible for the best results.

Discover more TikTok statistics regarding its user base, downloads, advertising, and more.

LinkedIn statistics

Next, we’ll break down LinkedIn marketing statistics.

61. 800 million people use LinkedIn

(Source: LinkedIn)

The platform’s users can be found in 200 countries and regions worldwide, with the U.S. having the most users.

(Image Source)

62. 74% of B2B marketers plan on increasing their organic activities on LinkedIn

(Source: Social Media Examiner Industry Report 2021)

In comparison, only 45% of B2C marketers plan to increase their organic activities on LinkedIn, making it clear that LinkedIn is primarily preferred in the B2B industry.

63. 56% of LinkedIn users have a college degree

(Source: Pew Research)

Only 12% of LinkedIn users have no college education at all. As such, businesses that have very strict prerequisites for certain job positions will be able to find highly qualified individuals on this platform.

64. LinkedIn is the #1 most trusted social media platform in the world

(Source: Business Insider)

In 2019, LinkedIn was voted as the most trusted social media platform for the third year in a row. This means that people tend to trust content that is posted on LinkedIn a lot more than any other social media network.

65. American Samoa is the country with the highest LinkedIn audience reach at 103.1%

(Source: Statista)

Coming in second after American Samoa is Bermuda with a 102.8% audience reach. Surprisingly, the U.S. only came in seventh with a 69.3% audience reach.

66. 58 million businesses have built their brand communities on LinkedIn

(Source: LinkedIn)

As a result of LinkedIn being highly trusted, many advertisers (especially in the B2B industry) have chosen LinkedIn as their primary social media platform.

67. In 2021, 80% of B2B content marketers used LinkedIn’s paid ads

(Source: Content Marketing Institute)

This stat suggests that many B2B businesses spend a portion of their marketing budget on LinkedIn ads every month.

68. 200+ million job applications are submitted on LinkedIn every month

(Source: LinkedIn)

With millions of business professionals submitting their job applications on LinkedIn on a weekly basis, this is the ideal platform for recruitment marketing.

69. 33% of B2B decision makers use LinkedIn to research their purchases

(Source: Hootsuite Q4 2020 Digital Report)

Much in the same way that B2C customers research products on Instagram, many B2B customers use LinkedIn to research digital and physical business products before making a purchasing decision.

70. 97% of the Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn customers

(Source: LinkedIn Marketing Blog)

Plus, LinkedIn reports that 96% of these Fortune 500 companies use more than one LinkedIn enterprise product.

Snapchat statistics

Finally, we’ll break down Snapchat marketing statistics.

71. In Q3 of 2021, Snapchat had 306 million active users

(Source: Business of Apps)

The U.S. leads with 108 million Snapchat users, India comes in second with 74.3 million users, and France comes in third with 24.5 million users.

72. Snapchat reaches 75% of millennials and Gen Z

(Source: Snapchat Business)

These include people aged between 10 and 41 years. Therefore, if your target market falls into these age groups, it might be a good idea to try reaching them on this platform.

73. As of October 2021, 54.6% of Snapchat users were female

(Source: Statista)

Users between 13 and 17 years old, in particular, had a 3% higher female user base than male users in this age group.

74. In April 2021, the entertainment industry accounted for 42% of Snapchat’s advertising revenue in the U.S.

(Source: Statista)

Fashion, pharma, and retail ranked second, each accounting for 10% of Snapchat’s advertising revenue.

75. Over 200 million DAUs engage with augmented reality on Snapchat every day

(Source: Snap Inc.)

Daily active users (DAU) refer to people who use the app every single day. With augmented reality becoming increasingly popular on the platform, businesses can use it to attract their target audience.

76. More than 30 million businesses use Snap Map

(Source: Snap Inc.)

Snap Map is used by many businesses to market their business news, launches, and events. This way, Snapchat users can see the updates on the Map and choose to go to the business or attend its events.

(Image Source)

77. Snapchat is the #6 most popular mobile messaging app in the world

(Source: Statista)

WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook Messenger are the two leading messaging apps.

78. Only 27% of Snapchat’s users are news-focused

(Source: Pew Research)

This indicates that the majority of people who use Snapchat don’t use the platform to access news or political content.

79. 57% of Gen Z Snapchatters have ad recall after only watching 2 seconds of the ad

(Source: Snapchat)

Gen Z Snapchat users are between the ages of 13-24. Advertisers generally only need a few seconds to connect with this audience on Snapchat.

Conclusion

After this article, you should have a very clear understanding of how useful social media can truly be for the growth of a business.

Using platforms that are well suited to specific target audiences can make a world of difference in whether a business achieves success online or not.

If you have an eCommerce business that you want to grow through social media marketing, have a look at the latest eCommerce trends and statistics here.