Though “social media” broadly encompasses a variety of platforms including blogs (WordPress, Medium, Tumblr), content sharing (YouTube, SlideShare, Instagram), and content curation (Scoop.It, Triberr, Paper.li), the term is nearly synonymous to many for the big social networks.
And with Google+ being deprecated, social networking now primarily means the “big three” of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, plus Pinterest now at #4.
Image credit: The Wonder of Tech
Here are a few highlights from the social networks stats and facts below:
- • Everyone’s on Facebook–except CEOs? Facebook is of course (by far) the largest social network. It drives more than one-fifth of all social media referral traffic to websites; 30% of the U.S. population gets its daily news there; and 77% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook. Yet just 8% of Fortune 500 CEOs have a Facebook account–a lower adoption level than American grandparents.
- • Twitter can’t get no respect. Though 85% of B2B marketers distribute content on Twitter, only half view it as an effective social media channel, and just 42 Fortune 500 CEOs have a Twitter account (and a third of those haven’t posted anything in the last 100 days). Yet 75% of journalists use Twitter to build their personal brands, and Twitter drives more web visits than StumbleUpon, Reddit, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn–combined.
- • And LinkedIn means business… 40% of B2B buyers say LinkedIn is important when researching technologies and services to purchase; 65% of B2b companies have acquired a customer through LinkedIn; and 91% of B2B marketers distribute content there. The most popular type of content is industry insights.
- • …while Pinterest means shopping. Pinterest drives 25% of all retail website referral traffic. Consumer brands are noticing: 36% of Fortune 500 companies had a presence in 2014, up from 9% in 2013 and just 2% in 2012.
Find these and many more nuggets of information in these nearly three dozen stupendous social networking facts and stats.
12 Facebook Statistics and Facts
1. Each day on Facebook, there are 350 million photos uploaded; 45 billion “Like” buttons clicked; and 10 billion messages sent. (The Wonder of Tech)
2. Facebook accounts for 21% of all social media referral traffic to websites. (TechCrunch)
3. 81% of B2B marketers use Facebook to distribute content. (Digital Marketing Philippines)
4. Worldwide digital ad spending topped $140 billion in 2014. Facebook accounted for 7.8% of that total. (eMarketer)
5. 8.3% of Fortune 500 CEOs have a Facebook account, putting them firmly behind America’s grandparents in terms of adoption. 2.6% of CEOs have Instagram accounts. (MediaPost)
6. While 55% of SMBs maintain a Facebook Page, just 20% have run a Facebook ad or promoted post. (MediaPost)
7. 77% of B2C companies have acquired customers through Facebook. (Ber|Art)
8. In an average month, 1.28 billion users are active on Facebook. (Convince & Convert)
9. In the United States, average click-through rate (CTR) for Facebook advertising increased by better than 50% last year, from .09% to .14%. But the average Facebook CTR in the U.K. is nearly twice that, at 0.27%. (Convince & Convert)
10. Facebook drives 23% of all website traffic. (Shareaholic)
11. 81% of millennials are on Facebook and their median friend count is 250. (Heidi Cohen)
12. 30% of the U.S. population gets its daily news on Facebook. (BentoBox Media)
8 Twitter Facts and Stats
13. 85% of B2B marketers use Twitter to distribute content. (Digital Marketing Philippines)
14. Or 74% of them do, depending on whose stats you believe. (Biznology)
Image credit: Ber|Art
15. And yet – only half of B2B marketers view Twitter as an effective social media channel. (Ber|Art)
16. Twitter offers more referral traffic per share than Facebook. (Social Media Today)
17. 42 Fortune 500 CEOs (8.4%) have a Twitter account, though nearly a third haven’t posted anything in the last 100 days. Those who do post send an average of 0.48 tweets per day. Roughly half tweet once a month or less, and less than a quarter tweet daily. (MediaPost)
18. Twitter drives just over 1% of all website traffic. While that’s considerably less than Facebook or Pinterest, it’s more visits than are driven by StumbleUpon, Reddit, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn–combined. (Shareaholic)
19. Twitter is where millennials turn for business and financial information as well as sports. (Heidi Cohen)
20. 75% of journalists say they use Twitter to build their personal brands. (BentoBox Media)
10 LinkedIn Statistics and Facts
21. 91% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content. (TopRank)
22. Just 30% of executive directors at the top 100 companies in NASDAQ are active on social networks. LinkedIn led the way, with 23% of executives maintaining a profile on the professional site, followed by Twitter with 11%. (MediaPost)
Image credit: Ber|Art
23. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of B2B companies have acquired a customer through LinkedIn. (Ber|Art)
24. 40% of B2B buyers say LinkedIn is important when researching technologies and services to purchase. (Ber|Art)
25. 97% of the Fortune 500 companies have a company profile on LinkedIn. Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing–how is it possible this isn’t 100%? (Sword and the Script)
26. 98% of sales reps with 5000+ LinkedIn connections achieve quota. (Biznology)
27. You are almost 5X more likely to schedule a first meeting if you have a personal LinkedIn connection. (Biznology)
28. Twitter and Facebook may reign when it comes to social sharing of stories, blog posts, and visual media, but when it comes to direct traffic to your main site, LinkedIn is far and away the No. 1 social referral source. LinkedIn accounts for 64% of social media-driven visits to corporate home pages, vs. 17% from Facebook and 14% from Twitter. (Buffer)
29. The three most popular types of content on LinkedIn are industry insights (favored by 60% of users), followed by company news (53% – likely popular with job seekers) and new products/services (43%). (Buffer)
30. To optimize reach, post at least 20 times per month on LinkedIn. But keep in mind that “LinkedIn’s best-in-class marketers post 3-4 updates per day, which could mean up to 80 posts per month” (though only if your content supports this). (Buffer)
5 Pinterest Facts and Stats
31. Women account for 69% of all users but 92% of all pins on Pinterest. (Ber|Art)
32. Pinterest accounts for 25% of all retail website referral traffic. (Ber|Art)
33. 36% of Fortune 500 companies had a presence on Pinterest in 2014, up dramatically from 9% in 2013 and just 2% in 2012. (Sword and the Script)
34. According to data from Shareaholic, Pinterest drives nearly 6% of all website traffic–5X as much as Twitter (does that sound right?). (Shareaholic)
35. Pinterest is where millennials shop. (Heidi Cohen)
This was the eighth and penultimate post of Marketing Stats Summer (#statssummer) on Webbiquity.
#1: Welcome to Marketing Stats Summer!
#2: 34 Compelling Content Marketing Stats and Facts
#3: 21 Spectacular SEO and Search Marketing Stats and Facts
#4: Five Intriguing Inbound Marketing Stats [Infographic]
#5: 31 Sensational Social Media Marketing and PR Stats and Facts
#6: 17 Excellent Email and Mobile Marketing Stats and Facts
#7: 14 Dazzling Digital Marketing Stats and Facts
#8: 35 Stupendous Social Networking Facts and Stats