Below, our social media marketing agency in Cape Town will discuss important social media marketing statistics and platforms to keep an eye on.
Social media has transformed over the last few years. Platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are commonly used digital channels because their users sign in for news, information and entertainment. Originally created as a tool to connect people with one another, social media has shown to be an effective lead generation platform for businesses.
Many businesses have found comfort in using social media marketing to reach their specific target audience. However, before you are able to use social media as a lead generation tool, you need to understand your target audience and what platform you should use to reach them.
Need help to improve or even get started with your social media marketing plan? Our statistics below will help you. We gathered we gathered the latest social media marketing stats for each platform because each platform has its own unique audience. Hopefully, you can get some valuable insights from our compilation below.
Social Media Usage Statistics
We are in the age of social media. More than half the entire planet is on one form of social media or another. Get to know the current state of the social media industry by understanding how consumers use social media from the statistics below.
• Over 1.3 million people signed up to various social media platforms every day in 2020 (Hootsuite, 2021).
Already popular social media platforms grew even more in demand as people were quick to sign up during the height of the lockdowns in 2020. Again, it shows how popular these platforms are globally. South Africa has roughly 30 million active social media users, and this figure is projected to grow to 40.77 million users in 2026.
• Adults aged 25-34 are the most active social media users in South Africa (Statista, 2021).
According to the same study by Statista, it was found that women in the age group of 18 to 24 years accounted for 12.7 percent of social media users in South Africa, similarly to men in the same age bracket. Female teenagers aged 13 to 17 years accounted for 5.6 percent of social media audiences in South Africa.
• On average, people spend about two hours and 25 minutes on social media (DataReportal, 2021).
The latest social media marketing stats shared by DataReportal indicates that the average time a person between the ages of 16 and 64 spends on social media per day is about two hours and 25 minutes. With all this time spent on social media, it’s no wonder why many brands use social media marketing services to capture their audience’s attention.
Social Media Marketing Statistics
Having a good social media presence isn’t just about posting regular content and hoping it resonates with your target audience. It requires a careful strategy to identify who your audience is and how to reach them successfully. All of that begins with understanding what platforms they spend their time on. We’ve compiled a list of statistics for each social media platform below to help you create the perfect strategy.
• Facebook has over 1.84 billion daily active users (PR Newswire, 2021).
With more than a quarter of the global population having registered on Facebook. An audience this big is hard to ignore for business owners and marketers everywhere, as it presents so many opportunities for brands to connect with their target audience and leverage that relationship to generate sales.
• According to social media marketing statistics 2021, 98.3 percent of Facebook users access the platform through their mobile devices (Statista, 2021).
Users accessing the platform through desktop devices or laptops are slowly becoming a thing of the past. On a mobile-dominated platform such as Facebook, it’s become increasingly vital to optimize your marketing strategy for mobile users. You can do this by using the right type of post, uploading mobile-friendly images and videos and posting updates at peak mobile usage times.
• Facebook reaches over 28.3 million users in South Africa (Statista, 2021).
This statistic shows the number of Facebook users in South Africa from 2017 to 2026. In 2026 the number of Facebook users in South Africa is expected to reach 35.92 million, up from 25.4 million users in 2020.
• Over 500 million users view Facebook Stories daily (TechCrunch, 2019).
Facebook Stories presents a new way for you to share content with your audience and engage with them. These are found at the top of users’ timelines, which means it is one of the first things they see.
• Seventy-eight percent of U.S. consumers have discovered products through Facebook (Kleiner Perkins, 2018).
Facebook’s role in social media marketing is slowly evolving to become a crucial part of the customer journey as it continues to be a platform for product discovery.
• Twitter has over 330 million monthly active users (MAU) (Statista, 2019).
Twitter reached the 330 million mark during the first quarter of 2019. But by its second quarter, the company shifted its reporting of users to the number of monetizable daily active users, which focuses on the Twitter population that contributes to its ad revenue.
• By the end of the third quarter of 2020, the number of monetizable Twitter daily active users reached 187 million (Twitter, 2020).
Twitter is choosing to report its daily active users in lieu of monthly users to avoid comparisons with other platforms. But more than that, they are reporting users who contribute directly to their revenue. By providing such metrics, they give a narrower yet more direct value assessment of its users.
• Tweets containing just one or two hashtags receive 21 percent higher engagement than those with more than three (Buddy Media, 2012).
Hashtags are essential for visibility on Twitter because they connect you with users who have the same interest. According to social media marketing statistics shared by Buddy Media, tweets that contain at least one hashtag receive double the engagement than those without. But that doesn’t mean you should go crazy with the hashtags. Tweets that use more than two hashtags show a 17 percent decline in engagement.
• Twitter users are 120 percent more likely to message a brand directly (Twitter, 2020).
Brand-consumer dynamics are different on Twitter as users are open to communication with their favorite brands. In fact, they often seek it out. Social media stats shared by Twitter revealed that users are more likely to reach out to brands directly on Twitter than any other social media platform.
• Seventy-one percent of Instagram’s audience comprises people under 35 years old (Statista, 2019).
Understanding the demographics of a specific platform gives you an idea of what type of content to produce or whether it’s worth producing content on that platform in the first place. In this case, brands targeting young audiences can benefit significantly from a social media marketing strategy that uses Instagram as a primary growth channel.
• Over 200 million users on Instagram visit at least one brand profile a day (Instagram, 2021).
Instagram users spend at least 30 minutes browsing through content on the platform. During those 30 minutes, a significant number of users will visit at least one business profile, which could potentially lead to a sale.
• The average number of hashtags on Instagram posts is 10.7 (HubSpot, 2020).
Meanwhile, more prominent brands tend to use as many as 27-30 hashtags per post. While some have experienced success with such a strategy, these posts tend to perform worse than posts with a lower number of hashtags. So, just like Twitter hashtags, you shouldn’t go overboard. Social media trends 2021 have shown that limiting each post to five hashtags or fewer improves engagement rates.
• Profiles with over 100,000 followers get more reach when adding hashtags to captions (Social Insider, 2019).
Interestingly, small-sized and mid-sized profiles (less than 100,000 followers) had more reach when using hashtags in the first comment.
• Memes make up over 1 million Instagram posts daily (Instagram, 2020).
Meme culture has taken over Instagram and has become one of the biggest social media trends 2021 has seen. You can take advantage of this trend by diversifying your Instagram content to include memes. However, tread lightly, as forced memes or incorrectly used formats could backfire.
• Ninety-six percent of B2B marketers on LinkedIn use the platform for organic social media marketing (Content Marketing Institute, 2021).
LinkedIn is no longer just a website for networking and recruitment. People now use the platform to educate, inspire and share information about their company. But one key difference from other platforms is that because LinkedIn is built for business, its users expect – and seek out – content related to business.
• Four out of five LinkedIn members are corporate decision-makers (LinkedIn, 2021).
Social media statistics show that there are over 61 million senior-level influencers on LinkedIn. By “influencer,” we don’t mean personalities with huge followings on social media. These are authoritative figures within a company or organization who hold significant influence over the decisions they make. Building a considerable presence on LinkedIn could give you access to these influencers – and more.
• Video posts are 20X more likely to get reshared on LinkedIn (LinkedIn, 2020).
A good content marketing strategy centers around great content that provides value to your readers. But an effective strategy delivers the right message using the proper format. According to social media statistics shared by LinkedIn, the most effective type of content on the platform is native video. Leveraging video on LinkedIn is one of the best ways to get your content reshared and gain visibility.
• Companies that post weekly on LinkedIn enjoy a 100 percent higher engagement rate (LinkedIn, 2021).
Sharing regular updates is essential if you want high engagement rates on your posts. Companies that share updates at least once a week have double the engagements their posts are receiving, according to social media stats 2021. For best results, try to share your updates on Monday or Wednesday if you’re business-to-consumer (B2C) or just Wednesday if you’re business-to-business (B2B).
• Pinterest has over 459 million monthly active users (Pinterest, 2021).
The 14th largest social media platform today is Pinterest. Although it didn’t make the top 10, its user base isn’t one to be ignored. At 459 monthly active users, Pinterest has more active users than even Twitter or Reddit.
• The primary of Pinterest is composed of women (Pinterest, 2020).
As of 2021, more than 60 percent of Pinterest’s user population comprises women, although the number of male users is growing fast. Their advertising audience, meanwhile, is female-dominated at 77.1 percent.
• Pins overlaid with “new” enjoy 9X higher engagement (Pinterest, 2020).
People are quickly drawn to new things – and they seek them out, too. So, if you’re introducing a new product, don’t forget to add the “new” text overlay on your images to capture your audience’s attention easily.
• Weekly conversions on Pinterest grew by 300 percent in 2020.
Brands that advertised on Pinterest enjoyed 300 percent higher conversions between January and August 2020. So not only were people actively looking for products on the platform but they were also checking out the items they found while engaging with shopping.
YouTube
• Entertainment tops the list of reasons why people use YouTube (SEMrush, 2021).
Other reasons people use YouTube include: watching the news (37 percent), following their favorite brands (18 percent), keeping in touch with family and friends (8 percent) and strengthening their professional work (7 percent).
• Videos geared toward beginners received 50 percent more views in 2020 (Google, 2020).
It may have been the forced quarantines, extended lockdowns or something else entirely, but 2020 was the year people turned to YouTube to learn new hobbies or other creative ways to spend their time. Take advantage of this new trend and start producing beginner content such as “how-to” videos or “basics” to grow your YouTube channel.
• Over 70 percent of YouTube’s users watch videos using their mobile devices (YouTube, 2021).
With over 70 percent of YouTube users accessing the platform through their mobile devices, you simply cannot afford to alienate your audience by failing to optimize your content. Using high-quality thumbnails and shorter titles and replacing annotations with cards are simple ways to optimize your uploads for mobile.
• Eighty-one percent of users choose videos based on what’s recommended to them in the sidebar (Pew Research, 2019).
Pew Research presents some fascinating social media marketing stats in their recent study. According to the survey, four in five users follow YouTube’s recommendations for content to watch. You can put these social media stats to work by optimizing your uploads. Add YouTube hashtags to your content uploads to give the platform more information about your content.
TikTok
•TikTik is the fastest-growing social media platform in South Africa (Businesstech, 2021).
TikTok jumped from five million to nine million users over the last year. Its growth has been driven by younger demographics, but more people in the 25 – 44 age groups joined during the lockdown.
• TikTok ranks second on the list of social media platforms users spend the most time on at 32 minutes per day (eMarketer, 2021).
TikTok ranks behind only Facebook (33 minutes) for most time spent by users on each platform. On average, TikTok users spend more time using the app than Twitter (31 minutes), Instagram (29 minutes) or Snapchat (28 minutes).
• More than 1 million videos are viewed every day on TikTok (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2021).
Despite belonging to new social media platforms lists everywhere, TikTok’s popularity has skyrocketed, which saw it already racking up over 1 million views per day.
• Entertainment and dance videos are the top two most-watched categories of content on TikTok, with total view counts of 443.3 billion and 150.3 billion, respectively (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2021).
Looking for what kind of content to produce for your marketing efforts on TikTok? Check out social media marketing stats 2021 lists of the most popular content categories to find ideas. For instance, entertainment and dance videos were the top two most popular according to social media marketing stats 2021. Rounding out the top 10 most-watched categories are:
• Pranks – 54 billion
• Sports and Fitness – 43.3 billion
• Home Improvement – 28.6 billion
• Beauty and Skincare – 21.8 billion
• Fashion – 17.5 billion
• Cooking – 12.9 billion
• Life Hacks – 8.3 billion
• Pets and Animals – 7.5 billion
Social Media Trends 2021
Many experts believe that social media usage will continue to grow in the coming years. But how will it evolve? What kind of changes can we expect in 2021 and beyond? Here are some trends in social media that could potentially make a significant impact on your social media marketing strategies.
• Building trust with customers will be more challenging than ever.
Forming a trusting relationship in 2021 will be more difficult than ever as consumer trust in advertising channels dwindles due largely to concerns over privacy and fake news. Social media marketing stats 2021 highlight this trend as 75 percent of people don’t accept advertisements as truth. People generally feel more at ease with their peers’ reviews (63 percent) or their opinions (70 percent). In response, social media marketing services are investing in relationships and improving customer experiences to boost in-person and online word of mouth.
• Third-party cookies are on their way out.
Both Google and Apple are addressing privacy concerns and altering their cookie processes. Their recent announcements have left marketers scrambling as these could have serious implications for advertising, particularly for lookalike audiences and audience retargeting. The future of paid advertising still hangs in the balance, but organic growth is here to stay. If you’re primarily affected by this, make sure that you choose the right social media marketing agency in Cape Town to help you alter your social media marketing strategy.
• Diversification is critical with the rise of new social media platforms.
As the social media platforms list continues to grow, consumers will be spoiled for choice. But according to social media marketing statistics published in February 2021, users don’t just end up choosing one. Based on the results of this social media platforms survey, your next move should be to diversify your strategy and utilize all available channels to create more touchpoints that increase the likelihood of a conversion.
Conclusion
Social media marketing is all about strategy. To be successful in your marketing endeavors, you will need to create a strategy that outlines who your audience is, how to identify their preferences and what methods to apply to reach them. And what better way to do that than letting social media statistics guide you.
In our social media statistics compilation, our social media marketing agency in Cape Town provides you with valuable information. This can help you implement a social media strategy that encompasses all platforms to ensure that you meet consumers in the platforms they use frequently. But if you need help, our social media marketing agency in Cape Town is there to help.
Thrive is a full-service social media marketing agency in Cape Town offering social media marketing services that help bring you success online. Our social media marketing agency in Cape Town manages your social media presence to establish meaningful relationships with your target audience, translating into more business for you. Implement an effective social media strategy today by working with our social media marketing company. Get in touch with us here and elevate your 2021 strategy today.
