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65+ Social Media Statistics for 2021 [Infographic]

12min read

16 Nov 2020

Social media has revolutionized many aspects of our lives. It has changed how we communicate with each other, what we do in our free time, and became a major news source. Finally, it has changed the way we connect and interact with brands.

Today, millions of brands form closer relationships with their customers through daily interaction on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. They give the users a chance to create and share content with the brand, express their ideas, concerns, and suggestions. The result is a strong base of customers who trust the brand.

However, mere presence on social media platforms is not enough. For your social media marketing efforts to be effective, your strategy must be informed with the latest social media statistics and trends. Did you know, for example, that video is the most shareable content type on social media? Or that brands receive 10x higher engagement rates on Instagram than on Facebook? Staying unaware of key data like this can result in channeling resources into the wrong projects and miss out on engagement, growth, and potential customers.

To help you enhance your social media marketing strategy, we have collected in one place the latest social media statistics based on research and our own survey. Take a look at the infographic below and see which aspects of your social media marketing strategy need rebooting in 2021.

social media statistics 2020 Renderforest

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General Statistics

The internet has almost 4.57 billion users
There are 3.96 billion active social media users
Social media users grew by 321 million between January 2019 and January 2020.
Every 6.4 seconds there is a new user
An average of 91% of social media users go online via their smartphones
The average daily time spent on social media is 142 minutes a day
Nearly a billion people use stories across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp handle 100 billion messages a day

Social Media Demographics

The largest age group on social media is the 18 to 29-year-old set
90% of American 18 to 29-year-olds use social media
79% of US adults use at least one social media site
69% of US adults use Facebook
74% of American users are on Facebook daily
80% of Twitter users are “affluent millennials”
79% of Twitter's monthly active users are outside the United States
63% of Instagram users are active every day
51% of 18 to 24-year-olds say social media would be hard to give up
81% of teenagers feel that social media has a positive effect on their lives
95% of adults are most likely to follow a brand via social networking

Social Video Statistics

By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017
55% of users watch videos every day
On average, users spend up to 84 minutes watching videos
People would rather watch a long video than read a lengthy article
US adults spend an average of 1 hour and 16 minutes each day watching videos on digital devices
In the US, there are 175.4m people watching digital video content
YouTube is considered to be the most preferred social media platform for watching videos
85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound
93% of Twitter videos are viewed on mobile
6% of the purchase intent is lifted by in-stream video ads on Twitter
38% of video posts receive a higher engagement rate than images on Instagram

Social Media Advertising Statistics

53% of businesses use social ads
Social media ad spend in 2020 was expected to be nearly $98B
The percentage of total marketing budgets dedicated to social media advertising is expected to nearly double by 2023
9 million businesses use paid advertising on Facebook
Facebook controlled 84.9% of this social video ad growth
A typical American Facebook user clicks on 8 Facebook ads per month
2 million businesses use paid advertising on Instagram
4 million advertisers use stories across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram
80% of major brands use stories on at least one social network

Social Media Marketing Statistics

90% of brands use social media to increase brand awareness
91% of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels
88% of social marketers said it’s important to provide customer service through a social media
28% of marketers have already implemented social commerce or plan to do so next year
Most businesses maintain between 4 and 10 social profiles
81% of all small and medium businesses use some kind of social media platform
58% of brands say measuring the effectiveness of social is a challenge, and only 34% measure social ROI
Engagement with shared content is 49% higher on weekdays than weekends

Interesting To Know

Saudi Arabia has the largest social media presence in the world with 23 million active users, comprising 68% of the population
Stories are growing 15 times faster than feed-based sharing
A study found the effect of social media on teenagers was ‘trivial’
96% of people that discuss brands online do not follow those brands’ owned profiles.
91% of social marketers prioritize social media posts that teach
91% of customers said easy payment systems would increase their chances of buying through a social media site

Consumer Facts

37% of consumers find purchase inspiration through social networks
40% of digital consumers use social networks to research new brands or products
21% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that they can reach on social media
71% of consumers who have had a good service experience with a brand when using social media are likely to recommend it to others
50% of consumers said that seeing user-generated content would increase their chances of buying products through a brand’s social media
49 % of consumers said that they depend on influencer recommendations.
18% of consumers preferred graphics and images
17% of consumers would like to see produced video
73% of consumers want to see posts about discounts and sales.
60% of consumers want to see posts that showcase new products and services
59% of consumers want to see posts that teach something
74% of consumers share video content from brands on social media
45% of consumers say social media is one of the first channels they go to in case they have any questions or issues
21% of consumers would rather message a brand on social media instead of calling up customer service
57% of consumers reported that the most common reason why they reach out to brands on social media is that they have a question
45% of consumers affirm that the second most common reason is to have an issue with a product or service resolved.