Now that social media has been around for more than a decade, it’s understandable that people no longer “oooh and aah” over the concept. However, just because social media is no longer the shiniest tool in the box doesn’t mean it no longer has value for marketers and business owners. In fact, the most recent research has shown that social media marketing is more valuable than ever for business owners. Here are 11 recent stats that will make business owners re-appreciate the value social media marketing has for their business.
Despite constant claims that Facebook is on the decline, Pew Research Center found that 64 percent of US Facebook users visit the site daily, which is up from the 51 percent they reported in 2010.
Social media sites are a good way to reach minorities with marketing messages. According to Pew Research Center, 96 percent of African American internet users aged 18-29 use social media sites, it’s 73 percent for the overall online African American population.
Believe it or not, according a study from Nielsen, 48 percent of global consumers trust ads on social media sites. In an age of cynicism, the fact that people trust ads on social media gives social networks a strong advantage over banner and native ads.
There’s a value for local businesses who use social media. Reseach from Ballihoo found 63 percent of consumers who search for local businesses online are more likely to use businesses with information on social media sites
Balihoo also reported that social media sites account for 25 percent of total time spent online in the US. If people spent one fourth of their TV watching time on one station, business owners wouldn’t hesitate to advertise there, so there should be no hesitation to start social media marketing.
Balihoo reported that 71 percent of social media users are more likely to purchase from brands they follow online. It’s valuable for customer acquisition and retention to use social media marketing.
When people want to spread information, they use social media. According to Burst Media, nearly two-thirds (62.2%) of US moms post about brands on social media sites
According to Adroit Digital, 75 percent of online Americans say product information found on social channels influences their shopping behavior and enhances brand loyalty.
Social media sharing via mobile devices increased by 28 percent during the first quarter of 2014, for comparison, desktop computers only grew 11 percent, according to ShareThis. This shows that social media’s influence for content marketing is growing at more than twice the speed of desktop.
According to Edison research, 39 percent of US smartphone users check their social media, several times a day. And in general, 28 percent of Americans more than 12 years old checks their social media multiple times daily.
According to Adroit Digital, social media is the second most likely way US millennials will learn about a new product (26% of respondents). It fell just 3 percent behind TV advertising (29%). In the future, social media may be even more important than TV ads for introducing new products.
As these statistics show, social media marketing has an ever-increasing value for marketers. Every piece of legitimate research has shown that social media will is an important factor in the way people receive news, learn about products, and communicate with the brands they trust. Social media marketing takes effort to create content and to keep up with the changing landscape of rules and features. If any business owner is wondering if social media marketing is still worth the effort, hopefully, these 11 stats show the answer is “yes.”
Check out these other articles that show the benefits of platforms like Google+ and LinkedIn.