Social media marketing’s near-universal popularity and the break-neck speed at which it changes sometimes makes it difficult to keep up with — for B2B and B2C marketers alike. However, if we use the latest statistical data, it’s possible to gain many helpful new insights.
Here are 83 of the latest relevant social media marketing statistics to trick out and inform your marketing efforts, with a particular focus on certain fascinating new B2B-specific data.
We’ll look at statistics taken from five recent reports and several additional sources, starting with general social media marketing overview figures. Then we’ll look individually at Facebook, LinkedIn*, Twitter, Instagram, and a group of other social platforms.
Social Media Marketing Statistics From 5 New Reports
Sprout Social’s recent Sprout Social Index: Edition XV: Empower & Elevate (2019) 1 surveyed over 1,000 social media marketers to learn where they are finding success and where they plan to place their focus during the push to 2020.
As we featured in our most recent TopRank Marketing Friday News, the report shows that:
With social advertising spending in the U.S. alone expected to hit $18.4 billion in 2019, it’s no wonder that:
The study shows that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, and LinkedIn are the most-used social media platforms among social marketers, as the following chart — which also compares this information with where consumers most often folllow brands — illustrates. 1
Additional data from the Sprout Social report shows that:
Hootsuite and We Are Social’s recent Digital 2019 Q2 Global Digital Statshot 2 report, utilizing numerous sources, also offers plenty of insight into where social media marketing currently stands and where it’s most likely to head moving forward.
According to the report, social media marketers find their audience primarily using either mobile or desktop devices, with a small portion using tablets, as the following image shows. 2
The report shows that Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger top the list of social platforms with the most active users, as shown in the following chart. 2
Similarly, in the recent Pew Research Center January 2019 Core Trends Survey (2019) 3, the top social platforms among U.S. adults are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Twitter, as the chart below outlines.
In Social Media Examiner’s recent eleventh-annual social media marketing industry report for 2019 8, company founder Michael Stelzner shares 46 pages of statistical data gathered from surveying over 4,800 marketers, and offers interpretation on how various aspects of social media are working for marketers today.
65% of the survey’s respondents had at least three years of social media marketing experience, with 36% having more than five years industry experience, and 36% of all respondents primarily target B2B businesses.
There’s little doubt that social media marketing has become more important than ever, and Social Media Examiner’s report shows no fewer than eight areas that have grown since 2018, as shown in the following chart.
Each of these benefits grew by at least 4%, in the case of providing marketplace insight, to as much as 19% for improved sales, according to the report.8
Of particular interest to B2B marketers is the relatively low percentage of marketers using social media marketing to grow business partnerships, which represents an underutilized opportunity for savvy SMM practitioners. 8
The list of most-popular social media platforms among marketers in general continues to be dominated by Facebook-owned properties, with Facebook and Instagram used most frequently, followed by Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapchat, according to the report, as shown below. 8
Now let’s move on to taking a closer look at each of the top social media platforms B2B marketers most frequently use, and some of the most relevant statistics for each, pulled from the five recent studies and other sources.
Facebook — Challenging Times For A Social Media Empire
The reports offer a broad section of data containing insight into social media marketing specific to social giant Facebook, which in many areas continues to be a top channel for marketers, despite the well-known data privacy and other challenges it has faced over the past several years.
Facebook marketing is a staple for many B2B marketers, and we’ve offered several helpful recent articles to guide your strategy on various aspects of the platform:
LinkedIn — Reinvigorated and Seeing Promising Returns
The five reports reveal a great deal of data about growing utilization of LinkedIn, especially among B2B marketers.
LinkedIn recently published a helpful infographic detailing “How to Spark Meaningful Conversations and Measure Success” on the platform, and we’ve also written several recent articles detailing how to best use the platform:
Twitter — The More Tweets Change the More They Stay the Same
Twitter also features heavily in the five recent reports, with statistics showing the venerable platform continues to play a sizable role in the social media campaign strategy of many marketers.
Leadtail recently examined how some B2B brands are succeeding with Twitter, in Dennis Shiao’s “10 Twitter Users Reveal What B2B Brands Are Doing Well on Twitter,” featuring examples including the Twitter accounts of the Content Marketing Institute, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, and others.
We’ve published articles looking at how to best use Twitter for B2B marketing, including the following selection:
Instagram — Facebook-Owned Platform on the Rise
Instagram has been the brightest star among the platforms featured in the data from the five recent reports, showing the most rapid growth and some of the greatest interest from marketers.
Social Media Today recently looked at how B2B marketers are using Instagram, in Emma Wiltshire’s “B2B Marketers Share Their Best Tips for Instagram,” and the publisher also recently conducted a Twitter poll asking what B2B marketers struggle with the most on Instagram.
Additionally, we recently published “What You Need to Know About Instagram Stories for B2B Marketing,” offering helpful insight into this growing area.
Pinterest — Piquing Marketers’ Interest
Although not featured as heavily in the data from the new reports, there are some statistics about the use of Pinterest among B2B marketers and marketers in general. A few include:
YouTube — Google-Owned Video Staple & Stalwart
YouTube continues to be the primary platform for video content for many marketers, and the data contained in the reports show both how it’s changing over time and remaining steady in some core areas.
We’ve explored how B2B marketers can develop a strong video strategy using YouTube and other social media platforms, and some of our most recent helpful articles are these:
We have our own TopRank Marketing YouTube channel as well, and hope that if you aren’t already a subscriber you’ll take a moment and follow us.
Snapchat, Reddit, & Others — Possibilities For the Adventuresome
Some of the lesser-used social platforms also feature in the statistical data from the reports, in some cases showing potential new opportunities for certain B2B marketing campaigns.
What Do All These Social Media Statistics Tell Us About B2B Marketing?
When we look at all these statistics as a whole, it’s clear that B2B social media marketing is strong and growing stronger, and it’s also apparent that direction and guidance in where to focus your B2B social efforts is needed now more than ever.
Whether it’s from doing business with a professional B2B-focused marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing, or through following industry experts such as those on our “Top 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers in 2019” list, we want your marketing to be the best it can be, and hope that the large collection of statistics and insights we’ve gathered and outlined here proves helpful.
*LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.
