Business is often a numbers game, and numbers don’t lie, we’re told. Truly metrics matter because they make things more simplified, measurable, coherent and relatable; less debatable. Check Twitter followers here.
Numbers play important roles in
- Arithmetics/Algebra
- Science
- Design and Engineering
- Aviation
- Numerology
- Metrics System
- Census
- Currency
- Economics
- Planning and development; and a million other areas
Without numbers, concepts will be vague, unmeasurable, result in double/multiple standards, cause arguments and disagreements, scientific experiments will not be reproducible, etc, all of which will impede progress.
For marketers, numbers and analytics mean everything. In this post we’ll be looking at 7 key facts and social media statistics that should form the bedrock of a solid social media marketing strategy.
These stats cut across platform to bring you key reasons to pay even more attention to your social marketing metrics and strategy but first here’s
Google Trends of Social Media Marketing in the Last 12 Months (US)
Within the last 6 months there’s been a resurgence of nearly 100% rising from 50 all the way to 100. From the chart above social media marketing is trending and it won’t be ending soon (or ever).
Having established that, let us now see some of the reasons why social media marketing is trending
7 Reasons to Double Your Social Marketing Efforts in 2019
- User Base
With a user base of over 3.2 billion monthly active users and counting, social media is the single biggest marketplace yet. Below is a table showing number of social media users in billions between 2010 and 2021.
Boasting billions of customers and hundreds of millions of businesses promoting social commerce, social media facilitates easier international and cross-border trade.
Whatever business or service you sell, there’s definitely a market for you on social media. Not only are there many users, these users are from many different backgrounds and interesting demographics.
- Ad Revenues
From Kathmandu through Kampala to Quebec, people are logging in and logged in to all kinds of social networks. This includes businesses trying to sell their products and services to the billions of social media users out there.
In 2018, Facebook generated over $18b in ad revenue alone, up from $8b in 2015, that is more than a hundred percent increase. Twitter and LinkedIn also generated ad revenues but none (including both) quite compare to Facebook.
Businesses like yours are spending on ads year on year with some planning to up ad spend in the coming years. Done rightly, social advertising can yield positive ROI.
- Engagement
Minus impulse buyers, the greater majority prefer to take their time to make the best purchase decisions possible. This could depend on a number of factors like awareness, interest, price, etc.
In many cases you need to get and engage customer attention for a while before they feel at home enough to click through to your website pull out and type out their credit card information to make a purchase.
The chart below shows reach and engagement stats on Facebook as of 2018
We see that average engagement for all types of posts on Facebook is 4.2%. Making small changes can result in higher post engagement. For instance, using video content can increase your average engagement rate to 5.23%, the highest individual average engagement of all post types.
- Competition
Competition is rife on social media. Millions of businesses compete with each other for customer attention and patronage. And Facebook has a plethora of business friendly features that continue to encourage businesses to sign up.
There are currently over 80 million Business Pages on Facebook, 6 million of which actively advertise on FB. This competition for customer attention forces brands to be at their best behavior and at their most innovative. Hence, customers can expect better and even cheaper services.
According to Sherpa Marketing, more people follow brands on social media than follow popular celebrities. Another report also shows that over 80% of Instagram’s over 1b users follow at least one business, some more.
- Reputation Management
Daily, businesses like yours are mentioned online and social media for various reasons. Some are called out, some are hailed. With social media you should no more be in the dark about your business.
You should set up alerts whether on Facebook, Ahrefs or using other social listening tools that notify you whenever your name or brand is mentioned online, for good or bad. Prompt response is key and 83% of customers expect brands to respond quickly on social media, typically within 24hrs.
The following image puts it all in perspective:
Source: Hootsuite
- Reviews
Reviews are still a hit. 86% of consumers base purchase decisions on what they read from reviews. Word of mouth is also powerful, especially from trusted connections, it can do wonders for brands and businesses on social media.
For instance, your Facebook Business Page has a review feature that lets customers or followers rate you. This rating also reflects in Google search results. Businesses with higher ratings will attract more attention and followership from users seeking brands to do business with.
Ensure you turn on the FB Page Reviews feature in your settings to allow for third party reviews. Backed by stellar service, deep engagement and prompt response you should be able to generate positive reviews for your business. The benefits are huge.
- Buy, Shop
Being able to seamlessly offer commerce right next to social is the goal of fine marketers everywhere. Social Media platforms are increasingly trying to make this more common place without sacrificing the social component.
For instance, Facebook Shop is a Business Page feature that allows you show and sell your products directly to customers onsite, right on Facebook without having to leave to complete any phase of the transaction. Instagram just introduced checkout, a feature that lets you shop and buy onsite.
AdWeek reports that a quarter of Americans check social media before buying a gift, also that 40% of 18-34 yr olds consult social networks for gift ideas. With a simple buy button you could be selling such gift items to people like this.
Conclusion
These are some of the many benefits of building a formidable brand presence on social media. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about social commerce, now is the time to commence and see where it takes you.
TADA, one of the best Shopify pop-up apps, has recently released a list of latest social media trends that you will have to master in 2020. Have a look it’s full of crucial information that you can’t miss!
Author Bio:
Amos Onwukwe is an AWAI trained Business and Ecommerce Copywriter who has been featured in scores of blogs including Huffington Post, Dumb Little Man, Ecommerce Nation, eCommerce Insights, Understanding Ecommerce, Result First, Floship, Successful Startup 101, Small Biz Club, Small Business Bonfire, among others.
Twitter: @amos_onwukwe