19 Social Media Marketing Statistics All Small Businesses Need To Know

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01 Apr 19 Social Media Marketing Statistics All Small Businesses Need To Know

Posted at 14:49h in Social Media by Monika Jansen 0 Comments

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The Internet is littered with social media statistics that are completely irrelevant if you’re a small business in the US. “How interesting that 26% of social media users in the Philippines use Facebook! And … what am I supposed to do with that information?” Fear not. I rounded up social media marketing statistics that are not only relevant for your small business, but prove that social media marketing works.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Social media usage continues to grow

Can you believe that the ranks of social media users continues to grow? The number of global users increased 10 percent between January 2015 and January 2016 – and it increased by 17% for those who access social media on mobile devices.

If we narrow our focus and just look at the US, 192 million people actively use social media and 169 million people actively use social media on their mobile phones. You know what these means, right? Your clients and prospects are using social media – and they’re waiting to hear from you.

Social media marketing is effective!

Yes, small businesses are using social media to meet marketing, brand awareness, and sales goals.

Consider these social media marketing statistics:

Three in five SMB’s have gained new customers by using social media.
92% of marketers say social media has generated exposure for their business.
70% of B2C companies have acquired customers through Facebook.
B2B marketers with Twitter accounts generate twice as many leads than those marketers who don’t have an account.
Promoted tweets boost offline sales by 29%.

People rely on social media for decision-making

You know the adage, “If you read it on the Internet, it must be true?” That always cracks me up, since that is so far from the truth. However, when it comes to making purchasing decisions, we do rely on what we read on the Internet. More specifically, we rely on what our friends, family, and brands we like are saying.

77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when their Tweet has been replied to.
74% of consumers use social media to make purchasing decisions.
66% of content that users Pin (on Pinterest) comes from brand websites.
64% of Twitter users are more likely to buy the products of brands they follow online.
57% of consumers say they’d be somewhat or very influenced to think more highly of a business after seeing positive comments or praise online.
53% of people recommend companies and products on Twitter.

What do people look for from brands on social media? New content (including content that is relevant to the brand) and engagement (aka, conversations and interactions).

An active presence on LinkedIn is a must if you’re B2B

Are you a B2B company? Then you should definitely be active on LinkedIn. The business-focused social network has surpassed the 400 million user mark, and those users are looking for information related to business (unlike on Facebook, where we are looking for adorable videos of baby elephants who think they’re lap dogs). Plus:

65% of B2B companies have acquired a customer through LinkedIn.
41% of millionaires said they use LinkedIn regularly.

Millennials rely on social media – and they’re in the workforce

Millennials are either already in the workforce, or they’re about to enter it. They’re making purchasing decisions at work, and they are major social media users:

90% of millennials use social media (compared to just 35% of those over age 65).
One third of them say social media is one of their preferred channels for communicating with businesses.

Ready to get started with a social media marketing strategy that can deliver these kinds of results?

Awesome, because we are offering a three month trial of our social media management service for only $500 per month for the social media channel of your choice. At the end of three months, you will see measurable results! This offer is only good through April. Email us to get started!

Sources: Smart Insights, HubSpot (and again here), Direct Marketing, CNBC, MarketingSherpa, SocialTimes, Convince and Convert, Twitter (and again here) Social Score Media, and Yahoo! Small Business