SOCIAL MEDIA ONE SHEET
Social media is mainstreaming and an integral part of consumers’ lives.
The latest eMarketer update in 2017 projects that 2.46 billion individuals, or one-third of the
global population and 71% of internet users, will access social networks at least once a month in
2017, up 8.2% from 2016. Mobile phone adoption and expanding mobile coverage will drive that
growth.
According to Pew Research Center, 69% of US adults use at least one social network in 2016.
Young adults were among the earliest social media adopters and continue to use these sites at
high levels, but usage by older adults has increased in recent years. As of 2016, 86% of 18-29,
80% 30-49, 64% 50-64, and 34% 65+ used social media.
According to comScore stats, of consumer’s total digital time, 1 out of 5 minutes spent online is
on social media. Social media leads all content categories in digital time spent ahead of video
(14%), music (11%), and games (8%).
Social media usage is closely intertwined with mobile as the majority of social media usage takes
place on mobile.
Overall, 79% of social media usage takes place on mobile (smartphones and tablets). Specifically,
the smartphone app is by far the most popular access point for social media usage accounting
for 60% of total social media time spent, compared to 21% on desktop, 10% on tablet app
(comScore 2017).
Currently, 4 out of 10 top mobile apps are social media apps – Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest,
and Twitter.
Main players in social media
Facebook is consistently the #2 most popularly visited digital property by unique visitors
according to comScore. Facebook users mirror the internet as a whole, Snapchat, Instagram and
Tumblr have a younger audience profile.
Snapchat is the youngest skewing social network with more than half of its users between 18-34
years old. Snapchat has steadily climbed up to the Top 10 mobile app in 2016 as mobile video
becomes a new communication medium.
35+ years old users show a higher relative preference for Facebook in relation to other social
media platforms.
Advertising Spend on Social Media Continues to Climb.
According to the IAB Internet Ad Revenues 2016 Full Year Report, spending on social media
advertising on both mobile and desktop is up 49% year over year from $10.9 billion in 2015 to
$16.3 billion in 2016. It is a 462% increase from five years ago in 2012 ($2.9 billion). Social
growth continues to play a key role in the growth of mobile as social is a significant activity on
mobile.
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According to the Deloitte 2017 CMO survey, marketers are planning a huge investment in social,
expecting increases in spend by 90% in the next 3-5 years. They currently spend 9.8% of total
marketing budget on social media, which will increase to 18.5% in the next five years.
Social Media’s Effectiveness/Impact
A survey with B2C marketers conducted by Content Marketing Institute shows that 76% of B2C
marketers use promoted posts (for example, boosted Facebook posts and promoted tweets and
pins). 61% of these B2C marketers found promoted posts effective (top 2 box).
Social media has a great impact on product discovery and decision making of digital commerce.
60% of US online shoppers indicate they have purchased a product/service online after reading
a positive review online, 26% have done so after seeing an image or post on social media. (IAB
US-China Digital Commerce Study 2016).
At the same time, 27% of online shoppers are also likely to leave a review on social media after
their purchase.
Electronics (18%), Clothing (17%), Dining (14%) and grocery (14%) purchases are most
influenced by social media according to the IAB Digital Trends 2016 reporting on consumer
usage, ad revenues and impact.
Sources:
comScore Cross-Platform Future in Focus, US 2017
IAB US-China Digital Commerce Study, 2016
IAB Internet Advertising Revenues Report Full Year 2016
IAB Digital Usage Trend Report Full Year 2016
Pew Research Center Social Media Fact Sheet
The CMO Survey 2017
eMarketer July 2017 https://www.emarketer.com/Article/eMarketer-Updates-Worldwide-
Social-Network-User-Figures/1016178
2016 B2C Content Marketing Trends – North America
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