We’ve got the latest social media statistics to inform your social marketing strategy. Knowing which way the winds are blowing on the world’s biggest (and/or trendiest) social platforms is key to reaching your audience efficiently.
These numbers will give you:
- The latest updates on growth, demographics, and benchmarks;
- Insights on how people behave, and what they want, on each platform;
- Actionable takeaways that can help you connect with your audience.
A note on sources: We’ve collected these stats from third-party surveys, whitepapers and reports from the platforms themselves. Interested in digging deeper? Start with Hootsuite’s Global State of Digital 2021 (including Simon Kemp’s overview).
Download the complete Digital 2021 report—which includes online behavior data from 220 countries—to learn where to focus your social marketing efforts and how to better target your audience.
General social media statistics
Social media adoption surged in 2020
- Social media platforms gained 490 million users this year (that’s a 13.2% increase, year over year; the previous year’s growth was only 7.2%)
- Social platforms gained 1.3 million users every day, or 15.5 new users every second in 2020
- 4.2 billion people use social media around the world (i.e., 53.6% of the planet’s total population)
- 90% of people with access to the internet use social media
Source: Global State of Digital 2021
- The countries that added the most social media users in 2020 were: China (+110 million), India (+78 million), the Philippines (+16 million) and Mexico (+11 million)
- Brazil, Indonesia and the USA saw 10 million new social users each
- Regionally, social media saturation varies:
- North America (74%) and Western/Northern Europe (79%) have the highest social media saturation rates in the world
- South East Asia (69%) and Eastern Asia (66%) lead Asia
- South America (72%) and Central America (71%) have slightly more uptake than Oceania (64%) and Eastern Europe (65%)
- Northern (45%) and Southern (41%) Africa have the highest saturation on the continent
Source: Global State of Digital 2021
Check out individual regional reports to zero in on your target audience.
Social media usage statistics
- Worldwide, the average user spends 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media every day (of 7 hours total spent on the internet, across all devices)
- Social media consumption dips to 2h07 in the US, 1h49 in the UK, and 1h46 in Canada
- The Philippines is the top consumer, where people average 4h15 per day on social media, while Japan uses social the least, with 51 minutes per day
- 98.8% of users access social media via a mobile device (and people spend an average of 4 hours and 10 minutes on those devices every day)
- The average user has accounts on 8.4 different social platforms
- 98.7% to 100% of users on the major social networks use other platforms
Source: Global State of Digital 2021
Brands are well-placed on social media
- 40.4% of internet users are on social media for work purposes
- 44.8% of global internet users used social media to search for brand information in 2020
- 56% of girls and women between the ages of 16 and 24 conduct brand research on social
Source: Global State of Digital 2021
Social media advertising statistics
- US social media ad spending is expected to increase 21.3% to 49 billion USD in 2021
- 70% of social media users agree that they don’t trust brands who place profits before people during the pandemic
- 2 out of 3 of social media users expect brands to advertise in safe, positive spaces
- 42.7% of internet users worldwide use ad blockers
- 22.3% of people using ad blockers say there are “too many ads” and, separately, that “ads are annoying and irrelevant” (the top 2 reasons for blocking ads)
- 52% of social users say that a platform’s privacy policy is the most important factor in whether they will engage with an ad
Source: eMarketer
Check out our full list of social media advertising statistics here.
Instagram statistics
Users
- Instagram now has 1.2 billion monthly users
- Instagram has experienced 43% growth in site traffic, year over year (around 5.3 billion visits per month)
- Instagram ads reach 20% of everyone in the world over the age of 13
- 41% of Americans use Instagram (and 9% of Americans have never heard of Instagram)
- 99.8% of Instagram users use other social platforms
Demographics
- 49.2% of Instagram users identify as men; 50.8% as women
- 63% of Instagram users are between 18 and 34 years old
- Only 30% of Instagram users are above the age of 35
- Worldwide, the largest Instagram audiences are in the USA, India, (140 million each) Brazil (99 million), Indonesia (85 million), and Russia (56 million).
Here’s our full detail on Instagram demographics.
Usage
- The average US user spends 29.6 minutes per day on Instagram
- Average engagement rate for an Instagram post is 0.85% (but that goes up to 1.05% for carousel posts)
- Instagram is the 8th most-visited website by traffic, according to Semrush (and the 5th most-visited according to SimilarWeb)
- Instagram was the 11th most popular Google search in 2020 (#12 was “corona”)
Brands
- 200 million Instagram users visit a business profile at least daily
- The average engagement rate for a post from a business account is 0.96%
- 81% of people on Instagram use the platform to research products and services
- 55% of fashion shoppers on Instagram have bought an item after seeing an influencer promote it
Our complete list of 2021 Instagram statistics is over here.
Facebook statistics
Users
- Facebook has 2.74 billion monthly users; 1.82 billion people log in every day
- 2.18 billion of those users can be reached by ads (that’s 36% of everyone in the world over the age of 13)
- 68% of American adults use Facebook
- 98.9% of Facebook users use other social platforms
Demographics
- 56% of Facebook’s users identify as men; 44% as women
- 53% of Gen Zs visit Facebook daily (3rd place after YouTube and Instagram)
- 67% of Millennials visit Facebook daily (2nd place after YouTube)
- Only 8.9% of Facebook’s audience is in the US
- Only 50% of Facebook use is in English
Usage
- The average US user spends 34.6 minutes per day on Facebook
- Facebook has experienced 3% growth in site traffic, year over year (around 25.5 billion visits per month)
- Facebook is the 3rd most-visited website by traffic, according to both Semrush and SimilarWeb
- Facebook was the 2nd most popular Google search in 2020
- Average post engagement on Facebook was 0.11% in 2020 (that number went up to 0.25% for pages with fewer than 10,000 followers)
Brands
- The average Facebook user has clicked on 11 ads in the past month
- 66% of Facebook users visit a local business page at least once a week
- 18.3% of Facebook users made a purchase through the platform in 2020
Source: eMarketer
The complete list of 2021 Facebook statistics is over here.
Twitter statistics
Users
- Twitter has 353 million users; and, according to their own preferred measurements, 192 million “monetizable daily active users”
- Twitter’s user growth in 2020 was originally forecast at about 2.8%, but the pandemic pushed that up to 7.9%
- 22% of American adults use Twitter
- Twitter is the 11th most-visited website by traffic, according to Semrush (and the 4th most-visited according to SimilarWeb)
Demographics
- Less than one third of Twitter users are women (68.5% of Twitter’s users identify as men)
- Twitter’s is the top social platform in Japan, with 50.9 million users
- 42% of Twitter users have a college degree; 25% have no college education
Usage
- The average US user spends 32.7 minutes per day on Twitter
- Twitter has experienced 36% growth in site traffic, year over year (around 5.8 billion visits per month)
- 21% of Americans use Twitter, but 90% of Americans know what it is, even if they don’t use it themselves
Brands
- Twitter ads reach 5.8% of people in the world
- Twitter’s ad engagement is up 35% year over year (as of Q4 2020)
- Twitter’s cost-per-engagement is down 3% year over year (as of Q4 2020)
Here’s our full breakdown of Twitter statistics and Twitter demographics.
YouTube statistics
Users
- YouTube has 2 billion monthly active users (not counting people who aren’t logged in)
- YouTube is the 2nd most-visited website by traffic, according to both Semrush and SimilarWeb
- YouTube was the 3rd most popular Google search in 2020
Demographics
- YouTube users are 54% male, and 46% are female
- 74% of American adults use YouTube (beating out Facebook, at 68%)
- 80% of parents in America say that their children (11 and under) watch YouTube
- 21% of YouTube watchers are between the ages of 25 and 34
Usage
- 1 billion hours of video are watched on YouTube every day
- 70% of YouTube videos are watched on mobile devices
- YouTube livestreams increased 45% in the first six months of 2020
Brands
- 70% of viewers bought from a brand after seeing it on YouTube
- Channels earning over $10,000 per year have grown 50%, year over year
- Ads targeted to users by intent (rather than demographic) earn 100% higher lift in purchase intent
Here’s our full breakdown of YouTube statistics.
Pinterest statistics
Users
- 459 million people use Pinterest every month (that’s a 37% increase, year over year)
- Pinterest added 100 million users in 2020, the largest increase in the platform’s history
- 28% of Americans use Pinterest
Demographics
- 77% of Pinterest users identify as women (the highest percentage of any social media platform)
- A full 30% of Pinterest’s users are women between the ages of 25 and 34
- The USA is Pinterest’s largest audience (100 million), followed by Germany (17.5 million) and France (12 million) and the UK (11 million)
Usage
- 9 in 10 people on Pinterest call it a positive oasis on the internet
- 97% of top searches on Pinterest are unbranded (meaning users haven’t made up their mind yet)
- Searches for ‘positivity’ on Pinterest jumped 65% in 2020
Source: Pinterest
Brands
- 92% of social advertisers ranked Pinterest first in terms of overall reputation, among social platforms
- Pinterest ads have a 2x higher ROI for retail brands, compared to other social platforms
- Pinterest ads have a 2.3x more efficient cost per conversion, compared to other social platforms
Here’s our full breakdown of Pinterest statistics.
LinkedIn statistics
Users
- 740 million people use LinkedIn
- LinkedIn ads reach 13% of the global population
- 25% of American adults use LinkedIn
Demographics
- LinkedIn’s biggest markets are the US (176 million), India (74 million) and China (52 million)
- 57% of LinkedIn users self-identify as men; 43% as women
- 60% of LinkedIn users are age 2534
Usage
- Content creation on LinkedIn increased 60% in 2020
- LinkedIn has seen a 48% increase in conversations on the platform, year over year (as of Q2 2021)
- LinkedIn has also seen a 2x increase in learning content impressions (as of Q2 2021)
- LinkedIn members are 14x more likely to share content from their employer than any other type of content
Brands
- 96% of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn for organic marketing (Facebook is runner-up at 82%)
- 33% of B2B decision-makers use LinkedIn to research purchases
- LinkedIn is the top platform for privacy and data protection (which itself is the top factor for users deciding whether to engage with ads on social)
Source: eMarketer
Here’s our full breakdown of LinkedIn statistics.
Snapchat statistics
Users
- 498 million people use Snapchat; and 265 million use it every day
- Snapchat is the #10 app by number of active monthly users
- 23% of American adults use Snapchat (outpacing Twitter and TikTok)
- Snapchat was the #8 most-downloaded app in 2020
Demographics
- 57% of Snapchat users identify as female, and 41% are male-identified
- Snapchat reaches 75% of Millennials and Gen Z
- 34% of US teens say Snapchat is their preferred social platform
- 49% of Snapchat users are under 24
- 4% of Snapchat users are over 50
Source: Global State of Digital 2021
Usage
- The average US user spends 27.7 minutes per day on Snapchat
- 57.9% of Snapchat users also use TikTok (99.9% of them have at least one other social media profile)
Brands
- Snapchat users are 60% more likely to make impulse purchases
- 46% of Snapchat users message brands after making a purchase
- Snapchat users are 20% more likely to make purchases from mobile
Here’s our full breakdown of Snapchat statistics.
TikTok statistics
Users
- Tiktok was the #1 most-downloaded app in 2020
- 689 million people use TikTok
- TikTok is the #8 mobile app by number of users (outpacing Spotify and Snapchat)
- 20% of American adults use TikTok
Demographics
- TikTok users are 51% male-identified, and 49% female-identified
- 29% of US teens say TikTok is their preferred social platform
Source: Marketing Charts
- According to American parents, TikTok is the most popular social platform for children under 11
Source: Pew Research
Usage
- “Tik Tok” and “TikTok” are the #5 and #12 top YouTube search queries, respectively
- 12% of Americans use TikTok, but only 3% of them get news from TikTok
- The average US user spends 32.8 minutes per day on TikTok (that’s 2nd place after Facebook)
- 99.7% of TikTok users use other platforms (only 47.7% use Snapchat, though)
- 57% of TikTok’s mentions around the internet are positive
- TikTok has experienced 576% growth in site traffic, year over year (compared to Facebook’s 3%)
Brands
- TikTok is the #6 app in terms of user spending (up from #8)
- TikTok guarantees 5 million impressions daily for takeover ads
Read our full list of fresh TikTok statistics over here.
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The post 140+ Social Media Statistics that Matter to Marketers in 2021 appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
