5 Social Media Statistics All Digital Marketers Should Know

We’ve poured over the stats and have identified five of the most telling social media statistics for 2015. What are the key channels to build your social media strategy on, and is your business properly leveraging this knowledge in order to craft a successful campaign?

Snapchat is growing at a rate of 56% a year

As the fastest growing messaging app, Snapchat proves to be an added value channel for both marketers and brands alike. While the Stories feature has been out for some time (and should be leveraged by any marketer working with a budget), the app recently released a Discover feature – herein lies the permanent home for brands who are willing to pay to be seen. Regardless of whether your brand pursues the free or paid route, Snapchat continues to be a channel that demands attention – making it an excellent addition to any marketing strategy. 

Facebook organic reach has dropped to 2%

Certainly the most discussed and contested statistic in the past year, Facebook’s current EdgeRank-style algorithm makes it nearly impossible for users to see and interact with a page’s post without ad dollars to back it. Facebook sources have unofficially warned community managers to expect this number to reach zero sometime in the foreseeable future. Allocating a portion of your marketing budget to Facebook advertising is vital to a successful social strategy. 

Pinterest, Tumblr had largest growth in the past year

Pinterest's user base has grown by 111% and Tumblr's user base has grown by 120%. Since we’re talking figures, it’s important to note that both sign almost 120K new users per day - the sheer volume of these numbers alone should be enough to justify why marketers need to leverage these platforms in their social strategy. As image based platforms, Pinterest and Tumblr also see high levels of users engagement – a double win for any campaign!

Instagram has higher engagement than Twitter

In previous years, working a solid influencer outreach campaign into your strategy through Twitter was a sure fire bet to quickly hit benchmarks for clients. While this strategy is still in line with best practices, Instagram has given marketers an additional landscape on which to create such a campaign. With a 50x higher user engagement rate, the platform is ripe for marketers looking to quickly build a following and stimulate the conversation surrounding a brand. 

Facebook has the most impact on purchase behavior

In 2013, 68% of Americans using social networks said that none of those networks had an influence on their buying decisions. In 2014, just 36% said that there was no influence. Now, 47% of Americans say that Facebook has the greatest impact on purchase behavior. Incidentally, Twitter ranks below “other” at 5%. If you want to drive purchase behaviors within social networks, Facebook is the one and only game to play, statistically speaking. 

What channels will you build your social media strategy on?

- Sourced