Social media is everywhere and over the last two decades, it’s become one of the primary marketing channels.

With a solid chunk of the world’s population on social media, it’s critical that your business has an effective social media strategy that helps you reach your intended audience.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of essential social media stats to ensure you know where to focus your marketing efforts in 2022 to get the highest ROI.

In November 2021, the HubSpot Blog surveyed 300+ social media marketers to learn about the strategies they use, the formats they leverage, and the challenges they face.

Here are some of the most interesting stats we discovered:

• 77% of social media marketers say social media marketing has been somewhat to very effective for their company this year.
• What’s more, 37% of marketers who said social media marketing was somewhat to very ineffective cited COVID-19, likely due to the rapid change in strategy.
• The numer one goal marketers report having for their social media marketing strategy is advertising their products or services, following by increasing brand awareness.
• 82% of marketers say they repurpose content across social media channels.
• The majority of marketers surveyed say they post on most social media platforms four to six times a week.
• The platforms with the lowest reported engagement levels are Twitch, Snapchat, and Clubhouse.
• Short-form videos is the top social media format used by 54% of social media marketers, followed by live streaming, live audio chatrooms, and user-generated content.
• 80% of marketers say funny content is the most effective on social media.
• 68% of marketers’ companies work with influencers on social media.
• The most popular cadence to search for new social media platforms is once a month, followed by once a week.
• 84% of marketers target Millennials as part of their social media strategy.
• The biggest challenge marketers face on social media is creating engaging content, reported by 27% of respondents.
• 67% of marketers say they work with micro influencers with 10K-100K followers or subscribers. Conversely, only 29% say they work with mega influencers with more than 1 million followers.
• 64% of marketers say they invest in building social media communities.
• 25% of respondents said they believe funny content is most effective with Gen Z.

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• In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 79% of marketers report buying paid advertising on Facebook. (HubSpot)
• Users spend an average of 19.6 hours a month on Facebook. (HootSuite)
• Facebook is a popular source of news with 31% of Americans regularly getting their news from the platform. (Pew Research)
• According to the same poll, more than 50% of marketers plan on increasing their investments in Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok in 2022. (HubSpot)

• Facebook has 1.96 billion daily active users as of Q1 2022. (Statista)
• 98.5% of Facebook users access the platform on mobile devices. (Statista)
• In a 2021 survey conducted by the HubSpot Blog, Facebook was ranked #1 in social media investment, highest quality leads, and ROI for paid ads. (HubSpot)
• Facebook ads are used by 70% of marketers, and there were 10 million active advertisers on the platform in Q3 2021. (Social Media Examiner , Statista)

• Twitter has reached 229 million daily active users as of the first quarter of 2022. (Statista)
• In a HubSpot Blog poll, 79% of marketers plan to continue investing in Twitter Spaces in 2022. (HubSpot)
• Link clicks account for 92% of all user interaction with tweets. (HubSpot)
• The best time to post on Twitter is at 9 AM, and the best days to post are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (Sprout Social)
• Tweets with hashtags get 100% more engagement. (Twitter)
• 99% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll say they plan to continue to invest the same amount or increase their investment in Twitter. (HubSpot)
• 93% of Twitter community members are open to brands getting involved in conversation, such as providing help and support. (Twitter)

For more on Twitter, check out Twitter Marketing: The Ultimate Guide.

• In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 58% of marketers plan to leverage Instagram Reels in 2022. (HubSpot)
• 64% of Instagram users are under the age of 34. (Statista)
• 20% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll report generating the biggest ROI when working with influencers on Instagram, only behind Facebook. (HubSpot)

• 98% of marketers say Instagram is the most influential platform for influencer marketing, which is 44% higher than Facebook. (Sprout Social)
• Videos get 21.2% more interactions compared to images and 18.6% more interactions compared to carousels. (Sprout Social)
• 61% of social media marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll say they plan to increase their investment in 2022.
• 90% of people on Instagram follow a business. (Instagram)
• In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 73% of marketers prefer Instagram for influencer marketing. (HubSpot)

• The best times to post on Instagram are Wednesday at 11 AM, and Friday between 10-11 AM. Sunday is the worst day for engagement. (Sprout Social)

Check out more Instagram stats here.

• LinkedIn has more than 830 million active users in 200 countries and regions worldwide. (LinkedIn)
• The most popular day to post on LinkedIn is on Saturdays and Sundays. (HubSpot)
• According to a HubSpot Blog survey, most marketers post on LinkedIn four to six times a week. (HubSpot)
• When it comes to B2B display ad spend, LinkedIn makes up the largest share at 32.2%. (eMarketer)
• As of January 2022, 59% of LinkedIn users were between 25 and 34 years old. (Statista)
• In Q3 2022, LinkedIn revenue is up 34% in YoY growth. (LinkedIn)
• 87% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog survey said LinkedIn offered average or high ROI. (HubSpot)
• 82% of B2B markers report finding the greatest success on LinkedIn. (LinkedIn Marketing Solutions)
• Over 46% of all social media traffic to company websites comes from LinkedIn. (LinkedIn)
• 40% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog survey say they plan to increase their investment in the platform in 2022. (HubSpot)
• The best times to post on LinkedIn are on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon. The worst days are on weekends – with Saturdays and Sundays offering the lowest engagement levels.(Sprout Social)

Want to learn how to up your marketing game on LinkedIn? This post walks you through the ins and outs of using LinkedIn for business.

• YouTube is the second-largest search engine globally. (Alexa)
• YouTube generates over 1.7 billion unique monthly visitors. (Hootsuite)
• 42.5% of marketers use YouTube for influencer marketing, according to a 2021 eMarketer report. (eMarketer)
• 50% of social media marketers surveyed by the HubSpot Blog say they plan to increase their investment in YouTube in 2022. In fact, 20% of respondents say they plan to invest in this platform the most. (HubSpot)
• The number of YouTube users is projected to reach 2.8 million by 2025. (Statista)
• In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 44% of marketers plan to leverage YouTube for the first time in 2022. (HubSpot)

• On mobile devices alone, YouTube reaches more adults aged 18 to 24 than any TV network. (YouTube)
• YouTube accounts for more than 25% of total worldwide mobile traffic. (Sandvine)
• Users spend the most hours on YouTube than any other social network at 23.7 hours a month. (HootSuite)

• 70% of TikTok users agree they feel a deeper connection to people they interact with on TikTok compared to other social networks. (TikTok)
• In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll, 61% of marketers plan to increase their investment in TikTok marketing in 2022. (HubSpot)
• Douyin, TikTok’s original standalone app in China, had 300 million users at the time Musical.ly merged with TikTok. (The Verge)
• Two out of three users are likely to buy something on TikTok while using the app. (TikTok)
• TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021. (HootSuite)
• 61% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll say they plan to increase their investment in TikTok in 2022. (HubSpot)
• 12% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll say they work with influencers the most on TikTok. (HubSpot)
• A majority of U.S. TikTok users are between the ages of 10 and 19. (Statista)
• Globally, users spend an average of 19.6 hours a month on TikTok on android phones. (HootSuite)
• 61% of U.S. TikTok users are female. (Statista)
• The most popular time to post on TikTok is between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. (HubSpot)
• TikTok’s average engagement rate is high at all follower levels. (Influencer Marketing Hub)

• As of Q3 2021, the Reddit mobile app was counting more than 13 million daily active users worldwide on iOS. (Statista)
• 50% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll plan to increase their investment in Reddit. (HubSpot)
• The site receives more than 50 billion+ monthly screen views. (Reddit)
• 23% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll plan to leverage Reddit for the first time in 2022. (HubSpot)
• Most Reddit users in the U.S. are male, but 15% of U.S. adults say they use the platform. (Statista)
• Only 2% of social media marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog plan to invest in Reddit the most in 2022. (HubSpot)
• 49% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll buy paid ads on Reddit. (HubSpot)
• Reddit is an unlikely place for influencer marketing but 38% of marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog poll say they work with influencers on the platform. (HubSpot)

• Answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by 25%. (Convince & Convert)
• 79% of consumers expect brands to respond within a day of reaching out over social media, but average brand response rates across all industries is lower than 25%. (Sprout Social)
• 79% of people say that user-generated content on social media significantly impacts their purchasing decisions. (Stackla)

Pitching Social Media Consulting Services

All these stats have given you the data you need to work with — now it’s time to put your knowledge to use and create your own social media consulting proposal.

If you’re a social media consultant and you’re pitchinga branding, marketing, or advertising campaign to a client, it’s critical you’re able to show how you’ll help your client grow their business.

Here are six steps you’ll need to take to ensure your social media consulting proposal or business plan is effective:

1. Set clear goals. Figure out exactly where your company or client wants to go as far as their business and social media numbers. The clearer and more detailed the vision, the better. Follow SMART Goal guidelines to ensure that you’re on the right track.
2. Understand your customers. Know your target demographics because these are the people you’re trying to reach and engage. Gather your own social media statistics and use existing data your company or client might already have to figure out who’s interacting with the business and who might be good future prospects to reach. After you’ve done your research, you can create useful character personas to help you better understand and categorize customers.
3. Understand your competition. Those “similar-but-different” companies are going to be out there. And, as with most aspects of the business world, the better you know them, the better you can know how to have a leg up on them. You can conduct this research at the same time you’re researching your customers, because chances are they’re interacting with competitors as well. Once you’ve gathered the data on your competitors, one of the most effective ways to use it is to figure out where there might be voids in their services that your business can fill.
4. Be familiar with any existing social media presence. If you’re hired to run a company’s social media accounts, it’s critical you know about any previous social media postings, accounts, and experiments. By understanding what your client has already tried, you’re better equipped to take them where they need to go in the future.
5. Don’t forget to pull your data. Before your new implemented strategies go underway, it’s important to collect a baseline of how it was before, so that you have something to measure against in the future. For example, if you take inventory of how many views you’re getting on Instagram Stories before the new strategy is in effect, you can see if the new ideas are improving these numbers or not. It’s important to keep a close eye on what is affecting your growth (positively or negatively) so that you know when you’re on the right track or when you need to try something new so your business can keep growing.
6. Develop your strategy based on your findings. Define what your content will be, what platforms it will be distributed on, and how it will vary between platforms. Figure out smaller details at this stage too, like your client’s tone and voice on social media (either what it currently is or what it should be), along with design and style elements. Always be sure you’re staying true to your company or client’s brand by consulting with existing materials like mission statements, guides, or brand books.

Finally, take a look at HubSpot’s free Marketing proposal template (useful for both PDF & Word) to get you started creating a comprehensive social media consulting proposal.

Let Data Drive Your Social Media Strategy

Social media marketing statistics can show you the state of the business world today, where it might be going, and how you can ensure your business is continuously meeting customers where they want to be met. Use these statistics to your advantage to help you understand what you need to do to effectively use social media for your business today.

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in August 2019, but was updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.