What do you say when your child complains about their math homework and asks, “When will I ever need to know what 2,247.67 divided by 96.7 equals — when will I ever use that?”   You probably say something like, “You won’t need to know that exact answer, but it’s helpful to know the problem solving process.”

That’s a lie of course, because everyone uses their phone or computer to figure out math in the real world — but you figured you had to say the responsible thing.

Every time I read marketing statistics, I ask myself “When am I ever going to use these numbers?”  The sheer volume of social media stats can be overwhelming, but if you drill down, you can find the ones that matter most to us marketers.

The numbers that matter to marketers are stats that illustrate trends, numbers that tell us what our customers and prospects are doing, numbers that show what interests them. We also want stats that that tell us where we can find our customers and prospects when we want to sell them something.

SOCIAL MEDIA STATS FOR MARKETERS

Social media statistics are very interesting to marketers now. Research shows that 71% of consumers who have a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend that brand to others.    According to Zippia, 73% of marketers agree that social media has been either “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.

The key social media platforms that marketers care about are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, SnapChat, TikTok and a few others. Our interest is in key demographics, usage, engagement and ad insights.

As an example of stats that matter to marketers, I’m sharing the numbers about Facebook, the largest social media platform in the U.S.. Most of the stats come from Statista and a few other reliable sources, reported by SocialPilot.co. in February 2023.

FACEBOOK STATS OF INTEREST TO MARKETERS

WHO — 81% of all adults in the U.S. have a Facebook account. 71% of U.S. adults actually use it. According to Statista, 75% of high-income earners use Facebook. Teens who used Facebook has decreased from 71% in 2014 to 32% in 2022. 16% of Facebook users are fake or duplicates.

HOW —  98.5% of users access Facebook from mobile devices. 85% of smartphone users have the Facebook app.

HOW OFTEN —  Most of U.S. adult population on Facebook uses the social media platform daily, while 49% use them several times a day. The average U.S. adult spends 30.1 minutes a day on Facebook.

FOR WHAT —  31% of American users use Facebook to read the news. 26% of U.S. adults preferred Facebook Live as their live-stream shopping platform. Live video engagement is 26% on Facebook, higher than any other social media platform.

MARKETING  — 81% of businesses share videos on Facebook. 57% of the brands on Facebook feel stories effectively promote their products. Influencer-published videos accounted for about 60% of Facebook video views in the U.S. A video post increases interaction by 600% on Facebook.

Over 70% of Facebook users view local business pages at least once every week.  44% of users admit that Facebook influences their shopping decision. 15% of Facebook users shop on Facebook.

STATS VS MATH

You don’t need to know much math to realize how important the above stats are to marketers — or simply any business that wants to find more prospects and customers. It’s pretty obvious that you need to promote your organization on social media. And in case you’re wondering — 2,247.67 divided by 96.7 equals 23.24.

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