If you’re still stuck in the traditional ways of marketing—mail flyers, ads in traditional media, email, and so on—you’re missing out on a huge marketing potential.

Here’s why: According to a new report released last month, more than four billion people around the world use social media each month, with an average two million new users every day. That’s out of a world population of 7.81 billion people. You should be leveraging this huge base of people by marketing on social media for your business.

 

Social media’s reach

The Digital 2020 Global Statshot report, produced in partnership with Hootsuite and We Are Social, found social media adoption increased by more than 12 percent in the past 12 months.

No doubt the coronavirus pandemic spurred some of the growth, but the trend toward social media use has been increasing for years, and includes all age groups.

According to research by Emarketer, daily use of social media by generation breaks down like this:

  • Millennials: 90.4 percent
  • GenXers: 77.5 percent
  • Baby Boomers: 48.2 percent

So no matter which demographic you’re trying to reach, you’re likely to find them on social media. And not only are these groups daily social media users, but they spend a whopping three hours per day there, according to GlobalWebIndex, for a total of nearly seven hours a day connected to their devices in some way.

 

How social media boosts sales

You might say, “This is all very interesting, but how does it translate to sales for my business?”

Good question. The answer is found in even more statistics.

Another GlobalWebIndex survey found that 54 percent of social browsers use social media to research products they’re thinking of buying. A more recent survey found that 73 percent of marketers believe their social media marketing efforts have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective.”

And more:

  • 70 percent of business-to-consumer marketers have gotten customers from Facebook
  • 93 percent of Pinterest users make purchases through the platform
  • 80 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business
  • Pinterest is the highest of all social media sites in per-order sales

There’s no doubt properly using social media helps boost your business.

Best sites for business marketing

When it comes to which social media platform to focus on, a great deal depends on the type of product or service you provide, as well as the demographics of your main clientele. But when speaking in terms of return-on-investment (ROI), here are some stats that might help you decide.

If you have a limited amount of time, you can’t go wrong with Facebook. It’s the most widely used social media site, with 68 percent of U.S. adults reporting they have an account.

On the other hand, the Statshot report found that Instagram added the most users between July and September of this year, acquiring more than 76 million new users over the period, for a total of 1.16 billion users.

That outperformed Facebook’s growth, with that platform acquiring just 45 million new users over the same period.

Although Twitter shows only 350 million daily users, the actual figure is likely much higher. This is because it’s an open platform available to anyone, even those who don’t log in. One estimate puts the user figure at least three times higher as a result. Plus, because it’s available to casual users, it’s a great way to become known outside your regular customer base.

Pinterest, as we noted, is almost exclusively a platform for shopping, compared to the others, which attract users for various other reasons.

Consider: With 416 million active users, over 66 percent of online shoppers in the U.S. say Pinterest is their favorite social media platform. It has more than two billion searches performed there each month.

In addition, 90 percent of Pinterest weekly users say they look to Pinterest to make shopping decisions. Of those, 55 percent say they browse there specifically to look for products. Thirty percent report they have bought something after seeing it on Pinterest.

 

Don’t miss out on social media for your business

If you have the time and the budget, there’s nothing wrong with marketing on two or more sites. The key, of course, is to have enough of both (time and money) to do it effectively.

If you use social media for your business well, it can be a fast, inexpensive, and efficient way to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and, most important, boost sales. Whatever you’re selling, there’s a social media site that can help you sell it. Maybe more than one.

So if you haven’t been taking advantage of this effective marketing tool, it may be time to rethink that decision.

There’s a great deal involved in conducting compelling social media marketing, however. You’re likely to be far more successful by working with people who know all the latest strategies, like our social media management experts. So let us help you plan a successful marketing campaign.