Updated Social Media Stats and Snacks
We took a look at the latest statistics on the top social media outlets. There were a couple of things that were surprising. Some of the information didn’t shock us at all. And some of it was just down right delicious.
AN OVERVIEW
As a business owner you want more visits to your website.
When someone clicks on your social media link and spends some time online looking at your article or video, the social media source they jumped from gets some credibility for the amount of time the visitor stays on your link.
When it comes to where people spend their time when they click on a link, YouTube wins by a landslide, but there are also some social media platforms like StumbleUpon, Reddit and Pinterest who are making the race a little uncomfortable for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
When it comes to having your potential customers consuming your content, which platforms are you going make an effort on?
The social media outlets you choose make a difference.
Your audience doesn’t hang out everywhere.
You can find some of your audience all of the time.
You can find all of your audience some of the time.
Where are you going to spend your time?
In addition, we wanted to know where the brands were spending their time across social media.
Although it remains difficult to make a splash on Facebook without paying for advertising, most Brands still continue to have a presence there.
Key Take-Away: It still takes some research before you jump into the social media system. There are many platforms out there that are worthy to be on. Finding out where your audience is first, and then creating your plan is fundamental to making an inbound marketing program work.
SO, WHAT WORKS BEST?
In terms of getting leads and driving more traffic to your business website email is still the best marketing method.
Ecommerce Quarterly reports that conversions rates for email remain at the top of the charts for conversion rates.
In a Zuberance Report, it was found that more recommendations are made through email than any other social media source.
Key Take-Away: If you want your delighted customers to share your business posts, or if you want more conversions in your sales funnel, email is still the way to go for your social media dollar.
FACEBOOK IS STILL ON TOP – IN SPITE OF ITSELF
There have been lots of changes at Facebook lately.
Since the social media giant went public on May 18, 2012 there has been a steady press downward on business pages in feeds.
The pain has been felt by companies trying make a mark on Facebook.
With organic appearances in feeds going down to less than 2%, it would seem that Facebook is going to make businesses advertise on Facebook whether they like it or not.
However, some businesses are still experiencing some success.
According to a study made by Searchmetrics on Google Ranking Factors, Facebook shares have the greatest influence on Google search rankings in the United States.
Key Take-Away: Larger brands, who have a long-established presence on Facebook, can leverage their “likes” and “shares” to gain ranking and more visibility, but a small- to medium-sized business is going to have to resort other means.
Facebook, being the publicly-traded company they’ve become is trying to get you to advertise. It is time to get clever.
ARE YOU PLUSSING? OR ARE YOU STILL NONPLUSSED?
Google+ still remains a bit of a black sheep in the social media universe.
As in real life, the wooly network seems to be misunderstood.
More and more brands, though, are getting on board the platform.
If anything they hear, it means good things for their search rankings.
Not only that, the numbers show it makes good sense to the big guys.
Forrester Research also came out with a study earlier this year that says Google+ generates the same amount of engagement per follower as the same posts do on Facebook.
Key Take-Away: Google+ may seem a little confusing to gain a foothold on. Give it a try and see what a different type of network it is and how pleased you will be at the increase in your rankings when you start engaging followers there.
I HASH, THEREFORE I AM
Twitter is still holding strong as the social network for what is trending.
In March 2014 the social media bird sort of accidently announced that it may or may not be eliminating the hashtag as a means of relating topics across the platform.
Without the tried to true means of connecting subject matter across the platform, businesses remain skeptical about how they might engage potential customers in the aftermath.
Still, the hashtag remains the way to engage on Twitter.
Buddy Media reports that tweets with one or two hashtags get 21% higher engagement from Twitter users than tweets with three or more hashtags.
94% of the Top 100 Brands remain on Twitter as well.
One other big factor about Twitter is that more users share from Twitter than any other social media platform.
The time of day you post on any network has an effect on engagement.
According to Buddy Media, when you post during busy hours (8AM-7PM) your Tweets are more likely to get noticed.
Our Buddies also say that Tweets with less than 100 characters get maximum exposure on Twitter.
Key Take-Away: Begin thinking about ways to connect with users that don’t contain a hashtag and don’t think that Twitter is going to throw away their “Trend Status King” crown so easily. Tweet during business hours with content less than 120 characters.
THERE’S NO BUSINESS FOR B2B BUSINESS LIKE LINKEDIN
If you are a B2B Marketer, there is no place better to be on social media than LinkedIn.
47% of B2B businesses are actively using LinkedIn to connect with peer
s in the marketplace according to Inside View.
With more than 50% of LinkedIn users actively engaged on the site every week, and 53% of them a part of ten or more groups, Wayne Breitbarth’s Blog surmises what any smart business person would – as a business, a presence there is necessary.
HERE’S YER SNACK
Pinterest, the visual network for foodies everywhere, is THE network to post on if your content is food related according to Citigroup Global Markets.
Pinterest also remains a visually dominated platform like Instagram.
The fashion industry and brands with highly absorbing visual content use Pinterest very well.
Key Take-Away: Pinterest takes a little more work. If you don’t want to put time into graphics and visuals, don’t both. If you do it well, however, the results can be remarkable. Let’s eat.
The Social Media Ecosystem remains a viable way to find your potential customer, as well as make your mark as a brand. Staying on top of the latest statistics and trends is a great way to figure out where to put your inbound marketing dollars.
What do you think of Google+? How about Twitter and the threat of no hashtags? Leave a comment or two.
Or, you can give us a call. We love social media. And snacks.
You can also check out our Social Media Tune-Up here:
Thanks to Factbrowser for all of your interesting facts and statistics.