The State of Twitter 2012
Twitter, we haven’t forgotten about you! Facebook has been hogging the spotlight lately as the major social media network of the moment due to news last week of their commitment to deleting fake likes, reaching 1 billion users and a commercial that likely was a big flop. Despite the fact that Facebook is cracking down, Twitter is in no hurry to make their users go by their real own identities on the network. Even though that likely means the phenomenon of fake followers won’t be going anywhere, a network that allows for anonymity is okay by CEO Dick Costolo.
There’s no question that Twitter’s usage numbers can’t compete with Facebook’s billion users, 3 times the total US population. However, the most interesting figure is how daily use has grown. According to Pew Research, in 2006 just 2% of online adults tweeted on a daily basis. Today, around 11% of adults Tweet multiple times daily, indicating that “micro-blogging” through sharing articles, facts and photos of your brunch have become as automatic for some of us as brushing our teeth.
Twitter’s potential as a tool for marketing continues to soar. Promoted Tweets have an average engagement rate of between 1 and 3%, a rate that few other social media networks can even dream of competing with. According to Sales Marketing Chief Shane Steele, as of early October 2012, more than half of active Twitter users follow at least 6 brands. A recent marketing campaign by Men’s Ware company Bonobos required Twitter users to generate 49 retweets before unlocking savings, an innovative idea that resulted in a 1,800% ROI for the company’s efforts. Twitter might not be quite as big as Facebook, but it’s still a powerful tool for companies to connect with followers and it’s definitely not going anywhere fast:
1. Twitter Generates 200 Million Tweets and 1.6 Billion Search Queries Daily.
2. 73% of Americans Trust Information and Advice From Twitter.
3. Twitter Posts Between 1-3PM EST Monday through Thursday Receive the Most Clicks.
4. Only 10% of the Top 10,000 Websites Have Some Twitter Integration.
5. 8% of Online Adults Use Twitter Daily, Up From 2% in 2011.
6. Twitter Now Has More Than 500 Million Accounts. 141.8 Million Are in the US.
7. 94% of the Interbrand Top 100 Brands Are on Twitter.
8. 84% of Colleges and Universities Tweet, a 25% Increase From 2011.
9. 86% of Consumers Rely on User-Generated Content on Twitter to Research Medications.
10. Twitter Accounts for 14% of Mobile Social Media Sign-Ins.
11. 89% of Americans 12 or Older are Personally Familiar With Twitter.
12. Less than 20% of Small Business Websites Have a Link to their Twitter.
13. 55% of Job Searchers Use LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
14. 15% of Job Searchers Have Found a Job Through LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
15. 7% of US Consumers Have Searched a Hashtag They Saw on TV.
16. 31% of US Consumers Have Made a Purchase Based on a Twitter Recommendation.
17. 42% of Twitter Users Follow Brands. Only 17% Follow Coworkers.
18. 36% of Twitter Users Signed Up in the Past Year.
19. B2B Marketers on Twitter Generate Twice as Many Leads.
20. 53% of B2B Companies Actively Use Twitter.
21. The Average Twitter User Retweets 1 in 318 URLs.
22. 23% of Retailers Feature Deals on Twitter.
Which of these Twitter Stats Surprised You the Most? Have You Come Across Any Shocking Social Media Facts Lately? Share in the Comments!
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