Happy Halloween!

On the spookiest day of the year, there’s nothing like some shocking and scary social media facts to surprise you. As we delve deeper you may be a little startled by the impact these platforms have on our lives, but you should also be impressed by the positive impact they can still have for your business.

👻 Users will spend over 5 years of their life time on social media 

Recent data shows that global social media users spend an average of 2 hours and 26 minutes per day on social media! Assuming an average lifespan of 72 years and joining social media at age 16, a person can spend a whole 5.6 years of their life on social media. Surprisingly, the daily average has actually dropped vs 2022, suggesting we may be reevaluating our digital habits.  

🕷️ There are now 4.88 billion active social media user identities around the world

Perhaps shockingly, the number of social media users continues to grow! And to put this staggering number into perspective, 4.88 billion equates to 60.6% percent of the total global population. This number has has grown massively over the last 10 years, almost tripling compared to 1.73 billion active social media users in 2013.

🎃 Social media platforms account for 1 in every 3 dollars spent on digital advertising

The digital advertising landscape continues to shift, with a growing focus on social media advertising. In fact, global spend on social ads has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic. It’s estimated that 667 billion USD was spent by brands on digital advertising in 2022, and a spine tingling 226 billion of that was on social media advertising. Brands are clearly taking advantage of the reach and engagement that social media ads can offer.

☠️ 44% of internet users use social media to learn more about brands and products

Social media isn't just a place for connecting with friends and family, it’s also a key tool for consumers to research brands too. Almost half of internet users are turning to social media to learn more about brands and their products, perhaps the tradition of window shopping to browse what a shop has to offer has now transitioned into scrolling your feed for product and service recommendations.

🦇 Only 1 in every thousand users are unique to a platform

The key takeaway from this is that you don’t need to be on all platforms! With only 1 in every thousand users being truly distinctive to a particular platform, it's clear that most of us have a presence on multiple social media sites. So, in a world where it’s becoming even harder to stand out, you should vary your content on each platform if you are using more than one to market your business

From the sheer amount of time we spend scrolling through our various feeds to the massive global population on these platforms, these shocking statistics reveal the huge impact that social media has on our lives! But, on a positive note, they also shed light on the incredible potential these platforms still offer for business; social media remains a valuable asset in the world of marketing. So while these stats might initially send shivers down your spine, don’t forget to embrace the opportunities that social media can bring. Social media, is it a trick or a treat? What do you think?

Source: Data Reportal “Digital 2023: Global Overview Report” and “Digital 2023 July Global Statshot Report”