When I first started Return On Now back in 2009, social media was still on the upswing as a channel for marketing and lead generation. Since that time, it has evolved in many ways.
Businesses are driving not only leads but sales from leading social networking services. But not all services are the same, and neither are the businesses. We see some interesting differences between B2C and B2B companies.
This week, I decided to pull together a collection of interesting and unexpected social media statistics from around the web.
Statistics About Social Media Overall
Social Networking has officially impacted the mainstream population. The percent of Americans who have signed up for at least one social network increased from 48% in 2010 to 56% in 2012. (source: Convince & Convert)
B2B marketers understand the connection between social media and SEO. 58% cited “social media integration” as a key initiative that contributes to SEO success. (source: B2B Magazine)
It’s time for executives to take social media seriously and get involved. 82% of respondents to a recent survey stated that CEOs would be deemed more trustworthy if active on social networking sites. (source: Social Media Influence)
Brand engagement on social media is still on the upswing. Between 2010 and 2012, the number of users who have ever followed a brand on social media more than doubled from 16% to 33%. There is plenty of room to grow, although we have no idea what percentage of the population will ever want to do so. (source: Convince & Convert)
More Than Just Buzz”: Lead Generation
Social Media helps generate and accelerate leads. On average, companies with active blogs produce 67% more leads than non-blogging counterparts. Companies that use Twitter enjoy twice the leads of similar competitors who eschew the social network. And integrating social networks into your sales process can accelerate leads by nearly 50%. (source: Social Media B2B)
Facebook is generating the highest volume of leads and sales for B2C. 67% of B2C Marketers who use social media for lead generation have uncovered leads via Facebook. 39% of this same group has closed at least one sale via Facebook. The rest of the top 5 in this group were Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest. (source: Marketing Land)
Among all social media sites, Facebook also has the strongest influence on consumers when making purchase decisions. 47% of Americans confirm this statement, while less than 5% give credit to Twitter. Bottom line, if you are trying to drive B2C sales, you MUST take Facebook into account when planning. (source: Convince & Convert)
LinkedIn is the top lead gen and sales driver for B2B. Among B2B Marketers who use social media to drive leads and sales, LinkedIn is the top dog, with 44% of this group having generated leads and 23% having closed sales from the social network. For B2B, Facebook was second, followed by Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. (source: Marketing Land)
SEO outpaces Social Media for lead generation across the board. 49% of B2C marketers adn 59% of B2B marketers cited SEO as a better lead gen vehicles than both social media and paid search. (source: Marketing Land)
The Top Dog: Facebook Statistics
As of late August, 2012, Facebook users generated over 3.2 Billion Likes and Comments every single day! (source: Marketing Land)
Facebook experienced 67% year-over-year growth in mobile access to the site between 2011 and 2012. (source: Marketing Land)
33% of Facebook members use their mobile phone as the primary way of accessing the site. (source: Convince & Convert)
Facebook behaviors have been changing the past couple of years, suggesting that the “honeymoon” is slowly wearing off in the US. Between 2009 and late 2011, we saw a decrease in behaviors such as messaging friends (12%), Joining Facebook Groups (19%), and searching for new contacts/friends (17%). (source: Media Post)
Nearly 554 million Facebook users access the site every day. (source: Marketing Land)
23% of Facebook users frequent the site at least five times a day. (source: Convince & Convert)
88% of US companies expect to be marketing on Facebook by 2014, a 5% increase over the 83% that are already actively marketing on the site. (source: Marketing Land)
Companies are expanding their marketing efforts on Facebook already – advertising budgets for the social network increased by 36% in the first half of 2012. (source: Marketing Land)
Put down the megaphone on Facebook. 44% of users stated that they have “Unliked” a brand on Facebook because they post too frequently. A little discretion goes a long way. (source: Social Media Influence)
Stats About Other Social Networks
Pinterest is slow on the uptake as a channel for marketing professionals. 7% of marketers are already using Pinterest to drive traffic and leads, and another 10% intends to do so. 79% of marketers are not because they have never heard of it (18%), have no interest in using it (44%), or are interested but hesitant to jump in head first for business purposes (17%). (source: Marketing Land)
Location-based Services cannot survive on check-ins alone. Only 3% of Americans have EVER checked in via any social networking services. 74% claim they aren’t even aware of what a “check in” is. (source: Convince & Convert)
Twitter has become a less passive social network in the past two years. Back in 2010, only 47% of users actually posted status updates. This year, that number has leaped to 76%! I can’t say whether this is good or bad for Twitter, as I’ve found personally that it was easier to engage with people on there prior to 2011. (source: Convince & Convert)
Pinterest has grown into an important source of referral traffic. As of January 2012, Facebook remained the top referrer among social media sites, driving 26.4% of referral traffic. Twitter and Pinterest were in a dead heat around 3.6%, while LinkedIn and Google+ lagged pretty far behind at 0.20% and 0.22%, respectively. (source: PookyShares)
Summary
This is just the tip of the iceberg for stats available online. I came across literally thousands of data points during my search, and these were the most intriguing to me personally. As I keep looking, I will make note of any additional data points worth sharing on here so I can add more posts on the topic at a later time.
Tommy Landry
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