45+ Social Media Marketing Statistics for 2023

Social media connects people everywhere. It's primarily a way for friends and family to connect, but it's also a place for businesses to reach out to consumers. While you can use social channels to connect with consumers and increase sales, it's not enough to build a social media marketing strategy. To do this, you need to know who is using which social platforms and for what purposes, and what types of content are driving specific consumer behaviors.

Social media usage statistics can help. Detailed information about platforms, user groups, and marketing performance allows business owners to optimize their social media marketing strategies. We can also help you choose the best platform for your social media marketing efforts and tailor them to your specific business goals.

Social media usage statistics

Social media usage statistics show who is using social media, which platforms users are active on, and when and how they interact with social media content.

• Since 2021, more than half of the world's population will be using at least one social media platform.
• There are 4.9 billion active social media users worldwide, with over 308 million people using social media in the United States alone.
• Globally, the average social media user spends 2 hours and 31 minutes on social media every day, with much of that time spent on mobile devices.
• In the US, 83% of social media visits come from mobile.

social media advertising statistics

Social media advertising is a digital marketing strategy where businesses pay to promote their content on social media platforms.

• The social media advertising market is large and growing. Companies are expected to spend an estimated $68 billion on social media advertising in the US and $207 billion worldwide in 2023.
• Social media advertising accounted for 33% of total digital ad spending in 2022.
• In the second quarter of 2023, the average click-through rate (CTR) for social media ads was 1.36%. This means that 1.36% of people who viewed a social media ad tapped or clicked on the ad.

facebook statistics

• Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the United States and around the world. It's part of Meta, which also owns Instagram.
• In the United States, 74.2% of adults use Facebook, and the platform has more than 3 billion monthly active users worldwide.
• Users spend an average of 30.9 minutes per day on Facebook.
• Facebook is a popular social media platform for people of all ages and genders. More than half (51.4%) of Facebook users are between 18 and 34 years old, and 43.9% of Facebook users are over 35 years old.
• More than half (56%) of Facebook users identify as male.
• Facebook is America's leading social commerce site and the world's most popular social media advertising channel.
• The platform is expected to have 65.7 million social commerce buyers in 2023, and 62% of people who buy on social platforms made their most recent purchase on Facebook.

• Facebook ads account for approximately 60% of social media ad revenue worldwide, and 89% of marketers worldwide use Facebook as part of their digital marketing strategy.

• Facebook videos and status updates have the highest engagement rates of all post types on the platform. Facebook status posts have an engagement rate of 0.18% and videos have an engagement rate of 0.17%.

YouTube statistics

• YouTube is the second most popular social media platform in the world. The parent company is Alphabet, which is the parent company of Google.
• The platform has over 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide.
• YouTube users spend an average of 48.7 minutes on YouTube per day.

• YouTube is popular with users of all ages and both men and women. More than a third (35.7%) of YouTube users are between 18 and 34 years old, and 46.4% are over 35 years old.
• More than half (54.4%) of YouTube users identify as male.
• YouTube has the second highest ad revenue among social media platforms, behind Meta (Facebook and Instagram) but ahead of TikTok and X. In 2022, the platform's advertising revenue totaled approximately $30 billion.
• YouTube is popular for entertaining content, but the platform can also be a valuable channel for product discovery. Music videos have always been the most popular video type on YouTube, but in a 2023 study, approximately 24% of Gen Z users said they used YouTube for product discovery within the past month.

instagram stats

• Instagram is the second most popular social media platform in the United States and tied for third in the world. Instagram is owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook.
• Instagram has 2 billion monthly active users worldwide.
• More than 115 million Americans use Instagram, and American users spend an average of 33.1 minutes per day on Instagram.
• Instagram users skew younger, and the user base is relatively evenly split between male and female users.
• More than 60% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 34, and 31% are over 35.
• Just over 51% of Instagram users of all ages identify as male.
• Instagram is the second most popular social commerce platform in the United States and generates the second highest advertising revenue in the world.
• The social network had approximately 43 million U.S. social commerce buyers in 2023, and totaled more than $43 billion in advertising revenue in 2022.
• Instagram Reels has the highest reach and engagement rates of any content type on the platform.
• The average engagement rate for Instagram Reels in 2023 is 1.23%, and the average reach rate is over 30%.

X (Twitter) statistics

• X (formerly known as Twitter) is the seventh most popular social network in the United States, but falls outside the top 10 globally.
• 64.9 million people in the US use X.
• The platform has over 368 million monthly active users worldwide, with users spending an average of 34.1 minutes on X every day.
• X has a higher percentage of users over 35 than Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, and a higher percentage of male users than any other popular platform.
• More than half (55.6%) of X users are between the ages of 18 and 34, and 37.8% of X users are over 35 years old. Approximately 63% of X users identify as male.
• X Users prefer informative content over interesting, creative, and inspirational posts. More than half (55%) of X users prefer informative content. Only 34% of people prefer interesting content.
• The company's advertising revenue increased from 2017 to 2022, but is expected to decline through 2027. Twitter generated advertising revenue of $4.73 billion in 2022. In 2027 he is predicted to generate $2.7 billion.

TikTok statistics

• TikTok is the sixth most popular social media platform in the world and ranks fourth in the United States.
• TikTok is used by more than 1 billion people every month, and 47% of U.S. adults use the platform.
• Users spend an average of 53.8 minutes per day on TikTok.
• TikTok users tend to be younger, and the platform is more popular with creators who identify as women than those who identify as men.
• More than two-thirds (70.9%) of TikTok users are between the ages of 18 and 34, and 29.1% of TikTok users are over 35 years old.
• More than half (55.3%) of TikTok creators identify as women.
• As social commerce becomes more popular on TikTok, advertising costs are also increasing. The platform is predicted to have more than 35.8 million social commerce buyers by 2024.

• TikTok's ad revenue in 2022 totaled $9.9 billion, an increase of 155% from the previous year.

• TikTok users love fun content. As of 2020, the most popular category on TikTok was Entertainment, which was more than twice as popular as the second place category, Dance.

How to use social media marketing statistics for growth

1. Identify which platforms are popular with your target audience
2. Consider your business and marketing goals
3. Conduct additional platform research
4. Choose a platform and create content

Understanding who uses which social media platforms, how users access social media, and the type of content they prefer helps businesses adapt their social media marketing strategies to user behavior and needs. This will help you make adjustments. Here's how you can leverage this information to grow your business.

1. Identify which platforms are popular with your target audience

Social media marketers often start by identifying the platforms on which their target audience spends the most time.

For example, if you sell beauty products to women between the ages of 18 and 34, you might identify Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook as promising channels. TikTok and Instagram are especially popular with these demographics of users. Approximately 21% of Facebook users also fall into this category. This means that you have a very large group of potential customers because Facebook has a large user base.

2. Consider your business and marketing goals

If your goal is to drive traffic to your blog or establish yourself as a thought leader in a particular field, you might focus on Facebook, which is friendly to text-based posts and external links. Instagram and TikTok are potentially lucrative social commerce channels, so if your goal is to sell directly through your social accounts, consider focusing there.

3. Conduct additional platform research

Consider the type of product you sell and your existing social media marketing infrastructure. Next, conduct additional research on social media marketing platforms to see how your specific product types and preferred strategies work on each platform. You can also use this research phase to stay up-to-date on social media trends related to your business.

In 2022, TikTok and Instagram led the way for online beauty purchases in the US, so beauty businesses are likely to focus on these two platforms. If you use (or plan to use) an influencer marketing strategy, you can cross-reference these numbers with the most popular platforms for influencer marketing. Instagram leads this category by a wide margin, followed by Facebook and TikTok.

4. Choose a platform and create content

You can use this research to choose your platform and allocate your budget efficiently across your campaigns.

For example, an e-commerce business that plans to work with influencers to sell beauty products through social channels may decide to prioritize Instagram. The platform is popular with its target audience, familiar to influencers with its marketing strategies, and generates a large share of online beauty product purchases. The company may devote a smaller percentage of its budget to Facebook and TikTok, which also rank among the top three platforms for influencer marketing and beauty product sales.

Social media statistics can also help you develop or refine platform-based social media marketing strategies. For example, a beauty company might build an X strategy around sharing useful content because his 55% of X users prefer this content type. The same companies are likely to share entertainment content on their YouTube, as 65% of YouTube users access the platform for entertainment purposes.