Social media statistics: Understanding trends and insights

Key points

• Keeping up with social media statistics provides valuable insights into user behavior, platform growth, and content trends, helping brands make informed marketing decisions.

• The rise of social commerce enables users to discover and purchase products directly on social media, boosting conversion rates and sales.

• Leveraging social media analytics and data-driven insights helps brands optimize campaigns and better understand consumer behavior for improved marketing ROI.

• Social media usage growth continues globally, making platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn essential for brand visibility and customer engagement.

• Video content marketing drives higher engagement and is favored by social algorithms, making it crucial for brands to invest in video strategies.

For a large majority of people, social media has become a key part of daily life.

It’s how we learn, how we buy, and how we connect. And for a marketer, the insights it provides into your audience can be the most valuable tool you have.

That’s why we’ve put together some of the most interesting and applicable social media statistics for marketers. You’ll find current marketing trends and user behavior data that will help determine which platforms are right for your audience.

These social media statistics can inform your marketing strategy, help you make more efficient use of your budgets, and ensure you stay ahead of the competition.

Social media usage statistics

• The average person spends 2 hours, 26 minutes on social media each day. That’s more than 17 hours a week. This statistic clearly shows just how important social media has become. It should also tell marketers exactly where they should be focusing their efforts for the coming year.
• There are more than 3 billion active Facebook users. Ahead of YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the old man of social media is still the most popular. Even trendy TikTok is yet to catch up, so far only attracting around half of Facebook’s average monthly users. But how long it will stay this way, who knows.
• Baby boomers’ online usage has grown the most. While other generations are actively trying to reduce their social media usage, Baby Boomers are doing exactly the opposite–which sheds some light on why Facebook is still so popular. In fact, the number of boomers following influencers has grown by 12% since 2021.

Social media marketing statistics

• Social media is the #1 product discovery channel for Gen Z and Millennials. This social media statistic tells marketers exactly what they need to know about the future of product sales. Social media is officially the best way to reach young people.
• 1 in 4 marketers spend 40% or more of their budget on influencer marketing. Huge numbers of businesses are hiring influencers right now. Whether they’re using famous celebrities or niche micro-influencers, these brands are seeing the benefits of having talented content creators in front of campaigns and are directing more and more funds their way.
• According to a recent Emplifi consumer survey, Gen X is more likely to say it’s important that brands they buy from are involved in social causes they care about than other generations. It’s important to 49% of Generation X, compared to 43% of millennials, 40% of Generation Z, and 39% of Baby Boomers.
• Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to be influenced to purchase products by the way a post looks aesthetically: 42% and 38%, respectively. By comparison, only 32% of Gen Xers and 29% of Boomers find this important.

Social media advertising statistics

• In 2024, social media advertising spend reached around $247.3 billion. Advertising is up 14.3% from last year and still going strong.
• 34% of young people plan to upgrade to ad-free subscriptions. Millennials and Gen Z may be more tolerant toward ads, but they’re also more likely to want to pay to block them (compared to 18% of older consumers).
• Most ‘Reels Sessions’ have seven ads or more. Each time consumers binge-watch Instagram Reels, they’ll be fed at least seven promos on average. It’s no surprise, then, that Instagram Reels outperform all other content types on the app.

Instagram statistics

• Over 140 billion Reels are watched each day. One of many simply staggering social media statistics, this entails more than 1.6 million every second.
• According to Emplifi’s consumer survey, Gen Z is more likely to use TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat – and much less likely to use Facebook – than other generations.
• While 78% of Gen Z use Instagram, only 44% of Boomers do, as well as 62% of Millennials and 60% of Gen X.
• TikTok, similarly, is used by 66% of Gen Zers but only 26% of boomers, 53% of Millennials, and 50% of Gen X. Only 58% of Gen Zers use Facebook at least twice a week, compared to 84% of Millennials, 88% of Gen X, and 85% of Boomers.
• Gen Zers are also more fond of Snapchat, with 58% using the platform, compared to 13% of Boomers, 28% of Gen X, and 41% of Millennials.
• Facebook? Not so much. Only 58% of Gen Zers use Facebook at least twice a week, compared to 84% of Millennials, 88% of Gen X, and 85% of Boomers.
• Brands’ use of Instagram Reels has increased by 86%. Instagram Reels outperform all other content types on the social app, generating 55% more interactions than single-image posts. Therefore, it’s no surprise brands are upping their use of Reels in an attempt to drive engagement.

Facebook statistics

• Facebook and Instagram provide the best ROI. While it may not be the trendiest of social media platforms, Facebook is still one of the most reliable outlets to grow your audience. Joint with Instagram, it leads the way in ROI, outperforming YouTube, TikTok, X and LinkedIn. That being said, be sure to weigh this against research on where your ideal customer profile (ICP) hangs out.
• 68% of Americans use Facebook. Celebrating its 20th birthday last year, Facebook has cemented itself in the consciousness of most Americans and is the second most used social media site in the country (After YouTube).
• 70% of US Facebook users have a degree. According to the Pew Research Center, a large majority of users holds at least one bachelor’s degree or more.

YouTube statistics

• • More than 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. It’s hard to comprehend just the sheer volume of videos on YouTube, but this social media statistic starts to paint a picture. If you’re thinking of advertising on YouTube or any other social media service, take a look at the Top 10+ eCommerce stats all marketers should know.
  • There are over 70 billion daily views on YouTube Shorts. Launched in 2020 as an attempt to compete with TikTok and Instagram’s short-form videos, YouTube Shorts looks to have been a success and is poised to gain even more support should the US TikTok ban go through.
  • YouTube TV has over 8 million subscribers. YouTube Shorts is not the only successful addition to YouTube’s platform. YouTube TV is making its mark on the live-streaming industry.

TikTok statistics

• More than half of marketers plan to spend more on TikTok (the highest of any platform). One of the fastest-growing social media sites, TikTok has caught the attention of some of the world’s largest brands. And even with a potential US ban looming over them, the platform is still on the radar of many marketing professionals.
• Millennial users are 2.3x more likely to tag a brand in their TikTok videos. This age group is the most comfortable outwardly showing their love for their favorite brands and want to share this with other users. For marketers, this is a key social media usage statistic and insight for organic sharing strategies. For more support planning campaign strategies, get a benchmark here.
• TikTok ads are 23% more memorable compared to TV ads. Of course, it’s important to mention that this was in a study conducted by TikTok themselves, but it’s still a social media statistic to take note of. Young consumers, especially, are turning away from traditional media and prioritizing social.

X (Twitter) statistics

• Half of X members get their news from the site. It’s the only platform where most members say keeping up with the news is a main reason to use it, although followers from all backgrounds don’t always trust the news that they see.
• 75% of all tweets are replies or retweets. This suggests that Twitter users are far more comfortable interacting with content than producing it themselves. There is also an interesting political divide in who is creating and who is reacting.
• One-third of X users want to reduce their time on the app. Now under new ownership, X has seen a big change over the last few years, and it’s fair to say that it hasn’t pleased everyone. According to a recent poll, 33% of users plan to spend less time on the app in the near future.

LinkedIn statistics

• Seven people are hired every 60 seconds through LinkedIn. If you’re looking to hire or get hired, LinkedIn is still your first port of call. It’s the home of business networking and sees more than 13,000 connections made in that same minute. For more social media statistics like these, explore LinkedIn’s report here.
• LinkedIn has more than 1 billion members. A truly global service, LinkedIn is available in over 200 countries and regions, and in 36 different languages. Impressive.
• 49% of LinkedIn members also use Pinterest. When you think about it, the two platforms go hand in hand. Business people like to collate ideas, thoughts, and references and Pinterest acts as their virtual sticky note board.

Pinterest statistics

• Gen Z makes up 42% of Pinterest’s global user base. These young people are the site’s fastest-growing audience. According to Pinterest, the main reason Gen Z uses the platform is to find information about products and brands.
• 80% of weekly users say they feel inspired by the shopping experience on Pinterest. That’s a pretty big approval rating and one of a number of key social media statistics for any marketer with a product to sell.
• Pinterest has 537 million monthly active users, and the majority of them are women. One of the few social media sites to have a majority female membership (70%), Pinterest is clearly offering something that the others don’t.

Statistics about other social networks

• Snapchat has 443 million daily active users. Often overlooked, Snapchat has a seriously big user base that is only increasing year on year. One of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, it is particularly successful among teenagers.
• To date, Twitch content has been viewed for 21 billion hours. That’s 2,395,619 years.
• Bluesky now has more than 26 million users. Launched in February 2023, Bluesky has seen huge attention over the last couple of years and is seen as the new home for disillusioned ex-Twitter users. One to watch in 2025.

Final thoughts on social media statistics

With billions of users worldwide, social media continues to be a major part of our lives.

And while it’s a great way to stay in touch with friends, enjoy shared interests, keep up to date with the latest news and send funny cat videos, it’s also a crucial way of communicating with potential customers.

But understanding social media statistics isn’t always easy. Which is why tools like Emplifi Unified Analytics exist.

Emplifi makes it easy to analyze multi-channel campaigns in real-time, track KPIs, and compare time periods, all within a sleek interface. You can also generate presentation-ready reports in seconds, with the ability to customize them for various audiences across your organization.

It’s the fastest, easiest, and smartest way to turn data into actionable insights that engage and convert your audience.