By Steve Young
Published on www.dreamgrow.com. Read the original post here.
Sick of hearing that social media is just a buzzword? Are you looking for hard statistics so that you can prove to your boss that social media is worth the investment? Looking for some pick up lines at the next social media meetup?
Hey, did you know that Facebook-connected shoppers are 9 times more likely to share content with friends? Mind if I buy you a drink?
21 Social Media Statistics That May Shock You
Online adults aged 25-54 are 23% more likely than the average U.S. Internet user to follow a brand via social networking. (source: Nielsen) Think about your audience and see where they are most likely to follow your brand. Tweetthisstat- Failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15% increase in churn rate for existing customers. (source: Gartner) Customers are turning to social media outlets to unleash their frustration or questions. Make sure you are actively engaged on your social networks. Tweetthisstat!
- 49% of the top 20% of B2B marketers in generating leads through social media integrate online video with social media, compared to the industry average of 32%. (source: Factbrowser) Videomarketing is a powerful tool that personalizes your brand and increases conversions. Tweetthisstat!
- Social technologies could potentially contribute $900B to $1.3T in annual value across four industry sectors. (source: McKinseyGlobalInstitute) It’s no longer a buzzword; social media is changing how brands interact with their customers. Tweetthisstat!
- People are most likely to engage with branded content on social media that contains pictures (44%), status updates (40%) and videos (37%). (source: Performics) Lujure has a great post about how to increase engagement on your fan page. Tweetthisstat!
Facebook-connected shoppers are 9 times more likely to share content with friends. (source:SociableLabs) Give your Facebook Connected users ample ways of sharing your content or product. Tweetthisstat!- Users who log into third-party sites with Facebook Connect spend an average of 50% more time on those sites and view twice as many pages. (source: Gigya) When people login with their Facebook account, there is a sense of trust that they are giving you. Use it wisely and give them a good conversion path to follow. Tweetthisstat!
- 20% of Facebook users have purchased something because of ads or comments they saw on the site. (source: Factbrowser) A combined effort of social media campaigns along with ads can yield great results. Tweetthisstat!
- Facebook links posted from 1pm to 4pm EST result in the highest average click throughs.(source: Bitly) Consider using an image or video with each post to drive engagement. Tweetthisstat!
Tweets with one or two hashtags receive 21% higher engagement than those with three or more hashtags. (source: BuddyMedia) Make sure you are utilizing relevant and trending hashtags in your tweets. Tweetthisstat!- U.S. consumers who use Twitter follow an average of 8.5 retail companies on the site.(source: Shop.org) Figure out what your followers want from you and keep them engaged.Tweetthisstat!
- Tweets containing less than 100 characters received 17% higher engagement than longer Tweets. (source: BuddyMedia) Even with just 140 characters, shorter relevant content performs best.Tweetthisstat!
- Twitter posts from 1-3pm EST Monday through Thursday get the highest average click throughs. (source: Bitly) Try using tools like Buffer or Timely to auto schedule your posts.Tweetthisstat!
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Pinterest generates over 4x as much revenue per click (attributable to first touch) as Twitter and 27% more revenue per click than Facebook.(source: VentureBeat) Now that anyone can joinPinterest, there are no more excuses.Tweetthisstat! - 57% of Pinterest users interact with food-related content, the #1 category of content. (source:Compete) Bonobos sells men’s clothing, but has a pinboard of ShitNinjasEat. Lesson is to get creative with your Pinterest presence. Tweetthisstat!
- Pinterest buyers spend more money, more often, and on more items than any of the other top 5 social media sites. (source: comScore) Airbnb does a great job of posting great photos to inspire new travel destinations. Tweetthisstat!
- The average order on Shopify by customers referred by Pinterest is $80, compared to $40 for Facebook. (source: Shopify) Consider pinning items currently on sale or seasonal pieces to drive engagement and conversions. Tweetthisstat!
Google+
Google+ pages appear in search results for 30% of brand term searches for brands with G+ pages, up from 5% in February 2012. (source:BrightEdge) It’s no secret that search is becoming more social. Make sure your brand has a presence on Google+. Tweetthisstat!- The most commonly circled brands on Google+ are in the electronics industry, followed by beverages, internet services, and apparel.(source: SimplyMeasured) If your brand falls into any of the above categories then increase your Google+ activity. Tweetthisstat!
- 40% of marketers use Google+, 70% want to learn more about it and 67% plan on increasing Google+ activities. (source: SocialMediaExaminer) Google+ will remain an integral part of social media and organic search. Tweetthisstat!
- The leading occupation among Google+ users is student, with 20%. (source: WebsiteMonitoring) Even more reason to be on Google+ especially if your target market is students. Tweetthisstat!
Author Byline: Steve Young is the Director of Product Marketing of SmartShoot, a platform that connects businesses and marketers with professional photographers and videographers across the globe.

Your post really helpful for me and my business...Businesses everywhere are now eyeing social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Linkedin in order to market themselves and gain more traffic into their website. Social media is an effective tool in creating more awareness about one brand.
Posted by: Social Media Marketing for Pharmaceutical Market | Friday, February 22, 2013 at 10:20 PM
Great Tips. Social media is getting stronger day by day as more people join it.
http://www.seoland.co.za/social-media-marketing/
Posted by: Social Media Marketing | Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 04:56 AM
Steve always shares quality blogs. This is one of his classic posts I read ever. Thanks for posting this here. Every one knows importance of social media and its impact on sites traffic, but Steve style of writing is really impressive. This method is a revolution in webmasters world.
Posted by: Animated Web Videos | Friday, February 08, 2013 at 04:57 AM
Social media are now use for several aspects especially in business and the most common and useful social media sites are Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest.
Posted by: www.AutomatedSocialNetworking.com | Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 02:40 AM
This is some really great information. It is pretty staggering seeing how great of an impact social media has on the success of a business! I just started a website for my business and we are really interested in expanding our online presence. I recently hired a NJ seo company and it is already paying dividends. Marketing is so important for the success of a business. Having a substantial internet presence is beyond important now-a-days.
Posted by: Chuck Stevens | Monday, October 08, 2012 at 10:31 AM
Very true! Social media is so powerful today that almost all people have this.
Posted by: social media speaker | Thursday, October 04, 2012 at 10:14 PM