International research and training group Econsultancy focuses on helping organisations do more digital business. Earlier this year it published a Social Media Platforms Overview authored by Michelle Goodall (@GreenWellys) full of the latest data insights and trends. Here Sarah Hall, Managing Director of Sarah Hall Consulting, looks at the top ten highlights to help you generate the greatest value from social media.
1 – General consumer behaviours
There are 23 billion active social media accounts globally across more than 20 well-established social networks up 10% from 2015. Social media reaches an average of 31% of the global population according to We Are Social.
Across all age groups and all countries, the primary reason for participating in social networking is to stay in touch with friends. Brands should keep this front of mind when campaign planning.
2 – Fasting growing platforms
Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social networks and have the youngest active age groups.
3 – Purchasing
Some social platforms are significantly closer to the end of the purchase funnel. 87% of Pinterest users have used the platform to help them research a purchase.
4 – Facebook
84% of all global internet users (excluding China) have an account on at least one Facebook service (Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp).
The regular top brand interactions on Facebook include unliking a product or brand; posting a comment or question on a company, brand or product’s Facebook page; asking a question about a product you’re interested in buying; and posting a negative comment about a product or brand.
5 – Twitter
The top behaviour of Twitter users is reading news stories. According to Nick Pickles at the May Global Diplomacy Event, tweets with media get between 15 to 27% more engagement than text tweets. Tweets with video get 6x more retweets than photo tweets.
6 – LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the internet with more than 433 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second. Students and college graduates are LinkedIn’s fastest growing demographic.
7 – Instagram
A fifth (20%) of all global internet users aged 16-64 have an Instagram account and 76% of active users are aged 16-34.
8 – Pinterest
Pinterest has 176 million registered users. Sixty percent are outside the US, with UK, Japan, France, Germany and Brazil its fastest growing markets.
Over half of US women between the ages of 18-54 have signed up for Pinterest.
9 – Snapchat
Wondering if Snapchat is right for your brand? With over 100 million active users it’s known for being the teenagers platform of choice, but over half of new daily users today are 25+.
Snapchat provides marketers and communicators with the ability to create stories that have a short shelf life, using video, photography, text and filters. Arguably the two most appealing features are Discover and Lenses. Discover is a section of the app that enables brands to publish articles, videos and images and to monetise their content, while Lenses allow brands to create animations that transform or are overlaid on top of your selfie.
10 – Key trends
Live video, immersive video formats (360, virtual reality) and messaging will all continue to become increasing popular with brands as the market matures, technology evolves and costs decrease.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are all moving to introduce social commerce features.
Social advertising formats are being developed to suit both consumer behaviours and advertisers’ needs.
Finally, think value exchange
Econsultancy’s Social Media Platforms Overview author Michelle Goodall challenges brands to consider the fundamental value exchange between the organisation and its audiences on social media.
The content/services used to attract their attention should create mutual value and deliver a business building outcome.
For more information on Econsultancy, visit www.econsultancy.com
