At some point or another, we've all heard people spout off about the "death" of social media. One day someone announces a boycott of Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest -- the next day, the social network is growing exponentially. So how should you, as a savvy inbound marketer, make sense of it all? As a data-driven and social media-loving company, we'd like to set the record straight: Social media is here to stay.
So we've combed through some of the hottest new social media research -- including the new 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report -- to highlight some of the freshest stats that reveal the truth about the current state of social media marketing. Whether you plan to use these stats to inspire your company's next marketing campaign, convince your CEO to increase your social media marketing budget, or simply justify your current inbound marketing activities, these 18 social media marketing stats are for you.
18 Brand-Spanking New Social Media Marketing Stats
1) 27% of total U.S. internet time is spent on social networking sites. (Source: Experian)
2) 15% of total U.S. mobile internet time is spent on social networking sites. (Source: Experian)
3) Social media produces almost double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail, or PPC. (Source: HubSpot)
4) Social media lead conversion rates are 13% higher than the average lead conversion rate. (Source: HubSpot)
5) 21% of marketers say that social media has become more important to their company over the past six months. (Source: HubSpot)
6) 74% of all marketers say Facebook is important to their lead generation strategies. (Source: HubSpot)
7) Companies that generate more than 1,000 Facebook Likes also receive nearly 1,400 website visits a day. (Source: HubSpot)
8) 52% of all marketers have found a customer via Facebook in 2013. (Source: HubSpot)
9) On Facebook, brand posts get half of their reach within 30 minutes of being posted. (Source: Socialbakers)
10) 85% of fans of brands on Facebook recommend brands to others, compared to 60% of average users. (Source: Syncapse)
11) 43% of all marketers have found a customer via LinkedIn in 2013. (Source: HubSpot)
12) 36% of all marketers have found a customer via Twitter in 2013. (Source: HubSpot)
13) HubSpot customers with over 1,000 Twitter followers generate more than 800 new website visitors a month. (Source: HubSpot)
14) 59% of Twitter users have visited B2B tech brand sites, compared to 40% for the average internet population. (Source: Compete and Twitter)
15) 25% of consumers who complain about products on Facebook or Twitter expect a response within 1 hour. (Source: American Express)
16) Women are more likely than men to regularly check out a brand's social page (48% vs. 43%). (Source: Ipsos)
17) 23% of marketers are investing in blogging and social media this year, a 9% increase from 2012. (Source: HubSpot)
18) Approximately 46% of online users count on social media when making a purchase decision. (Source: Nielsen)
Did you learn anything new about social media marketing? Which of these statistics surprised you the most? Share your thoughts with us below!