Global social media users pass 5 billion milestone

Maybe your local customers are part of it

Hi, this is Ramon and my job to bring you the digital marketing info in a way that is applicable to you, so you can use it to grow your business.

We Are Social, a socially-led creative agency, and Meltwater, a specialist in social and media intelligence, have released Digital 2024, their latest annual report on social media and digital trends worldwide. 

Let's get to the big news, Digital 2024 shows that active social media user identities have passed the 5 billion mark (5.04 billion), equivalent to 62.3% of the world’s population. The global total increased by 266 million over the past year – an annual growth of 5.6%. 

Wait a minute now. 62% of the population uses social media, that's 5 billion people. Wow.

The typical social media user now spends 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on their social platforms of choice, and uses 6.7 platforms each month.

So, almost 2 and a half hours on social media every day and they have about 7 social media accounts. More wow.

TikTok has the highest average time per Android user of any social platform globally, clocking in at an impressive 34 hours per month – equating to more than an hour per day using the platform. In second place is YouTube, with the average user spending just over 28 hours per month on its Android app. 

In terms of the world’s ‘favorite’ social platform, Instagram has taken the crown from last year’s winner, WhatsApp.

Other key highlights from the report include: 

• The typical internet user now spends 6 hours and 40 minutes online each day – up by 3 minutes per day, or 1%, year-on-year. 
• Facebook – which celebrates its 20th birthday on 4th February – grew its global ad reach by more than 200 million over the past 12 months, delivering year-on-year growth of 10.5%. 
• LinkedIn, Snapchat, WeChat and Pinterest all reported strong user growth year-on-year. 
• Digital ad spend grew by 10% year-on-year, with almost $720 billion spent on digital ads in 2023. Social ad spend increased by 9.3% to USD $207 billion, and investment in influencer activities increased by 17%. 
• The typical internet user now spends 17 minutes per day less watching TV content than they did this time last year – a decline of 8.2% year-on-year.
• In a rich analysis of TikTok hashtags, Digital 2024 reports that TikToks tagged with #fyp (for your page) have amassed a total of 55½ trillion views – making it the platform’s top hashtag.

Finally, in the ultimate battle for the internet – Dogs vs. Cats – canines reign supreme, with dog-tagged content outstripping felines across both Instagram (376 million posts vs. 290 million) and TikTok (575 billion views vs. 502 billion). 

Puppies for the win I guess.

Nathan McDonald, co-founder and group chief executive at We Are Social, said: “Social media continues to be a vital part of the way we connect with one another, from building communities to researching purchases and everything in between."

Please read that quote again. More on it below.

Alexandra Saab Bjertnæs, chief strategy officer at Meltwater, said: “As social media enters its next chapter with five billion-plus users, understanding usage patterns, engagement, and emerging trends is crucial to helping brands find their unique voice amidst all the online chatter."

Please also read this quote again.

Takeaways

So how can we use this information, the numbers are big. Do they feel like they almost don't apply to your local customer base? Please think again.

What those big numbers mean to you is that your customers are ALL on social media, around you and besides you. Customers are all sitting there waiting for you to go speak with them.

• Have your brand connect with them. Figure out what their pain point are and bring them solutions.
• Build a community in their social media of choice (think FB groups) where you bring them together, under your sponsorship, they will thank you and buy more form your, not to mention tell others about how cool your brand is.
• Google is good and all but people also do purchase research on social. Time to find out what social network your customer uses and be there, promote there and have ads there.

Understanding usage patterns, engagement, and emerging trends. Let's unpack this one too:

• Know your customer

Yeah that's it. Know what they want, why they want it, and if you have the solution for them, present it where they are: social channels.

What other takeaways do you see from the report mentioned here?

What's your plan now for social media promotion and marketing?