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When it comes to the world of social media, there aren’t too many companies that can threaten the might of Facebook at the top of the ladder. As marketers, Facebook is important not only for paid ads but for simple communication with clients and posting regular updates. For those who master their Facebook marketing strategies, strong performance is normally just around the corner.
As we move into a new year, it’s important to look back at 2020 and review the events of the year. By delving into the statistics, we learn more about the user base on Facebook and the marketing strategies to implement moving into 2021. Without further ado, let’s get started!
Currently, those earning over $75,000 per annum are considered high earners for social media and marketing purposes. When comparing all social media platforms, YouTube has the highest number of people in this income bracket with Facebook following closely behind. While most business owners immediately turn to LinkedIn for a professional audience, Facebook actually welcomes more high earners on average.
Of all the people logging onto Facebook, around one in five are male and between the ages of 25 and 34. Interestingly, the male audience is more active on Facebook than the female audience; this is important to keep in mind when choosing a platform for your marketing efforts.
If you’re looking for a younger audience, research points to YouTube and Instagram in this regard. Back in 2015, you would be right to target Facebook, as over 70% of those between 13 and 17 had a Facebook account. Whether good or bad, a lot has changed in five years and this number is now down to half.
Below is a breakdown of the age groups with the most Facebook users:
Following from the earning statistics of Facebook users, it seems the platform also has a well-educated user base. In 2019, Statistica said that three in every four were college graduates. For some companies, this information alone could steer you towards Facebook rather than another platform.
Despite all the new platforms that have entered the market since Facebook’s own entrance, the latter has still maintained a strong foothold. In 2020, the same was true, and it claimed 2.7 billion monthly active users as well as 1.82 billion daily active users. Furthermore, three in every four Facebook users visit the platform daily. Whether you prefer paid ads or organic techniques, around half manage to visit the platform twice per day and this opens the door to plenty of marketing opportunities across most audiences.
If you ask 100 marketers about Stories, you’ll find that some are avid supporters of the feature while others advise clients to steer clear. For us, it’s a valuable addition to a marketing strategy because over 500 million people view Stories each day. Yes, this pales in comparison to the number of active daily users across the whole platform. If you look at the grander picture, however, Facebook Stories still has around twice as many active daily users as Snapchat.
How long do people spend on this platform? 1.82 billion people might head onto the app or website, but this doesn’t mean anything if they click away soon after. Fortunately, the average time spent on Facebook in 2020 was actually 38 minutes. It’s fair to say that people aren’t just endlessly scrolling through their feeds either because engagement is still relatively high. In October, the average user liked 12 posts, left five comments, liked one Page, and even shared a post.
It’s important to draw insights from statistics, and one lesson from the engagement statistics, in particular, is that marketers need to work hard to earn a share, a comment, and even a like. We can do this through engaging, personalized, and relevant content. If the content isn’t relevant, the user will simply scroll past our posts.
In 2018, just under half of all adults in the US used Facebook as a source of news. Now, we’re thought to be two percentage points over the other side of the 50% mark. There’s a great deal of discussion about public reliance on social media for news. Regardless, businesses shouldn’t ignore this trend.
Can you comment on industry trends and become a reliable source of news for your own industry? Under the loose term of ‘news’, Facebook also presents an ideal location for product launches, conferences, press releases, and similar events.
As time has passed, more and more people are also using Facebook for shopping purposes. Pinterest has long been number one for social media shopping, and it doesn’t look like anything will topple the giant any time soon; in fact, around 47% of people on social media use Pinterest to shop. However, Facebook is the best of the rest with 15%.
As marketers, we’ve been telling clients and businesses over the past decade that over-selling causes problems for consumers. Especially on Facebook, nobody wants to see a business constantly selling with their posts. Yet, this statistic proves that selling is acceptable when used as part of a larger posting strategy. People use Facebook to shop, so advertising your products every so often shouldn’t be frowned upon.
Even for users who don’t actively use the platform for shopping, this doesn’t mean they haven’t stumbled across a brand or product by accident. In fact, just under 80% of consumers have claimed Facebook responsible for the discovery of a product. Again, this is further proof that Facebook users are open to new products and aren’t against discovering a useful brand on social media.
Lots of people need convincing that Facebook is a place for paid ads, but the statistics show an average of 11 clicks per month for users. Some users certainly dislike seeing ads, but this statistic proves another group of people who actively click on ads to discover products and brands.
As 2020 progressed, we watched with interest as the average cost per ad tumbled. As the COVID-19 global pandemic took hold, fewer businesses had the resources to invest in ads, and this meant less expensive ads for those that remained. Although prices fluctuate, September saw an average CPC of $0.39.
In the United States, around 190 million people are active on Facebook. Worldwide, only one country has more Facebook users and that’s India with 280 million. After this, we find the following:
Are your ads currently accessible on both iOS and Android devices? If not, they should be. In October, it was revealed that Android had an 80% market share of all Facebook access. Only 14% of all users accessed Facebook through an iOS device. Additionally, this shows the importance of sending people to the right landing page. If you’re encouraging an app download, you don’t want an Android user to end up on the iOS download page.
According to some estimates, fewer than 4% of all visits take place on a desktop device; the rest are on smartphones. As a result of this domination, mobile now generates 94% of all ad revenue for the platform (compared to a 2012 figure of 11%).
Previously, people would share their Facebook experience between desktop and mobile. Now, four in five users ONLY use mobile for their Facebook visits. With this in mind, you need to optimize all content for mobile whether this is readable posts, vertical videos, or responsive landing pages.
Just in case this didn’t satisfy your need for Facebook statistics, here are some quick-fire stats to finish.
Videos on Facebook are effective, but nowhere near as effective as live videos. Not only do live videos generate SIX TIMES more engagement, but people are also more willing to sit in virtual waiting rooms and get excited about the whole video.
In younger audiences, most people who want a Facebook account have probably made it by now. What’s left behind, then, is rapid growth in seniors. In over 65s, there’s room for growth and one source estimates 7% in 2021.
As long as content adds value, most users don’t mind businesses posting in a group (of course, just advertising without providing value won’t go so well!). With 1.4 billion people using Groups, we recommend creating one for your business as a hub for customers to share experiences and get involved with the brand.
Lastly, a good engagement benchmark to strive for is the platform average, 3.6%. If you’re below this average, it’s time to learn more about encouraging engagement through content and posts.
Facebook will play an important role for businesses again in 2021, and these statistics should give you a good idea about the state of the platform, audience, and more!
