Content Fuels Social Media Engagement
Introduction:
As we have heard for many years, content is king. Well, this rule applies to Social Media too! Therefore, we have compiled this article to assist you in your pursuit of driving your social media marketing with content.
Content Fuels Social Media Engagement
[1]Content is the fuel of social interaction on the Web: Nearly one-quarter (23%) of all social media messages and one-half (47%) of industry-specific social messages contain links to content, according to a new study by AOL and Nielsen.
The amount of content shared via social media varies by channel:
- For example, 42% of all Twitter posts contain content-sharing links; 73% of Twitter posts related to a specific industry (auto, tech, finance, and entertainment) have sharing links.
- 41% of all blog posts contain content-sharing links; 64% of industry-specific blog posts contain such links.
- 12% of all Facebook posts contain content-sharing links; 22% of industry-specific Facebook posts contain such links.
[2]When setting or reexamining your social media marketing strategy, statistics are one of the first things marketers look at. They’re often used to benchmark your industry performance or research a new network.
The year 2020 was a significant one in social media. The pandemic pushed more people to spend time online and find more ways to engage with each other. In addition, social media engagement and best times to post were adjusted to the new normal of work-from-home schedules.
In combination with the most recent social media demographic statistics, marketers can use the below as a guide for setting expectations and strategies.
Social Media Usage Stats
It’s no secret that social media continues to grow in popularity. We spend a lot of time on social media because it helps us keep track of friends, family and brands. So creating a social media marketing strategy is a must for reaching the audiences doing just that.
- Globally, over 3.6 billion people use social media, which is only projected to increase to 4.41 billion in 2025.
- The top social media networks ranked by the number of active users are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
- Internet users spend an average of 144 minutes on social media per day.
Facebook Stats
The oldest of all the social media networks, Facebook saw a lot of change in 2020. However, new features like live broadcasting from a Page, Creator Studio updates, and the integration of Messenger into the Page Inbox made having an effective Facebook marketing strategy still crucial to brands.
- Facebook still reigns as the most used social network in the world. In Q3 2020, the network reported over 2.7 billion monthly active users (MAUs).
- The all-industry median benchmark for Facebook engagement rate per post is 0.09%. This number is mainly unchanged from 2019.
- Advertising is how Facebook makes most of its money. The network boasts nine million active advertisers in Q2 2020 and claims that mobile accounted for 92% of its total revenue.
- Links were the most commonly used content type for brands on the network at 44.2% of all brand posts.
Instagram stats
Instagram introduced many new features in 2020. For example, to help brands sell better and consumers shop more accessible, Shops were introduced along with shopping tags on Live videos. In addition, reels were added to the suite of Instagram videos, furthering the network’s desire to work closely with creators.
- Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users, and 500 million use Instagram Stories.
- The largest demographic on the network is women aged 18–24 years old.
- The all-industry median benchmark for Instagram engagement rate per post is 1.22%. However, this median has decreased by 23% from 1.60% in 2019.
- 90% of US marketers name Instagram the most important social media platform for influencer marketing.
- The top two most effective content types for influencer marketing are posts (78%) Stories (73%).
Twitter Stats
Like Facebook, Twitter introduced new features for fact-checking in direct response to the US presidential election and conversation control to help create more valuable and positive discussions. But, again, news from around the world dominated the platform, moving at a breakneck speed.
- In Q3 2020, Twitter reported an average of 187 million monetizable daily active users (mDAUs), up 29% year over year.
- The all-industry median benchmark for Twitter engagement rate per Tweet is 0.045%. This has been a consistent number for three years in a row.
- Tweeting frequency decreased by 10% in 2020. The current median across all industries is 0.77 Tweets per day. Focusing on specific industries, the media (9.54 Tweets per day) and sports industries (7.24 Tweets per day) combined posted more than other sectors.
[3]Four Ways Social Media Can Fuel Your Content Marketing Strategy
1. Inform Content Creation
It’s time to stop viewing social media solely as a content delivery channel.
Content marketing success hinges on your ability to create valuable content that resonates with your target audience. You can’t do this without detailed insight into who your prospects are, what matters to them and what type of content impacts their buying decisions.
Whether you realize it or not, your social media presence houses valuable data and feedback that — if applied correctly — can completely transform your content marketing strategy.
Leverage the power of social listening to gather this information. Then, try to understand what your prospects and customers are saying online and tailor your content to address their needs.
2. Improve Content Quality
For many B2B marketing teams, content marketing is a game of trial and error. Success often relies on a continuous cycle of self-improvement. With social media, you can remove some of the guesswork.
Social media allows for instantaneous feedback — more so than most other channels. Take email marketing, for example. Your marketing automation tool knows your prospect downloaded an e-book you sent them, but how do you know if they like it or even read it, for that matter?
A quick look at your follower’s reactions and interactions will give you a deeper understanding of how well your content performed. Use this feedback to make calculated, data-driven improvements to your campaigns.
3. Expand your reach and increase website traffic
You can spend hours developing top-notch content for your blog or company website, but your efforts will reap little return if you don’t have avid readers. Ultimately, if you want your content to produce results, people have to see it.
Luckily, social media can help. Consider these statistics:
- Ninety-two percent of marketers say social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses.
- Eighty percent of marketers say social media efforts increased website traffic.
With the power of social media, your content can reach prospects who may never hear of your brand otherwise. And, if your content is good, these users will be inclined to share it with others. With just a few clicks, your content has reached an exponentially larger audience — increasing brand awareness, organic traffic and referrals back to your website.
To learn how to cultivate a traffic-generating social media presence, check out this blog post on using social media for B2B lead generation.
4. Let Your Followers Do The Work
Three words: user-generated content. The people who follow and engage with your social media profiles are bright, and, bonus, they’re already interested in your company. So use their photographs, reviews and opinions to create brand-new content. Think interviews, testimonials, product demonstrations. The list is endless.
To find the best content, try the following:
- Encourage followers to use one dedicated hashtag and then monitor it closely.
- Check out your location page on Instagram and Facebook.
- Set up Google alerts for your company name.
- Invest in a social listening platform.
User-generated content is especially effective because it’s not coming from the brand itself. Instead, prospects are more likely to trust content from those who have already tried your products or services. Plus, user-generated content takes minimal time and effort, as it’s already been created.
Just remember to ask permission and include links back to the original content. Your prospects and customers will be excited to have their content shared.
Conclusion:
Relevant content, useful, readable content, all of these features of content drives user engagement and loyalty!
Article compiled by hughesagency.ca
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