We live in a shaky and unprecedented time. There is trepidation in the market around what effect the Covid-19 pandemic will have on the economy and on the marketing efforts of companies. However, it is interesting to note that digital marketing is one thing that doesn’t seem to have been derailed by the coronavirus outbreak. As a matter of fact it’s going stronger!

Let’s understand what is happening in the market before we take a look at how and why social media has managed to hold its own in these uncertain times.

 

Is This the Right Time For You To Focus On Your Social Media Presence?

Today, most companies, especially small and mid-size ones, are curtailing regular business activities. The aim is to maintain social distancing guidelines, mitigate business risks, and save money. However, if you are a small business owner, this might not be the right time to veer away from social media and your branding efforts on it.

Many business owners also worry that placing messages on their social media accounts or continuing with their social media advertising efforts may be perceived as insensitive, flippant even. But the truth of the matter is that with schools, colleges and many offices closed, people are hooked to social media now more than they have ever been.

They turn to social media for some respite and from the need to have some form of interaction with the outside world, while in social distancing mode. The seemingly pseudo-socialization aspect of social media has helped people forget their worries for some times. It’s a welcome break from the constant Covid-19 news and updates. This is the time for businesses to promote their brand, gain new followers (customers/clients), and show their strengths. People are home and social media happens to be the best way to kill time.

 

Why Focus on Digital Marketing At Such a Time?

Even if you are looking to cut your marketing budget, you can benefit from transitioning to a flexible and more affordable digital marketing medium where available impressions and consumer presence are increasing at a phenomenal pace.

Online video, digital display ads, and social media are avenues that most likely will gain momentum in a short-term media plan.  More traditional forms of advertising, such as outdoor billboards have limited exposure because most people are now staying at home.

Also, event marketing and conventions have come to a grinding halt. These shifts indicate that we’ll likely see marketing budgets shift towards digital advertising. Since your competitors would also be focusing more on these channels, if you stay away from social media, you stand to lose traction in these difficult times.

 

Some Relevant Statistics

To understand precisely why and how social media can make an impact on your audiences even in these difficult times, let’s run through some relevant statistics for 2020.

 

Social Media Advertising Stats

• In 2020, social ad spending is projected to increase by 20% and touch USD 43 billion
• 27% of online users say they find various products and services through paid social ads (after word-of-mouth, search engines and TV ads)
• 52% of online brand discoveries happen in public social feeds
• 13% of social media platform users say that pages which have a “buy” button would increase the possibility of them buying via these platforms
• 72% of B2B marketers that use paid digital channels used paid social in 2019
• Facebook says that split testing ads improve the cost-per-acquisition by 72%

 

Facebook Statistics

Regardless of what your digital marketing strategy is, Facebook needs to be a significant component of it. With almost 1.5B active users, FB is by far the world’s largest and most popular social media platform today. Here are some statistics:

 

Users

• Facebook has 2.5 billion monthly users
• 95B of these users can be reached through ads (that accounts for 32% of everyone on the planet over 13 years of age)
• 69% of adults in the United States use Facebook
• Facebook is the third most visited website in the world, after the internet giant Google and of course YouTube
• On average, people spend 11 minutes & 26 seconds on Facebook every time they visit it
• There are over 10M Facebook Groups that 1.4B people use every month
• 79% of FB users access this platform only via phone
• Video posts have the highest engagement levels of any form of content on Facebook

 

Brands on Facebook

• Today 140 million businesses have a presence on this platform and FB’s related apps- Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger
• 58% of online users in the United States state they’ve become far more interested in specific brands after noticing them on Facebook Stories (300M people use Facebook Stories each day)
• 7% of Facebook’s Pages use some paid media
• On average organic reach for any Facebook post stands at 5.17% of that Page’s likes
• The average paid reach stands at 1% of the total reach

 

Instagram Statistics

No matter where people are – on the beach, at a business or having brunch – they are all wondering whether they can Instagram it. Instagram has transformed into a social media platform to reckon with since its launch in 2010.  The topmost brands in the world leverage this platform to engage with audiences and increase sales. Here are some relevant statistics to keep in view:

 

Users

• Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users
• Instagram ads reach an astounding 928.5 million people
• 500 million people open Instagram Explore and Instagram Stories each month

 

Brands on Instagram

• An impressive 92% of all users on Instagram say they’ve followed some brand, clicked on their site, or made purchases after noticing a service/product on Instagram
• On average, businesses post to Instagram 1.7 times each day; they post an average of 13.1 Stories each month
• On average the follower growth rate for business accounts is 2.5% monthly
• On ordinary businesses post 79% photos & 21% videos to their account feeds

 

These are just the statistics for Facebook and Instagram. But, Twitter and other social media platforms have excellent user bases as well. If these figures sound impressive, now consider the current scenario where people are veering even more towards social media because they have more time on their hands.

They are less rushed and are apt to pay extra attention to posts and ads that you display on your social media accounts. This kind of undivided and undisturbed attention is hard to get in regular times.

 

Maintain Your Visibility Online

So, while the current market scenario may seem incredibly bleak, you can still leverage social media and stay in the spotlight. From a business standpoint, you cannot afford to be invisible online, especially at a time when people are now using social media even more than before due to social distancing.

This is the time to engage with your followers and connect with them on a different level. Whether you are an emerging brand or an established one, you can benefit from being on social media. Keep in mind that this difficult time too will pass and your followers will remember how you kept them engaged while the world around was in turmoil.

 

Use Social Media Smartly

While you should not expect to gather new leads or make phenomenal sales, this is the ideal time to build bonds with your viewers online. Consider this to be an opportunity amid a crisis and stay focused on your long term goals. For brands big and small, being online and visible on social media has never been more critical than it is today.

For any more information on social media marketing and our services, feel free to contact Social Media LV at 702.202.4620 today. We can help manage your social media presence to make the brand impact you want!

 

Ref

 

https://99firms.com/blog/instagram-stories-statistics/#gref

https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/

https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-statistics-for-social-media-managers/#advertising