Social media has changed how we live and conduct business transactions. Things like how content is shared and how we interact with other people are just a few of the things that have changed due to social media platforms.
Social media platforms are not avoidable, they are everywhere and very powerful. You can be assured that they are going to get even more powerful in the next few years. They have grown exponentially in the last two decades.
They are the main source of information, news, and customers for people and brands. However, what does the future look like for social media?
The following stats show where social media is headed in the 2020s;
More than half of the world's population is active on social media. According to Statista, there are 4.59 billion active social media users in 2022. This was an increase from 2021 which had slightly over 4.2 billion active social media users.
Given this continued growth, we are going to see more social media users in the coming years. This is good news for businesses and brands because they have a ready market for their products and services. They, however, need to revamp their presence on these platforms for them to reap the benefits.
Even though someone said that content is king, it would be better to get a little bit more specific and declare visual content the king. The past three years have seen growth in visual content, something that has forced businesses and brands to invest in the media stream.
Research has indicated that over 80% of content shared on social media platforms in 2020 was visual content. This included things like images, videos, and GIFs, among others. This tells you that you need to invest in visual content for you to stand a chance of building an exceptional brand.
When creating social media posts, for instance, it might be challenging for some users to create an entire custom font. Fortunately this can be done using a font generator. Your color schemes and formatting are also important when creating visual content. Ensure that you have created content that makes your brand stand out.
Chances are that you are reading this article from your smartphone or even tablet, not a computer. This tells you that a bigger percentage of users on the internet use their mobile devices when accessing social media platforms.
For instance, there were slightly over 3.9 billion active social media users in 2020. About 3.3 billion of these users preferred their mobile devices to computers or laptops. This number has been growing every year.
With increased mobile device penetration across the globe, we are going to see more users accessing social media platforms on their mobile devices. Businesses should, therefore, implement effective digital marketing techniques to attract these users.
A study found that the average daily time spent on social media is about two hours and twenty-seven minutes. This might explain why days seem shorter today than before when social media platforms were not popular.
According to the study, people spend one minute on Twitter, fifteen minutes on Instagram, twenty-five minutes on Snapchat, thirty-five minutes on Facebook, and forty minutes on YouTube every day on average.
This is going to keep on growing due to the growing importance of social media platforms. If you are building a brand, this tells you the social media platform you should choose depending on your target audience.
Technological advancements have changed almost how every other business operates. Today, businesses have set up online shops and are selling products and services over the internet.
Due to this, customers have become very cautious especially when buying or dealing with a business online. Over 30% of consumers are looking at social media platforms when buying something online. They also do the same to learn more about a business they are dealing with.
In addition, social media influencers are affecting sales from their content. More than 45% of customers rely on content from social media influencers before making a purchase. This shows that we are going to see more people and businesses relying on social media in the next decade.
Social media is going to keep on growing in the next couple of years. Looking at the stats discussed here, it is clear that you need to use social media platforms for you to build a successful brand.