59 social media statistics you need to know in 2020

Although there are some that claim social media has roots as far back as the 1840’s as the telegraph was introduced, it is over the last twenty years that we can really see the impact of what we think of now as social media. Prior to the launch of Facebook in 2004and the platform’s subsequent explosive success, websites such as the now defunct SixDegrees and Friends Reunited (remember them?!) paved the way for the social media landscape that we know and love – or loathe – today.

What is defined as social media in 2020 seems to be ever-changing, but the Merriam-Webster definition for social media is:

Forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).

As the social media landscape evolved, businesses quickly realised there was enormous potential for connecting with new and existing customers in a way they never had before. Business profiles were developed, and as customer attitudes changed, so too social media marketing changed tack – from being aggressively proactive outbound marketing to more reactive inbound marketing.

The number of internet users around the world is rapidly approaching 4.5 billion. That’s more than half of the entire global population, so it is little wonder that as we head into 2020, at least 90% of businesses are using social media to promote their business as part of a wider marketing strategy.

So whether you’re a statistics nerd who loves to crunch the numbers, or you’re looking for information about social media to help you establish which platforms are the right ones to use for your business, these statistics are the ones that we think are the most useful in 2020.

Facebook statistics to know in 2020

Initially launched in February 2004 to help college students stay in touch with one another, Facebook is by far the world’s biggest social media platform today. Some people love it, some hate it – and there has been no shortage of controversies over the years – from privacy to political manipulation issues. Controversies aside, there is absolutely no question that Facebook has had a huge impact on all our lives. Let’s have a look at some of the most relevant Facebook statistics for 2020.

1. Facebook has over 2.5 billion active monthly users

Facebook is undoubtedly the most popular of the social media channels, and has just surpassed 2.5 billion users– as of the fourth quarter of 2019. When we say Facebook has 2.5 billion active monthly users, that means those people who have logged into their Facebook account in the last 30 days.

To put that number into context – the population of the entire world in November 2019 was 7.7 billion. In real terms, if you are able to connect with just 1% of Facebook users, that is twenty-five million people!

2. 1.66 billion people log into Facebook every day

As of December 2019, there were 1.66 billion people accessing their Facebook account every single day. Over 74% of active US Facebook users log in daily. Since Facebook users are typically engaging with brands and businesses on the platform too, that’s a huge amount of potential to capitalise on.

3. Facebook users aged 65 and older is the fastest growing demographic

Through 2019, the biggest growing group on Facebook were people who were born in 1945 or earlier. Around 40% of Americans in this generation are now using Facebook, compared with just 21% in 2012, according to research. If you’ve found it hard to connect with the ‘silent’ generation, Facebook might now be the platform that will enable you to do so.

4. In 2020, the average daily time spent on Facebook is expected to remain flat

There has been much discussion about the effects of social media on society and individuals. This means that many users are actively spending less time on all social media, but Facebook specifically. It was found in 2019 that adult Facebook users in the US spent around 38 minutes a day on the platform, which was a drop of three minutes compared to 2017. Through 2020 and 2021, time spent on the platform is expected to reduce by a minute or so. That tiny drop in usage doesn’t indicate that Facebook is likely to die off any time soon though – on average, 500,000 new users join Facebook every day.

5. Facebook Stories have 500 million active users daily

Stories are more popular on Instagram, but Facebook Stories – where you can share photos, videos, animations, music and more – are becoming more popular. This includes Stories that are viewed on Facebook Messenger too. For businesses, this is where target customer research is essential. If your target customers are likely to use Facebook Stories regularly, then investing in content on your Facebook Stories has potential to be worth your while.

6. 94% of Facebook ad revenue is from mobile

This is a crucial statistic when working on your social media content. Only 6% of advertising revenue that Facebook takes comes from desktop-only accounts. That means that businesses simply cannot afford to post content that doesn’t work on smartphone screens – and it is essential to test your posts before going live. If you’re an iPhone user and don’t check your posts display well on Android devices (or vice versa), you’re potentially risking negative impressions about your business with thousands of customers.

7. Facebook Ads dropped in price by around 6% in 2019

Perhaps this is a surprise, since Facebook Ads are incredibly competitive. But Facebook has suggested that the lower prices are due to Stories and geographical ad targeting – which could imply even lower costs will be available in the future too. Businesses that aren’t using Facebook Ads now should keep an eye on those prices and consider adding them to their strategy in the future.

8. The popularity of Facebook videos is increasing

Around 11% of Facebook posts are now videos, and mobile-first video ads account for over 50% of Facebook’s video revenue. However, while that is great news for advertisers – it is important to know that 85% of Facebook users watch video without sound. That means you need to be incredibly careful to be very visual in your videos, and definitely don’t rely on users being won over by your dulcet tones or awesome accent – most people probably won’t hear it!

The Facebook takeaway

Although the younger demographics are less likely to use Facebook – either at all, or regularly – for businesses, we think that not bothering to having a Facebook page could be a costly mistake. Customers search for businesses to see whether they can trust them before they start to do business with them, and they want a place they can like and engage with you. Even if the bulk of your marketing efforts are focused on another platform, it’s wise to have a Facebook page, post on there regularly and reply to any customer service issues raised promptly.

WhatsApp statistics to know in 2020

Although there is a huge debate as to whether messaging apps are technically social media or not, it seems foolish not to mention WhatsApp in this post, albeit briefly. WhatsApp is the most popular global mobile messenger app, and has been owned by Facebook since 2014 – but operates separately. It dramatically outperforms Facebook messenger, and is miles ahead of the next nearest competitors WeChat and QQ Mobile. We don’t expect to see any gimmicky features on WhatsApp any time soon though – CEO Jan Koum apparently had a note taped to his desk that states “No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!”. Good to know they’re focused on a pure communication tool.

9. WhatsApp has over a billion users worldwide every day

We’re taking into account WhatsApp usage here – there are 340 million WhatsApp users in India alone. In total, there are more than 1.5 BILLION active users worldwide.

10. 1 million people register to start using WhatsApp every day

That’s a million people signing up, every single day. Obviously, that’s an average over the course of a month or year – but to compare that with another major communication tool Skype gets an average of just 400,000 new users each day.

11. 58% of WhatsApp users access the app several times a day

Not only that, the average WhatsApp user will check their phone around 23 times every day. That statistic doesn’t tell us why they’re checking their phone of course – but it’s clear that there is plenty of opportunity to reach customers while they’re using apps on their phone.

12. Over 65 billion WhatsApp messages are sent each day

This statistic is somewhat dated, since we weren’t able to find figures from 2019. This enormous number of messages refers to how many messages got sent daily in 2018. However, we don’t imagine, considering a million people start using the app each day, that number will be getting any lower! How many of those do you send?

13. WhatsApp gives you seven minutes to delete a message

Handy if you’ve made a typo or realise that you’ve accidentally sent a message to the wrong person! (go on, admit it… you’ve done it too!)

The WhatsApp takeaway

Whether you’re thinking about using WhatsApp for promoting your business or not, you shouldn’t disregard it, as it can be a valuable tool to help you manage customer service, and offer a really personalised, authentic experience for your customers – which is incredibly valuable for encouraging repeat custom. If you’re able to install and use WhatsApp Business, you’ll have access to even more features – and you’ll be able to install WhatsApp for your personal number separately.

Instagram statistics to know in 2020

Launched on 6th October 2010, Instagram has been quite literally changing lives throughout the decade it has been in existence. Influencer marketing has undoubtedly become more successful as a result of Instagram – with many brands running incredibly lucrative campaigns and allowing individuals to create and manage their own careers.

Although Facebook have owned Instagram since 2012, the platform is just over half as popular in terms of active worldwide users.

14. The most liked photo on Instagram has had over 54.2 million likes

That photo – if you can believe it – is simply a photo of an egg. Set up to specifically attempt to set a world record, the @world_record_egg account has almost tripled the number of likes on the previous most-liked post – which was Kylie Jenner’s first photo of her daughter. We suspect it will be a while before that record is beaten! (get it? Beaten… eggs… OK we’re done with the puns now!)

15. More than half of active Instagram users worldwide are aged 34 or younger

There’s a relatively even split when looking at gender – 51% female and 49% male. This is well worth knowing when you’re choosing your social media platforms, especially if you’re aiming to reach customers in a certain niche market.

16. The USA has the highest concentration of Instagram users

116 million users, to be exact. Outside of the US, India and Brazil are the biggest users of Instagram, at 73 million and 72 million respectively, followed by Indonesia, Russia and Turkey.

17. Instagram’s own account is the most followed account

With over 327.5 million followers, @instagram is the most popular account by far. The other highest followers are Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 197.7 million followers, Ariana Grande at 171.5 million followers and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson at 171.5 million followers, with Selena Gomez rounding off the top five at 167 million followers.

18. 90% of Instagram accounts follow at least one business account

That means that there is huge opportunity when it comes to marketing – with over 83% of Instagram users saying that they discover new products or services through the platform.

19. One third of Instagram posts with the hashtag #ad are Story posts

However, there is a new account – the Creator account – that may see a change in how sponsored content is displayed and analysed. Instagram has just created branded content tags for longer-form IGTV (Instagram’s video app).

20. 79% of users search for more information after seeing a product or service on Instagram

Not only that – 37% of users who saw products or services on Instagram visited the store, and 46% made a purchase. That’s a great return on investment, especially if you didn’t need to spend much time or money creating the content!

21. Sponsored Instagram posts can cost over $1 million

Although Kylie Jenner (and most of the rest of the Kardashian tribe!) can command fees of over $1 million per sponsored post, there are untold numbers of active, and would-be influencers on Instagram. That means there are plenty of opportunities to work with influencers who can help get your business in front of the right customers, with authentic content.

The Instagram takeaway

Although Instagram doesn’t have quite the same numbers of users that Facebook do, the visual nature of the platform offers businesses a huge opportunity to promote their products and services in a more authentic way. Adding beautiful images alongside candid Stories can be a winning combination to engage customers, and help build brand loyalty – which can be a valuable thing indeed. Add Instagram influencer marketing potential to the mix, and it’s quite clear why Instagram can be a valuable addition to your business marketing efforts.

Twitter statistics to know in 2020

Twitter was first launched in 2006 as a ‘microblogging’ service, and in 13 years the platform has come a long way. Initially ‘tweets’ were short messages based on SMS messages, made up of 140 characters. That’s changed since, with the ability to add images and video to tweets, and an expansion to 280 characters in 2017. In 2020, businesses are using Twitter to share content – from their website(s) and other social media channels, to drive promotional activities and to build their brand presence. Increasingly though, interaction with customers that takes place on Twitter is in the form of customer support – customers using Twitter to contact brands, and using the visibility of their tweets to hold the business accountable.

22. Twitter reported that there were 145 million monetizable daily users in Q3 2019

Not only that, 30 million Americans use Twitter daily. Outside of the US, Japan, Russia and the UK are the biggest users of Twitter, followed by Turkey, Brazil and India. Valuable information indeed for brands that hope to expand in those markets.

In terms of monthly active users, there are around 330 million Twitter users – but this has declined since 2018, when there were 336 million monthly active users.

23. Only 34% of Twitter users worldwide are female

That’s only around a third of users. That doesn’t mean that businesses who are targeting women should avoid Twitter though. You’ll just need to use a more careful approach to building followers, and of course, creating content that women will appreciate and want to share.

24. Over 500 million tweets are posted each day

That’s a lot of noise to be heard through. However, as with all social media, it’s the quality of your posts rather than the quantity of them that your customers will value. Creating tweets that your customers – and potential customers – want to know about will help you maintain an excellent return on the time and effort you invest.

25. The most prolific 10% create 80% of tweets from adult U.S. users

That’s a lot of tweets from not that many people, in real terms. And this statistic doesn’t include accounts that are business account, organisations or bots. That means that users who have been selective about who to follow can filter out all the extraneous noise.

26. Twitter users are most commonly in the 25-34 age demographic

This group makes up around a third of all Twitter users – with just under 22% of 35-49 year olds and 15% of over 50s using the platform.

27. The most followed account on Twitter has over 111 million followers

That account belongs to former POTUS (President of the United States) Barack Obama. We’ll be cheeky and point out that current president Donald Trump only has 67 million followers – we’ll let you draw whatever conclusion you like from that information!

After Barack Obama, the most followed accounts are Katy Perry, at 108 million followers, and Justin Bieber, at 107 million followers. And although many of the same people feature on the most followed list for Twitter as for Instagram, social media stars aren’t alwayssuccessful to the same level. Take Cristiano Ronaldo as an example – he has just 81 million followers on Twitter (as opposed to 197.7 million followers on Instagram) and is number 6 on the most followed Twitter account list.

28. Video views on Twitter have grown 220 times in the last 12 months

If you’re producing video content anyway, then the surge in people using Twitter to view, and retweet video content is essential for you to know about. Videos are over six times more likely to be retweeted than a tweet with a video, which means that your video content gets seen by more people than ever. On top of that value add, Twitter say that the average increase in recall is 276%, and an average increase in intent to buy a product of around 34%. That’s a lot of extra potential revenue coming your way if you have the right strategy.

The Twitter takeaway

Twitter can be a valuable addition to your social media marketing efforts, if done well.Check demographic information, as it may not be the most lucrative platform for your business. As always – we advise that you conduct the appropriate amount of research. We see a large number of businesses doing great things in terms of customer support on Twitter, so even if you’re not actively promoting your business on the platform, it is worth considering having an account purely for this purpose.

Pinterest statistics to know in 2020

Pinterest launched in 2009, as a system to enable saving, and discovery of information using images, GIFs and videos. Although Pinterest’s CEO Ben Silbermann describes the platform as a ‘catalogue of ideas’ that inspires users to ‘go out and do that thing’, we think it’s a worthy addition to our discussion of social media. There are so many ways you can use Pinterest for advertising your business, and connect with prospective customers – including paid ads in the form of Promoted Pins, Rich Pins and setting up boards. We talked about Pinterest marketing in our blog post last year – take a look here.

29. There are over 300 million monthly active Pinterest users worldwide

Pinterest are closing the gap on Twitterwhen it comes to monthly active users, and there is no indication that users signing up will slowany time soon.

30. 200 billion pins have already been pinned on the platform

We can’t even imagine that number! On top of that incredible number of pins, there are over 4 billion Pinterest boards in existence. That’s a huge number of home décor projects, DIY inspiration and shopping lists.

31. 70% of Pinterest users are female

If you were wondering where all the female Twitter users were, it could be suggested that they’re over on Pinterest. In fact, at the moment, men account for just 7% of the total pins on Pinterest. But Pinterest is becoming much more popular with men – around 50% of new signups are men. Like we suggested with Twitter and women, if your target customers are men, using Pinterest can still be valuable for your business – but perhaps even more so, since women may be more likely to share pins they have found with the men in their lives.

32. 200,000 pins is your limit

Not many people talk about this, since it is pretty unlikely most accounts will ever reach this number – but accounts can only pin 200,000 items. Some suggest that brands are seeing the best results from their Pinterest activity when they’re pinning between 15 to 30 times a day – and to reach 200,000 would take several decades!If 15-30 pins a day sounds excessive – well, on other social media channels it could be. But on Pinterest, where pins essentially live forever, the more content you want to add, the better.

33. 85% of pinners user the mobile app

If it seems like mobile-first is the future of everything, you’re probably on the right track. Pinterest will automatically size your pins for you, but if you’re thinking of using a rich pin with video, then you’ll need to consider whether the content suits the purpose. Don’t forget that nugget of information we mentioned in our Facebook statistics too – if 85% of Facebook users are viewing video in their timeline without sound, it stands to reason that they are likely to be doing the same on Pinterest. Consider adding subtitles, or keeping audio to just music where you can.

34. 90% of Pinterest users think the platform is a positive space

Although there are undoubtedly some trolls lurking on Pinterest, the overwhelming consensus amongst users is that Pinterest is a positive platform to use. Considering many people – 85% in fact – use Pinterest for new projects, that might be unsurprising. How does that 90% compare with other platforms, you might ask? Well, only around 26% said they felt the same about their other social media channels.

Businesses can make use of this information in many different ways. If you’ve got starter kits – for almost anything – Pinterest will undoubtedly be valuable for your strategy, for example, but also in terms of the kind of tone and feel your pins will need. Positivity, happiness, inspirational and aspirational are all welcome on Pinterest!

The Pinterest takeaway

If you’re using Instagram successfully as part of your social media marketing strategy, then we strongly suggest considering whether Pinterest could be a good addition to your efforts. Once an image is pinned, it never disappears – and indeed, some pins may resurface time and time again, or years later, meaning that your pins have the potential to provide value for your business over a much longer period of time than other social media channels.

Don’t forget the value that Pinterest can offer you when you’re conducting your own research – product research, target customer research and much, much more. While Pinterest can be used as a social media platform and help you connect with your customers, businesses can use it like a search engine.

YouTube statistics to know in 2020

YouTube is the American video sharing platform. Initially launched in 2005, YouTube is now a subsidiary of Google and is the second most popular website after Google itself. Most videos that are available to view on YouTube are uploaded by individual users, but media corporations and businesses offer paid-for material via YouTube too.

As with other social media channels, YouTube has become a place that influencers work. All kinds of influencer videos make it to YouTube, from unboxing videos to educational and ‘how to’ videos, ‘best of’ videos, gaming videos and many, many more.

35. YouTube has over 2 billion monthly active users

Yes, that’s two billion monthly users. Just a reminder, the population of the planet is 7.7 billion – so that’s a huge percentage who are accessing YouTube every single month. Although a huge proportion of the world use YouTube monthly, numbers of daily users are much lower. It’s estimated that just 30 million are active daily – although that’s hardly a number to be sniffed at!

36. There are over 5 billion videos watched every day

That adds up to over 150 billion videos watched each month. It’s estimated that YouTube users watch the same amount of video on the platform in a single day – one billion hours – as Netflix users watch in a single week – talk about getting square eyes if you watch too much TV!

37. Over 500 hours of content is uploaded every single minute

That adds up to a frankly unwatchable number of 30,000 hours of video uploaded every hour and 720,000 hours per day. If you started watching a whole day’s worth of content, it would take around 82 years of constant watching before you’d seen everything from a single day.

38. The most popular YouTuber made over $26 million in 2019

The highest paid YouTuber is Ryan Kaji – an 8 year old who started starring in his videos when he was 3. The focus of his videos? ‘Ryan’s Toy Review’. If you’ve got a child under the age of 10, you probably know and love (or loathe?) this channel. As he’s grown, Ryan has moved into conducting science experiments, and outside of YouTube, he has a line of toys, clothes and more, he has a Nickelodeon show and a deal with Hulu.What were you doing age 8?

39. The most-subscribed YouTube channel has 127 million subscribers

That channel belongs to T-Series – known for Bollywood soundtracks and Indi-pop music. The channel has had over 96 billion views. The T-Series channel overtook the previously most-subscribed channel, gamer PewDiePie in April 2019. PewDiePie has over 103 million subscribers.

40. 70% of YouTube views come from mobile devices

If you’re creating video content for your customers, keep this in mind. Your videos need to work well on smaller screens – especially if you’re creating how-to videos, or demonstrating how to fix something.

41. YouTube is available in 91 countries, and 80 languages

Hello, bonjour, hola and kon’nichiwa – YouTube can be used in many countries worldwide. China, Iran, North Korea, Turkey and Vietnam are countries that have blocked YouTube, and other social media websites for various reasons.

42. The annual cost to run YouTube is over $6.35 billion

That’s an eye-watering amount, we’re sure you’ll agree – but when you consider that the annual revenue that YouTube earns Google every year is over $13 billion, it’s probably worth the investment.

43. Over the past five years, YouTube has paid partners using Content ID over $2 billion

Content ID is a system that allows Copyright owners to identify and manage their content on YouTube. There’s over 9,000 partners using Content ID, including major network broadcasters, movie studios and record labels. You can find out more about Content ID here.

The YouTube takeaway

YouTube is a busy, busy platform, and businesses who want to use it to boost sales or to provide added value for their customers will have to work hard to ensure they’re publicising their channel sufficiently. Simply recording videos and dropping them onto YouTube won’t inspire many views. However, with the right sort of content, and the right strategy to draw viewers to their channel, YouTube can be useful for businesses.

LinkedIn statistics to know in 2020

LinkedIn is a different type of social media – it’s designed purely for professionals to build their network. Launched in 2003, LinkedIn has steadily continued to grow. Although the focus of the site is still on networking and sharing information, it is much more formal in the type of communication that is encouraged. Because of that, LinkedIn is more suited to company updates and announcements.

44. LinkedIn has over 675 million users

Of those users, over 310 million are active monthly. That’s a much, much smaller number than Facebook, but users are accessing the platform with a completely different agenda. That means that quality of content is valued much more than the quantity of posts.

45. The US has the highest number of LinkedIn users

Over 167 million LinkedIn users are from the US. After that, India, China, Brazil and Great Britain are the most prolific LinkedIn users. If you’re looking to expand in those markets – perhaps to work with new partnerships – LinkedIn can be a valuable resource.

46. LinkedIn users are pretty affluent, with an average income of $83,000

This statistic is probably not that surprising, considering LinkedIn is a professional platform. What is an interesting statistic though is that 41% of millionaires use LinkedIn. We’re not saying that you’ll become a millionaire from using LinkedIn yourself, but it’s probably not a bad way to get yourself on the right track to do so!

47. 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn

Let’s just compare that with how other social media compare: 13% on Twitter and just 7% on Facebook. This statistic makes it pretty clear that if you’re trying to develop additional business from other businesses, LinkedIn is where you need to be.

48. The average user accesses LinkedIn for around 17 minutes per month

That’s not long at all – so you need to make your content count. Make it quality, professional in tone and compelling. Your connections may be using your content to assess whether to invite you to do business with them.

LinkedIn takeaway

LinkedIn isn’t likely to win you huge numbers of new customers in the way that your Facebook or Instagram channels might. But the value you can gain from having your company on LinkedIn, posting regularly and connecting with associates can help you to grow your company exponentially.

Snapchat statistics to know in 2020

Launched in 2011, Snapchat was initially developed as a way toshare photos temporarily – so that photos that were shared would disappear shortly after being received. Since the initial app was launched, Snapchat has evolved and now has Stories functionality that is accessible for 24 hours, and discover functionality, which allows brands to share ad-supported, short form content. There’s also Snapcash, which is popular with adult content creators, and private premium accounts that allow user to monetise their content – again, this feature is very popular with adult contentcreators.

49. There are over 293 million monthly active Snapchat users

Of those 360 million users, 210 million of them are daily active Snapchat users. That’s a pretty impressive number – and without a doubt, many of these daily users will open the app more than once daily. In fact, more than 70% of users say they use Snapchat multiple times every day. That’s a lot of opportunity for connecting with customers – if they’re in the right demographic, of course!

50. 90% of Snapchat users are 13-24 years old – with 61% of users being female

If your target customer fits into this age bracket, then with the right strategy Snapchat can be a lucrative way for you to connect with your customers. Because of that, make sure you don’t treat Snapchat content in the same way as other social media channels – make sure you understand how it works and curate your content accordingly.

51. Half of Snapchat’s daily Discover viewers watch Discover every single day

The Discover feature allows users to watch Snapchat stories from friends, but also to watch stories from other publishers – including TV networks and businesses. Although this feature is really popular with Snapchat users, Discover isn’t the only place you’ll want to try and get your content – any other platforms that offer news and video content are definitely worth your time.

52. Over 3 billion snaps are created every day

That’s an incredible 2.1 million snaps every single minute of the day. Although you might think your content won’t be seen with that many other snaps, if you’re creating the sort of content that your target customers want to see, and you’re promoting your Snapchat, you’ll find success.

53. 40% of Snapchat users say they discover brands thanks to Snapchat influencers

That doesn’t make it the strongest platform for influencers to work on, but Snapchat influencers are growing. And where there is growth, there are opportunities – as you no doubt know from starting your business!

54. The largest Snapchat audiences are in the US, France, India and the UK

The US currently leads the world in terms of Snapchat usage, by a long shot. There are over 97 million users in the US, and less than 21 million users in all other countries worldwide.

55. Snapchat is projected to exceed 365 million global users by 2023

That’s up from 293 million – and with that kind of growth predicted, it’s almost certainly worth investing in your Snapchat content.

Snapchat takeaway

Snapchat isn’t right for absolutely every business to promote themselves. It’s primarily a platform that young people use, but that isn’t to say that businesses should disregard it completely. With the right strategy, and content that works well, Snapchat can be a valuable addition to your social media marketing efforts. Even if you’re not planning to add Snapchat to your strategy right now, staying informed of Snapchat demographic information is a wise idea. It means that if other generations suddenly start to use Snapchat – perhaps because of an amazing new feature – then you’ll be ready to jump in.

TikTok statistics to know in 2020

TikTok is the new kid on the social media block – it is a video sharing app that allows users to create and share short videos. These short videos can only be 15 seconds long. We’ve heard TikTok being compared to Twitter – except that it’s the micro version of videos, rather than micro-blogging.

It was initially launched as Musical.ly in 2014, and allowed users to record short lip-syncing music videos. By 2017, Musical.ly had over 200 million users. Musical.ly was merged into TikTok in August 2018, where it now runs alongside the Douyin app for the China market. TikTok has exploded in use worldwide though, and the relative newness compared with other social media channels means that it offers businesses a much less saturated platform to connect with customers. There are plenty of tools you can use to help you manage your TikTok content too – so it’s getting ever easier to jump in!

TikTok is much more fun than some other social media channels, and that makes it a great platform for more candid, behind the scenes type content. You might use the same type of content that you might use for Stories on other social media channels, or you might decide to do something completely different – it’s up to you!

56. TikTok has over 800 million installs of the app worldwide

But that doesn’t really give us the full picture, since that doesn’t include information about installs on Android devices in China. TikTok don’t share active user information at the moment, but it’s relatively safe to say, considering our next statistic, that active daily and monthly users are pretty high.

57. TikTok was the 7th most downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019.

Not only that, it was the 4th most downloaded app of 2019. There were 738 million first-time TikTok installs in 2019 – up from 655 million in 2018, and there is no suggestion that figure will drop off, or start to fall any time soon.

58. TikTok is available in 150 markets, in 75 languages

That means your 15 second videos have an incredible chance of being seen almost anywhere in the world – which can be invaluable for businesses that want to expand into new markets.

59. TikTok users spend an average 52 minutes per day on the app

That’s significantly more than Facebook – where users spend an average of 38 minutes on the platform. This might, or might not imply that your videos are more likely to be seen than any of your Facebook posts – but users are on TikTok to watch videos, so your potential reach and engagement could be higher.

TikTok takeaway

If you’re new to TikTok, don’t jump in without getting acquainted with the app first. Make sure you’re familiar with conventions – TikTok video content should be significantly less formal than any of your other social media channels. Make use of those funny situations in the office, warehouse or wherever you are – the ones that wouldn’t make it to LinkedIn or Facebook, such as someone wearing a t-shirt that they just spilled their coffee on. Use stickers and the editing features to make viewers of your videos laugh. If it makes you, and your team chuckle, then you’re probably onto a winner.

In terms of advertising, from 2019, TikTok has supported infeed native content, brand takeovers, hashtag challenges and branded lenses as ways that brands can start to use TikTok for marketing their business. We’re expecting much, much bigger things from TikTok though – so even if you choose not to jump in right now, then keep it on your radar. It’s got huge potential for every business.

Bonus content – social media marketing statistics for 2020

You know social media is essential for businesses in 2020, but you might wonder how valuable your social media marketing really is. Here are some more must-know statistics about social media marketing!

There are an estimated 3.484 billion social media users worldwide.

That’s around 43% of the entire population! And of those users, 366 million only started using social media in the past year – an average of a million new users every single day. That means social media offers a huge opportunity to reach so many more potential customers than ever before.

73% of marketers believe that social media marketing is valuable.

Research found that social media marketing has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for businesses. Of course, it depends on there being a strong strategy to build followers, and for content to be curated specifically for your audience.

Social media interactions build positive impressions of brands.

Over 71% of consumers who have positive experiences with brands on social media are likely to recommend the brand to others. This statistic highlights just how valuable it is to interact with your customers on social media. You’re showing your customers (and potential customers) that you care, which helps to build trust in the brand, and encourages that valuable word-of-mouth marketing.

In addition to this, it’s important to note that 78% of people who complain about, or to a brand on Twitter expect a response from them within an hour. That’s not long – but highlights how important it is to check your accounts regularly. If you’re able to resolve issues quickly and positively, that upset customer who is loudly complaining can become a repeat customer – and in many cases, a huge advocate for your brand.

54% of social media users use it to research products.

That’s a lot of potential when it comes to your products being found. Make sure you’re using great images, and up your hashtagging game for the best possible results.

Posts using emojis get 33% more engagement than those without.

If you’re new to using emojis, check out our post from last year about Snapchat emojis – there’s loads of information there that can be applied to all your social media channels. Long story short though – if you want to increase the number of interactions on your social media, use emojis on your posts!

Using tags and locations can increase engagement.

Tagging other users can increase engagement with posts by up to 56%, and tagging locations can boost engagement by almost 80%! It only takes a few seconds, but with this kind of return, it’s well worth the momentary effort.