Increased exposure and traffic are the top social media marketing benefits for the past five years. Increased exposure grew to 93% from 87% in 2018 and increased traffic improved to 87% from 78% last year demonstrating that positive results are possible even in a crowded social media landscape.
The next two important increases:
- Generated leads increased to 74% from 64%.
- Improved sales rose to 72% from 53%.
Even though Facebook and Instagram are the top two platforms used by marketers, it’s worth noting that Instagram grew from 66% to 73% and Twitter fell from 62% to 59%.
Facebook is number one for both B2C and B2B marketers, however, when separating B2C and B2B responses, the number two spot for B2C is Instagram at 78% while B2B's second spot is LinkedIn at 80%.
Overall, YouTube is still the number one video channel marketers prefer, with Facebook's native videos coming in second. When the study separated B2C and B2B responses, B2C marketers use more Instagram stories and Facebook native video while B2B marketers use more LinkedIn native video.
Social media marketing is a necessity in most marketing mixes today. Yet, the return on investment still eludes many of us.