Social Media is changing faster than ever. It’s hard to believe that, only a decade ago, social media was little more than a budding trend. Of course there were websites such as Friendster and MySpace which had a decent level of adoption, but the population as a whole had not come around to it yet.

These days a new social media channel or app seems to be popping up hourly, it’s exhausting to keep up!  Did you know that the average american spends 40 minutes per day on Facebook? (Source: NBC News) When you consider how much time Americans spend engaging with digital media–nine hours a day—40 minutes on Facebook might not seem like a lot of time. (Click to Tweet).

Social Media Examiner put together an easy-to-read Social Media Marketing Industry Report for 2015 which included insights which may help in determining and shaping your 2016 social media strategy. Below I’ve outlined five surprising social media stastics which may help shape or rethink your 2016 Social Media Strategy.

1. Infographics are Liked and shared on social media 3X more than other any other type of content. (Click to Tweet)

Infographics are an information tool that compresses a lot of information in one single medium. It simplifies what your entire article is all about. Aside from the pictures, it is loaded with texts, graphs, etc. to give you a clearer idea of what the topic is all about. Infographics are a visually compelling communication medium that when done well can communicate complex data in a visual format that is potentially viral,make sure they’re a part of your 2016 strategy! (Source: Mass Planner)

 
2. 64% of marketers are using social media for six hours or more weekly. (Click to Tweet)

By spending as little as six hours per week on social, more than 66% of those marketers are seeing lead generation benefits with social media. However to reach these goals marketers often rely on the help of social media management tools. 87% of marketers reported they don’t know which social media management tools are best to use. (Source: Social Media Examiner) *Need Help with Social Media Tools? Here are three of my favorite social media tools. 

3. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube were the top five platforms used by marketers in 2015.  (Click to Tweet)

Some of the larger changes seen from 2014 included Twitter use dropping from 83% to 79%, Instagram increasing from 28% to 36% use in 2015, and SlideShare joining the ranks. Facebook had a 1% decline in marketer use from last year. It is likely these trends will continue into 2016, and new platforms like Periscope will take part of the market share. It’s crucial to have a strategy unique to optimizing each platform, remember there’s no one size fits all social media strategy. (Source: Social Media Examiner)

4. 66% of marketers plan to increase their use of Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn in the future.  (Click to Tweet)

Twitter moved up two spots from the 2014 report to be the number one social media platform that marketers plan to use more of in the future. YouTube and LinkedIn followed close behind, especially among B2B marketers. Surprisingly, Facebook saw an 8% decline in reported future use. (Source: Social Media Examiner).

Quick Tip: Make sure you’ve got a plan to optimize and analyze specific social media channels to ensure you’re using your time properly.  It’s important to know which channels to use based on the KPI’s and results you’re trying to drive.

5) When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later. (Click to Tweet) 

You MUST have a visual social media strategy in 2016, it’s crucial.  The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text with 90% of the information transited to the brain is visual.  If you want to shine on social media make sure you’re testing video, images, and quotes within your channels to best optimize and drive your KPIs. (Source: LifeLearn) *Need Help with Visual Social Media Tips, Check Out My Post “Don’t Get Left Behind, 6 Tips to Recharge Your Marketing Here.

Let me know what you think, leave a comment or shoot me a tweet. Enjoy!