This post is part of my series on Digital Marketing statistics, this entry being focused on content and social media. Data is taken from the Global Web Index blog and is referenced under each section in case you want to read the original material.

Content consumption statistics

From the below graphic, we can see that:

-  90% of web users have watched a video clip or visited a video sharing site
-  44% watch 'vloggers'
-  39% listen to podcasts

Source

How web users interact with branded content

-  25% of users read branded emails
-  40% of users visit a brand website every month
-  Just under 20% interact with brands on social media

Source

Discovering brands through content

-  14% of users find out about new products through branded updates on their newsfeeds
-  Just over 25% find new products through brand/product websites
-  Just aver 14% find new products through a review by an expert blogger

Source

Top reasons why users become brand advocates

-  45% say 'high quality product'
-  41% say rewards/discounts/incentives
-  31% say great customer service
-  30% say love for the brand
-  29% say when something is relevant to my own interests
-  19% say when something is relevant to a friend's interests
-  17% say because of insider knowledge
-  16% say because of the feeling of being involved

Source

Social media sponsored posts vs online ads

-  12% of web users say they click social media sponsored posts
-  That figure rises to 14% for 16-24 year olds, 16% of whom click online ads

Source

Why users follow brands

-  34% say they follows brands they like
-  25% say they follow brands they are thinking of purchasing from

Source

Why Facebook users interact with brands

-  12% say to ask a question
-  15% say it's to post a positive comment
-  11% say to ask a question about a product they are considering purchasing
-  7% posted a negative comment about the brand

Source

Why does this type of information matter?

This type of information matters because they help you give you a solid grounding as to how you should plan your marketing efforts. For example, let's look at the details from one of the images above:

-  14% of 16-24 year old's click sponsored social media posts, while 16% of the same age group click traditional online ads

Compare this to;

-  5% of 55-64 years old's click sponsored social media posts, while 16% of the same age group click traditional online ads

Knowing this information can help you realise that - if your target market was made up of mainly 55-64 year old's - your ad budget would be much better spent on traditional ads and that sponsored social posts may not be the way to go for you. Whereas, if you did not know this, you might think that sponsored social posts would work as well as other online ads and you'd risk wasting budget.

That's just one example - you can use any of the stats above to more strategically plan various parts of your marketing strategy. This kind of knowledge is definitely power.

Thanks for reading,

By Alan MacDougall

Got a nagging marketing question? Ask me here.

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Revenue Builder is a small business marketing strategy advice blog, written to help small business owners and startups maximise sales revenue.