Facebook continues to be the dominant force in social media, but more Americans are using multiple social media networks and increasingly their daily consumption of social media. This digital multitasking is spurring growth for players like Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. And — listen up digital marketers — consistency is key to your social media marketing plans.
We all know social media is pervasive, but just how popular have social media networks become? Nearly three quarters of online adults 18+ years old in the U.S. use social media, according to new data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And 43% of online adults are using multiple social media networks.
What’s particularly striking is how often users are visiting their favorite social media networks. Among Facebook users, 63% say they visit daily and 40% say they visit more than once a day.
Instagram is also part of many users daily social media diet, with 57% of users visiting daily and 35% checking in multiple times per day. And on Twitter, 46% of users are daily visitors and 29% visit multiple times per day.
These stats tell us that to achieve success in social media marketing you need to reach out consistently and frequently. Most institutions (including our higher ed clients) already have established social media profiles, but how often do you tend to those pages and profiles?
We urge our clients to reach out frequently on all of their networks, at least daily and, where possible, several times a day. A steady stream of fresh Facebook posts, tweets and Instagram pictures assures your school will pop up at the top of a feed. That keeps your messages top of mind and encourages interaction with your users/followers.
Among Americans using only one social media network, Facebook is the dominant player, with 83% of single network users opting for Facebook. Among the other major social media networks, users opting for just one network ranked LinkedIn second with 8%, followed by Pinterest (4%) and Twitter (2%).
(The study did not cover other networks including Google+, Reddit, Tumblr, SnapChat and Vine. But we think it is a safe assumption that many of these sites’ users are active on multiple social media networks, particularly younger users.)
Tell us how often do you post on your social media networks and which sites do you use most?