30 Social Media Statistics Marketers and Creators Need to Know for 2023

Individual social media platforms may come and go. But social media as a whole is here to stay and will likely remain deeply ingrained within modern society.

If you’re looking for statistics to better understand what social media has in store for marketers and content creators this year, it’s your lucky day.

Below is a compilation of some of the most relevant social media statistics every marketer and content creator should know in 2023.

Social media data: General usage statistics

• As of January 2023, there were 5.16 billion internet users worldwide. Of these, 4.76 billion were social media users.
• Between January 2013 and January 2023, the number of social media users almost tripled, from 1.7 billion to 4.76 billion.

• Facebook’s monthly active users (MAU) in January 2023 totaled 2.96 billion, making it the most-used social media platform in the world.
• YouTube came at a close second with 2.5 billion MAU. Meanwhile, WhatsApp and Instagram landed third at 2 billion MAU. TikTok clocked a total of 1.05 billion MAU to snag sixth place. Twitter came at a distant 14th at 556 million MAU, two spots behind Sina Weibo’s 584 million MAU.

Image source: Statista

• According to HubSpot’s 2023 Social Media Trends Survey, the top three social media platforms expected to grow the most in 2023 are Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Instagram use increased by 35% from 2021 to 2022, TikTok 15%, and Facebook 12%.
• During 2023, TikTok is forecast to become the third-largest social network, behind Facebook and Instagram. It’s also anticipated that Twitter’s monthly total users will drop by 4% in 2023 and 5% in 2024.
• A Statista report found that social media is a popular news source for 44% of Millennials, more than double those that get their news from the radio.

Social media marketing stats: User engagement

• The average social media user spends approximately 2.5 hours daily on social media, visiting more than seven social platforms monthly.
• Nine out of 10 social media marketers say an active online community is critical to success in 2023. The best platforms for building these communities are Instagram and Facebook.

• Social media engagement across all platforms has been declining steadily. But TikTok maintains a healthy average of 4.25% compared to Instagram’s 0.60%, Facebook’s 0.15%, and Twitter’s 0.05%, according to Social Insider.

• In January 2023, the average Facebook page’s fan engagement was 0.07%. Fans engaged the most with image posts (0.12%) and the least with link posts (0.03%).
• According to Hootsuite, Instagram business account posts get an average engagement rate of 0.54%.
• Four out of 10 LinkedIn users organically engage with a business page every week.

Social media insights: Video statistics

• According to a HubSpot survey, short-form video has the highest ROI of any marketing trend and will remain popular in 2023. 21% of marketers will leverage it for the first time in 2023, while 90% of marketers who already use it will either maintain or increase their investment.

• Sprout Social’s 2023 Content Benchmarks Report found that the top five most engaging types of in-feed social content are short-form videos (66%), images (61%), live videos (37%), GIFs/memes (32%), and text-based posts (32%).
• Viewers find short-form videos 2.5 times more engaging than long-form videos.
• In a Forrester report, Reels account for 30% of the time users spend on Instagram. However, they fall behind TikTok and YouTube Shorts in terms of weekly usage. Only 10% of US adults use Reels weekly, while 23% use TikTok and 17% use YouTube Shorts at least once a week.
• According to Wyzowl, social media marketing videos and explainer videos were the most used video types in 2022.
• YouTube is most popular among users aged 25-34 and least popular among 55-64 year-olds.

2023 stats: Influencer marketing

• According to Influencer MarketingHub, although 83% of marketers still believe in the power of influencer marketing for 2023, this figure is lower compared to the previous year’s 90%. That said, 23% of marketers who already use influencer marketing will allocate 40% of their overall budget to it.
• 80% of marketers who collaborate with influencers work with smaller creators with less than 100,000 followers. Only 16% work with celebrities who have over 1 million followers.
• According to HubSpot’s State of Consumer Trends Report, 33% of Gen Z shoppers bought a product recommended by an influencer in the past three months. That number was 26% for Millennials and 18% for Gen Xers.
• The global influencer market size was $16.4 billion in 2022, more than double that of 2019. Instagram is the most effective platform for influencer marketing.
• Influencer marketing will grow to a market size of $21.1 billion in 2023, a 29% jump from 2022’s $16.4 billion.
• In 2022, Zara was the brand with the most mentions on Instagram, surpassing Instagram itself.

2023 data: Social media advertising

• Global social media ad spending will reach $268.7 billion in 2023. By 2027, mobile will generate $384.9 billion of the total social media ad spend.
• In the US, Insider Intelligence predicts TikTok will see the most significant ad revenue growth in 2023 (36%), followed by LinkedIn (16.3%), Reddit (14.2%), and Snapchat (14.8%).

• Instagram delivers the highest ROI among all social platforms and will see the most growth this 2023. In addition, 52% of marketers already using Instagram will increase their investment this year.
• Social media advertising is the second biggest digital advertising market, next to search advertising. In 2027, researchers see social media advertising revenue growing to $385 billion worldwide.
• Trust in social media platforms is declining, with Instagram, LinkedIn, and Reddit seeing the most significant dip.

Market Insights: Powering your social media marketing strategy

Data informs decision-making. With the right data sets, organizations can make objective decisions based on facts. The above social media statistics provide insights into users’ preferences and behavior, helping brands tailor their marketing messaging to the right audiences via the right platform.

Need help crafting content that resonates? Contact ClearVoice today to discover how a managed content partner can help you create the social media content you need.