Social Media Advertising in 2018 Through Statistics {Updated}

When deciding to use a social media advertising strategy, new entrepreneurs often turn towards figures of authority for answers.

These are often niche experts and figures of authority. But, what should you do when receiving two contradicting tips from two reputable figures? What is one to do in a situation as tricky as this one? How is someone who’s currently making their first decisions in the business world to choose?

On the other hand, what they’re writing about is far more important than who is writing. When it comes to things like social media marketing and advertising, we’re talking numbers (ROI, CTR, traffic and bounce rate) and numbers are facts.

Sure, it all comes down to your interpretation, budget and goals. But, when thinking about social media advertising, as well as in scenarios where you’re looking for advice on the topic you need to look at statistics.

1. Advertising spending is on the rise

With more businesses entering the digital world, the importance of this field increases. This even applies to businesses operating online with drop shipping in their business model. This means that they have no physical presence in the business world whatsoever. This makes the money these businesses invest in social media advertising much larger.

In two short years (between 2014 and 2016) the global social media advertising budget jumped from $16 billion to $31 billion. In 2018, only in the US, the social media advertising revenue will exceed $15 billion.

Keep in mind that China, Australia, India and Europe are all fast-growing markets. Especially when it comes to social media advertising. This should be more than enough to give you an idea what you’re dealing with.

What this means for small businesses is that they now have to start looking at the bigger picture. They have to abandon the idea of free promotion on social networks if they aim to stay competitive. They also need to consider looking for a professional social media advertising agency to get the most value out of their investment.

2. The number of users is incredible

Also understand that the majority of the audience that you’re trying to reach already frequents various social networks. Well, at least two of them. We’re talking about a little short of 2 billion people on Facebook and almost 1.5 billion people on YouTube every single month.

Other networks, like LinkedIn, have 30 million active users. On the other hand, these numbers aren’t directly comparable. This is because of how Facebook is mostly a B2C platform (at least in terms of advertising), while LinkedIn is predominantly a B2B oriented tool.

3. Mobile-oriented

One more vital statistic that most entrepreneurs need to take seriously in 2018 is the fact that about 60 percent of time spend on digital media is actually performed on mobile devices.

One prediction claims that the mobile ad spending, alone, will reach $42 billion, which is a staggering figure, especially when one compares them to the above-listed figures from 2014 and 2016.

Previously we talked about online businesses (those without any representation in the real world), however, what about businesses that have actual headquarters or stores. Here, you get yet another factor that you need to take into consideration. Namely, there’s a statistic that about 78 percent of local mobile searches end up as offline purchases.

In other words, a potential consumer looks for a nearby store on their phone or merely tries to compare prices before making an actual purchase. This is one more reason why investing in social media advertising is a smart choice.

4. A shift towards visual

At the end of the day, you need to understand that the majority of the attention in the future might just turn towards visual platforms. We’ve already seen a boost in the popularity of Instagram and Snapchat.

You see, online audience laments not being able to see and feel an item that they’re supposed to buy (like in the real store), which makes them turn towards platforms that can present them with an experience that’s as close to this as possible. We’re not just talking about galleries but the option of a live broadcast, as well.

Social media advertising affects everything from your reach and potential reach, all the way up to your revenue.

Keep in mind, however, that your social media advertising budget needs to be proportional to the size of your operations. This means that while you want to invest more (or at least smarter) than your competitors, you don’t want your investments to surpass your potential financial capabilities. After all, while your operations are still modest in size, there’s only so much attention that you actually need, in order for it not to surpass your workload. Balance and moderation are important in all things.