Facebook and Instagram Dominate Social Media Marketing Strategies | 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

In the 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner surveyed over 4,800 B2B and B2C marketing managers from Australia, Canada, India, United Kingdom, and the United States of America, about how they use social media in their marketing strategies. 

Here are the key takeaways:

• Key benefits of social media marketing 
• Most used social media platforms by brands 
• Which social media networks are the most important to marketers
• Most commonly used video channels and video lengths by marketers
• How marketers measure ROI from social media advertising

1. Key Benefits of Social Media Marketing

For the past five years, marketers have identified two key benefits of social media marketing:

• 93% of marketers found their social media efforts have generated far more visibility for their businesses

• 87% reported an increase in traffic following their brand’s use of social media

↑Key benefits of social media marketing (Source: 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner)

Here is the evolution of perceived benefits of social media from marketers, compared to the previous year (2018-2019): 

• Increase in visibility: from 87% to 93%
• Increase in traffic: from 78% to 87%
• Lead generation: from 64% to 74%
• Sales improvement: from 53% to 72%
• Fan loyalty: from 63% to 71%
• Obtaining market insights: from 54% to 58%
• Increase in thought leadership: from 46% to 57%
• Development of commercial partnerships: from 49% to 56%

 Bonus: Discover how marketers can leverage social media for their marketing strategies in our guide!

2. How Are Marketers Utilizing Social Media Platforms in 2019? 

2.1 Facebook and Instagram: The Top Most Used Social Media Platforms by Brands

Based on findings in Social Media Examiner’s 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Facebook and Instagram are by far, the two most used platforms by marketers. They are followed by micro-blogging site Twitter, which falls on par with LinkedIn and YouTube, ahead of Pinterest. 

↑Most used social media platforms by marketers (Source: 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner) 

What are the notable changes in marketers’ use of social media since 2018? 

While new marketers are mainly focused on Facebook (89%) and Instagram (63%). most experienced marketers use very diverse channels. The biggest gap is Twitter, used by 42% of new marketers but by 73% of the most experienced.

There are, however, notable differences between B2C marketers and B2B marketers. Take Instagram for example: 

• Unsurprisingly, B2C marketers’ top three most used social media platforms are Facebook (97%), Instagram (78%), and Twitter (57%). 

• For B2B marketers, the top used social media channels are: Facebook (91%), LinkedIn (80%), and Twitter (67%), with Instagram coming in fourth at 66%. 

↑Most used social media platforms by marketers: B2C vs B2B (Source: 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner) 

2.2 Which Social Media Platform is the Most Important for Marketers?

Regardless of whether they work in a B2C or a B2B industry, 61% of marketers identified Facebook as the most important social media channel to their strategy. 

That being said, out of the four key  social platforms that marketers considered important, Facebook had lost the largest proportion of activity from 67% in 2018 to 61% in 2019. We also note the rise of Instagram, decline of Twitter, and slight decline of LinkedIn.

3. How Are Brands Utilizing Video Marketing?

3.1 YouTube vs. Facebook Videos: Top Most Used Video Channels by Marketers

• YouTube is the # 1 video channel used by 57% of marketers, followed by Facebook-hosted videos (50%).

• B2C marketers are more likely to use Instagram Stories (42% in B2Cs versus 32% in B2Bs) and Facebook videos (53% in B2Cs vs. 45% in B2Bs), than their B2B counterparts. 

• B2B marketers are more likely to use LinkedIn-hosted videos (21% in B2Bs vs 8% in B2Cs).

↑ Top most used video channels by marketers (Source: 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner) 

3.2 The Average Length of Branded Videos

Most branded videos are between 1 to 3 minutes (39%), and many are between 16 to 59 seconds (30%). 80% of marketers, therefore, create videos of 3 minutes or less.

3.3 Top Most Used Platforms for Live Video

Based on the survey findings, live video has yet to catch up to other video formats. 43% of marketers do not use live video in their campaigns. For the 57% who do, Facebook is the most popular live video platform (34%). The average duration of live videos for 62% of marketers is under 10 minutes.

↑ Top most used live video channels by marketers (Source: 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner)

4. Social Media Advertising

The most popular social media platform for advertising by marketers is Facebook (72%), followed by Instagram (38%). The use of Instagram ads has also increased 7% since 2018.

B2C marketers are more likely to use Facebook ads (76% in B2Cs vs. 65% in B2Bs) and Instagram ads (43% in B2Cs vs. 30% in B2Bs) than their B2B counterparts. B2B marketers prefer LinkedIn advertising (24% in B2Bs versus 9% in B2Cs).

↑Social media platforms used for advertising by marketers (Source: 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner)

5. Measuring the ROI of Organic Social Media Activities

Social Media Examiner’s 2019 study  also sought to understand the ability of marketers to measure the ROI of their organic social media activities.

ROI and KPI measurement remain crucial priorities for marketers. According to the report, only 44% agreed with the statement, “I am able to measure the return on investment of my organic social media activities.” 

In addition, 39% felt that "proving the ROI of marketing activities” remains one of the main challenges of their business.

Bonus: Download our guide on mastering the art and science of proving social ROI.

The importance of implementing social media in marketing strategies is widely known, yet brands still struggle with how to do so. Social listening tools such as Digimind Social, enable brands to capture insights from conversations that transpire across online blogs, forums, video-streaming sites, and social media platforms. Brands can understand consumer needs and expectations and develop targeted campaigns by leveraging the tool’s consumer profiling, trend analysis, and consumer behavior analysis.