This post lists 134 social media stats you need to know.
In case you’re pressed for time and can’t scroll thru the entire list, not to worry. I did it for you.
10 Social Media Stats Your Nonprofit Should Take Advantage Of
Here are 10 social media statistics along with my insights into how your nonprofit can upgrade its social media presence and engagement.
➡️ Data point: People use an average of 6.6 different social networks each month.
My take: That’s a lot!
I know that many of you work for small organizations. You don’t have the peoplepower or time to be on more than one or two platforms.
And that’s fine!
Being everywhere but not investing the time to build an audience and engage them means you’re nowhere. Better to have a strong presence on a couple of platforms where your audience is and use that to help your organization grow.
So go ahead, tell the boss: Just because “everyone” is on Threads (they’re not) doesn’t mean you have to be.
Image by Biljana Jovanovic from Pixabay
➡️ Data point: The average time spent on social media daily is 2 hours and 24 minutes.
My insight: You have plenty of chances to contact your audience.
People spend 10% of their day on social media. But of course they’re not all on at the same time.
This means:
- You should test at what times of day you get the best engagement. When are more people commenting, sharing, replying and reposting- morning, afternoon or evening? Knowing that means more eyeballs on your content
- On a platform like Twitter, I’d post each post two to three times per day. Provide multiple opportunities for your followers to see your posts.
➡️ Data point: YouTube viewers watch over 1 billion hours of video each day.
Data point: 70% of viewers become aware of new brands because of YouTube.
My insight: Holy crap!
People sure watch a lot of video every day. Which is a big opportunity for your organization.
YouTube is the web’s second largest search engine behind Google. People are constantly searching YouTube for videos. That means making sure any videos you have about your nonprofit should be uploaded to YouTube and tagged and labeled correctly.
With everyone using it, YouTube can be a great platform for people to discover your organization. They’re not watching the same videos they’ve already seen. They want to find something new!
➡️ Data point: In terms of usage, social media is most popular with users between the ages of 18 and 29.
My insight: I am well aware that this is a demographic without a lot of disposable income. Which means that some of you may have a boss who tells you not to bother with them, to concentrate your efforts on older people with money.
Absolutely not!
Your goal should be to attract all types of donors, even those who can’t donate money. People 18-29 are socially conscious, want to make the world a better place and will be looking for opportunities to do so.
Offer various volunteer chances for them to get involved. Welcome them with open arms no matter how they want to be involved. At some point they may consider becoming a donor. When that happens, offer the option of monthly giving so they give a small amount each month (which is something they can afford).
Monthly givers have high retention rates (up to 90%) and a higher lifetime value than many donors. Pretty good upside!
Bonus: This age group also likes to share with their network what they’re up to. They’ll tell their fiends that they are associated with your organization. That could bring even more people to learn about your mission and want to get involved.
➡️ Data point: 44% of internet users aged 16 to 64 use social media as a primary source of information when they’re researching brands.
My insight: This one kinda writes itself, doesn’t it?
Your nonprofit is a brand. When people want to learn more about you they probably will end up on your website. But they’re also gonna look for you on social media.
They’re not just checking to see if you have an account. They want to know if the account is active and what content you’re sharing. That helps them determine whether to follow or not.
Have a presence on a social media platform? Make sure you’re posting and engaging every day if possible. People don’t just want to read your posts. They want to interact with you.
➡️ Data point: 33.64% of organizations have a social listening program.
My insight: Sigh.
Social listening is extremely critical to successfully engaging your audience while also bringing in new people to follow you. You need to pay attention to
- Are people talking about you? People may be tagging your social media handle. They may be inquiring about something, sharing your post or replying to a post of yours. Be present to acknowledge those people as soon as possible. When people know there’s a face behind the logo who engages they’re going to be more likely to pay attention to your posts as they scroll their feed.
- Are people using a branded hashtag you’ve asked followers to use? If that’s the case, say thank you!
- Is a topic trending which is related to your mission and area of expertise? Check out what people are saying and posting. If relevant, enter the conversation. Share your knowledge and experience. Be helpful. People who do not know your organization will be exposed to your work and your posts can cause them to want to know who you are and what you do. That’s a good thing.
➡️ Data point: A total of 2.037 billion people use Facebook every day.
My insight: That’s a whole heck of a lot of people checking their Facebook feed every single day!
Of course we know that Facebook engagement is way down. Organic growth is very hard. That means Facebook has become pay for play.
Promote your posts and consider running ads. Your audience is checking their feed every day. They may not see your posts but they might see your ads. Pay to have a better chance of showing up in their feeds.
And before your boss starts screaming about another expense, it’s actually not that expensive and the ROI (return on investment) can be very high. Use ads to encourage people to sign up to your enewsletter, participate in an event, sign up to volunteer, download an ebook. Let ads keep your organization within people’s view.
➡️ Data point: Viewers are twice as likely to buy something because they saw it on YouTube.
My insight: Want to bring in more revenue? Use YouTube!
There are so many different types of videos you could be posting there: Educational, impact, storytelling, about your mission and more.
When people discover your organization, the hope is they’ll want to learn more. That could include going to your website, signing up for your enews and other calls to action you offer. The more they get involved, the more chances you’ll have to ask for a donation.
And it all started because they found a 30-second video you posted to YouTube. Imagine that!
➡️ Data point: As of April 2023, the top most used social media platforms, ranked by global active users, were Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram and WeChat.
My insight: Facebook and YouTube are both huge.
But did you know that 500,000,000 (half a billion!) people watch Instagram Stories EVERY SINGLE DAY???!!!
If your audience is on Instagram, then you must be posting on Stories every single day. It’s a great way to not only update people but to engage them with quizzes, polls, music and more. You can also use Stories to send people to your website ahead of events, campaigns and the like.
I’m 51 years old and I’m a heavy Stories viewer. I can tell you that Gen Xers are all over Instagram and especially Stories. OK, so are other demographics but dammit we’re the only ones that matter!
WhatsApp is an interesting one. For some reason everyone in the world uses it except Americans. Americans would rather use text messages than WhatsApp. No clue why.
Fact is more and more organizations are using WhatsApp to stay in touch with supporters. Like text, people read and respond quickly. It can be used to get out news, share links, pictures and video. It’s not for everyone as many people who use WhatsApp are already in a million group chats (trust me). But it could be worth creating a community there and/or creating a channel people can follow.
As far as WhatsApp, I’ll have more soon. Foreshadowing…
