Copyright 2017, Social Media Examiner 2017 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INDUSTRY REPORT How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses MAY 2017 BY MICHAEL A. STELZNER Published by 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 2 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Letter from the author Hello, fellow marketer! Welcome to our 9thannual study! Social media marketing is always evolving. And for businesses, social media marketing has become an important pillar, as you'll see detailed in this year's report. This 49-page report contains easy-to-digest insights into how marketers are currently using social media and their future plans. If you're in charge of marketing your business, you'll want to closely examine the 77 charts on the following pages. I'll reveal the "not-so-obvious" findings in this data-rich content. The report will uncover the "who, what, where, when, and why" of social media marketing. More than 5,700 of your fellow marketers provided the kinds of insights you won't find elsewhere. I hope you enjoy it! If you find value in this report, please let your peers know about it. You can find the original page for the report here: socialmediaexaminer/report2017/ All my best! Michael A. Stelzner Founder, Social Media Examiner Host, Social Media Marketing podcast and the Social Media Marketing Talk Show 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 3 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . 4 MAJOR FINDINGS . 5 TOP 5 SOCIAL MEDIA QUESTIONS MARKETERS WANT ANSWERED . 6 USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING . 7 ANALYZING SOCIAL MEDIA . 8 MEASURING SOCIAL MEDIA ROI . 9 EFFECTIVENESS OF FACEBOOK MARKETING . 10 FACEBOOK NEWS FEED EXPOSURE . 11 WEEKLY TIME COMMITMENT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING . 12 BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING . 14 COMMONLY USED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS . 19 THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL PLATFORM FOR MARKETERS IS. . 25 SOCIAL MEDIA POSTING FREQUENCY . 27 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS MARKETERS WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT . 33 PAID SOCIAL MEDIA . 35 HOW WILL MARKETERS CHANGE THEIR PAID SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES? . 36 PAID SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIONS MARKETERS WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT . 38 COMMONLY USED TYPES OF CONTENT . 39 THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTENT FOR MARKETERS IS. . 40 HOW WILL MARKETERS CHANGE THEIR FUTURE CONTENT ACTIVITIES? . 41 CONTENT FORMS MARKETERS WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT . 44 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY MARKETERS WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT . 45 SURVEY PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS . 46 ABOUT MICHAEL A. STELZNER . 49 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 4 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Executive summary This study surveyed more than 5,700 marketers with the goal of understanding how they're using social media to grow and promote their businesses. On the following pages, you'll discover: The top social media questions marketers want answered: We reveal the big questions marketing pros want answered about social media. Facebook marketing: We explore how effective Facebook marketing has been for marketers. The time commitment: We examine the weekly hours marketers invest in their social media efforts. This analysis will be helpful for marketers just getting started or those seeking support staff. The benefits of social media marketing: This section of our study reveals all of the major advantages marketers are achieving with their social media efforts. We also look at how weekly time invested and years of experience affect the results. Most-used social media platforms: Discover which platforms marketers are using and how their usage will change this year. We also examine which platforms experienced marketers are using. Social posting frequency: In this section, we explore how often marketers are posting to major social platforms and how they plan to change their strategies. Other analyses: We also examine the role of content and live video in social media marketing, as well as paid social media. In addition, we take a look at how business-to-business (B2B) companies differ from business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. We also highlight significant changes since our 2016 study. How to use this report: Regardless of your experience with social media marketing, there's something here for you. If you're a beginner, take a look at the time commitment, benefits, and platforms that your peers are using. If you're experienced with social media, compare yourself against other marketers, see which platforms they're looking at next, and determine whether you're achieving the same benefits as your more experienced peers. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 5 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Major findings Here's a quick summary of our primary findings: Visuals have become essential: A significant 85% of marketers use visuals in their marketing and 73% plan on increasing their use of visuals. Live video is hot: A significant 61% of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope, and 69% want to learn more about live video. Instagram is on a growth trajectory: Currently, 54% of marketers are using Instagram, yet 63% plan on increasing their Instagram activities and 71% of marketers want to learn more about Instagram. Facebook is the most important social network for marketers by a long shot: When asked to select their most important platform, 62% of marketers chose Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 16%. Many marketers are unsure about their Facebook marketing: A significant 40% of marketers don't know if their Facebook marketing is working and 53% have seen declines in their Facebook News Feed exposure. Facebook ads dominate: A surprising 93% of social marketers regularly use Facebook ads and 64% plan on increasing their Facebook ads activities. Tactics and engagement are top areas marketers want to master: At least 91% of marketers want to know the most effective social tactics and the best ways to engage their audience with social media. The above summary is just a taste of what's in this report. On the following pages, you'll find 77 charts that visually convey some fascinating findings. For example, we look at which social networks are used by those who invest the most time in social media marketing, the benefits achieved by those who've been at this for years, and what emerging technology social media marketers are interested in. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 6 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Top 5 social media questions marketers want answered The top social media questions marketers want answered can be summarized with the following keywords: tactics, engagement, measurement, paid, and audiencein that order. Below are the top issues marketers are facing today with social media marketing. At least 87% of marketers surveyed felt they're struggling to answer all of the following questions: #1: TACTICS: What social tactics are most effective? The number-one question marketers want answered (93%) is which tactics work best. This isn't a surprise, given the constant changes taking place across many social networks. #2: ENGAGEMENT: What are the best ways to engage my audience with social media? Figuring out how to best connect with people remains high on the list of questions marketers want answered (91%). Engaging with customers is becoming a unique competitive advantage. #3: MEASUREMENT: How do I measure the return on my social media marketing? A significant 89% of marketers want to know how to measure their return on investment for social media activities. #4: PAID: What are the best ways to use paid social media? Determining how to use social media ads is a big question for marketers (88%). Figuring out how to use various social platforms for more paid exposure and customer acquisition is important. #5: AUDIENCE: How do I find my target audience with social media? Locating ideal customers and prospects is a big concern for marketers (87%). Marketers are looking for guidance on sifting through enormous social networks and connecting with the right people. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 7 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Use of social media marketing We asked a few questions to determine the survey participants' experience using social media to market their businesses. Social media is important for my business A significant 92% of marketers said that social media is important to their businesses. Years using social media marketing We asked participants how long they've been using social media marketing. Sixty-one percent of marketers surveyed have at least two years of social media marketing experience. Note: For a detailed demographic breakdown of survey participants, see pages 46-48 of this report. On the following pages, we asked marketers to rate their agreement with a few broad statements related to social media. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 8 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Analyzing social media We wanted to understand marketers' ability to analyze their social media activities, so we asked them to rate their agreement with the following statement: "I regularly analyze my social activities." A significant 73% of marketers surveyed analyze their social media activities. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 9 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Measuring social media ROI We wanted to understand marketers' ability to measure their social media activities, so we asked them to rate their agreement with the following statement: "I am able to measure the return on investment (ROI) for my social media activities." Only 38% agreed they're able to measure their social activities. The ROI issue has plagued marketers for years. In 2016, 41% indicated they could measure ROI and in 2015, it was 42%. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 10 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Effectiveness of Facebook marketing We asked marketers if they agreed with the statement: "My Facebook marketing is effective." Only 42% of marketers feel like their Facebook efforts are working, a decrease from 46% in 2016. However, most marketers either don't know or indicated that their Facebook marketing is NOT working. B2C marketers were far more likely to agree or strongly agree (45%) than their B2B peers (37%). 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 11 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Facebook News Feed exposure We wanted to understand if marketers experienced decreased Facebook News Feed exposure, so we asked them to rate their agreement with the following statement: "Facebook's algorithm has decreased my News Feed exposure in the last 12 months." A significant 53% of marketers surveyed said they saw News Feed declines. Plus, a significant 42% of marketers surveyed were unsure. When combined, 95% of marketers either don't know or have seen a decline in Facebook News Feed exposure over the last 12 months. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 12 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Weekly time commitment for social media marketing A significant 64% of marketers are using social media for 6 hours or more and 41% for 11 hours or more weekly. It's interesting to note that nearly 20% of marketers spend more than 20 hours each week on social media. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 13 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner The experience factor There's a direct relationship between how long marketers have been using social media and their weekly time commitment. For people just beginning with social media (less than 12 months of experience), 51% spend 5 or fewer hours per week. However, of folks who have been doing this for 2 years or longer, at least 65% spend 6 hours or more per week on social media activities. How the time commitment varies with business size This chart shows how different-sized businesses invest their time with social media activities. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 14 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Benefits of social media marketing The top two benefits of social media marketing are increasing exposure and increasing traffic. A significant 88% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses. Increasing traffic was the second major benefit, with 78% reporting positive results. Most marketers are using social media to develop loyal fans (69%) and gain marketplace intelligence (66%). The order of the benefits hasn't changed since 2015, and for the most part, the percentages have only changed 1 or 2 points. Some questions that naturally emerge from the above chart might include: "Can I achieve more benefits by investing more time in social media?", "Are marketers who've been using social media for years gaining even better results?", and "Is there a difference between B2B and B2C?" The following charts address these questions. 2017 Social Media Marketing SocialMediaExaminer Page 15 of 49 Industry Report © 2017 Social Media Examiner Improved sales It takes time to develop relationships that lead to sales. However, a large percentage of marketers who take the time f