Did you know that there are now over 2 billion active social media accounts across the world?

It’s that time of year again when we take a close look at Social Media User Statistics in the UK for the last 12 months. For business owners trying to get more bang for their bucks, checking out the trends and demographics provides a clue about where to concentrate that all important marketing budget. Heavily focused on UK social media users (that’s where we and our clients focus our efforts), there are a few interesting stats to take in this year!

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – Instagram UK Users

Often seen just as a cute photo sharing platform by many, Instagram began coming of age throughout 2014 and this last year saw it become one of the major players for companies looking to leverage their social media activity. It is now bigger than Twitter with over 50 million users signing up in the last 6 months. Part of the reason for the success in recent times could be because Facebook bought it which has helped energise the platform.

• Success on the marketing front could be because it’s so visual. 40% of us respond better to a picture than to written text.
• Most top brands now have an active account on Instagram (86%, up 15% on last year).
• Over half of brands with an Instagram account link it to a customised Facebook tab to help push interest.
• About the same number of women as men use Instagram.
• It is mostly popular with the under 35s who account for nearly 90% of users.
• Instagram has 14 million users in the UK of which 38.4% are in the 16-24 age range.

Reference links:
Instagram Stats

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – Pinterest UK Users

Often thought as the bastion of female online users, Pinterest is starting to change with more men signing up. It all depends on which country you take your stats from – you can find demographic splits around 50-50 in places like India and South Korea. There seems to be a concerted effort by the team at Pinterest to attract more variety and a wider demographic though it is still heavily skewed towards females in most areas.

• The platform boasts 100 million active users which still falls some way behind the likes of Instagram and Twitter.
• Almost 60% of the content that users pin on their own site comes from business websites.
• The three most popular interest areas are home décor, cooking and food, and fashion.
• 67% of Pinterest users are under the age of 40.
• Mums are three times more likely to share on Pinterest than other users.
• Pinterest doubled its UK users over the last year and they pinned 1.6 billion items, 54% of them using a mobile device.

Reference links:
Pinterest UK Stats
Pinterest Stats

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – Google+ UK Users

Google+ has undergone a facelift recently but is still making unsteady progress in the social media stakes. At the beginning of 2015 there were rumblings that no one actually used Google+ for anything much, despite millions of people signing up to the platform. A report in the Business Insider suggested that only 9% of supposed active users actually posted any content.

Despite denials, the suggestion that Google+ was the social media equivalent of a ghost town resurfaced later in the year when a random study illustrated that 90% of supposedly active profiles had not posted a thing. If you believe the stats, of 2.2 billion active users only 6.7 million have posted more than 50 times.

So is Google+ worth your time in 2016? It actually depends on who you are trying to connect with. Competition from business platforms like LinkedIn means B2B marketing and networking may not be a primary motivation for engaging on Google. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t useful contacts and associations to be mined where perhaps other businesses are rushing on by. Having said that, there are also a number of solid groups on Google+ that do interact with each other and if they fall into the arena of your business then they are worth the effort.

• The majority of Google+ users are male at over 70%.
• It’s still a favourite with marketers (40%) and brands (70%).
• 55% of Googles active members are in the USA, only 5% are in the UK.
• The biggest occupation demographic on Google+ are engineers at 29%, followed by developers, software engineers and designers.

Reference links:
Google+ Stats
Google+ Demographics

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – LinkedIn UK Users

Because it is more focused on B2B matters, LinkedIn continues to enjoy popularity within the commercial sector. Nearly 80% of users want to try and leverage their profiles more effectively and over half of active users say they are more likely to buy from a company that has a presence on the site. Networking is the name of the game here and there aren’t many platforms that cater specifically for the business environment and none are currently better than LinkedIn.

• 45% of users are in higher management positions.
• 80% of users also want to connect with other businesses because they think it will enhance their decision making processes in the future.
• Despite the plaudits, only 13% of LinkedIn users are active and post regularly.
• Mondays and Fridays are statistically the worst time to post on the platform.

Reference links:
LinkedIn Stats

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – Facebook UK Users

With Facebook getting on for a billion users now, it still remains one of the top social media platforms in the world and one that businesses cannot and should not avoid. When 67 million people across the world are following a brand like Manchester United, you begin to understand its power. Facebook appeals across the demographic board for age groups, sex and ethnicity as well as education and pay grade.

• The biggest age demographic are the 24 to 34 year olds who account for nearly 30% of traffic.
• Timing is all important on Facebook. Midweek between 1 and 3pm is a good time whilst posting at 8pm rather than 7pm is likely to bring you more clicks and likes.
• Engagement boosts on Thursdays and Fridays, by as much as 18%.
• While there are thought to be 1.49 billion active users there is estimated to be 83 million fake accounts.
• Photos are important with over 300 million uploaded every day.
• When half of 18-24 year olds wake up they go onto Facebook to check their timeline.
• Nearly half of marketing professionals believe that Facebook is critical to success.
• Facebook has more active users than WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram combined.

Reference links:
Facebook User Stats
Facebook Stats

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – Twitter UK Users

Twitter still continues to perform well for businesses despite competition from other platforms. With over 320 million monthly active users, many of whom (80%) use mobile devices to send messages and check their timelines, there have been some minor tweaks to the platform but it essentially remains the same.

• Your chances of being retweeted increase by 150% if you attach an engaging image to your post.
• The likelihood your Tweet will be Retweeted doubles if you have 1 or 2 hashtags and falls dramatically if you have 3 or more!
• The average number of followers per Twitter account is 208.
• 44% of people who actually set up an account never send a Tweet.
• Almost half of all active users use the platform at least once a day.
• 37% of UK 11-16 year olds use Twitter at least once a week.
• There are 13 million Twitter users in the UK which accounts for over 37% of social media users in the country.

Reference links:
Twitter Stats
Twitter UK Stats

Social Media User Statistics in the UK – Snapchat UK Users

Snapchat is one of the up and coming social media platforms that businesses should be keeping an eye on. It has around 100 million active users worldwide and around 9 photos a second are shared on the platform.

• Snapchat is popular in Ireland where it has the highest percentage of online adults using the platform.
• 6 billion video views take place every day worldwide.
• It attracts a young audience with over 70% under the age of 34.

Reference links:
Snapchat Stats

Here are just a few extra, global stats to whet your whistle:

• If you have a business blog that posts regularly you are likely to have 434% more indexed pages on search engines than those that don’t.
• Indulging our passion for social networks accounts for 20% of PC time and 30% for mobile.
• 60% of shoppers who own a smartphone will search for a product on their mobile device before eventually buying.

Find this all rather interesting and need to get in on the act? The contact The Last Hurdle – we will devise a strategy to reach your target market – wherever they maybe lurking!