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As an award-winning social media agency, we’re always on the lookout for new data. In this article we’ve compiled a considerable amount of recent research to convince the boss you need more social.
Oh, you’re the boss? Everyone needs more social!

There is new research available
Don’t see what you need here? Visit a page built in April 2021.
There should be more than enough reasons here to convince any business to try social media marketing. Allocate more of that print budget into Instagram…or at least an Instagram test…
78% say that social media is the most effective channel — 13% more than email and 37% more than SEO/SEM | via @buffer pic.twitter.com/TZM9vP5OwT
— Sky Alphabet Social Media (@skyalphabet) October 3, 2018
Research shows that social media is the number one marketing channel to grow your brand – especially when combined with other marketing tactics.
We’ve seen it time and again. It seems as if nothing is happening and then – BAM! – the success hits and you never look back.
Let’s begin with a chart that repeats a theme we see time and again: compared to other tactics, social media marketing beats other forms of digital marketing (e-mail, SEO, etc.):
Here’s a chart from March 25 2019: Twitter exerts more influence than YouTube and Facebook:
This is new research. And important: Twitter is more influential than YouTube at swaying purchase decisions | via @eMarketer #research https://t.co/fHGO0ormW1 pic.twitter.com/nJXNwmG91P
— Sky Alphabet Social Media (@skyalphabet) March 26, 2019
Either one of those charts are great to justify more social media marketing spend. But we’re just getting started…
Here Are 10 Reasons Why Social Media Is A Great Investment
1. Social Media is Cost Effective
Professional media buyers refer to a metric known as CPM. CPM is an acronym for Cost Per Thousand. This refers to the cost to reach a potential audience of 1,000 people. Media buyers use CPM because you can quickly evaluate the relative expense of one media versus another.
For example: as you might expect a full page ad in Vogue Magazine has a high CPM. It costs a lot to run a full page ad in Vogue! Social media, on the other hand, is relatively cheap. This is because you can develop your own audience and generate hundreds of thousands of impressions without paying for them.
Even if you do run ads, social media is still pretty cheap, running at about $5 per thousand impressions.
Holiday ad campaigns that begin in October have a 7% increase in ad impressions, 12% drop in cost-per-click and a 20% decrease in cost per thousand impressions | via @MobileMktrDaily https://t.co/aV0boHjoZ7 pic.twitter.com/5GH6cZSCkp
— Western Media Group (@westernmedia) September 26, 2018
2. You Can Build Brand Equity Quickly
Why do celebrities use social media? Because it works. Brand equity refers to how much a brand is worth: a new company with a new name is probably not worth as much as a company that has been around a long time.
Brand equity can be a squishy thing but one thing is for certain: the more you communicate like a leader, the more value accrues to your brand. Social media is one of the very best communication channels – better than media releases and websites – because your brand can “hang out” with people in their leisure feeds. If you play nicely and get along, you’re bound to make more than a few friends and build the value of your brand along the way.
3. Social Media Reviews Are Like Word of Mouth
The problem with word of mouth? It takes too long. One of the more fascinating pieces of research is that reviews of businesses and products on social media have the same value as a review from a friend or family member. Heavy, right? If you’re a quality brand looking to punch up a weight class, social is for you.

4. Social Media Levels the Playing Field
Unlike other channels, you don’t need a ton of budget to be successful. You just need to be smart. We can give you the strategy you need – aligned with your target audience – to compete against much larger, better financed brands.
5. Many People Use Social Media Networks Every Day
73% of internet users use social networks at least once a month. These numbers are skewed because of older people; 18-25 usage is closer to 90%, with many users (18-24 females) using more than one social network every day.
6. 20-30 Year Olds Use Social Media to Research Luxury Products and Stocks
Social media is a critical step along the path to purchase. Buyers, assistants and future leaders who are making recommendations to their bosses now are 20-30 years old. If you lack a strong presence on social, you are missing out on a huge opportunity – especially if your competitors are there.

7. The Use of Social Media By a Brand Says “We Belong”
Companies with more than 100 employees use social media as a marketing communications channel nine times out of ten. It’s a big checkmark in the “brand safety” category if a brand has an established presence and is communicating regularly like big companies do.

8. Mobile Internet Use is Up Sharply and Social Media is Mobile Native
The best social media networks (Twitter, Instagram) were invented on mobile phones. This explains why people use social media to get a larger percentage of their daily news and entertainment content.
This is a big opportunity for brands because if you slim down to your authentic best and make a daily appearance, you’ll be racking up fans in no time.

9. Social Media Influences Search Results
Let’s face it: you want to be friends with Google. Social media is one of the best ways to not only improve your search results but to shape your online brand and reputation.
A recent study involving 26 million social media shares showed that the top three search results posted more on social media than those appearing in positions 4-10.

10. Social Media Influences Purchase Decisions
If social media didn’t have the ability to influence purchase decisions, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Nine out of ten consumers are influenced by social. The key is authenticity. On social media you don’t want to sound as if you’re selling, but over time that’s exactly what you’re doing.