8 Essential Social Media Addiction Statistics: The Importance of Digital Marketing

Social media addiction statistics suggest the power of social media when it comes to capturing the attention of consumers.

Social media has become a huge part of the success of digital marketing strategies as more and more consumers rely on social media to research brands, discover inspiration, and make purchasing decisions.

Social Media Addiction Statistics and Digital Marketing

In this article, we’ll take you through some important social media addiction statistics to consider when developing your marketing strategy and how you can utilise social media marketing to its full potential.

What Is Social Media Addiction?

Social media addiction refers to an excessive amount of time spent by an individual scrolling through different social media platforms and engaging with a variety of content.

Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media to pass some time which turns into minutes or even hours viewing content? This is because there is so much content available on social media to discover and share with friends and family members. From streaming music, watching videos, researching brands, and shopping, social media has become a force to be reckoned with!

What Causes Social Media Addiction?

So, what exactly causes social media addiction? Due to the billions of people online, social media is excellent at generating a fear of missing out. Some of the social media features that can cause users to spend an excessive amount of time using their mobile devices include:

• Connecting with others: Social media has become a platform that consumers utilise to connect with friends and family through direct messaging, shares, comments, and tags. The range of ways to share content with others has made it difficult for people to ignore it!
• Video marketing: With the rise of video marketing for businesses, video content demands user attention as users continue to watch videos that they enjoy. This means that the more time users spend watching video content that they enjoy, the more likely they are to stay on the platform to watch more.

• User-generated content: The increasing popularity of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok has encouraged social media users to create content themselves known as user-generated content (UGC). Influencer marketing has also played a role in the increased popularity of UGC as social media posts encourage social media users to share content promoting a brand’s products and services.
• Researching brands: Social media has become a resource for consumers to research different brands, products, and services before making a purchase. As there are several social media platforms to utilise such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, this means that consumers can spend potentially hours checking content on different platforms.

These social media factors contribute to social media addiction statistics as users’ screen time increases the more they utilise different social media platforms.

Social Media Addiction Statistics You Need To Know

So, what are some important social media addiction statistics you need to know to inform your digital marketing strategy? Let’s take a look at the social media addiction statistics below:

• Young adults have a fear of missing out on important news, trends, and entertaining content when they do not use social media.
• The average person utilises social media for approximately two hours each day.
• On average, females utilise social media for longer than male social media users.
• The Gen Z demographic believes that TikTok is the most addictive social media platform.
• Most consumers are more likely to purchase products or services from a business after seeing organic content on social media.

• Social media users view likes, comments, shares, and saves as a reward for creating content that other users want to see, and so continue to generate more content to feel a sense of reward.
• Screen time has increased dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic due to remote working, online shopping, and remaining connected with family and friends.
• More brands are utilising influencer marketing to connect with the correct target audience and to build trust with new and potential customers.

These social media addiction statistics suggest the amount of screen time that users spend viewing and researching content related to entertainment, shopping, and recent trends.

How To Capture Your Target Audience’s Attention

Based on the social media addiction statistics above, it is clear that social media is an excellent tool for businesses and marketers to use to capture consumers’ attention. So, what are the best ways to capture your target audience’s attention?

Here are some recommendations to generate more attention and engagement for your social media posts:

• Utilise video marketing: Video marketing has proven to be incredibly effective at holding user attention. With this in mind, aim to produce as much video content as possible to increase the watch time of your content.  Experiment with different video lengths to determine what types of content your target audience enjoys watching the most across social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
• Consider demographics: When developing your social media strategy, outline the demographics of your audience such as gender, age, and location to ensure that your content is resonating with the correct consumers. 

• Generate anticipation: As social media users experience a fear of missing out, ensure to generate anticipation and excitement when posting your content. For example, if you have a new range of products or services that will be launching soon, ensure to post sneak peeks and countdown posts on your social media to ensure that users will return to your page to discover the launch.
• Utilise influencer marketing: If appropriate, utilise influencer marketing to increase the visibility of your brand and build trust with your target audience. This is also a great way to increase engagement through giveaways and collaborations that require likes, comments, and shares to enter.

Want to know more about utilising social media addiction statistics? Get in touch with ProfileTree today to develop your social media marketing strategy!