Qamil Plakiq

The use of Facebook has become part of our routine. We don’t even notice it anymore. We pick up our phones, or open up our laptops, and go straight to Facebook to see what’s going on. In fact, Facebook has entered our lives so effortlessly, that at this point it’s hard to imagine a life before Facebook. Whether it’s politics or our private lives, Facebook has made information sharing easier than it ever was before. I mean, how else would you connect with your friends? Or share your stories? Or know what events to go to? Or…there is so much more that we depend on Facebook for.

Undeniably, Facebook connects more people than any company ever has in the past. And, businesses know this too. The popularity of social media, and in particular that of Facebook has made brands rethink their marketing strategies and how they deal with customers. And now, millions of businesses around the world rely on Facebook to connect with people. That’s why it’s crucial that businesses, and precisely marketers stay ahead of Facebook trends in order to make the most out of their marketing efforts. And that’s why Facebook statistics for 2019 can be a game-changer for your business.

Here’s a list of Facebook statistics that you need to know about in 2019:

1. Facebook – The King of Social Media

When it comes to social media, Facebook remains the undefeated champion. Based on the statistics, Facebook is the leading social platform, reaching 60.6 percent of internet users (Facebook, 2018).

Since its creation, Facebook has ruled the world of social media, and it seems like there’s no stopping the giant. There are many strong competitors like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and a number of others that are trying to compete, but Facebook still stands strong among the competition. Facebook has the most active users out of all the social media platforms, and people spend hours a day scrolling through their Facebook feeds. For many people, Facebook isn’t just a social media platform, it’s a way of life. One of the reasons why Facebook has been able to maintain its staggering growth is due to its ability to meet its users needs. Over the years, Facebook has surpassed all expectations and has evolved to meet the needs of its growing user base. That’s why for many years Facebook has reigned as the market leader, while many other social networking sites like MySpace and Bebo have come and gone. The success of Facebook has a lot to do with its willingness to adapt to the latest trends and the changes in user needs.

2. How Many People Use Facebook?

Facebook has 2.7 billion monthly active users (Facebook, 2019). If that number doesn’t blow you away, it also has 2.1 billion users that are visiting the social networking site on a daily basis. This means that users were visiting at least one of Facebook’s core products – which includes Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger. Facebook first hit the 1 billion monthly active user mark in October 2012, and crossed the 2 billion active user mark almost 5 years later, in June 2017.

Facebook has reached such a massive audience that it’s become impossible for marketers to ignore. And since a large portion of Facebook users visit the site on a daily basis, it makes them a great potential audience for your digital marketing efforts. Facebook’s mantra has always been about bringing the world closer together, and in the 15 years since its launch, it has not only achieved that, but it has exploded in popularity.

3. Businesses Use Facebook Pages

Facebook has more than 80 million small businesses around the world using Facebook Pages (Facebook, 2018). Your Facebook Page is a place where you can share your business name, address, contact details, and a description about the products or services that your business offers. It gives you the possibility to increase the online presence of your business. The reason why so many people are using Facebook Pages for their business, is because of the benefits linked to having one. Through Facebook, businesses can reach one of the world’s largest communities. By creating a Facebook Page for your business, you can build an audience and connect with people who are interested in what your business has to offer. Your Facebook Business Page also helps to make it easy for people to find out more about your business, or to get in touch with you. It provides a platform where people can connect with your products or services, and strengthen customer relationships. Customers have the possibility to post questions to your Facebook Page, and your team can respond, which saves time and streamlines communication. A Facebook Business Page is a free opportunity for your business to increase brand awareness and promote positive word-of-mouth.

If you’re looking to get started, here are 19 easy steps to setting up a killer Facebook Business Page.

4. How Many Americans Use Facebook?

Seven out of ten (69%) adults in the U.S. claim that they use Facebook (Pew Research Center, 2019). What’s interesting to note is that the share of U.S. adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018. This is despite a series of controversies over privacy, fake news, and censorship on social media, especially Facebook.

Facebook and YouTube continue to be the most widely used social media platforms among U.S. adults. Where YouTube and Facebook seem to do better among the adults, Snapchat and Instagram seem to be a preferred choice of social media platform among young adults. The growth in adoption of social media platforms among U.S. users seems to have slowed down over the past decade. The percentage of adults who say that they use social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and others over the years largely remains the same. The only social media platform to have seen considerable growth during this period has been Instagram.

Age doesn’t seem to be much of a differentiating factor for users when it comes to Facebook usage. 68 percent of those that are in the ages 50 to 64, and nearly half of those 65 and older claim to be using Facebook. Knowing the preferred social media platform of U.S. adults can be invaluable information for marketers who are looking to target this market.

5. Young Adults Prefer to Use Facebook

Contrary to popular belief, Facebook still remains the dominant social media platform for young adults. 65 percent of Facebook users are under the age of 35 (Statista, 2019), which means that they fall under the age demographic of Millennials and Generation Z. This Facebook statistic also shows us that for the most part, young adults prefer to use similar social media platforms to interact with others their age.

Despite other social media platforms such as Snapchat gaining popularity among young adults, Facebook still has the attention of Millennials and Gen Z. Understanding Facebook demographics helps to drive your brand’s online presence and guides you on how your business can benefit from marketing through the right channels. Getting to know what platform your target market is using most of the time helps to determine which platform makes the most sense for your business to utilize. This brings you a step closer to improving engagement with your target audience instead of wasting your marketing efforts by promoting on platforms that your target audience isn’t active on.

6. Facebook Users Choose Mobile Over Desktop

One of the reasons why Facebook has become such a huge social network worldwide is due to its mobile accessibility. Unrestricted access through multiple mobile apps, as well as its mobile website has given Facebook an edge over competitors that didn’t think of mobile first. 96 percent of active Facebook users accessed the social media platform via mobile devices, which includes tablets or smartphones (DataReportal, 2019). That means that only 4 percent of Facebook active users logged in on desktop devices to use the social media platform.

Due to Facebook’s reach on mobile devices, it comes as no surprise that it ranks as one of the most-downloaded apps worldwide. For instance, in the Google Play Store, Facebook Messenger, Messenger Lite, and Facebook are frequently ranked among the top most downloaded apps every month. This Facebook statistic also helps to emphasize how important it is to optimize your content for mobile devices. With user comfort becoming the primary goal, mobile accessibility is something that marketers can’t afford to ignore.

7. Average Time Spent on Facebook

When it comes to time spent on Facebook, users spend an average of 58.5 minutes on the social media platform each day (Recode, 2018). So, as well as being the most popular social media platform, Facebook users are also visiting the site multiple times per day. Whether it’s scrolling down your newsfeed while waiting in line for your groceries, on the train to work, or that last scroll before you go to sleep — no one can disagree that Facebook plays a significant role in our daily lives.

In comparison to other big social media sites, people spend almost the same amount of time on Instagram (53 minutes), and a little less on Snapchat (49.5 minutes). For marketers, time spent on social media apps matters because the more time people spend on these apps, the higher is the chance that they will see advertisements. So, at this point it’s a game of who can grab the user’s attention, and in the best way possible. That’s why it also helps to know the best time to post on Facebook, and other social media channels. From a user’s perspective, this Facebook statistic is interesting because Facebook launched a tool in 2018 which lets you see how long you’ve spent on the Facebook app. It also lets you set a time limit, and receive an automated reminder, if you’ve spent more time than what you’ve allotted for yourself. This helps just in case you think you’re frequenting the app too often.

8. Marketers Love Using Facebook

Being the biggest social media site out there, Facebook gets its fair share of attention from marketers as well. For instance in the US 86 percent of marketers are using Facebook for advertising (Emarketer, 2018).

Regardless of the size of your business, Facebook is a great place to start your social media marketing efforts. Almost all types of content works well when it comes to sharing on Facebook, which makes it easy to get started on. Through Facebook not only do marketers reach out to their target audience, but they can also use the social media platform to interact with their customers and enhance their relationship with them. Facebook advertising also helps marketers use the information they have to refine their strategies and target their audience in a more cost and time efficient manner.

9. Products Discovery via Facebook

Facebook is connecting people to brands and products. In fact, 78 percent of American consumers have discovered retail products to buy via Facebook (Kleiner Perkins, 2018). The survey suggests that more than half of the people have used Facebook to actively look for products, with the majority of them discovering new products on Facebook’s News Feed, Pages, and Groups.

Facebook is becoming increasingly important as a discovery platform. Users don’t just spend time on the platform to get in touch with others, or to share more about their lives, but also to browse, research, and find inspiration. This information can also be of value to marketers, in order to help them improve the customer journey. Understanding what the customer is looking for can lead to marketers making it easier for people to discover products on mobile and as a result businesses driving more sales.

10. Video Usage on Facebook

Facebook is the most popular channel for businesses to share video content. The latest Facebook stats show that 81 percent of businesses prefer to share their video content on Facebook, in comparison to other social media platforms (Buffer, 2019). This beats giants like YouTube and Instagram as a channel to share video content on.

Businesses can take advantage of Facebook videos as a great tool to increase their engagement with their audience. Videos can be a good conversation starter on your page among your followers. You can also include a call to action on your video, that will encourage people to hit the “like” button on your page, so you can continue to build your Facebook following. Also, if you’re just getting into posting videos on your Facebook page, make sure the thumbnail is clickable to increase the viewership of your Facebook videos. Unlike with YouTube thumbnails, you can’t customize the Facebook video thumbnails, so make sure that every frame of your Facebook video is clear and high in quality.

Conclusion

That’s a wrap for the top 10 Facebook Statistics for 2019. It’s safe to say that in this day and age your audience is using Facebook, and your competitors are too. In order to stay on top of trends, you need to make sure that your Facebook strategy is up-to-date. Especially with the use of Facebook evolving over the years, it’s important for marketers to step up their game in light of these Facebook statistics for 2019. If done right, Facebook can be a game changer for you and your business.