Meltwater State of Social Media Report-Global Edition
Meltwater State of Social Media Report-Global Edition
of Social
Media 2024
GLOBAL EDITION
Introduction
The past year introduced many unique opportunities and changes for social
teams to strategize around. Advances in AI, Twitter’s rebrand as X, Meta’s release
of Threads, and the internet’s newfound fascination with the Roman Empire were
just a few of the trends social media professionals capitalized on.
In this report, we present the results of our State of Social Media survey to
uncover the practices, preferences, and perspectives of around 2,000 marketing
and communications professionals from around the globe.
This survey serves as a pulse check on the ever-changing realm of social media
and digital marketing, providing valuable insights into the strategies and trends
influencing your peers’ decision-making processes.
This report aims to equip you with the knowledge and perspectives that will
empower your marketing strategy.
10.00%
0.00%
Responses came from a range of company B2B B2C NGO Agency Government Other
Institution
types and a variety of seniority levels. The
largest cohort of respondents works at a What is your job title?
managerial level at a B2B organization. 40.00%
Responses
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
nt
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5 Global State of Social Media 2024
How many employees does your company have?
25.00% Responses
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
While respondents’ company size varied, the majority 1-10 11-50 51-200 201-500 501-1000 1001+ I don’t know
media program.
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
0-1 2-5 6-10 11-15 16+ I don’t know
Learn More
Social Program Status media team, they are still working on defining a strategy, while 24%
are in the tougher spot of having a strategy but lacking the resources
to execute on it.
How established would you say your social media program is?
40.00% Responses
30.00%
While it’s easy to understand the importance of
using social media for running a business from
20.00%
a theoretical perspective, the practical side of
executing a winning strategy is often where
10.00%
companies falter.
0.00%
We don’t have a We have a team but We have a strategy We have a full
dedicated social are still defining our but lack the team and strategy
media team strategy resources needed to mapped out
execute it
Responses
I don’t know
5.1%
60.00% Responses
Far and away the biggest reason that companies
are interested in using social media is to raise brand
awareness (51%). This top-of-funnel goal may sound 40.00%
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11 Global State of Social Media 2024
Facebook is the most popular site (83%), with Instagram and LinkedIn close
behind, tied at 79%. YouTube occupies the 4th place spot (60%).
Channel Usage When comparing these results with the results from last year’s report,
X (formerly Twitter) usage is down by 14%. As for TikTok, after increasing to 30%
in last year’s report, current usage has remained constant, down by just 1%.
As 2024 progresses, we could see a major shift in how and where social media
marketers’ time and advertising dollars are spent, if current trends continue.
Which channels are you currently using for organic social strategy at your organization?
40.00% Responses
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
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When It Comes To Instagram is the highest channel of interest (50%) across company types,
especially in the government sector. 59% of government institutions say that
Priority Platforms they are planning on investing more time into Instagram in 2024.*
Pinterest holds less interest overall (4%), but of those looking to spend more
budget and time there, B2C (7%) and agencies (8%) pull ahead of other
business types.*
Where do you plan to spend more or less time in 2024? More time
Less time
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
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valuable platforms Unsurprisingly B2B companies favor LinkedIn for their social
marketing efforts.*
Which social media platforms do you think provide the most benefit Usage By Organization Type
for your business?
Responses
NGO: 77%, Government: 69%,
80.00%
Agency: 55%, B2B & B2C: 49%
60.00%
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High-quality content takes time to produce — and for this you need
the right tools and a strong creative team.
What are the main challenges you face when it comes to managing
social media?
Employee bandwidth is a shared concern among
60.00%
all companies (66%), but particularly among Responses
NGOs (65%)*.
40.00%
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*See Appendix, Chart 3
ck
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15 Global State of Social Media 2024 La
Do you outsource management of your social media
Outsourcing channels to a third party or agency?
Social Management
3%
Yes, everything is oursourced
2.7%
Strategy
Account Based
Marketing
Influencer marketing
I don’t know
5%
No
While most companies seem reluctant to outsource
23.5%
their social media programs, a majority (61%) say
that they do take advantage of software to help
with scheduling and reporting (rather than using
native in-platform tools).
No, but this is
planned for 2024
Yes
Only 10% say they plan to add external tools in 10.1% 61.4%
2024, while 23% are either satisfied with native
tools or don’t have a big enough social program or
presence to invest in an external software.
The Inevitable
Government are the least active users of AI.**
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
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AI seems to help social media teams most when
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it comes to creating copy on a day-to-day basis.
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More than 60% of respondents say AI tools help
them save time writing, and nearly 40% say these Do you plan to increase your use of AI tools in 2024?
tools even help improve their copy.
60.00% Responses
30.00%
Responses
20.00%
10.00%
B2C companies show the highest interest in increasing Which two factors would you consider the most restrictive
in terms of maximizing your social media management?
their budget*, which indicates just how effective social
marketing is for attracting new customers and 80.00%
Responses
promoting products.
60.00%
0.00%
Cost Employee Time Adequate
*See Appendix, Chart 6 bandwidth Tools
Learn More
20.00%
Investing In And considering the speed with which commentary and news spread on
social media, making a concerted effort to monitor online chatter about
Social Listening? your brand and your industry is extremely helpful for managing your
reputation and mitigating crises.
What are the primary goals for social listening at your organization?
There is much that social listening can help teams 60.00%
Responses
accomplish and discover.
40.00%
When asked about their primary goals when using
social listening, a majority said it was to better
understand their target audience. 20.00%
t
I
s
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Both are extremely valuable areas for companies to
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When you understand your audience better, you can
he
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Ke
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en
r
create a deeper connection with them and therefore
fo
Id
In
24 Global State of Social Media 2024
Billions of conversations are taking place online every day, and some
The Best Platforms could unlock powerful insights for your business. But you can’t find
For Social Listening them if you aren’t actively conducting social listening.
Which social media platforms provide the best data in your social listening efforts?
50.00% Responses
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
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75.00%
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or preparing for a potential crisis situation.
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Competitors (37%) and relevant thought leaders
d
ke
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ht
ry
Br
ug
st
(36%) are nearly tied in 4th and 5th place.
du
ho
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n tt
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26 Global State of Social Media 2024
Are you currently using social listening software?
20.00%
0.00%
Yes No I don’t
know
Gathering 60.00%
Responses
20.00%
0.00%
Yes No I don’t
know
Like social listening, gathering consumer insights
helps you more effectively understand your
Are you currently using consumer intelligence or
audience, plan campaigns, and make business audience insights software?
decisions. These data-driven observations allow
80.00%
companies to make informed business decisions Responses
60.00% Responses
an ign
ive es
ar tor
nt ore
tie s
e
including the buying decision-making process,
tte
ni nd
m
tio
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ct is
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to
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ng te
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pu
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be com
po er
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gi rea
p e e ca
shopping habits, product feedback, brand loyalty
pp
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or na
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ga C
nd
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an con
au
no
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factors, and more.
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29 Global State of Social Media 2024
Do you expect to increase or decrease your time and
Social Listening resources spent on social listening from 2023 to 2024?
Plans In 2024
60.00% Responses
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
Increase Decrease No change
0.00%
Costs Employee Time Adequate Platform System
bandwidth tools data knowledge
restrictions
Learn More
Social Media
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
Yes No I don’t
know
It’s difficult to get ahead on social media without paid
efforts. 72% of respondents say they use social media
How do you see the role of paid social media
paid ads while 24% say they don’t currently run ads on developing in 2024?
social. On average, companies allocate 23%* of their
50.00% Responses
total marketing budget for paid social.
40.00%
In Paid Social Once again, Facebook is the star when it comes to a preferred
platform. 65% of respondents say this is a channel they use most
frequently for paid ads, followed by Instagram (53%), LinkedIn (35%),
YouTube (17%), and TikTok (12%).
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
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100.00% Responses
75.00%
0.00%
That said, though they may take longer to
Single Carousel Video Messenger Stories ads
produce, video ads are the more engaging format. image ads
Learn More
60.00% Responses
The rise of the influencer marketing space — today
a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year — is 40.00%
one of the clearest examples of how social media is
transforming traditional marketing.
20.00%
80.00% Responses
Preferred Influencer
TikTok at 23% which is nearly tied with Facebook at 22%.
Marketing Channels
Surprisingly, YouTube is extremely low in popularity at only 9%. This could be a
reaction to the surge in popularity of short-form videos. Even though YouTube
has a short video option, and is even making significant strides in helping
creators monetize Shorts, the platform is more well-known for long-form videos.
Which are the top 2 channels you find are most effective for your influencer marketing program?
60.00% Responses
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
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60.00% Responses
40.00%
Companies that do have an influencer program
work with 1-10 influencers on average.
20.00%
mean that the program is perhaps less robust, None 1-10 11-20 21-50 51+
If this means your social media manager continues to Dedicate the same amount
Learn More
However few companies are investing in external social listening AI is, of course, of huge interest, and 2024 will be a year of
software to help elevate their strategy and understand their tremendous change and growth when it comes to how teams
audience. As consumers get more discerning about where they use AI tools for saving time and strengthening their posts for
spend their time on social media, and how, it will be even more better engagement.
important for brands to have clarity not only about who their
audience is, but their social media habits as well. As we head into 2024, the world of social media marketing is
going to expand greatly, particularly with AI, but also given the
Learn how Meltwater’s Consumer Insights Tools can help you declining popularity of X as a platform. We can see from the
better understand your audience. survey that nearly half of respondents plan to spend less time
on X, choosing instead to focus efforts on other platforms.
Though influencer marketing is a proven and powerful channel for
brand awareness, fewer companies than expected say that they Discover more about how the microblogging space is changing
currently have a program dedicated to influencers. The landscape in our Marketing Trends 2024 guide.
of influencer marketing is complex and constantly evolving,
so it could be that brands are still hesitant to dive in and dedicate
significant time and energy toward it.
Request a Demo
Data & API Sales
Integration Intelligence
X (Formerly Twitter)
60.00% Instagram
TikTok
Snapchat
40.00%
LinkedIn
Pinterest
20.00% Reddit
YouTube
0.00% Twitch
Q3: B2B Q3: B2C Q3: NGO Q3: Agency Q3: Messenger
Government
Institution
100.00% Facebook
X (Formerly Twitter)
Instagram
TikTok
Snapchat
LinkedIn
75.00% Pinterest
Reddit
YouTube
Twitch
Messenger
WhatsApp
50.00%
Douyin
Jodel
LIHKG
LINE
Sina Weibo
25.00% Telegram
Vkontakte
WeChat
Xiaohongshu
Xing
Threads
0.00% Other
0.00%
Q3: B2B Q3: B2C Q3: NGO Q3: Agency Q3:
Government
Institution
30.00% Responses
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Sometimes
30.00% Occasionally
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Q3: B2B Q3: B2C Q3: NGO Q3: Agency Q3:
Government
Institution
I don’t know
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Q3: B2B Q3: B2C Q3: NGO Q3: Agency Q3:
Government
Institution
50 Responses
40
30
20
10
0
Average Budget
80.00% Yes
No
I don’t know
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
Q3: B2B Q3: B2C Q3: NGO Q3: Agency Q3:
Government
Institution
60.00% Responses
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%