Since social media is changing so often, it can be hard to keep up with stats and trends that affect how you use it. I quite often forget the facts that I’ve read, or I use Twitter based on stats that are outdated now.
In fact, when I recently looked at some of the latest social media statistics, it hit me that the fastest growing demographic on Twitter is is the 55–64 year age bracket. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s changed.
In case you’re in the same boat with me, I gathered up some really interesting Twitter stats that can help you improve the way you reach your followers. Especially when trying to gear up for the new social media for business, being in the know of the latest stats is more valuable than ever.
1. Twitter engagement for brands is 17 percent higher on weekends
I guess not many people know about this one, because only 19 percent of brands tweet on the weekends. If you’re trying to encourage your followers to engage with you on Twitter but you don’t want to work over the weekend, you could use Buffer to schedule tweets to be sent while you’re having a sleep-in.
Social media scientist Dan Zarrella also found in one of his Twitter experiments that click-through rates were higher on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
2. Tweets with image links get 2x the engagement rate of those without
Just like on Facebook, photos are more engaging for Twitter users.
Here’s how you can Buffer images right from the Web.
3. Tweets with less than 100 characters get 17 percent more engagement
This is another stat that was similar for Facebook. Shorter posts tend to garner more engagement on both platforms.
If you’re posting tweets with links, Dan Zarrella’s research shows that 120–130 characters will be your sweet spot.
4. Twitter’s fastest growing demographic is 55–64 year-olds
If you’re looking at growing your audience, you might want to look at new Twitter users, which are most likely in the older age brackets. As Twitter’s user base grows, you’ll have a wider variety of users to target, supposing they’re all part of your market.
This largely overlaps with the general Social Media statistics, Social Media definitely working its way up the age demographic.
5. Tweets with hashtags get 2x more engagement
Having said that, keep the hashtags to a minimum. One or two will get you 21 percent more engagement than if you add 3 or more. This could be because hashtags often connect a tweet to a particular topic or Twitter chat that others are following or interested in. Keep appropriate hashtags in mind when posting, especially if engagement is something you’re looking to improve.
It’s especially interesting to look at the history of the Twitter hashtag. The rise of the power of the hashtag is no surprise as a result.
6. 66 percent of user-generated tweets that mention brands come from mobile users
There are a few things to keep in mind when targeting mobile users. Ensuring that you link to mobile-friendly sites is a good start. Linking to Twitter usernames of people you mention and adding hashtags can also be helpful for mobile users, who might want to find out more without opening new browser windows or searching in their Twitter client.
So being equipped with a great social media publishing tool for mobile is now more important than ever. It’ll be interesting how the shift to mobile will become even more obvious in the coming months and years.
7. Twitter users who mostly use a mobile device are 181 percent more likely to be on Twitter during their commute
When you’re tweeting, think about where your audience is, and what they might be doing. If it’s early in the morning, they might be commuting to the office—this is actually a great time to get them, as they’re probably bored and looking for something interesting to occupy them during this time.
These users are also 119 percent more likely to use Twitter during work or school hours, so don’t write off these times as being no good for tweeting—at least until you try them. Dinner time, on the other hand, is probably not the best time to catch your followers, as you can see in the image below.
