THE STATE OF SOCIAL MARKETING2 Social media is still a relatively new marketing channel and continuallyevolves, with new networks, updates, and features. These constantdevelopments challenge us to keep up with trends and use noveltechnology to capture the attention of audiences who are drawn tovisually stimulating, thought-provoking, and easily digestible content. We are excited to share with you the results from our annual State ofSocial Marketing Survey, which was expanded this year to include theglobal marketing community. Responses were collected from marketersaround the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom,Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan,Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa,Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam, and more. This year’s report also provides insight from the varying perspectivesof brands and agencies. In-house marketing teams experience uniquechallenges and are offered different opportunities from agency professionalsworking with numerous clients. We wanted this report to reflect both sides. Whether brand or agency, social media is a foundational marketingstrategy and—if properly tracked and analyzed—has the ability to impact the buyer’s journey at allstages in the funnel. However, marketers still find difficulty quantifying the impact of social media andare unsure of how to distribute resources to generate the most value from their social campaigns. With currently 2.8 billion social media users globally, expected to rise to almost 3 billion usersby 2020, social media’s infuence has still not reached its peak. The purpose of this reportis to serve as a resource for marketing professionals that use, or plan to use,social media in their marketing strategies. Simply Measured shares data from our studies and surveys,in addition to other sources, to identify how marketers can fully leverage the power of social media.You’ll learn: How the biggest social networks are evolvingWhich key trends in the social marketing industry you need to pay attention toWhere social marketers struggle and where they thriveWhich platforms your audience uses the most, and for which purposeHow to inform and modify your social marketing plan A LETTER FROM THE AUTHORSLucy Hitz Head of Marketing Comm. Head of Marketing Comm.Bryan Blackburn Content Marketing Manager THE STATE OF SOCIAL MARKETING3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter From the Authors2 Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 5 Key Topics5 Key Findings5 Social Business 6 State of Social Media Organization 7 Social Media’s Potential Impact11 The Challenges Social Marketers Face in 201714 Conversations About Social ROI16 The State of Industry Practices 17 Areas of Focus in 2017 17 Marketers Struggle to Fund Social Analytics Software 19 Paid Social 21 The Rise of Infuencer Marketing25 The State of Social Networks 31 Active Users Across the Globe31 Social Is Ever-Evolving 33 State of Facebook 34 Facebook’s Audience34 Facebook Network Updates35 Facebook Timeline 36 State of Twitter 37 Twitter’s Audience 37 Twitter Network Updates38 Twitter Timeline 39 State of Instagram 40 Instagram’s Audience 40 Instagram Network Updates41 Instagram Timeline 42 THE STATE OF SOCIAL MARKETING4 TABLE OF CONTENTS State of YouTube 43 YouTube’s Audience 43 YouTube Network Updates 44 YouTube Timeline45 State of Snapchat46 Snapchat’s Audience46 Snapchat Network Updates47 Snapchat Timeline48 State of LinkedIn49 LinkedIn’s Audience49 LinkedIn Network Updates 50 LinkedIn Timeline51 State of Pinterest52 Pinterest’s Audience 52 Pinterest Network Updates 53 Pinterest Timeline54 State of Tumblr55 Tumblr’s Audience 55 Tumblr Network Updates56 Tumblr Timeline57 Conclusion 58 Social Analytics59 Citations60 About Simply Measured61 。。。。。。