Metricool just released their 2023 Social Network Study. Here are the highlights.
Facebook:
- Reels (video): increased 6x in 2023, and Reel engagement is up by 33%
- Posts (stills): decreased reach and interactions
- More people are watching videos without engaging. So your content may be getting seen, but you’re just not getting interactions.
- For accounts under 2,000 followers, in 2023, the average number of posts was 2-3 per week PLUS one Reel every other week.
- Trend: Facebook is pushing Reels more, so adapt accordingly
X/Twitter:
- Average daily users has dropped, but it’s still an important platform.
- For accounts under 2,000 followers in 2023, the average number of posts was 5-8 per week
- Unlike with Facebook, X users are engaging more with the posts they see, especially on small accounts
- Trend: increasingly helpful for brand awareness
LinkedIn:
- Overall views are down
- But post shares have increased by 33%. So content appears to be getting to the right audiences.
- For accounts under 2,000 followers, the average number of posts was 2-2.6 per week
- Trend: LinkedIn is becoming “more about content and interaction than recruiting.”. And for posts, focus on quality over quantity
Pinterest:
- Pinterest remains the best platform for discovery
- Engagement is up 32% and continues to generate traffic to your website
- The average pin is clicked 19.6 times.
- The average post link is clicked 1.2 times
- Trend: Pinterest is moving towards being a network for direct purchases. “Visual quality will be a key point to stand out and get as many interactions and clicks as possible.”
Instagram:
- Stories are getting more reach and impressions, especially for tiny accounts
- Posts (stills) are down and Reels (video) are up
- For accounts under 2,000 followers, the average number of posts each week was 2, PLUS one Reel
- Reels (videos) perform at least twice as well as Posts (stills)
- Reels perform best when you want to reach people who aren’t familiar with your brand
- Carousels perform best when you want to interact with your community
- Stills don’t perform as well as carousels with followers, though interactions with carousels are lower
- If you don’t have trend data on your audience, post at 8pm. Second-best is 3pm, even on weekends.
- Trends: Stories and Reels will continue to perform better than Posts (stills)
TikTok:
- For accounts under 2,000 followers, the average number of videos each week was 2.1-2.9
- Trend: fewer but longer videos. The average is now 55 seconds.
- Google Business Profile:
- 22.5% increase in mobile impressions on Google Maps
- The average Google Business Profile got 136 clicks in 2023
- Google Business Profile posts grab more space in Google’s search results
YouTube:
- Posting frequency is up across all channels and sizes. Content production has grown by 27%.
- For accounts with 0-500 followers, the average is 3.49 posts per week. For 500-2,000 followers, the average is 12.31 posts per week (!)
- Interactions are down
Overall Takeaways from the Social Network Study:
- The algorithms are getting more accurate, meaning that the platforms are doing a better job of serving the right content to the right people
- Video formats are still on the rise. It’s important to have engaging visual content.
- Smaller accounts get more engagement.