20 Facebook Stats to Guide Your 2021 Facebook Strategy

As the oldest and widest-reaching social network around, Facebook boasts a staggering number nearly of 2.8 billion monthly active users.

When creating an effective Facebook marketing strategy, brands must first understand who is on the platform and how they’re using it.

Facebook demographics

Who makes up the billions of Facebook users? They hail from countries around the world and are represented in all of the age ranges.

1. Users ages 25–34 years are the largest demographic

In the distribution of global Facebook users, 19.3% were male users between 25 and 34 years old and 13.1% were female users in the same age range. While Facebook users can be found at all ages, 72.8% are within the 18–44 years old range.

2. India has the most amount of Facebook users in the world

Among countries with Facebook users, India by and far has the largest number of users at 310 million. It is not so closely followed by the U.S. with 190 million and Indonesia with 140 million. But as you can see, global usage distribution is not limited to the U.S., which is good news for international businesses or brands who are considering an international expansion.

3. 32% of 12–34 year-olds use Facebook the most

Of all U.S. social media users surveyed, 32% of those aged 12–34 identified Facebook as the social media platform that they used the most often. This is a drastic drop from only five years ago when the top usage was at 58%.

4. 86% of internet users with $100k+ income use Facebook

The distribution of internet users using Facebook is relatively similar among all U.S. household income levels. The lowest percentage is 81% of $60–$70k earners and the highest is 88% of $30–$60k earners. For advertisers, this is good news because it means that your tailored ads can target different income levels without worrying about a low target count.

Facebook usage statistics

While it’s good to know what the basic demographics are for Facebook users, it’s also important to note how these people use the platform. How frequently do they check Facebook and what do they use to access it? Knowing both can help tailor your content type.

5. 2.79 billion people globally use Facebook

As the most-used social platform in the world, Facebook boasts a global number of 2.79 billion users. Within the U.S., this number is expected to grow from 228.6 million currently to 237.8 million by 2025. The projected number comprises 69.1% of the U.S. population. The growth in usage penetration is small, only increasing 1.9 percentage points over four years.

6. Facebook users almost exclusively use mobile to access Facebook

Among its many users, 98.3% of them accessed Facebook via any kind of mobile device and 79.9% of users only used mobile. This is particularly important for businesses who have Facebook Pages. When crafting Facebook ads and posts on the desktop site, you still need to ensure that they look good on mobile, too.

7. 73% of U.S. Facebook users log in daily

A significant amount of people who use Facebook log in on a daily basis. On a weekly basis, the number increases to 93% of users. Login frequencies can affect how often you run your ads and create brand posts.

8. 36% of Americans get their news from Facebook

When surveyed about their news sources, 53% of Americans say they get it “often” or “sometimes” via social media sites, with Facebook at the top of the list.

Despite 59% of those who rarely seek news on social media believe the news on social media is largely inaccurate, social media still functions as a news source for a significant amount of people. Because of widespread misinformation, Facebook recently implemented new fact-checking policies to ensure that the news being shared is accurate.

9. 57% of U.S. social media users use Facebook to share content

In a February 2019 Statista report on what U.S. social media users do on the networks, it was found that 65% of them use Facebook to view photos.

Facebook is still a personal networking site, though. Of all the networks, it ranked the highest in use of sharing content with everyone (57%). This is closely followed by 46% of users watching videos and 43% sharing content one to one.

10. The highest engagement time on Facebook is Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Through user data, Sprout has identified the best times to post on each social network. But because 2020 was a year that had some significant usage changes that are expected to stay for 2021, the best times for engagement have been updated.

While every weekday at 11 a.m. CST are high engagement times, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10–11 a.m. were shown to also rank high. If there is a drastic shift in working from home to back in the office, then it’s likely that the engagement times will change again.

11.The average engagement rate per Facebook post is 0.27%

In a 2020 study, it was found that the average engagement rate per Facebook post across all industries was 0.27%.

In the same study, when comparing industries, politics beat out every category at a 0.90% engagement rate per post. This is perhaps unsurprising given the amount of social media chatter that politics took up due to 2020 being an election year in the U.S.

12. Two-thirds of Facebook users visit a local business Page weekly

Across all the countries that Facebook users are in, two-thirds of them report visiting the Page of a local business at least once a week. Make sure that your business’s Facebook Page is updated with your latest information.

Facebook ad stats

Facebook ads are the bread and butter of the company’s profits. There are both general averages and industry averages for Facebook ad spending. And these days, it takes more than a pretty picture and witty copy to craft an impactful Facebook ad strategy. Use these stats to bolster your knowledge about Facebook ads.

13. Facebook’s total ad revenue is $20.7 billion

In a 2020 Q4 earnings call, Facebook revealed that its total advertising revenue was $20.7 billion. The company recorded a 25% year over year growth in this revenue stream. Some speculated that the global pandemic shifted many retailers to focus on the online space, thereby increasing their Facebook ad spending.

14. The average Facebook CPM is $5.31 & CPC is $0.43

Across all channels that are available in Facebook’s Ads Manager, the average cost per thousand (CPM) is $5.31. This number steadily rose through 2020. For the average cost per click (CPC), though, the number remained relatively stable at $0.43.

15. Facebook has the most ads & highest CTR

Facebook Ads Manager offers four different ad placements: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network. Of these four, Facebook dominated at 45.2% of ads placement preference with good reason. The click-through rate (CTR) on Facebook is 3.90%, much higher than the next placement of Audience Network at 0.99%.

16. Status ad creative type has the highest CTR

Among all the creative types available in Facebook ads, status ads have the highest CTR of 6.65%. This is a little surprising, given that video ($157.15) and share ($146.16) have the two highest average spends. Status ads are averaging only $58.27 in ad spend.

If you are looking for a higher CTR in your ads and you’ve been investing in video ads, perhaps test out status ads instead. They’re a lower investment and are easy to execute.

Facebook features stats

Facebook has many different features from Groups to videos. There are many to keep track of and only a few of these features are highly relevant for brands. If you’re looking to try a different tactic in your Facebook marketing strategy, here are some stats to get you going.

17. More than 1.4 billion people are using Facebook Groups every month

With guidelines that recommended against in-person gatherings, people looked for more ways to stay connected than over. In its annual Communities Summit, Facebook revealed that a stunning 1.4 billion people are using Facebook Groups on a monthly basis. Because of this rise in Group use, the social platform revealed several new features to make Group posting and admin monitoring easier than ever.

18. 26% of Facebook Group users’ primary group is around a hobby or activity

It’s no surprise that Groups usage increased during the pandemic. In a new survey, Facebook found that 26% of users’ primary Group is built around a hobby. That same survey noted that 86% of Facebook Group users  whose groups are primarily online will continue engaging in their group at either the same level (48%) or more frequently (39%).

Given this increase of Group use, understanding not just why people but use Groups but also how is paramount to implementing a Facebook Group marketing strategy.

19. 15% of all Facebook content is video

Between Live and native videos, video content totaled to 15% of all content on the network. In 2020, most of this video content (71%) is actually published by Pages with over 100k fans.

20. Vertical videos generate the highest engagement rate

Between landscape, square and vertical formats, vertical wins out on the highest average engagement rate of 0.35%.

This being said, landscape videos are still the most popular format on the network, making up 52% of videos. Square videos make up 33% and vertical videos 15%. Social media video marketing can support multiple different goals and all the stages of the buyer’s journey.

Conclusion

Now more than ever, it’s important for businesses to hone in on their online presence. As the most-used social media platform in the world, it seems to reason that Facebook should be near the top of your list.

Facebook Groups and ads are now more significant for brands than before. If you’re stuck on how to increase your brand’s engagement, explore these ideas to boost your Facebook engagement.