Every year billions of dollars are spent on advertising on social media in the United States. In 2022, the amount reached ** billion U.S. dollars, and included paid advertising on social networks as well as games and applications on social media. By 2025, advertisers are expected to spend over ** billion dollars on promoting their products on social networks. Facebook commands the lion’s share of these expenditures (more than ** percent), followed by LinkedIn and Pinterest with * and * percent respectively. Social network advertising – a closer look   Studies show that a little over ** percent of U.S. companies are and will be using social media for marketing purposes. In 2017, social messaging and video were thought to be the trends of the future in relation to social media advertising and believed to have the biggest effect on marketing strategies. Lo and behold, advertising spending on social video has been growing ever since, and is expected to amount to nearly ** billion U.S dollars in 2021. Even in this respect, Facebook has the lead, especially when it comes to influencer marketing. In fact, all tiers of influencers - from microinfluencers to celebrities - post the majority of their videos on Facebook. The second choice of platform to share their videos is YouTube, which despite being 'the' video sharing platform is not as popular yet among influencers most probably due to smaller user reach.

During a 2024 survey among marketers worldwide, approximately 83 percent selected increased exposure as a benefit of social media marketing. Increased traffic followed, mentioned by 73 percent of the respondents, while 65 percent cited generated leads.

              The multibillion-dollar social media ad industry

              Between 2019 – the last year before the pandemic – and 2024, global social media advertising spending skyrocketed by 140 percent, surpassing an estimated 230 billion U.S. dollars in the latter year. That figure was forecast to increase by nearly 50 percent by the end of the decade, exceeding 345 billion dollars in 2029. As of 2024, the social media networks with the most monthly active users were Facebook, with over three billion, and YouTube, with more than 2.5 billion.

              Pros and cons of GenAI for social media marketing

              According to another 2024 survey, generative artificial intelligence's (GenAI) leading benefits for social media marketing according to professionals worldwide included increased efficiency and easier idea generation. The third place was a tie between increased content production and enhanced creativity. All those advantages were cited by between 33 and 38 percent of the interviewees. As for GenAI's top challenges for global social media marketing,
              maintaining authenticity and the value of human creativity ranked first, mentioned by 43 and 40 percent of the respondents, respectively. Another 35 percent deemed ensuring the content resonates as an obstacle.

The ad spending is forecast to experience significant growth in all segments in 2028. As part of the positive trend, the indicator achieves the maximum value across all two different segments by the end of the comparison period. Notably, the segment Social Media Advertising Mobile stands out with the highest value of ****** billion U.S. dollars. Find further statistics on other topics such as a comparison of the ad spending in the United States and a comparison of the ad spending in Germany.The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

During a 2025 survey among marketers worldwide, approximately 81 percent selected increased exposure as a benefit of social media marketing. Increased traffic followed, mentioned by 71 percent of the respondents, while 62 percent cited generated leads. The multibillion-dollar social media ad industry Between 2019, the last year before the pandemic, and 2024, global social media advertising spending skyrocketed by 140 percent, surpassing an estimated 230 billion U.S. dollars in the latter year. That figure was forecast to increase by nearly 50 percent by the end of the decade, exceeding 345 billion dollars in 2029. As of 2024, the social media networks with the most monthly active users were Facebook, with over three billion, and YouTube, with more than 2.5 billion. Pros and cons of GenAI for social media marketing According to another 2025 survey, generative artificial intelligence's (GenAI) leading benefits for social media marketing according to professionals worldwide included increased efficiency and easier idea generation. The third place was a tie between increased content production and enhanced creativity. All those advantages were cited by between 33 and 38 percent of the interviewees. As for GenAI's top challenges for global social media marketing, maintaining authenticity and the value of human creativity ranked first, mentioned by 43 and 40 percent of the respondents, respectively. Another 35 percent deemed ensuring the content resonates as an obstacle.

During a 2025 survey among marketers worldwide, around 83 percent reported using Facebook for marketing purposes. Instagram and LinkedIn followed, respectively mentioned by 78 and 69 percent of the respondents. The global social media marketing segment According to the same study, 60 percent of responding marketers intended to increase their organic use of YouTube for marketing purposes throughout that year. LinkedIn and Instagram followed with similar shares, rounding up the top three social media platforms attracting a planned growth in organic use among global marketers in 2025. Their main driver is increasing brand exposure and traffic, which led the ranking of benefits of social media marketing worldwide. Social media for B2B marketing Social media platform adoption rates among business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketers vary according to each subsegment's focus. While B2C professionals prioritize Facebook and Instagram, both run by Meta, Inc., due to their popularity among online audiences, B2B marketers concentrate their endeavors on Microsoft-owned LinkedIn due to its goal to connect people and companies in a corporate context.

In 2021, global social media advertising spending stood at around *** billion U.S. dollars. The source projected that this figure would more than double and exceed an all-time high of *** billion by 2028. Where to advertise in a sea of social media platforms? While there are many regional differences when it comes to social media usage and accessibility, some platforms reign supreme among users and advertisers alike. As of 2022, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram were the most popular social networks worldwide. Thanks to their massive audiences, these Meta-owned properties also ranked among the leading social media platforms for marketers. What makes advertising via these channels so appealing is not only the prospect of boosting brand awareness and generating leads but also the possibility to strengthen brands’ relationships with consumers via direct communication. Spotlight on influencer marketing In addition to posting photos and videos on their social media accounts and interacting with followers, companies can also enlist the help of content creators to drive visibility and potentially unlock new audiences. Over the past few years, the global influencer marketing market value has expanded rapidly and is now sized at an estimated **** billion U.S. dollars. Instagram remains the primary playground for this creator-driven form of online marketing, though apps like TikTok are also becoming more appealing to brands from around the world.

During a 2023 survey, ** percent of responding marketers from across the world stated they often or sometimes used Facebook ads in their work. According to the results of this survey, Facebook was the most used ad platform. Instagram ranked second, with ** percent of respondents saying they often or sometimes used ads on this platform.

According to a survey conducted in August 2024 in the United States, Facebook and Instagram were the most popular social media platforms among small to midsize businesses. Around ** percent of respondents reported using Facebook to promote products and services. Approximately ** percent of respondents mentioned the same for Instagram. TikTok and X had the lowest usage levels among SMBs.

As of early 2025, advertising on LinkedIn had the highest reach in the United States among the presented social networks, with **** percent. YouTube and Facebook followed, with **** and **** percent, respectively.

As of early 2025, advertising on YouTube had the highest reach in the United Kingdom among the presented social media platforms, at ** percent. LinkedIn and Facebook followed, with about ** and ** percent, respectively. An ad medium attractive for marketers… The UK is the third-largest social media market worldwide, behind the United States and China. The market was worth *** billion U.S. dollars in 2023 and was expected to grow to **** billion by 2028. In the same period, social media usage is also forecast to increase. Its penetration rate is projected to deepen from an already high ** percent to **** percent of internet users. …but not so trusted by consumers Popular as it is, social media advertising was the second-least trusted medium among adults in the UK in 2023. Only influencer ads scored lower. This holds true across all age groups, underscoring the fact that even though social media is especially popular among younger internet users, they do not necessarily trust everything they see there. In the age group of 18 to 34, cinema is the most trusted ad medium; among older adults, TV reigns supreme.

The ad spending in the 'Social Media Advertising' segment of the advertising market in Germany was modeled to be ************ U.S. dollars in 2024. Following a continuous upward trend, the ad spending has risen by ************ U.S. dollars since 2017. Between 2024 and 2030, the ad spending will rise by ************ U.S. dollars, continuing its consistent upward trajectory.Further information about the methodology, more market segments, and metrics can be found on the dedicated Market Insights page on Social Media Advertising.

During a 2025 survey, keeping up with content trends was one of the most significant challenges when advertising on social media, selected by ** percent of marketers worldwide. Calculating return on advertising spending (ROAS), or return on investment (ROI), and managing campaigns across multiple channels were cited by ** percent of respondents, respectively.

In 2024, social media advertising spending in the United States amounted to ** billion U.S. dollars, out of nearly *** billion total online media advertising spending forecast for that year.

During a 2024 survey, **** percent of responding marketing executives from across the globe stated that they were cutting down on social media spending as they were concerned about the implications for brand safety. Another ** percent said that they had concerns over disinformation on social media, but kept advertising because that is where the target audience was.

Recent evaluation of social media advertising metrics shows that the click-through rate (CTR) for social networks in the second quarter of 2024 reached **** percent. A quarter earlier, it stood at **** percent.

The reach by social network in the 'Total' segment of the digital advertising market in Indonesia was forecast to continuously increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total 39.7 million users (+17.35 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach 268.48 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the reach by social network of the 'Total' segment of the digital advertising market was continuously increasing over the past years.Find further information concerning Malaysia and Thailand. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

Over the last two observations, the average ad spending per internet user is forecast to significantly increase in all segments. Concerning the two selected segments, the segment Social Media Advertising Mobile has the largest average ad spending per internet user with ***** U.S. dollars. Contrastingly, Social Media Advertising Desktop is ranked last, with **** U.S. dollars. Their difference, compared to Social Media Advertising Mobile, lies at ***** U.S. dollars. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

The ad spending in the 'Social Media Advertising' segment of the advertising market in the United Kingdom was modeled to amount to ************* U.S. dollars in 2024. Following a continuous upward trend, the ad spending has risen by ************ U.S. dollars since 2017. Between 2024 and 2030, the ad spending will rise by ************ U.S. dollars, continuing its consistent upward trajectory.Further information about the methodology, more market segments, and metrics can be found on the dedicated Market Insights page on Social Media Advertising.

As of early 2025, advertising on Facebook had the highest reach in Germany among the presented social networks, with over **** percent. Youtube and Instagram followed, with ** percent and **** percent, respectively.

In 2021, **** percent of U.S. marketers in companies largest than 100 employees were expected to use social media for marketing purposes. In 2013, the share stood at **** percent. Social media marketing – additional informationEveryone knows that social media started as an entertainment tool and evolved to a powerful marketing tool. While it serves its primary purpose of connecting people, at the same time it plays a major role in connecting marketers with current and potential customers. Marketing professionals agreed that social media was very important to their business. In fact, ** percent agreed with it strongly. These convictions are reflected in growing expenditures towards this medium. In the United States alone, social media marketing spending is expected to exceed ** billion U.S. dollars in 2019 – almost ** billion increase, compared to 2014.When asked about the leading challenges of social media marketing, ** percent of surveyed marketers stated that assessing its effectiveness was their main concern, followed by strategy design and analyzing obtained data. In order to evaluate the effectiveness, U.S. social media specialists employed a number of measurements. Counting the number of hits, visits or page views was the leading social media metric used in 2014. In addition, ** percent of respondents believed that the number of friends or followers on social platforms was a significant indicator of marketing success.Specific platform usage among social media professionals varies depending on the type of commerce transaction. Twitter seems to be a shared platform, ranked second in usage for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries. The difference is visible when considering the primary spot. Among B2C marketers, ** percent used Facebook, while among B2B marketers, ** percent indicated using LinkedIn.