With a lot more time inside the home due to COVID-19, you may also be finding yourself spending a lot more time on social media sites like Twitter. Whether you’re tracking the news or looking for a distraction from your home office (or your couch), Twitter continues to be one of the top five most popular social networks in the US with over 20% of US internet users accessing Twitter on a monthly basis.
Whether or not you personally use Twitter, I would be willing to wager that your company has a Twitter account to promote your business. Perhaps your company even has multiple Twitter accounts—one for your main business promotions, one for helping customers, and another for building a community. Regardless, if you are not currently maintaining an active Twitter presence, you certainly should be.
“Twitter gives businesses a cost-effective method of engaging with their customer base,” says Susan Ward, owner of an IT consulting firm. “Twitter is a brand builder and marketing multiplier for businesses when used correctly.”
Yet, Twitter has changed immensely since its emergence into the social media world in 2006. Here are 40 Twitter statistics marketers should know to improve their strategies in 2020.
Twitter popularity statistics
1. There are 1.3+ BILLION accounts created on Twitter.
2. There are 330 million monthly active users on Twitter.
3. There are 152 million daily active users on Twitter.
4. There are 500 million tweets sent per day.
5. Twitter is the #1 platform for discovery with 79% of people on Twitter seeking to discover what’s new.
6. 42% of Twitter uses are on the platform daily.
7. The average tweeter spends 3.39 minutes on the platform per session
Key takeaways
Twitter is POPULAR! Okay, I do realize you likely already knew this fact, but understanding exactly how popular is critical as well. Not only are there millions of people logging onto to Twitter each month, but there are millions logging on every single day! People are also using the platform specifically to discover new things, whether it’s news stories, products, or experiences. And while 3.39 minutes daily spent on the platform may not seem like a lot, it is definitely plenty of time to be one of the new things that your target audience member discovers during their daily Twitter check.
Twitter demographic statistics
8. 56% of US Twitter audiences identify as male and 44% identify as female.
9. Out of all male internet users, 24% use Twitter.
10. Out of all female internet users, 21% use Twitter.
11. 22% of US adults use Twitter.
12. 30 million of Twitter’s daily users are American (with roughly 59 million total American users).
13. 79% of Twitter accounts are international users (accounting for 262 million users outside of the US).
14. There are more that 45 million Twitter users in Japan.
15. There are around 16 million Twitter users in the UK.
16. 38% of Twitter users in the US are between the ages of 18 and 29.
17. 26% of Twitter users are between 20 and 49 years old.
18. 80% of Twitter users are characterized as “affluent millenials.”
19. 42% of US Twitter users have a college degree (only 31% of the nation population does).
20. 36% of US Twitter users identify as Democrat, and 21% identify as Republican.
Key takeaways
Twitter is a very diverse environment made up of a variety of cultures, ethnicities, genders, races, ages, and political positions. Yet, there are some conclusions we can make about the mass in that the majority of Twitter users fall into the “affluent millennial” category. Twitter is most commonly used in the US, Japan, and the UK. Twitter is also clearly a platform more popular amount younger age groups, but has been growing in popularity amongst adults.
However, the main takeaway from all of these demographic statistics is that whoever your target audience is there is more then likely a large segment of them actively using Twitter. Lucky for you, like Facebook and Instagram, Twitter allows marketer to target adds based on a variety of demographic characteristics. Take advantage of the huge audience Twitter has and drill down to find your future customers on the platform.
Twitter marketing statistics
21. Time spent viewing ads online is 26% higher on Twitter compared to other leading platforms.
22. People on Twitter are 53% more likely to be the first to buy new products.
23. 93% of Twitter community members are open to brand presence on Twitter.
24. Twitter’s site referral traffic has grown 6% year-over-year.
25. Twitter ad engagement is up 23%.
26. Twitter users are more likely to like brands that are inclusive, culturally relevant, and transparent.
27. Tweets with hashtags get 100% more engagement.
28. 67% of B2B businesses use Twitter as a digital marketing tool.
29. The most popular Twitter emoji used is the “Face with Tears of Joy” used more then 2 billion times.
Key takeaways
Advertising on Twitter (if you are not already) is likely worth a short! Why? Not only do people spend more time on Twitter then other platforms, but they are more like the engage with your ads and actually make a purchase! What could be more ideal than that?
It is also critical to ensure all of your content is culturally inclusive. Ensure that your messages never come across in a negative way, taking into considerations a variety of beliefs and demographics.
Lastly, use hashtags and emojis! Posts with both of these get more engagement so why wouldn’t you use them? If your hashtag game is rusty, fear not, I wrote an entire comprehensive guide to hashtagging here.
Twitter video stats
30. Tweets with video get 10x more engagement.
31. People watch 2 billion videos on Twitter each day.
32. The #3 reason people use Twitter is to watch video.
33. Twitter ads with video are 50% cheaper in cost per engagement.
That’s a lot of views…
Key takeaways
Use video, duh! While we understand including video in every tweet could be a bit challenging, it is still critical to up your video game for Twitter. Also remember that you can of course tweet the same video more than once. Consider your video tweets as your most important tweets though, possibly even paying to promote these ones since watching videos is clearly what the people want to do. So give the people what they want, and tweet your videos out!
Twitter mobile stats
34. 80% of Twitter users access the platform on their mobile device.
35. 93% of video views are on mobile.
36. Mobile advertising revenue accounts for 88% of total advertising revenue.
Key takeaways
Investing in Twitter mobile ads is highly recommended. This is where your users are more than likely accessing the platform so ensuring your ads look top notch on mobile should be a key part of your Twitter strategy. The other thing you need to ensure is that your website and the content you are directing your users to from your tweets is mobile optimized as well. There is nothing worse than landing on a funky landing page that is not built for the mobile web.
Twitter during COVID-19 stats
37. Direct messaging has increased 30% since March 6.
38. The use of Twitter’s curated event page has increased 45%.
39. More users are seeing ads on Twitter, an average of 164 million daily, up 23% from Q1 2019.
40. Twitter expects Q2 revenue to be down YoY as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Key takeaways
More users are active on Twitter right now. If you’re looking for more ways to reach your customers and potential customers, your brand should maintain an active presence on Twitter—with all the other stats on the list, we’d recommend an active presence all the time, but it’s especially important right now.