Last updated May 2026 · 20 statistics

Social media marketing statistics 2026: budgets, ROI, AI usage

A 2026 reference of social media marketing statistics from named sources: marketing budgets, channel ROI, content format performance, AI tool adoption, and time-spent benchmarks. Every stat has a citation URL.

This is a reference page for social media marketing statistics in 2026. Every entry has a named source and a citation URL. We rebuild the list quarterly so old numbers get replaced rather than accumulated.

Stats are organized by category. Click any stat ID to deep-link to it.

Global User Base

5.17B

Social media has 5.17 billion active users worldwide as of 2025.

Statista headcount of active social media accounts, not unique individuals, as reported in Hootsuite's 2026 statistics roundup.

Source: Statista, cited by Hootsuite · January 2025 · #global-user-base-1

2h 21min

The average person worldwide spends 2 hours and 21 minutes per day on social media.

DataReportal's global average across all age groups; the figure represents the first sustained plateau after years of consecutive growth.

Source: DataReportal, cited by Hootsuite · January 2025 · #global-user-base-2

Marketing Budgets & Spend

$317.33B

Global social media advertising spend is projected to reach $317.33 billion in 2026.

Statista's digital advertising outlook covers paid placements across all major social platforms worldwide.

Source: Statista, cited by Sprout Social · January 2026 · #marketing-budgets-spend-1

80%

80% of marketing leaders plan to shift budget away from other channels and toward social media.

Survey of marketing decision-makers measuring planned reallocation from traditional and other digital channels toward social.

Source: Sprout Social · January 2026 · #marketing-budgets-spend-2

~30%

Social media ads capture roughly 30 cents of every dollar spent on digital advertising.

Expressed as '$3 in every $10 spent on digital advertising' flowing to social platforms in Sprout Social's 2026 statistics compilation.

Source: Sprout Social · January 2026 · #marketing-budgets-spend-3

ROI by Channel

54%

54% of global marketers report Facebook delivers the highest ROI of any social platform.

Based on a September 2025 global marketer survey; Facebook leads over Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn by a wide margin.

Source: Sprout Social · September 2025 · #roi-by-channel-1

85%

85% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn delivers the highest ROI of any social media platform.

Statista survey of B2B-focused marketers; the result reflects LinkedIn's dominance in professional targeting and lead generation.

Source: Statista, cited by Hootsuite · January 2025 · #roi-by-channel-2

87%

87% of marketers expect their paid social media spend to increase over the next 12 months.

Forward-looking intent data from Sprout Social's 2026 statistics report; signals continued confidence in paid social returns.

Source: Sprout Social · January 2026 · #roi-by-channel-3

Short-Form Video Performance

71%

71% of video marketers identify short-form video as their top ROI-generating content format.

Statista survey from December 2024; short-form video ranked above long-form, live video, and static image content.

Source: Statista, cited by Sprout Social · December 2024 · #short-form-video-performance-1

91.51 shares

Instagram Reels generate an average of 91.51 shares per post, versus 39.96 shares for standard image posts.

Statista 2025 engagement data comparing Reels to non-video posts on Instagram; the share rate is roughly 2.3 times higher for Reels.

Source: Statista, cited by Sprout Social · January 2025 · #short-form-video-performance-2

52%

52% of Instagram users prefer short-form video content under 60 seconds over any other format.

Only 19% of Instagram users favor long-form video exceeding 60 seconds, per the same Sprout Social 2026 Content Strategy Report.

Source: Sprout Social 2026 Content Strategy Report · January 2026 · #short-form-video-performance-3

Video Advertising & Reach

82%

82% of marketers report a positive return on investment from social media video marketing in 2026.

2026 survey compiled by Sprout Social; the figure spans both paid and organic video campaigns across multiple social platforms.

Source: Sprout Social · January 2026 · #video-advertising-reach-1

2.3x ROAS

YouTube Shorts ads deliver 2.3 times higher long-term return on ad spend than comparable paid social placements.

Google Business data on YouTube Shorts ad performance versus other paid social, cited in Sprout Social's 2026 video statistics.

Source: Google, cited by Sprout Social · January 2026 · #video-advertising-reach-2

138.9M/min

138.9 million Facebook and Instagram Reels are watched every minute globally.

Statista figure from December 2024 covering combined Reels consumption on both Meta platforms worldwide.

Source: Statista, cited by Hootsuite · December 2024 · #video-advertising-reach-3

AI Tool Adoption by Marketing Teams

~180% YoY

AI usage among social media marketers grew by nearly 180% year-over-year, per Hootsuite's 2025 Social Trends Report.

Hootsuite measured adoption across idea generation, image creation, and copywriting tasks inside social media team workflows.

Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2025 Report · January 2025 · #ai-tool-adoption-by-marketing-teams-1

83%

83% of social media marketers say AI tools help them produce significantly more content than before.

Top AI use cases cited were writing copy, generating images, and ideation; output volume rose without proportional headcount growth.

Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2025 Report · January 2025 · #ai-tool-adoption-by-marketing-teams-2

63%

63% of video marketers have used AI tools to create or edit marketing videos as of 2026.

Sprout Social's 2026 video statistics survey; adoption spans scripting, editing, captioning, and thumbnail generation tasks.

Source: Sprout Social · January 2026 · #ai-tool-adoption-by-marketing-teams-3