‘Tis the season for friends and family, cozy nights around the fire and appreciating all that this year has brought us. It’s also a great time to plan for next year!

Here at Lightspan, we love data! So we pulled together 12 social media statistics into 12 Days of Social Media.

Each day, we’ll highlight a social media statistic and provide a tip of how you can leverage your social media marketing in 2013. Follow the hashtag #12daysSM and come back tomorrow to see the next statistic and tip.

Day 1: 60% of Pinterest users are women, while 50% of all users have children.

Lesson? Go where your audiences are. Mommy bloggers are on Pinterest, simple as that. Do your research and find the social media channels that best suit your targeted audiences.

 

Day 2: 56% of customers’ tweets to companies are being ignored.

Think about it this way, 56% of your customers are then going to find another company that WILL respond to them. Questions, concerns and comments should always be responded to, and in a timely fashion.

 

Day 3: 43% of B2B companies acquired customers on Facebook.

Many B2B businesses feel that there is no need to use social media because their audiences are not there. This is incorrect. At Lightspan Digital, we have been able to help several B2Bs become innovators in the social space!

Day 4: 400 million – the number of users Google+ is expected to attract by the end of 2012.

Google+ is only expected to continue growing. If you feel that this medium is a place where your consumers may go, it might be a good option to keep Google+ in mind as a new social channel.

 

Day 5: 40% of brands have adopted Instagram for marketing.

Instagram can be a valuable tool for your business. Consumers love to see exclusive behind-the-scene photos and feel like they are a part of your brand. Check out some examples on how brands are using Instagram. Also if you sell a product, photos are a great opportunity for user generated content. Get your customers to submit photos using your merchandise.

 

Day 6: 69% of follows on Twitter are suggested by friends.

If you don’t already do the #FF (Follow Friday) trend, consider doing so. Each Friday, write an #FF post tagging someone already in your community, along with others that you wish would be so. Another effective medium is to dedicate an entire #FF tweet to one person, stating why they’re worth following!

 

Day 7: 15% of a brand’s Pinterest engagement occurs on the brand’s boards; 85% occurs elsewhere.

What does this mean? Don’t just pin and walk away. Engage with your fellow pinners and comment on pins that fans pinned on their own. Repin from other sources! Engagement is engaging with the audience—don’t slack on this with Pinterest just as you wouldn’t with Facebook or Twitter.

 

Day 8: 1 million websites have integrated with Facebook in various ways.

24.3% of the top 10,000 websites in the world have some form of Facebook integration on their homepage and the average media site integrated with Facebook has seen a 300% increase in referral traffic. How do you add Facebook functionality to your website? Here’s 10 ways!

 

Day 9: 70% – that’s how much more money Pinterest referrals spend versus nonsocial visitors.

Use Pinterest to your advantage! Pin products, blog posts and creative ideas! Each pin can link to your website for further details. When pinning a product, be sure to add a price as research shows that this garners more traffic (read the next stat).