10 EYE-OPENING SOCIAL MEDIA FACTS FROM 2013

To say that social media was big news in 2013 is an understatement. 

While it has been a trending topic for a few years now, 2013 was the most notable. 2013 turned social media critics into supporters, brands into customers and marketers everywhere into advocates. Prior to 2013, many people and brands, Google's Eric Schmidt included, underestimated the growth and value of social media. 

Eric Schmidt admitted, "At Google, the biggest mistake I made was not anticipating the rise of social networking phenomenon. Not a mistake we're going to make again." 

Social media has finally proven its stake in the marketing world, and brands have realized the potential it offers. It's safe to say that social media is here to stay; at least for now. Here are 10 eye-opening social media facts for 2013:

• Facebook has reached 1.15+ billion users


• 23% of these users access their Facebook account more than 5 times per day


• 74% of marketers believe that Facebook is important to their lead generation strategy


• Twitter's fastest growing demographic are users between the age of 55 and 64


• On average, 400 million tweets are being sent each day


• Google+ has exceeded 500 million total users


• 40% of marketers use Google+, with 67% planning to increase their Google+ activities this year


• LinkedIn now has 238+ million users. 50% of those users have a Bachelor's or Masters degree


• Instagram has exceeded 130+ million users


• Procrastinating and not participating in Social Media now comes at a great cost. There is not a fast track way to catch up.

Amazed? The sheer volume of social media users is not only incredible, but also means that your customers are on social media sites. Here are a few tips on how to take advantage of it:

1. Get active on the accounts that make sense for your brand. If you were targeting a mostly male audience, than Pinterest would probably not be the best platform for your business. Think about your audience, research their habits and choose social media networks that make the most sense.

2. Post consistent, relevant content. You must be committed to using social media for it to benefit you. If you want to leverage social media to your best ability, you must consistently post and maintain an active presence on your sites. Remember that your brand and audience are essential components to the topics you choose to post.

3. Take a stab at advertising. Advertising on social media offers great targeting features soyou can dial in on your audience. It will also help to boost your brand and content, all while receiving additional exposure for your business.