Marketing Paradise, a digital marketing agency, has released its study titled “Social Media in Major Brands 2024,” analyzing the strategies employed by these companies on social networks. The insights provided serve as a guide for designing the path forward in 2024.
The results are based on a sample of 73 highly relevant brands, including diverse ones such as Pascual, Mango, Milanuncios, Leroy Merlin, Samsung, Freepik, and Iberdrola. These brands maintain active accounts on social media platforms, targeting Spanish users, with high visibility in Spain and significant activity in the social media sphere. Additionally, the study has been complemented with responses from key executives of these companies through 28 both quantitative and qualitative questions.
Instagram: The Most Important Social Network for Brands
One striking result is that Meta’s platforms are the most used by brands: all of them have a presence on Instagram, with 91.3% also present on Facebook. TikTok comes in third place, with 82.6% of brands present, followed by LinkedIn (75.4%) and X (68.1%). Instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and other private communities account for only 29%. Looking ahead, the majority of surveyed companies (53.8%) do not plan to join any new social networks, while 12.3% are eyeing TikTok as their next target.
When asked, “Which social network is most important for your brand?” a surprising 75.4% chose Instagram. The remainder was divided among LinkedIn (11.6%), TikTok (7.2%), Facebook, and others (2.9% each).
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “does not generate direct business” and 10 being “the channel that generates the most business,” companies were asked, “How much business does organic social media generate for you?” 62.5% of brands fall on the positive side, indicating that social media does generate business, although it doesn’t seem to be very significant for them. 20.3% rate the importance of this channel at 5 out of 10.
Regarding the percentage of organic web traffic generated by social media, 72.5% of brands claim it is up to 15%, while 17.4% state that traffic falls between 15% and 30%. Only a small group of brands, 10.1%, assert that their social media accounts generate between 30% and 50% or more of organic traffic to their website.
Social Tactics in Major Brands
According to Marketing Paradise’s study, content planning holds significant weight in brands’ social media strategies. 26.1% of them plan all their social media posts, while 31.9% plan up to 15%. Conversely, only 7.2% of brands improvise more than 50% of their content.
Engagement (60%) is considered the most important KPI for measuring results on social media, followed by reach or views (30%). Similarly, the number of followers is a fundamental metric, with 86.9% considering it most important.
Regarding influencer actions, 76.6% of brands rate their work with influencers with scores equal to or higher than 5, stating that it met their expectations. 60% of companies pursued brand awareness with these actions, while 30% aimed to reach an audience. Additionally, for 82.7% of brands, User Generated Content (UGC) is a highly important action.
Investment and Resources
The study reflects that 50.7% of brands handle organic social media with an in-house team, while 30.4% adopt a hybrid model, with part of the strategy managed in-house and part with agencies. Finally, 18.8% outsource the entire strategy to agencies.
Similarly, 39.1% of companies manage paid social media with an in-house team, while 34.8% adopt a hybrid model, and 26.1% outsource it entirely.
Regarding the budget allocated by companies for organic social media in 2024, 29% will invest up to 30,000 euros, while 20.3% will invest more than 100,000 euros. Additionally, 14.5% will invest between 30,000 and 70,000 euros, and 11.6% will invest between 70,000 and 100,000 euros.
For paid social media budgets in 2024, the majority (33.3%) will invest more than 100,000 euros, followed by 18.8% who will invest up to 30,000 euros, 13% between 30,000 and 70,000 euros, and 10.1% between 70,000 and 100,000 euros.
