April Q2 Statshot Report Takeaways
Insights from Hootsuite’s Latest April Q2 Statshot Report
Written by: Amanda Wood
The number of global internet users hit a very big milestone. A social network you might not have thought about lately saw huge user growth. And one of the big social networks (guess who?) just broke the record for the most money ever earned by a mobile app in a single quarter… by collecting tips for creators.
Like everything else in 2022, the world of social and digital has been full of surprises. Let’s take a look at a few of the biggest ones from our April Q2 Statshot report. Created in partnership with We Are Social and packed with the latest data, it has all the fresh stats and insights you need to keep your social media strategy on track this year.
Internet users surpass 5 billion and social media growth slows
This quarter’s report reveals an internet milestone—there are now over 5 billion internet users around the globe. To put this number into perspective, the increase in global internet users represents growth of nearly 200 million since this time last year, and figures indicate that 63% of the world’s total population now uses the internet. Despite this significant growth, there were still 2.9 billion who did not use the internet as of April 2022, representing 37% of the global population.
It will be compelling to see how global access to the internet will develop in the coming years as internet adoption continues to grow.
While global internet usage has grown, social media user growth rates have slowed over the past three months compared with the quarterly growth rates we’ve seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people using social media has increased by just 0.7% over the last three months. For comparison, there was a 3.1% increase between January and April 2021. Meanwhile, eMarketer reports that the number of global social network users will increase by just 2.9% this year—the slowest growth rate since they began forecasting social network usage in 2009. But, while it might sound like a bad news story, it's really not.
We’ve been anticipating this slowdown for some time now—and many experts are still asking whether this effect is just a rebound from the record high adoption rates of the last two years or whether social media adoption has truly hit market saturation. While the number of people on social networks may not be changing all that quickly, the choice of platforms and the ways in which they’re being used are quickly evolving —and that’s where some of the biggest opportunities for users, creators, and marketers will take shape in the months and years ahead.
User activity across different platforms
While the general adoption of social media may be slowing, our data tells us that users are still rapidly diversifying the ways they use and engage with social networks.
One of the new additions to this quarter’s report explores users’ activities across different social media platforms. I love this new addition because it’s the perfect example of how brands must tailor their content for different platforms: ultimately, users are often present on more than one and use each platform for a myriad of different purposes.
For example, 7 in 10 Facebook users say they use the platform to communicate with friends and family, making this the most popular activity on Facebook. Meanwhile, just 15% of TikTok’s users say that they use the platform for that kind of communication. Our data clearly demonstrates that TikTok is an entertainment channel, with a massive 77% of the platform’s users saying that they use TikTok to look for funny and entertaining content. Meanwhile, Instagram and Snapchat users are most interested in publishing their own content.
The takeaway is that social networks are not monoliths. We can reasonably expect that the next phase of growth for social networks will come from diversification of the platforms themselves—giving users the opportunity to have many different types of experiences within the same platform.
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The creator economy booms on TikTok
According to our report, TikTok’s ad audience reach grew faster in the first three months of 2022 than it did in the final three months of 2021. TikTok saw a quarter-over-quarter increase of 9.6% in advertising reach.
While the number of TikTok users is skyrocketing—which is no surprise—the bigger story this quarter is that TikTok users have spent more than USD $620 million on TikTok and USD $220 million on the platform’s Chinese sister app Douyin in the last three months. This is the largest sum ever earned by a mobile app in a single quarter.
What makes these numbers particularly impressive is that they only include in-app purchases of the platformThe ’s “coins,” which allow users to buy virtual gifts for creators—basically, tipping. These figures do not include advertising spend, nor do they include marketing deals struck between brands and influencers. This spending is yet another signal that the creator economy is booming.
As a social media marketing manager, I find this data particularly exciting. As we described in our Social Trends 2022 report, brands are finally getting community right with the help of creators. Digital communities have never been richer, more vibrant, and more impactful on our experience of daily life than they are now. And nowhere are these communities being created—and catered to—more than on social media.
Across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat, there’s no shortage of ways for creators to build and sustain their communities, or for brands to support them. This latest surge in quarterly spending on TikTok coins is a promising signal of a booming creator economy—and, speculatively, just a small hint at what’s to come.
I encourage you to explore creator campaigns if you haven’t already. Start these conversations and lean in—you might be surprised by the different ways you can amplify your message through creators that align with your organization’s values.
The role of digital in the workplace
It’s not all fun and games on social media. Nearly two-thirds (63.2%) of professionals between the ages of 16 and 64 say they use social media for daily work communication. Unsurprisingly, younger generations are much more likely to use social media for professional communications. Roughly 9 in 10 Gen Z professionals say that they use social media for work conversations, while fewer than 6 in 10 Baby Boomers use social media for any kind of work communication.
The latest data reveals that email has shown tremendous resilience, with almost 95% of survey respondents confirming that email remains an essential part of their working life. If this is not an indication that email campaigns are not dead, I don’t know what is.
The data also shows that working professionals rely on a wide variety of channels to learn about new offerings that might be relevant to their work. Roughly eight in 10 B2B decision-makers say social media plays an influential role in their research, surpassing traditional online and offline channels, such as trade press outlets, in terms of influence along the B2B buyer journey.
Employers should be making it easier—not harder—for employees to use social media at work. It’s not just a benefit to the employee; it can also help employers benefit, too. Our data shows that sales leads generated by employee advocacy are seven times more likely to turn into deals. Meanwhile, job applications from employee referrals over social are 20 times more likely to turn into a new hire. Employee advocacy tools like Hootsuite Amplify make it simple for employees to be champions for their organizations on their own social channels. At a time of so much upheaval in our ways of working, employers should be exploring the use of social media at work beyond their marketing departments.
And finally… a few fun facts for good measure
I hope these insights were helpful to you as you develop your social strategies for the quarter. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the full April Q2 Statshot Report. Leave a comment with the stat that resonated most with your social strategy! I’d love to hear your thoughts.