State of Social Media 2024: Lessons from 7,376 projects

In this Expertise Report:

• Demand For Social Media Services
• Social Media Budgets Decrease As Expectations Decrease
• The Countries Investing in Social Media
• How Much Does Social Media Cost?
• An Example of a High-Ticket Social Media Project
• The Agencies That Specialise in Social Media
• Industries That Are Investing in Social Media
• The Food Industry Drools Over Social Media
• Fashion and Social Walk Hand in Hand

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube have attracted billions of users worldwide, and the demand for their services has only continued to increase. The state of social media is ever in flux, and with over 7,000 successful projects coming through the Sortlist plaftform to social media agencies – we’re well positioned to uncover the reality working in this expertise.

This State of Social Media 2023 report will explore the factors contributing to the rise (and fall) of demand for social media services and their impact on various industries.

Demand For Social Media Services

In the last 4 years, Sortlist has received more than 7 thousand requests for social media services. Worthy of note is the significant increase in social media projects that took place at the start of 2022.

Demand remains strong, and has indeed strengthened over the course of 2022 - despite difficult economic conditions.

It's perhaps no surprise, as 90% of business executives agree that companies that do not invest in social media marketing will be left behind and 62% agree brands and companies without a strong social media presence will not be able to succeed in the future.

But the reality paints a different picture, as according to Forbes, fewer than half of companies describe their social media strategies as “very effective” when measuring its ability to strengthen brand image, raise awareness, or increase sales.

Additionally, Search Engine Journal reports that, exactly between 2019-2022, all industries have seen a drop in overall engagement on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Social Media Budgets Decrease As Expectations Decrease

The recent drop in number of social media projects may reveal a correlation with a similar drop in the average budget for social media services.

When we look at the last 4 years, it's clear that 2021 boom time for social media projects.

That particular year marked an increased reliance on social media. Covid's impact on social media use has been well documented.

With many people working, studying, and socialising from home, companies saw an increase in social media usage that may have led to a need for more visibility and customer acquisition.

However, despite heightened presence from potential customers in social media, 2022 sees a decline in budget for social media projects, which, (alongside prevailing economic conditions leading to significant belt tightening) - may be also be attributed to the drop in organic reach and engagement that all social platforms are going through.

The Countries Investing in Social Media

To know the countries that are most investing in social media projects, we had a look at the top searches per market of social media services and compared them to the approximate number of businesses in each.

When looking specifically at 2022, we can clearly see that two countries, the United Kingdom and Germany, are the ones that most requested social media projects in that year.

The percentage of businesses looking for "social media marketing" is higher in the German and UK markets, although every country presents a decline starting in 2020, when the pandemic reshaped economies worldwide.

How Much Does Social Media Cost?

The rise and fall of social media services can be better understood when looking at the difference between how much a company is willing to offer for a social media project and how much it costs in reality.

The data shows that companies or small businesses tend to assign low budgets to social media projects, often underestimating their actual costs when agencies have to design and execute them.

A Case Study on Social Media Project Pricing

Some projects can misrepresent the overall trend of budgets, and the expertise of social media is no exception.

Let's have a look at the work done by French agency Garage by Unify for L'atelier Blini, a delicatessen in France.

The project description details a number of requirements for the service, including the creation of Facebook and Instagram accounts for the brand, the creation of an editorial line in line with brand positioning, and the implementation of a brand publishing and media strategy to gain notoriety and increase followers.

The project also encompassed video production - and all in all it encompassed a larger than average project.

The average budget for this project was €75,000, much higher than the average midpoint for services of this kind.

The project by Garage is also indicative of the common pattern we see in social media agencies: more often than not, their services will encompass more than a single expertise.

The Agencies That Specialise in Social Media

Spain is the only market where the average social media agency size falls below 10 employees. Still, the rest of the markets have comparatively small teams, as evidenced in the graph below:

However, as mentioned before, agency services will almost always cover more than a single expertise, especially in the pursuit of a fully integrated marketing campaign.

We had a look at the intersection points of Sortlist agencies that work in both social media and other expertises.

Industries That Are Investing in Social Media

The Food Industry Drools Over Social Media

Social media is one of the areas that have most reshaped the food industry in recent years. Over 40% of people acquire their knowledge of food through digital means, and if we take into account that around 4.7 billion people around the world now use social media, then the chances for food companies to be seen there skyrocket.

More than that, social media marketing is the second most popular digital marketing strategy among food and beverage companies, with an advertising spend of $3.5 billion in 2021. It explains why this is the top sector investing in that expertise across the Sortlist platform.

And as if that weren't enough, it has been reported that 86% of millennials will try a new restaurant after seeing their content online.

It’s no wonder, then, that companies in the food industry are increasingly turning to social media to market their businesses.

Fashion and Social Walk Hand in Hand

In the same way that social media has reshaped the food industry, it has made its presence known in the Clothing & Accessories industry, highlighted by the sheer amount of projects coming in through the Sortlist platform.

Businesses in the fashion industry have good reason to do so; 64% of social shoppers turn to social networks for inspiration before making a fashion-related purchase decision.

Perhaps more surprising is the fact that close to 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month!

And it makes complete sense—it's one of the more active industries worldwide. Data shows that 28.8% of fashion sales take place online.

With the growth of live shopping, and a growing digital transformation of retail, incorporating AI to work more efficiently, and even things like Google Lens making a huge impact - Social media's impact on purchasing will only increase: on, and off-line.