Three years ago, I wrote a series of articles on marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing (SMM) and content vs paid SMM, as they relate to editors in South Africa. These four articles provided an introduction to SMM, a tactic that can be used easily by editors.
I have written a series of follow-up articles that provide an update on the SMM landscape. Please refer back to the four previous articles for background and introductory information and examples.
Four blog posts in 2022: 1. Understanding marketing and social media marketing, 2. A snapshot of the social media landscape in South Africa, 3. Social media marketing : Consider the data 4. Social media marketing: so many questions (Source: author’s own construct using images copied from PEG)
Clarifiers
The statistics in this article were extracted from the DataReportal Digital 2025 Global Overview Report, and some of the previous years’ reports. Not all countries are included in all datasets in the report, therefore general statements such as ‘The lowest is Ghana …’ means the lowest statistic in that dataset. A similar simplified approach has been followed with all statistics quoted in this article, ie the DataReportal statistics are collected from various sources. Some are Q3 2024 statistics, some are Q4 2024 statistics etc. but they are generalised in the article to date of the report, eg January 2025.
Very limited information is provided here, and it is suggested you consult an SMM specialist or do more research on the topic before you decide to embark on an SMM campaign.
Let’s dive in.
A snapshot of the digital landscape in 2025
Global statistics comparing population, internet users, mobile phone users and social media users 2018–2025 (Source: author’s own construct using data extracted from DataReportal)
The use of digital is advancing as the world’s population grows and as digital offerings expand. The world’s population grew from 7,83 billion in 2020 to 8,2 billion in 2025, with 70 million people being added in the last year alone.
The number of internet users is now 5,56 billion (67,6%) – up from 1 billion in 2005, with 136 million added in the last year alone. The rate of internet use by populations varies across regions, from a high of 97,7% in Northern Europe to a low of 33,6% in Central Africa. There are now twice as many people who use the internet as there are people who don’t, and more people use the internet now than watch conventional TV (5,32 billion). The number of social media (SM) users grew most in the past year, in terms of digital growth, eg by 206 million or 4,1%.
Percentage of the population with internet and mobile connectivity worldwide and in Northern Europe, Southern Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, Hong Kong, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria and Mozambique (Source: author’s own construct using data extracted from DataReportal)
The amount of time adults spend online has stabilised at just over 6 hours per day (6 h 23 min in 2014). However, there are variations between the age groups, genders and countries, eg South Africa tops the list (9 h 35 min) and is significantly higher than the worldwide average (6 h 38 min), as is Egypt (7 h 27 min). Compare this to Japan (4 h 09 min) and Denmark (5 h 10 min). By far the most time spent on apps using an Android phone are social media apps (35,1%) and entertainment apps (32,7%) compared to 5,8% of time spent on a browser or search engine.
The top reason for using the internet is finding information (62,8%), followed by staying in touch with friends and family (60,2%). Other main reasons include keeping up to date with news and events (55%) and business-related research (30,1%). But again, there are differences between the age groups, eg in the category ‘find information’, the percentages are 68,1% for 55–64-year-olds and 61,1% for 16–24-year-olds.
The top types of websites visited and apps used are:
- chat and messaging (94,5%)
- social networks (94,4%)
- search engines or web portals (82,3%)
The big SM apps such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram appear in many of the rankings:
- top mobile apps – number of users
- top mobile apps – total time spent online
- highest number of downloads
- top websites visited
Digital advertising spend continues to grow, with US$790,3 billion spent in 2024 compared to US$20 billion spent in 2005. The year-on-year (YoY) change in 2024 was +US$64 billion, ie +10,3%. Furthermore, digital advertising spend is now 72,7% of total advertising spend around the world (54,3% in 2019) and +2,8% YoY.
USD spent on digital advertising as a percentage of total worldwide advertising spend 2005–2024 (Source: author’s own construct using data extracted from DataReportal)
So, what does this mean?
The digital space is growing and more people are spending more time in the digital space. Therefore, advertising spend is increasingly being allocated to digital options.
Both males and females are going digital, but there are wide variations around the world and in Africa, eg high connectivity in South Africa but low connectivity in Mozambique. South Africans spend more time on the internet than any other country, which means they will see more ads and engage more with blogs, vlogs, etc.
These (and many more easily obtainable statistics) provide an indication of what is happening in the digital world. You can use statistics of this type to consider digital marketing options. Every person/organisation is different and will focus on a different market/demographic. For example, is your market South Africa, southern Africa or Mpumalanga? Is your target male or female or both? Is gender, literacy or age relevant? Is GDP relevant?
All of these matters and a myriad others are factored into the equation when considering how to market one’s services. One option is digital marketing, and one digital marketing option is social media marketing (SMM). This is the subject of the next article.
References
DataReportal (2014) Digital 2014 October Global Statshot. Available at https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2014-global-digital-statshot-october-2014. Accessed 15 February 2025.
DataReportal (2020) Digital 2020 October Global Statshot. Available at https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-october-global-statshot. Accessed 17 March 2025.
DataReportal (2025) Digital 2025 Global Overview Report. Available at https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-global-overview-report. Accessed 17 March 2025.
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