Social media’s influence on consumers’ buying decisions keeps growing, and businesses are eager to understand the real return on their investments (ROI). Traditional metrics like reach and clicks show activity but don’t directly reveal how social channels impact actual revenue. This year, marketing teams need to shift their focus to better connect social efforts with core business results.
With attribution models still varied and complex, having clear industry benchmarks and reliable data is more important than ever. These help marketers confidently assess performance, optimize strategies, and make informed decisions moving forward.
Sprout Social’s latest 2025 Social Media Index highlights:
65% of executives want social marketing tied directly to business goals
52% seek cost savings through social channels
45% want more intuitive, visual data reports
Although 97% of leadership believe they can demonstrate social media’s value, only 30% of marketers say they can accurately measure social ROI
How Social Content Shapes Buying Behavior
81% of consumers admit they’ve made impulse purchases influenced by social content
Mobile in-app shopping is booming, with 50% of Gen Z preferring to shop directly within apps (compared to 13% overall)
Platform Performance and Marketer Preferences
Facebook remains the top shopping platform with 39% of consumers buying there, followed closely by TikTok (36%) and Instagram (29%)
TikTok dominates among Gen Z shoppers
Among B2B marketers, 22% say Facebook delivers the highest ROI; Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube each get 16% support
Globally, 28% of marketers rank Facebook highest in overall ROI, followed by Instagram (22%) and YouTube (12%)
70% of marketers have confidence in LinkedIn’s ROI, but only 30% feel the same about Twitter X
Content and Execution Matter More Than Platform Choice
Data shows that creative content and execution strategies drive ROI more than just picking the right platform:
In the US, 7% of ad buyers say Facebook ads yield the highest ROI, with top campaigns returning 4 to 5 times their spend
TikTok shows strong growth potential with an 11.8% short-term ROI and 4.5% long-term ROI; 75% of advertisers rate it as outperforming other social platforms
A full-funnel YouTube approach boosts conversion rates by 9%
Increasing brand awareness leads to a 28% lift in conversions
LinkedIn brand marketing campaigns deliver a 4x increase in business impact and 50% growth in qualified leads
YouTube ad creativity impacts ROI by nearly 50%, with strong creative driving sales up by 30%
On Facebook, highlighting the brand logo in the first two seconds of an ad can increase ROI by 5x, especially on mobile
Industry Trends Shaping the Future
Social networks now account for 17.11% of global online sales; the social commerce market is expected to top $1 trillion by 2028
Influencer content drives the monthly shopping habits of 49% of consumers, with 86% having bought influencer-recommended products at least once in the past year; authenticity and shared values are key
71% of video marketers say short-form video delivers the best ROI, compared to 22% for long-form and 6% for live video
User-generated content (UGC) influences 90% of consumers’ purchase decisions; 81% are willing to pay more and accept longer delivery times for products with rich UGC
How Sprout Social Helps Boost Your ROI
Sprout Social offers an all-in-one platform that helps social teams:
Track performance across multiple platforms in one dashboard, distinguishing paid and organic content
Use data storytelling to link social results directly to business outcomes
Automatically generate reports to save time and improve communication with leadership
Identify top-performing content and optimize resource allocation
Simplify cross-platform evaluation with standardized metrics
Sprout’s goal is to reduce the friction between reporting and proving value—so teams can spend more time optimizing and driving results.
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