Facebook
When we first wrote this blog back in 2015, Facebook was calculating a user to be worth $3.73 per quarter. By the end of 2017, this was up to $6.18 per user. That’s a 165% increase in two years. Obviously, last year saw the Cambridge Analytica scandal, GDPR and people genuinely losing their trust in the platform. But, this didn’t stop advertising spend. It is now predicted that Facebook will generate about $226 per user profile (based on US information – sorry folks) in 2021. Personal data (US again) is currently worth between $0.20 – $0.40 in terms of “worth” to businesses. This “worth” changes when you add layers of information such as relationship statuses, age profiles, interests etc. So the more niche your audience, the more it is worth.
Instagram
This is an interesting one to look at. It has been reported that Instagram has an estimated value of $100 bn making one of their 1 bn active users worth $100. But, that is a crude way of looking at things.
Influencer Kylie Jenner has been reported to be paid approx $1.2m for a single post which would mean her 141m fans were worth $0.008 each. Based on this it would seem a Instagram user is “worth” less than a Facebook user. Admittedly, this is a tricky one to work out. It would depend – again – on how niche your following is and what industry you are in.
Want to have a bit of fun? We have even come across a nifty calculator that estimates what you could earn per post on Instagram, to give you an idea of what your fans are worth. Using this calculator it puts my Instagram follower worth at approx 0.004p! (Tweet me yours via @nataliejayw_)
Twitter
Social network value per user stats for Twitter are impossible to find since they ‘floated’ the company. In 2015, it was worth $4 per user, Then in 2018 it was reported that their average revenue per user was $7.50 – much less than Facebook. We would expect that, with their increase in advertising revenue and as it is the top social site for news, that this number has since grown.
LinkedIn
Since Microsoft took over LinkedIn, its value as a networking and lead generation tool has gone through the roof. This is also supported by its USP as the only ‘professional’ social networking platform out there. So, we can expect that the value per user here is considerably higher. Whilst it was once dubbed as a B2B tool, this mindset towards LinkedIn has changed more towards human to human. Why? Well, someone like me may be on there to recruit for business or to connect with people who I want to learn from or work with. But, I am also a consumer. So, if you are a B2C business, do not discount the value of having a robust LinkedIn network.
YouTube
YouTube is estimated to be worth $160 bn. If you choose to monetise your YouTube channel, you get paid per view. This can make it easy to gauge how much your ‘video’ or ‘channel’ is worth based on those viewing figures. A video view on YouTube is worth approx $0.10 – $0.30 which has increased since we first wrote this in early 2019.
But, does someone viewing your video ultimately make money for your business? Not necessarily. It is down to who they are and what you want them to do once they have viewed the video or when they have seen your ad during a video they are watching.
In terms of making money from a channel (and getting paid for ads to show in your videos).The magic really happens when you get to 1m subscribers – and that is the key metric. Subscribers over views as you will more likely bring people back to be platform if they subscribe to your channel.
SOCIAL NETWORK VALUE PER USER – HOW MUCH IS YOUR AUDIENCE WORTH?