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Influencer marketing is evolving, and so is the way brands measure success. That’s why Meltwater is proud to announce a new partnership with YouTube, integrating YouTube’s Creator Partnerships API directly into our Influencer Marketing platform.

Introducing Verified YouTube Data in Meltwater Influencer Marketing

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

February 9, 2025 was a great day to be an Eagles fan — the Philadelphia NFL team claimed an easy victory 40-22 over the Kansas City Chiefs in this year’s Super Bowl, generating plenty of buzz along the way. We used our social listening solution to analyze how conversation shaped up on the big day, across 21 channels and sources including X, Reddit, news, broadcast, Pinterest, comments, and more. Let’s make like an eagle and soar majestically into the data to learn more.

How much did everyone talk about Super Bowl LIX?

The day of the Super Bowl, there were more than 6.67 million mentions of the game across all channels around the world. Just under half of those mentions, 3.14 million, occurred as the 3.5 hour game aired. Overall, they peaked at around 7 p.m. CST, just before the Apple Music Halftime Show and around the time Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a touchdown pass to AJ Brown. Though when we break mentions down by source, we can see how the conversation peaked at different times across channels. 

Mentions peaked at 7 p.m. CST on X, however…

Mentions on Pinterest peaked at 10 a.m. CST, likely due to users swapping recipes and party ideas ahead of the big game.

Reddit mentions peaked at 8 p.m. CST, as Lamar performed his five-time, Grammy-award winning song (and Drake diss) “Not Like Us.” 

Broadcast mentions peaked at 5 p.m. CST, just before the game began, while news mentions peaked at around 9 p.m. CST, as the Eagles won and the Chiefs lost. 

Did people talk about the Eagles or the Chiefs more during the Super Bowl?

Along with dominating the Chiefs on the field, the Eagles also dominated the conversation, generating about 630,000 more mentions than the Kansas City team. Chiefs mentions were briefly higher than their opponents’ at 5 p.m. CST, as the game began, before peaking at 8 p.m. CST, during the halftime show. However, Eagles mentions outnumbered those of the Chiefs for the majority of the day, peaking at 9 p.m. CST with their victory. 

How much did people talk about the Super Bowl halftime show?

The day of the Super Bowl, there were about 2.37 million mentions of the halftime show and performer Kendrick Lamar. About 1.64 million of those mentions occurred as the game aired, peaking at 7 p.m. EST just before the halftime show began. 

As the star of the show, Lamar was understandably the most mentioned person in the halftime show conversation. However, singer SZA, tennis star Serena Williams, and actor Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam were also highly discussed for their appearances during the performance. President Donald Trump, who was in attendance, was also mentioned more than 41,000 times in relation to the halftime show as many speculated about what he thought of it. Meanwhile, Drake, the subject of Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us”, and Lil Wayne, whom some thought should have been the halftime performer due to his being from New Orleans, were also highly mentioned names despite not being at the game. 

What was the most talked about brand from the Super Bowl LIX halftime show?

Using our consumer intelligence solution, we took a closer look at what the Super Bowl meant for NFL league sponsors and the brands that dressed Lamar for the halftime show. 

As the presenters of the much-talked-about halftime show, Apple Music scored the most discussion, furthest reach, and most engagement of all of the league sponsors. 

However, Celine, the luxury brand behind Lamar’s attention-grabbing bell-bottom jeans, was the most talked about and engaged one among the labels that dressed the rapper. Meanwhile, Martine Rose scored the furthest reach with the custom leather jacket Lamar wore. 

Dive deeper into the Super Bowl buzz with our exclusive insights dashboard, packed with in-depth analysis of the biggest moments, brand impact, and audience reactions. Explore year-over-year trends to see how engagement has evolved, discover which sponsors dominated the conversation, and uncover the luxury brands that stole the spotlight. From the Kendrick Lamar vs. Usher halftime showdown to the most talked-about celebrities, our dashboard delivers all the key takeaways you need. Don't miss out—get a comprehensive view of the game’s cultural impact now!

How much did people talk about Taylor Swift during Super Bowl LIX?

Taylor Swift, who was in attendance supporting her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was once again a hot topic of the game. The pop star, whose 2020 song “gold rush” includes the line “With my Eagles t-shirt hanging from the door,” was mentioned about 562,000 times on February 9. Those mentions surged at 6 p.m. CST, around the time Swift was shown on the stadium’s Jumbotron and subsequently booed, presumably by Eagles fans. They peaked just before the halftime show starring Lamar, with whom she has collaborated in the past and whom she gave a standing ovation at the recent Grammy Awards ceremony.  

Overall, Swift mentions on February 9, 2025 were about 60% lower than they were on February 11, 2024, when she first attended the Super Bowl to support Kelce. This decline is likely explained by the fact that this time last year Swift was on her record-breaking Eras tour.

What was the most talked about food and beverage commercial of Super Bowl LIX?

And now, for the real competition of the game: the most talked-about commercial. With dozens of brands making their mark on the Super Bowl, we decided to zero in on food and beverage, the sector perhaps most associated with watching the game, with commercials broken down into a handful of categories to highlight the night’s leaders.

Mountain Dew’s commercial starring Gen-Z star Becky G and 90s superstar Seal was the runaway hit among the soft drink brands. This ad draws elements from the brainrot online trend, taking an absurdist turn when Seal (or rather a seal, like the animal, version of the singer) sings a wacky version of his hit song “Kiss from a Rose” as Becky G watches with others from a speedboat. The bizarre ad that declares it “makes no sense” got people talking much more than Cirkul’s more straight-ahead, meme-influenced spot starring actor Adam Devine, Poppi’s commercial featuring popular content creators, and Liquid Death’s nostalgic, beer-commercial-influenced “Drink on the Job” ad. 

Speaking of beer ads, Bud Light’s was the most talked about from the Super Bowl, generating about 23,100 mentions. The 60-second spot featured singer Post Malone and comedian Shane Gillis as rowdy suburbanites hosting a cookout for their neighbors on the cul-de-sac (including former Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning). In second place, Stella Artois’s commercial starring Matt Damon and David Beckham as long lost twin brothers generated less than half the mentions of Bud Light.

Doritos’ attempted alien abduction ad was the overwhelming winner in the snack brand lane of this year’s Super Bowl commercials. Its impressive share of voice may be due to the brand laying the groundwork for massive audience engagement ahead of the game with its Crash the Super Bowl contest. The 30-second spot that aired won the contest by public vote, earning the two best friend co-directors $1 million, a trip to the big game, and priceless international exposure. 

Finally, in the food service category Uber Eats generated the most conversation, about 6,190 mentions, with its celebrity-packed commercial. The ad starred actor Matthew McConaughey explaining a conspiracy theory that spectator sports were invented to sell food, with appearances from Charli XCX, Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig, Kevin Bacon, and more. 

Between all of the food and beverage sector commercials, Dorito’s generated the most conversation even though it wasn’t brainrot-inspired and didn’t feature any celebrities. 

The Eagles’ impressive win aside, the biggest lesson from this year’s Super Bowl was the importance of understanding the zeitgeist. From the halftime show starring one of the most talked about entertainers to the ads engaging digital communities, the brands that made a splash were those tapped into wider pop cultural conversations. 

Ready for your brand to tap in? See how with a demo of the Meltwater Suite. 

The Top Topics and Brands of Football’s Big Game 2025

As the auto industry shifts gears, marketers need customer-centric strategies to keep up. That’s why we look at the biggest topics and concerns swirling around EV shoppers today in our new electric vehicles consumer insights report. Our analysis found that battery range and environmental impact are core topics in social media discussions about EVs, but what considerations make long-time and new car owners decide to go electric? We used our consumer intelligence solution to analyze social media conversations specifically about buying EVs to learn more about the industry’s biggest purchase drivers. The following analysis examines relevant social media mentions from February 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025. 

Check out our data deep dive into this sector in the Consumer Insights: Electric Vehicles report. 

What is the most discussed purchase driver for EVs?

Our analysis found that charging capabilities and cost factors were the most mentioned purchase drivers for EVs, comprising more than 65% of the overall conversation. 

Charging-related posts drove the most engagement, possibly because they touch on a key fear all drivers have about EVs: getting stranded without a way to quickly charge your car. Meanwhile, cost- and price-related posts had the furthest reach, thanks in part to ample news coverage about what is, and isn’t, making EVs affordable for consumers. The prominence of both subtopics highlights how much slightly emotional and solidly practical concerns are intertwined in the EV shopping experience.

For most of 2024, charging-related posts slightly but consistently outnumbered posts about cost, but that dynamic seems to be flipping. This may be a seasonal trend, with cost dominating in February and March, or it may be the result of uncertainty around United States and European Union tariffs on Chinese EVs. Either way, concerns about costs and charging aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Surprisingly, environmental concerns are only the fourth most talked about purchase driver out of the five we analyzed. So while sustainability and climate change may have been more significant considerations for early adopters, concerns about the day-to-day realities of ownership may have gained more weight as EVs have become more commonplace. Marketers must speak to consumers’ practical concerns about moving away from combustion engine vehicles. However, there is also room for brands to reach design-forward and eco-conscious niche audiences with the right messaging.

What are EV shoppers and buyers saying about charging?

Some of the most visible posts in the EV charging discussion speak directly to charging anxieties. First, in a sponsored post promoting Maruti Suzuki’s first EV model, the e Vitara, tech journalist and influencer Rajiv Makhni writes that the car “claims to solve all the charging and EV ecosystem problems that Indians face.” And in the second most engaging relevant post, tech influencer Akash Pal discusses the Hero Surge S32, highlighting its up to 60km range on a single charge. 

And while accessing charging stations on the go is the leading topic, the prominence of keyphrases like “home”, “home charger”, and “garage” also point to the thought consumers are giving to residential charging solutions.

What are EV shoppers and buyers saying about price and cost?

Keyphrases related to EV purchase deal-sweeteners — including “EV incentive”, “Tesla referral”, and “month of FSD”, referring to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving subscription — are prominent in posts about price and cost. This highlights how large of a factor upfront costs are in EV shopping compared to others like potential long-term savings or value and points to how buyer perks have become a differentiating factor for brands.

Access this consumer insights dashboard to dive further into the data above and get additional analytics on what EV consumers have to say about environmental concerns.

Auto industry marketers looking to appeal to potential EV converts can drive engagement via content and messaging that speaks to cost-consciousness and charging anxieties. Upfront price tags are a standout topic, but there is lots of opportunity for brands aiming to drive awareness around long-term benefits or EVs as part of eco-friendly or design-forward lifestyles. Refining messaging based on consumer intelligence will be key to making gains with new audiences, meaning now’s the time to experiment and see what sticks. 

Need some inspiration? Learn more about what EV brands and topics are shaping the global conversation most in our Consumer Insights: Electric Vehicles report. 

The Top EV Purchase Drivers, According to Social Media Users

2025 looks set to be another bumper year in digital, with rapid advances in AI, the evolving social media landscape, and broadening online behaviours all gearing up to reshape our connected lives over the coming months.

With so much going on, the pace of digital trends can feel overwhelming, but our enormous new Digital 2025 Global Overview Report – published in partnership between We Are Social and Meltwater – has all the stats, insights, and trends you need to make sense of the current “state of digital”.

Top stories in the 630+ pages of this year’s flagship Global Digital Report include:

Digital’s ever expanding role in our daily lives

How people discover brands and products in 2025

Some surprising truths about the world’s TV habits

Details of some dramatic shifts in ad spend

All the latest trends for the top social platforms

But those headlines barely scratch the surface of all the insights that you’ll find in the complete report.

Indeed, we’ve analysed millions of the freshest, most revealing datapoints to identify key trends in the world’s digital behaviours, and this latest update – the largest Global Digital Report we’ve ever published – is packed with loads more data, trends, and surprises, as you’ll see below.

As always, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our generous data partners, who provide much of the best-in-class data you’ll find in this report:

All of this year’s analysis has been written by Simon Kemp, without the use of generative AI [click here to learn why this matters]. 

Simon has been researching and producing the Global Digital Reports series for 15 years, so he’s intimately familiar with the “state of digital”, and how the world’s connected behaviours are evolving.

If you’d like to stay up to date with Simon’s regular analyses, he’d be delighted if you connect with him on LinkedIn.

As you explore this latest report – and especially as you compare trends over time – please be aware of the following data notes:

Wherever possible, we use the latest available data for all datapoints in our global digital reports. However, in some instances, data for recent periods may not yet be available, and source data may not have been updated during the past 12 months. This is particularly relevant in the case of internet user data, where the challenges associated with conducting representative research into internet adoption mean that it often takes many months for new data to become available. As a result, we may report no change in certain metrics, even if we expect such metrics will show meaningful change when data for the relevant period(s) become available at a later date. Because of this, we strongly encourage you to explore the timeline charts available in our local country reports, which will provide more informed insight into the evolution of digital adoption and behaviour. Note that our Digital 2025 local country reports will be available to read in full – and for free – on the DataReportal website at the end of February 2025, but you can already explore data for previous years via our complete online library.

The United Nations published a comprehensive update to its World Population Prospects data in July 2024, and this update included some important revisions to population numbers around the world. In addition to impacting the figures that we report for population, these revisions may also affect any data point where we show digital adoption or activity as a percentage of the total population (e.g. internet and social media adoption), or as a percentage of specific age groups within the broader population (e.g. people aged 18 and above). As a consequence, any comparisons with equivalent data points published in older editions of the Global Digital Reports series may result in unexpected trends, including apparent decreases in user figures or activity. However, any such change may be solely the result of revisions to underlying population data, and may not necessarily indicate any change in actual digital adoption or behaviour. As a result, we advise significant caution when interpreting any changes in values that show digital adoption or activity as a percentage of the population. For more details, please see our comprehensive notes on data.

We’ve identified a number of unusual trends in the ad reach data published by various social media platforms over recent months, including a mix of both unexpected declines and unusually large gains. We’ll explore some of those trends in detail during the course of this analysis, but please pay careful attention to the notes on relevant pages of the full report to understand some of these changes in context.

The complete Digital 2025 Global Overview Report

You’ll find our complete Digital 2025 flagship report in the embed below (click here if that’s not working for you), but read on past that to explore what all these numbers actually mean for you and your work.

The global state of digital in February 2025

Let’s start with a look at the latest headlines for digital adoption and use around the world:

Population data from the United Nations shows that there are 8.20 billion humans living on Earth today, with that total increasing by 70 million people (+0.9 percent) compared with the equivalent figure for this time last year. At a worldwide level, almost 4.8 billion people – 58.1 percent of the global population – now live in urban centres, while 3.4 billion people live in rural areas.

5.78 billion people use a mobile phone today, which equates to 70.5 percent of the world’s total population. Unique mobile subscribers have increased by 112 million over the past 12 months, delivering year-on-year growth of 2.0 percent. Meanwhile, data shows that smartphones now account for almost 87 percent of the mobile handsets in use around the world.

A total of 5.56 billion people use the internet at the start of 2025, resulting in a penetration figure of 67.9 percent. Internet users increased by 136 million (+2.5 percent) during 2024, but 2.63 billion people remained offline at the start of 2025.

Kepios’s latest analysis shows that global social media user identities now stand at 5.24 billion, with that figure equating to 63.9 percent of all the people on Earth. The global total has increased by 4.1 percent over the past 12 months, thanks to an additional 206 million new user identities [note that “user identities” may not represent unique individuals].

That’s some great context to start things off, but – while these headlines provide a useful benchmark for the current “state of digital” – we need to explore the underlying numbers in order to uncover the richest findings.

But my complete analysis of those underlying numbers clocks in at close to 23,000 words. Ahem.

So, to make it easier for you to find the insights that matter most to you, this article offers a selection of key headlines and charts.

Each of those sections then links to a separate article that contains significantly more data, as well as in-depth analysis of the associated trends and implications.

All the evidence points to strong growth in digital adoption over the past year, despite internet user numbers already reaching “supermajority” status in April 2024.

For initial perspective, data from Statista indicates that the world’s 5.56 billion internet users now outnumber the 5.32 billion people who watch broadcast and cable TV.

But perhaps more importantly, data also shows that people are now turning to connected tech for a wider variety of activities than they did this time a year ago.

Indeed, after averages declined for several quarters during 2022 and 2023, GWI’s latest research shows that the number of reasons people cite for using the internet has rebounded to levels that we last saw during Covid-19 lockdowns.

“Finding information” remains the single greatest motivation for going online at the start of 2025, with 62.8 percent of adult internet users stating that this is one of their main reasons for using the internet today.

However, it’s also interesting to note that more than 6 in 10 internet users now say that “staying in touch with friends and family” is a top digital motivation.

And in what may be something of a related trend, GWI’s latest research finds that adult internet users now spend an average of 6 hours and 38 minutes online each day.

That figure crept up over the course of 2024, although it’s still slightly lower than the figure that we reported this time last year.

Dig deeper: Online motivations and behaviours vary meaningfully by age, as we explore in this in-depth analysis of the latest trends.

At the time of writing, DeepSeek is making plenty of headlines around the world, as AI companies vie for supremacy.

However, insights from data.ai indicate that ChatGPT still tops the AI leaderboard, with its mobile app already averaging more than a quarter of a billion monthly active users between September and November 2024.

ChatGPT was also one of the world’s most downloaded apps during that period, placing eighth in data.ai’s global ranking across all app categories.

ChatGPT enjoys considerable success on the web too, with both Similarweb and Semrush ranking ChatGPT.com in the world’s 10 most visited web domains at the end of 2024.

For example, Similarweb’s data shows that ChatGPT had an average of 310 million unique monthly visitors between September and November, who generated a combined 3.5 billion visits to the platform’s dotcom domain.

However, it’s unclear exactly how many people make use of tools like Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot, because these tools are integrated into their respective company’s broader offerings.

Similarly, while Meta recently announced that Meta AI now has “more than 700 million monthly actives,” this service is delivered by default to all Facebook and Instagram users whenever they search for something on those platforms, so it’s unclear how many of those 700 million “actives” are looking specifically for an AI solution, and how many are simply looking for the latest memes.

And for perspective, while AI will undoubtedly play a defining role in shaping the future of tech, it’s also worth considering that Yahoo! still attracts almost 100 million more unique monthly visitors than ChatGPT does.

Dig deeper: Explore the latest AI trends – and learn which platforms are making the biggest gains – in this complete analysis.

Netflix and Disney+ continue to grow subscriber numbers, but the latest research from GWI shows that broadcast and cable channels still account for close to 57 percent of total TV time.

Indeed, it’s only amongst audiences aged 16 to 24 that streaming accounts for more than half of TV viewing time, and even then, OTT’s share only accounts for about 51 percent of the daily total.

Meanwhile, linear TV remains significantly more popular than streaming amongst older age groups, with people aged 55 to 64 spending more than two-thirds of their TV time watching broadcast and cable channels.

However, a hefty 91.9 percent of internet users watch some form of streaming TV each month, which is actually greater than the 87.8 percent who watch “live” TV like broadcast and cable.

Dig deeper: Our comprehensive analysis points to plenty of potential streaming growth, but key questions remain for marketers.

GWI’s research shows that the typical adult internet user now discovers brands and products through an average of 5.8 different channels.

At a worldwide level, search engines remain the primary source of brand awareness for the world’s connected consumers, with 32.8 percent of GWI’s survey base saying that they discover new brands and products via online search.

TV ads aren’t far behind though, with 32.3 percent of respondents citing this channel.

Word-of-mouth recommendations rank third, with just under 3 in 10 respondents selecting this answer option, while social media ads come a close fourth, at 29.7 percent.

But the key takeaway for me in this brand discovery data is that no single channel introduces brands to more than one-third of adult internet users.

Even the top channel – search engines – is only cited as a source of brand awareness by 32.8 percent of respondents, meaning that it’s imperative for marketers to embrace a mix of different channels in order to achieve their objectives.

So how can marketers go about building the most robust mix of channels?

Dig deeper: Our complete analysis of this section has all the details.

Statista’s Market Insights data shows that the world’s marketers spent close to US$1.1 trillion on ads in 2024, with global spend increasing by $75 billion – 7.3 percent – compared with 2023 levels.

Moreover, Statista’s data indicates that global ad spend has increased by more than 50 percent since 2019, with digital advertising responsible for the vast majority of that increase.

Digital 2025: The essential guide to the global state of digital

Every day, an estimated 5.04 billion people use social media. Social media has arguably never been more important than it is right now for marketers seeking to attract new customers, expand their market, and grow followers. By looking at social media marketing examples from other top brands teams can hone their social media strategy and learn what works well and why!

Social media marketing offers brands the opportunity to connect with global audiences, build a memorable brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. 

But it takes a lot more than just posting content to social media to be successful. Brands need a winning engagement strategy to stand out, including unique creative, relevant targeting, and effective advertising.

That's where we can help. We've gathered examples of great posts from brands that can inspire your social media strategy.

For more social media marketing examples and advice on how to run a social media program, download our Social Media Playbook and read the Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing. 

The Best Social Media Marketing Examples 2025

Wicked: Wicked Movie Singalong Screenings

Wrapping Up: Inspiring Social Media Marketing Examples for 2025

Why It Works: Airbnb and Mattel partnered to tap into a growing penchant for 90s nostalgia. The ad reflects a life-sized model of a real Polly Pocket toy, demonstrating that it’s never too late for childhood dreams to come true.

Airbnb has become synonymous for unique lodging, with options ranging from themed rooms and houses to treehouses and train cabooses. A recent Airbnb collab with Mattel takes experiential travel to a new level with a life-sized Polly Pocket.

The brand teases the new house with a close-up of a matching Polly Pocket toy from 1994, then slowly zooming out to show a full-sized model that will soon be ready for reservations.

The collaboration comes at a perfect time, as Millennials (those whose childhoods spanned from the late 80s into the 90s) are attracted to nostalgic content from that era. Millennials make up a core part of the audience on Instagram and Facebook, as well as the biggest slice of Airbnb customers.

Why It Works: Dove takes body positivity seriously and uses the new year as a perfect time to reinforce its brand image. The campaign offers a reminder that New Year’s resolutions can — and should — include more than just weight loss goals.

resolutions can mean more than changing how you look. With weight loss being one of the most popular resolutions, Dove uses this opportunity to highlight a different side of the story — that most resolutions are driven by dissatisfaction with appearance.

The company flips the script by promoting an un-resolution. The video in this campaign follows a young woman’s journey as she embraces all that life has to offer, from baking yummy treats to prioritizing self-care.

The campaign sends a positive message that you can live a healthy lifestyle without sacrificing a “year of your life” and being a slave to unrealistic weight loss hacks.

As a marketer, B2B, or B2C brand, the ultimate goal is to grow an audience of loyal followers and micro-influencers around the world that can swing into action whenever called upon. Perhaps no brand is a better example of that than Dove.

Are you interested in more Dove campaigns? Learn how Dove raises the bar with its #ArmsUp campaign.

Why It Works: With many workers having to return to the office in recent years, sitting for long periods of time is back on the menu. Asics uses its social media campaign to remind its customers to move their bodies — and it’s not unprofessional to take a break from your desk.

Desk jobs offer few opportunities for movement throughout the day, but sneaker brand Asics aims to change this. It combines humor with practicality in its Desk Break campaign to remind users to move their bodies, even if it’s just for 15 minutes at a time.

This educational campaign is simple yet powerful. With many office workers not getting enough exercise because of the nature of their jobs, Asics reminds us it’s acceptable and helpful to get up and move around every once in a while. 

A desk break is better than nothing, and the brand encourages others to share how they’re incorporating desk breaks into their days.

TIP: Take a look at some more Instagram examples to inspire you.

Why It Works: The brand gracefully acknowledges the ages-old problem its customers experience — getting their fingers dirty while eating their favorite Cheetos snack. This campaign encourages its customers to embrace the challenge and get used to doing things with their other hand while offering a chance to win branded swag.

If you’ve ever eaten Cheetos, you already know you’re going to get your fingers dirty. That’s why most customers try to keep one clean hand (because the other is coated in cheesy dust). 

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