Is Social Media a good investment in 2025?
Why Social Media Matters in 2025
Spoiler warning: Yes, social media is an extremely worthwhile investment in 2025.
Although scroll fatigue is a real thing right now, social media’s grip is stronger than ever. Roughly 5.24 billion people now keep at least one social profile active as of 2025, about 64% of the world’s population. In the U.S, that’s 253 million active users, or 7/10 people you come across.
And they aren’t just “checking in.” We give our thumbs about 2 .5 hours of screen-time a day, the digital equivalent of a feature-length movie, seven days a week. (Check you screen time settings!) If your brand isn’t showing up in their feeds during those 17.5 hours, you’re missing out on a truck-load of potential customers.
Buyers now browse before they breathe.
67% of U.S social users say they research a product on social media before buying it. Among GenZ, search itself is shifting: nearly half start on TikTok or YouTube instead of Google when they want fast answers. This is what we call “Show-not-tell”, in that people will search videos to see a product detail before reading an article about it.
Ray ban glasses, Unsplash (2025)
The crazy part is, Google’s search engine is playing right into this. The algorithm isn’t just indexing pages anymore, it’s surfacing short-form clip, full YouTube videos, and even “key moments” timestamps right inside the main search results.
Since mid-2025, google has been rolling out video carousels and short video cards that sit-shoulder-to-shoulder with traditional blue links, shopping results, and thumbnails. That means a prospect who types “best Instagram ad tips” can watch a 30-second reel without ever leaving the page.
DID YOU KNOW?
Videos can also show up in AI Search Results on google? Which means it is a race between creators to get that coveted first-in-line pop up result.
You might be thinking, “Why does that matter?” It matters because users treat it as their first stop in their research loop: Google’s own consumer-insight data shows watch-time for “what to buy” and “when to buy” product videos has more than doubled year-over-year, underscoring that people increasingly browse before they purchase anything.
In other words, ranking your videos in the search results isn’t just good SEO; it’s good business.
Social proof is today’s currency.
A majority of people won’t act on a call-to-action before seeing your product or product value.Social media is an extremely accessible way to show off your own expertise and build credibility in your space. Short reels of things like customers, expert tips, and behind‑the‑scenes clips do the persuading for you.
When prospects can watch your expertise instead of reading a brochure, the “should I trust them?” hurdle shrinks to a thumb‑tap, and the “what next?” can be answered with one reply.
Woman holding two phones, Pexels (2025)
It also gives people the opportunity to see what other users think of your brand. I’m going to give you two scenarios and you tell me which business you trust more:
Scenario 1: You open Instagram, look up a businesses page and see they have 1200 followers, each post is getting three likes, and they haven’t posted in a month. You left a comment nine days ago asking a question and haven’t heard anything back yet.
Scenario 2: You open up Instagram, look up a businesses page and see 530 followers, and each post is getting around 35-50 likes. They have a consistent posting schedule, in fact they just posted six hours ago teasing a promo code drop. You leave a comment asking a question and get a helpful reply back within an hour.
The only right answer is Scenario 2. It doesn’t matter how “big” a page is if there isn’t any meaningful interactions between the page and it’s followers. If someone looks up your business and your own following isn’t invested into your brand, their first thought is going to be “Why should I invest?”
What The Numbers Say
Let’s go over some of the numbers so we can get a better understanding of why people keep yelling at you to “Get on social media.”
Key 2025 metrics for the U.S at a glance:
252 million active social media user identities, or 73% of the population
48.4% of users are between the ages of 18 and 54
50.2% female users and 49.8% male users
IGs ad reach was 49.6% of the total population
71.9% of adults aged 18 and up used Facebook at the start of 2025
Marketing KPIs, Unsplash (2025)
So if 73% of internet users are subject to some form of social media daily and your business isn’t on these platforms, you are losing the opportunity to connect with hundreds of millions of people that would purchase a product or service from your business if they knew it existed.
While social media isn’t a guaranteed way to drive revenue, it is a powerful way to gain a bunch of organic exposure and generate potential leads that you wouldn’t have seen without taking the leap into the digital world.
That being said, the average ROI for social media marketing is around 250%, or, $2.50 for every $1 spend according to Goatagency.com. It is an amazing stat, I know, but allow me to take off your rose-tinted glasses real quick:
This stat doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You could tell me that doing my own plumbing has a 1000% ROI, but that doesn’t all of a sudden make me a plumber. This stat is the product of perfectly engineered campaigns designed by social media marketers and creatives to ensure that every dollar you spend on pushing out your business is almost guaranteed to bring something back.
Why do these metrics matter?
When you’re modeling social‑media ROI, the math is straightforward: low‑to‑mid single‑digit CPMs (cost-per-mille) plus a channel that already drives nearly one‑fifth of your e‑commerce means even modest conversion rates multiply quickly.
Tie those costs to the 88% lead‑gen success rate and that headline 250% return starts looking less like hype and more like baseline potential, especially in markets as densely packed (and scroll‑happy) as the Empire State. With the right campaign and strategy, you’re success is almost inevitable.
Want to start running your first ad?
Contact Sprout Media today for a free consultation and a small mini-guide to get your first ad up and running!
Three Ways to Turn Followers Into Revenue
Now, your business’s goals will change how you use social media and what returns you’ll see. For example, a common business goal is to just have an active presence online (something that our Content Factory handles very well), while some other businesses expect their social media to be one of their main sources of lead generation. Some businesses already have their goal and some may not know what direction they are headed in yet, but there is one thing that many people don’t realize when posting on social media:
Your followers are your money. So treat them like it.
1 - Educate, earn trust, and invite action.
You can’t just say “we exist” and call it a day. You have to give the viewer valuable information, earn their credibility by building trust, and invite them to take some sort of action. This is the barebones layout of almost all successful branded social media content. Design your content for people first, algorithms second.
2 - Trade scrolls for freebies.
Clicks are an overrated metric, so aim for leads. A simple way to do this is by offering something of value in exchange for contact information. For example, you’ll see thousands of videos where they say something like “Comment the word ‘HELLO’ and I will send you my free 7-page document for….” It’s not my favorite practice but there is a reason it works, and it’s because you are giving something to get something.
3 - Understand who will buy.
The last thing you need to do is understand who is going to buy your product or service. You can get all of the views and likes you want, but if you don’t know who is going to be the one taking out their wallet, you need to re-evaluate and come up with a new strategy to convert followers.
Is Social Media Worth It for NY Businesses?
Social media is a tool that can be the decider of your success and scalability in the state of NY.
According to the U.S Small Business Administration, there are nearly 2.4 million small business in the state of NY as of 2025, which is about 99.8% of all businesses in NY. With that much competition, social media and branding play such a large role in who customers are going to buy from.
In fact, nearly 78% of customers agree that a business’s social media presence has a larger impact on whether or not they trust to make a purchase compared to a year ago.
So if you’re a business in NY, or any state really, invest in your brand, invest in your social media, and it is definitely worth it for you to hire a social media management agency like Sprout Media.