From Pricey Investments to Fickled Followers, A Run Down Of Social Media By The Numbers

The Cost of Social Promotion

An accounting of what it takes to boost your social profile, from the straightforward to the sketchy.

$800,000

Facebook monthlong ad campaign, with "sponsored story" news-feed placement, reaching up to 161 million U.S. users

$25,000

Tumblr featured post for a day, reaching approximately 4 million U.S. unique users

$500,000

YouTube home page, half-page auto-play video ad for a day, reaching more than 26 million U.S. unique users

$120,000

Promoted Twitter trend for a day, reaching approximately 18 million U.S. adults

$617

4,000 Facebook fan bots (via usocial.net)

$77

5,000 Twitter follower bots (via buytwitterfollowers.org)

730,000,000

Marketers want Facebook to offer a YouTube-like video ad that dominates users' screens. If 70% of U.S. Facebookers log in daily, that's approximately 110 million users. So Facebook could arguably charge four times what YouTube charges for the same type of ad, or $2 million. If it sold out its inventory, that's $730 million annually that it's leaving on the table in the U.S. alone. Given such a high potential cost, how long will Facebook be able to preserve its relatively pristine user experience?

Why'd They Retweet That?

Followers explain why they spread brands' most self-promotional tweets.

@dominos
RT if you're already thinking about having Domino's for dinner!
RT'd by Derek Templet, @itsdroll
"I was hungry and awaiting dinner. Domino's sounded like a great idea at the time."

@southwestair
If you haven't already, please support the @SouthwestAir proposal for international service out of Houston cot.ag/Kwirmp #freehobby
RT'd by Matthew Dunn, @skyguy79
"I'm a flight attendant for Southwest and our company asked us to promote the cause on social networks."

@bing
Stoked for #newBing but not sure where to start? Take an interactive tour and get off on the right foot: binged.it/KiwctD
RT'd by Christie Lam, @LamChristie
"I don't actually use Bing and don't know anyone who does, but I had been hearing about Bing's new social search thing, and I figured a how-to was worth sharing."

They Love You One Day, Hate You The Next

These charts track angry and loving tweets about three social media brands, over a three-month period.

[Click to enlarge]

See full data at smogfarm.com/fastcompany

Follow Fast Company's roadmap to social media: surefire rules, data, and expert wisdom guaranteed to show why this market is completely unpredictable.