As a critical source of trending internet conversations, Twitter can be a valuable marketing channel. But to use the platform to its fullest potential, you need to know the ins and outs. That means staying updated with the latest Twitter statistics to understand how people are using the platform.

So to make sure you get the freshest stats to shape your strategy in 2021, we’ve put together 5 of the most important ones for you. These will tell you if it’s time to do another Twitter audit or how to readjust your approach. Check out the most important Twitter stats you need to know this year.

The number of monetizable daily active users continues to increase

By Q3 of 2020, the average monetizable Twitter daily active users had reached 187 million, according to Twitter’s letter to shareholders for that quarter. This marks a 29% increase year over year.

Notice the use of the term, “monetizable,” which refers to only the accounts that can see advertisements on the platform. This means that only a portion of the Twitter user-base contributes to the platform’s ad revenue. Meanwhile, the overall Twitter user growth continues to grow steadily. By Q1 of 2019, the number of Twitter monthly active users (MAU) had reached 300 million. But from Q2 of the same year, the company refocused its reporting to monetizable daily users instead.

According to Twitter, much-discussed current events were a factor contributing to the increase in monetizable daily active users. For instance, the increased conversation around COVID-19 on a global scale and the lead-up to U.S. elections drove interest.

28.9% of Twitter users are in the 25-34 age group

As for the overall age demographics of Twitter users, millenials and Gen Z make up a majority of the user-base. Twitter usage is most common in the 25-34 age group, which makes up 28.9% of the total user count as of October 2020. People aged between 35 and 49 come in second, making up 28.2%. And 21.6% of the Twitter user-base is between the ages of 18 and 24.

While these numbers give you a high-level look at who is using the platform, the demographic groups that are interested in specific subjects or brand categories can vary significantly. Make sure to conduct a Twitter analytics to see what the demographics are for your business account. This can help you get specific details about what kind of audience you’re attracting so you can align your strategy accordingly.

Twitter users send out 500 million Tweets per day

With Twitter usage being so commonplace, you might be wondering how many Tweets per day the platform sees. According to Interest Live Stats, Twitter users send out approximately 500 million Tweets every day. This adds up to about 200 billion Tweets per year.

If this sounds like an overwhelming amount of content to figure out what to tweet from your own account, use tools like social listening to narrow down on the specific (and much smaller) conversations that your specific audiences are focusing on.

Twitter saw a 15% year-over-year increase in ad revenue

Along with the increase in average monetizable daily active users, Twitter is also seeing an increase in ad revenue. Twitter’s ad revenue increased 15% year over year to $808 million in Q3 of 2020. According to Twitter, this increase in ad revenue was at least partly driven by previously delayed product launches and events being revisited and starting up again, frequently in a digital form.

Twitter also made several efforts to improve the advertising experience for brands. They’ve since introduced new ad formats and the beta Branded Likes, which allows advertisers to create customized “like” buttons with animated brand imagery. Plus, they rebuilt the First View ad format, which drives an average of 30-40% impressions per advertiser. These enhanced experiences have led to advertisers spending more on the platform. And as a result, Twitter’s total revenue also saw an uptick. During Q3 2020, the platform raked in $936 million in total revenue. This 14% increase is largely due to the global recovery of advertising revenue.

During the same quarter, advertising revenue in the United States overall saw an increase of 11% at a total of $428 million. This marks a positive change after a 25% decrease in the previous quarter, where the impact of the pandemic was strongly felt across industries.

People are increasingly following topics on Twitter

Twitter intends to make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for when they come to the platform. That’s why the company focused on better organizing content around Topics and Interests. In Q3 of 2020, Twitter managed to expand the number of Topics people can follow by approximately 25%, with more than 5,100 options.

It provided increased personalization for each Topic and expanded on several of them. As a result of these efforts, there was a 40% quarter-over-quarter increase in the number of accounts following Topics in Q3 2020, with 70 million accounts now following Topics.

Based on these Twitter statistics, you can see that the platform has undergone massive upheaval, primarily due to the pandemic. From the conversations they engage in to how they interact with ads – Twitter users are changing the way they use the platform. So make the most of these Twitter stats to audit and revamp your social media marketing strategy.