Social Media Habits of College Students by Platform: Facebook

While campus marketing is primarily a traditional media endeavor, digital media has an important part to play in creating a successful campaign. Join us as we continue to explore the social media habits of college students by platform, this time focusing on Facebook.

How prevalent is Facebook use among young adults?

Some recent Pew Research statistics provide valuable information on the social media habits of college students.

• Facebook is one of only two social media platforms used by  the majority of all age groups. (YouTube is the other.)

+ Discover the social media habits of college students on YouTube. 

• 67% of U.S. adults ages 18-29 use Facebook. 
• 71% of adults with some college education use Facebook.

In addition, Facebook has over 2 billion daily active users, a number that’s risen 5% since 2023. And users spend almost 20 hours a month on the app.

Is Facebook a good use of my campus marketing campaign funds?

Facebook is both a passive and active marketing platform. It covers all stages of the customer journey, from awareness, to consideration, to conversion. As a campus social media advertising platform, it’s an excellent resource for lead generation and lead form fill-outs. 

+ Learn more about effective campus marketing on Facebook. 

Reaching target audiences on Facebook is an extremely important part of building awareness and converting traffic. In fact, a significant percent of September 2023 survey respondents said that Facebook was the social media platform with the highest return on investment (ROI) that year. This isn’t surprising, since ad impressions increased by 31% in 2023 across Meta’s family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger), while the average price per ad dropped by 6%.

"A large social-media presence is important because it’s one of the last ways to conduct cost-effective marketing."

– GUY KAWASAKI

What are the most effective ways to use Facebook for campus marketing?

The social media behavior of college students (and other Facebook users) provides excellent direction on the best ways to use Facebook for campus marketing.

• More than 80% of users access Facebook on their smartphones 

+ Conduct a successful mobile advertising campaign for a college audience. 

• Image posts have the highest engagement rate on the platform.
• Users spend 50% of their time on Facebook watching video. 

• Facebook is the leading platform for social commerce. 

+ Engage Gen Z and millennials with social shopping.

• In general, the best time to post on Facebook is between 8:00 a.m. and noon, Tuesday or Thursday.

See our complete guide to advertising to university students.

Here at MSS Media, Inc., we’ve been providing Education, Government, Real Estate & Lifestyle clients with succinct, optimized, and successful marketing solutions for more than 15 years. Consider MSS Media, Inc. a full-service, one-stop shop for all your Media and Public Relations needs. Your goals are our motivation. And our mission is to propel your message, further and faster, to achieve the outcomes you’re looking for. If you found this blog post helpful, please share!