Love it or hate it, there’s no
denying that social media has forever changed our lives.
It’s
made the world seem smaller than ever by allowing us to make friends from
around the world, given us the ability to join thriving online communities of
people who share similar interests and passions, and offered unique
opportunities for employers and job seekers to connect and interact.
At
the same time, social media has provided an unprecedented platform for
promotion and truly leveled the playing field by offering individuals and
businesses the chance to make a name for themselves in a way that never would
have been possible without the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
That
being said, if you own a business, it’s incredibly important to understand
social media.
Without
it, you’re missing out on myriad marketing and advertising opportunities, and
you’ll inevitably lag behind the competition in terms of the exposure of your
brand.
Still,
trying to understand social media can be confusing and stressful, to say the
least.
If
you own a business, you might be asking yourself questions like, “Which social
media should I use for my business?” and “What’s the best social media for
business?”
In
any case, if these sound like the kinds of questions you’ve been asking, then
you should definitely keep reading.
Because
in this article, I’m going to dispel the myth of the “best social media for
business”, offer some demographic data, and provide some practical advice to
help you determine which social media platforms you should be using for your
business.
What
is the Best Social Media for Business? It All Depends. I know this seems like
something that should be completely cut and dried, but it’s really not.
Truth
be told, the best social media for business doesn’t really exist, at least not
in terms of there being one platform that’s best for every business across the
board.
According
to data from Statista, Facebook is the most popular platform, with nearly 3
billion monthly active users, and YouTube is a close second, with more than 2.5
billion.
2022
stats on social media users
So,
in terms of the sheer number of users, and having access to the highest number
of people possible, these platforms are your best bet.
But
this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to work best for your
business.
The
fact of the matter is, regardless of a platform’s popularity, the best social
media for business is the one that will work best for the business that’s going
to be using it.
But
how does one go about determining which platforms to use for their business?
Well,
the first step is to define your target audience.
READ:
How to Set Social Media Goals for 2022
How
to Set Social Media Goals for 2022
The
world of social media can be difficult to navigate, but if you own a business,
you can’t afford to ignore it.
That
being said, trying to wrap your head around how you can leverage the plethora
of available platforms can be a daunting task that’s incredibly overwhelming,
especially if you don’t have any help.
This
article aims to offer that assistance by discussing how to create an effective
social media marketing plan, how to stay organized and set realistic goals, and
much more.
Keep
reading here.
Defining
Your Target Audience Before I even get into demographics, and the details
surrounding any particular platform, I need to talk about how to define a
target audience.
Without
this information, trying to figure out which platforms will perform best for
your business would be an exercise in futility.
But
what is a target audience?
In
short, this term refers to the group(s) of people you’re trying to reach. You
can think of these individuals as your ideal customers.
If
you’re not sure which group(s) you want to target, you can start by asking
these kinds of questions about your ideal customers:
How
old are they? Where do they live? What are their genders? What are their
interests? Where do they hang out? What do they do for a living? What’s their
level of education? How much money do they make? What problems are they having
in their life? How can your offering(s) help them to address those problems? When
I work with clients in helping them define their target audience, we dive deep
into these, and other similar kinds of questions, but the list above should
give you more than enough insight to get a general sense of your target
audience.
Once
you’ve figured that out, then you can start using demographic data to determine
which social media platforms will be best for your business.
Determining
Demographics After defining your target audience, the most important thing to
consider is what demographics are using each social media platform.
This
information will allow you to determine if a platform is even worth using.
Because
let’s face it, if your target audience can’t be found on Facebook, for
instance, then there’s really no point in you using it for your business.
You’ll
just be wasting time and money making marketing materials and buying ad space
with no chance of seeing any results.
So,
with that said, let’s take a look at the demographics found on some of the most
popular social media platforms, so you can figure out which ones will work best
for you.
According
to a survey from Statista, as of January 2021, the platforms most commonly used
by marketers were Facebook and Instagram, with 93 per cent of respondents
saying they use Facebook to promote their business, and 78 per cent saying they
use Instagram.
2021
commonly used social platforms by marketers
LinkedIn
came in third with 61 per cent, YouTube came in fourth with 55 per cent, and
Twitter came in fifth with 48 per cent.
Considering
the fact that it has nearly 3 billion users, it’s no surprise that Facebook
came out on top, as any demographic you can imagine is likely to be found on
the social network in some capacity.
However,
that doesn’t mean that your target audience is guaranteed to be found on
Facebook, and your ideal customers might be more likely to frequent other
platforms.
With
that in mind, let’s take a look at some demographic data compiled by Hootsuite
and Sprout Social on some of the most popular platforms so you can break things
down a bit further.
Facebook
The largest demographic on Facebook consists of male users between the ages of
25 and 34.
However,
41 per cent of Facebook users are 45 years of age or older, so this platform
tends to be a place for what would be considered aging demographics.
In
terms of gender demographics, 57 per cent of Facebook users are male, and 43
per cent are female.
Instagram
People between the ages of 25-34 make up the largest age group on Instagram, at
31.2 per cent, while the second-largest age group includes 18 to 24-year-olds,
at 31 per cent.
More
than half of Instagram users are younger than 35, making this platform a place
for a slightly younger demographic, at least compared to Facebook.
When
it comes to gender, 48.4 per cent of users are female, while 51.8 per cent are
male.
Twitter
The largest age group on Twitter consists of those who are between the ages of
18 and 29.
As
for gender demographics, 38.4 per cent of Twitter users are female, whereas
61.6 per cent are male.
In
addition, one-third of Twitter users claim to have graduated from college and
report earning more than $75,000 per year, making this platform a great place
to find highly educated individuals with high incomes.
TikTok
TikTok tends to be a place for a considerably younger crowd, with 25 per cent
of users between the ages of 10 and 19.
In
terms of gender demographics, 61 per cent of TikTok users are female, while 39
per cent are male.
Moreover,
according to data from Insider Intelligence, while most platforms have had
dismal user growth in recent years, TikTok saw an 87.1 per cent increase in
2020, and 18.3 per cent growth in 2021, far surpassing every other platform.
US
Social Network User Growth by platform 2020 2021
YouTube
YouTube has potentially the highest reach of any social media platform, with a
large gap between the members of its largest age group, which includes people
between the ages of 15 and 35.
As
for gender demographics, 46 per cent of YouTube users are female, while 54 per
cent are male.
It’s
also important to mention the ridiculous volume of video content uploaded to
this platform, with 30,000 hours of video being uploaded each hour in 2020,
highlighting the massive number of opportunities it presents for serving ads to
your audience.
LinkedIn
The largest age group on LinkedIn consists of those aged 25 to 34, while the
next largest age group consists of people between 18 and 24.
When
it comes to gender, 43 per cent of LinkedIn users are female, while 57 per cent
are male.
According
to a Pew Research Center poll of U.S. adults, 50 per cent of respondents
earning over $75,000 per year use LinkedIn, and 89 per cent of respondents with
a college degree use the platform, making it another great place to connect
with highly educated high earners.
Before
I wrap this up, it’s important to point out that social media should be
considered just one part of your marketing strategy, and you should only use it
where, when, and how it’s beneficial for your business.
That
being said, if you’re still asking yourself, “Which social media should I use
for my business?” then I hope the information and advice I’ve provided here
will help you to answer that question.
Are
you still confused about what kind of social media to use for your business?
I’ve been helping clients to build their brands and polish their social media
presence for decades, so I know a thing or two about how to get the most out of
these platforms. Contact us today to find out which platforms will perform best
for your business.
To
your business success, Susan Friesen
Source: https://www.amazines.com/E-Commerce/article_detail.cfm/6263438?articleid=6263438
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