Which social channels are you using in your marketing? Are you sure they are the right channels for your organization? Are you reaching your audience? Are they engaging with your brand? If your audience isn’t engaging with your brand, then they might just be hanging out with your competitors in their social channels.
In 2013, only 60% of companies were using social media, now 90% of companies are in social for marketing purposes. Don’t get left behind!
How Do You Know You’re Using the Right Social Channels?
There are thousands of social channels out there. Even if you narrow it down to just the major social channels, there are still too many for any one organization to effectively manage for marketing. And, quite honestly, you don’t need to be on all the social channels. You need to focus your social marketing efforts in the channels that your personas are actively using.
The first step in determining which social media channels your company should be actively marketing in is to look at the demographics. Here’s a demographic breakdown of seven top social media channels:
Facebook Demographics & Stats
First, you should know that 62% of the entire global adult population is on Facebook. (Pew Research) With 1.44 billion monthly active users, Facebook is definitely the leader of the social channels. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right channel for you to focus your social marketing efforts.
Who’s on Facebook? Consider these demographic statistics:
66% of all male internet users are on Facebook
77% of all female internet users are on Facebook
71% of all urban internet users are on Facebook
72% of all suburban internet users are on Facebook
69% of all rural internet users are on Facebook
87% of 18-29 year-old internet users are on Facebook
73% of 30-49 year-old internet users are on Facebook
63% of 50-64 year-old internet users are on Facebook
56% of 65 year-old and up internet users are on Facebook
YouTube Demographics & Stats
YouTube is a little different from other social channels like Facebook and Twitter. It is one form of content – videos. And you only interact in the form of comments, likes & shares on those videos. Interestingly, YouTube is part social, part search engine. YouTube is generally recognized as the number 2 most-used search engine. If you aren’t using video as a form of content in your inbound marketing, then you are falling behind.
Who’s on YouTube? Consider these demographic statistics:
82% of 14-17 year-old internet users are on YouTube
72% of 18-24 year-old internet users are on YouTube
58% of 25-55 year-old internet users are on YouTube
43% of 56 year-old and up internet users are on YouTube
According to YouTube, their channel reaches more 18-49 year-olds than any single cable network in the US.
LinkedIn Demographics & Stats
LinkedIn is generally considered to be the first choice for B2B social media marketing. If you are a B2B organization, you should definitely look at LinkedIn as part of your inbound marketing mix before you consider marketing on any of the other social platforms.
Who’s on LinkedIn? Consider these demographic statistics:
28% of all male internet users are on LinkedIn
27% of all female internet users are on LinkedIn
32% of all urban internet users are on LinkedIn
29% of all suburban internet users are on LinkedIn
14% of all rural internet users are on LinkedIn
23% of 18-29 year-old internet users are on LinkedIn
31% of 30-49 year-old internet users are on LinkedIn
30% of 50-64 year-old internet users are on LinkedIn
21% of 65 year-old and up internet users are on LinkedIn
LinkedIn also has the highest income and education levels of any of the social channels:
44% of LinkedIn users earn over $75,000 per year
50% of LinkedIn users have a college degree
Twitter Demographics & Stats
Like many of the newer social platforms, Twitter skews to a younger audience. Twitter is also showing greater increases in male users over female users. If you are targeting a younger, more urban audience (see stats below), Twitter may be a strong social channel for your digital marketing mix.
Who’s on Twitter? Consider these demographic statistics:
24% of all male internet users are on Twitter
21% of all female internet users are on Twitter
25% of all urban internet users are on Twitter
23% of all suburban internet users are on Twitter
17% of all rural internet users are on Twitter
37% of 18-29 year-old internet users are on Twitter
25% of 30-49 year-old internet users are on Twitter
12% of 50-64 year-old internet users are on Twitter
10% of 65 year-old and up internet users are on Twitter
Pinterest Demographics & Stats
Pinterest is essentially an image curation platform. If you have a very visual product or service, and you are targeting women (see stats below), you may very well want to consider Pinterest in your social marketing strategy mix. Interestingly, Pinterest is the only social channel with the highest population in rural areas.
Who’s on Pinterest? Consider these demographic statistics:
13% of all male internet users are on Pinterest
42% of all female internet users are on Pinterest
25% of all urban internet users are on Pinterest
29% of all suburban internet users are on Pinterest
30% of all rural internet users are on Pinterest
34% of 18-29 year-old internet users are on Pinterest
28% of 30-49 year-old internet users are on Pinterest
27% of 50-64 year-old internet users are on Pinterest
17% of 65 year-old and up internet users are on Pinterest
Snapchat Demographics & Stats
Snapchat is the leader in what is called “ephemeral marketing.” Available only as an app on mobile devices, Snapchat users send snaps that last from 10 seconds to 24 hours. Once the set time period expires, the snap is gone. Four hundred million snaps are sent each day by over 100 million active Snapchat users. Snapchat continues to create avenues for companies to effectively market on their channel.
Who’s on Snapchat? Consider these demographic statistics:
70% of Snapchat users are male
30% of Snapchat users are female
23% of US 13-17 year-olds are using Snapchat
37% of US 18-24 year-olds are using Snapchat
26% of US 25-34 year-olds are using Snapchat
12% of US 35-54 year-olds are using Snapchat
2% of US 55 year-olds and up are using Snapchat
Instagram Demographics & Stats
Instagram is a mobile-first app, but not exclusive to mobile like Snapchat. Instagram is a very visual platform (Aside: Honestly, all social platforms are visual. You need great imagery to be successful in any social channel.)
Who’s on Instagram? Consider these demographic statistics:
22% of all male internet users are on Instagram
29% of all female internet users are on Instagram
28% of all urban internet users are on Instagram
26% of all suburban internet users are on Instagram
19% of all rural internet users are on Instagram
53% of 18-29 year-old internet users are on Instagram
25% of 30-49 year-old internet users are on Instagram
11% of 50-64 year-old internet users are on Instagram
6% of 65 year-old and up internet users are on Instagram
As you consider social, use the demographic information to guide your initial decisions. But, once you’re in a social channel use metrics around engagement to determine if it is truly the right channel for you. How do people engage with your channel? Are they liking, favoriting, sharing, retweeting, commenting? If your engagement numbers are low it could be you are not providing the right content for your audience, or it could be your primary audience isn’t on that channel.
