Facebook

Founded in 2004, Facebook now boasts around 2.5 BILLION monthly users, making it by far the largest social media network. This is true for businesses as well, with over 80 million pages for small and medium sized businesses. This means that Facebook offers you the largest potential audience, there is also plenty of competition, so you need to make sure you stand out and target your key demographics carefully.

It is also worth remembering that as Facebook ages, so does its audience. In 2015, 71% of teens were active on Facebook. Now, it’s down to 51%. On the other hand, in 2019, Facebook saw a nearly 40% increase in users aged over 75, whilst those falling in between these two groups remained largely static.

Facebook can therefore be a great resource to reach older, affluent customers, but you need to make sure you do so effectively. You might also consider leveraging Facebook groups to gather your customers or community in one place online. Facebook groups, unlike Facebook business pages, aren’t for advertising, but they can be helpful in creating conversation.

Instagram

As might be expected of a platform that falls under the Facebook family, Instagram has been seeing well over 1 billion monthly users for some time now, with 500 million using Instagram stories every day. This popularity is true for businesses as well, with a projects ¾ of businesses being active on Instagram in the USA, and 200 million users visiting at least one business profile every day.

Instagram’s sleek and stylish approach makes it perfect for sharing great imagery and promoting brands, which is likely why it has long been the natural home of the influencer. Unlike Facebook, Instagram is also holding its own with younger users, with 72% of teens saying they use Instagram.

Twitter

Whilst Twitter doesn’t quite boast the same numbers as Facebook or Instagram, with a reasonably consistent 300 million users each month, this still represents a huge potential audience. Event better, 40% of those users are active on the site multiple times daily, meaning that this audience is potentially much more engaged.

Twitter’s popularity remains particularly high amongst tech-savvy users, and it’s short, sharp approach to content is ideal for getting your message across quickly and succinctly.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn represents the internet home of the working professional. A huge network of individuals with a huge range of skills and experience, LinkedIn boasts membership of more than 61 million users in senior positions.

If you are wanting to directly reach the decisions makers in businesses, who are in a position to make the call as to whether or not to use the services or products your offer, then LinkedIn is the place for you.

It might not be the flashiest social media network, but there’s unlimited potential for connecting with an elite group of professionals who can make a difference for your business.

Pinterest

Pinterest is an excellent place for creatives to find inspiration and ideas on a wide range of topics, from DIY and interior design, to arts and crafts, holidays, business and just about anything else you can think of.

With an audience predominantly consisting of adult women, this social media platform is also often cited as a crucial part of the product discovery journey. Even better, with its intuitive bookmarking tool, once you’ve grabbed a user’s attention you can be sure they will remember you.

YouTube

The home of the cat video, YouTube offers a powerful way to interact with your customers – video. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a well-made YouTube video can be your very own marketing novel.

As the second most popular search engine, beaten only by its parent company Google, and with more than 2 billion monthly users, YouTube also offers a huge audience for your content.

So if you have the capacity to produce good quality visual content, be it guides, reviews, interviews or even the next viral sensation, then YouTube is the place for you.

Reddit

The self-styled “Front page of the internet”, for many Reddit is the got to place for learn about news, new trends and engage with like-minded people on a whole range of topics. Consistently one of the top 20 most-visited sites on the internet, Reddit offers has a unique blend of content and community, with more than 150,000 communities dedicated to every topic imaginable.

With so many niches, there’s a place for every brand and business – it’s a matter of finding the niches where your potential customers are active and diving in.