During the past several weeks we've talked to a half dozen companies wanting to be part of our maintenance programs for the unlimited website updates, social media monitoring, and handling their social media for a lot less than a part-time employee. One question that always comes up is which social media outlet(s) should you be on. For some it is just one while others it is more than one. We've created this article to help define which social media outlet is best to choose based on the social media outlets we typically use with our customer's.
Disclaimer: This is a broad overview and your results will "and should" vary. Your business is unique just like each platform. Know who your audience is and where they are as that will give you the best bang for your buck.
Some Statistics to start off on
- 24% of all adults use two sites
- 16% of adults are on three sites
- 8% of adults are on four sites
- 4% are on five or more sites
Facebook
- Best for building a community
- 58% of adult's online use
- 70% of adults use daily
- Among adult users
- 74% are college graduates
- 71% have some college
- 70% are high-school or less
LinkedIn
- Best for career and industry insights
- 23% of adult's online use
- 13% of adults use daily
- LinkedIn user breakdown
- 23% of people 18-29 are years' old
- 31% of people 30-49 are years' old
- 30% of people 50-64 are years' old
- 21% of people 65+ are years' old
Pinterest
- Best for highly visual industries and marketing
- 22% of adult's online use
- 17% of adults use daily
- 42% of online women use Pinterest
- 13% of online men use Pinterest
Instagram
- Best for companies with great photography and images
- 21% of adult's online use
- 49% of adults use daily
- Photographer breakdown
- 55% are between 18-29 years' old
- 28% are between 30-49 years' old
- 11% of people are 50-64 years' old
- 4% of people are 65+ years' old
- 29% of all online females use Instagram
- 22% of all online males use Instagram
Twitter
- Best for topical and timely conversations that are short and sweet (140 characters or less)
- 19% of adult's online use
- 36% of adults use daily
- 25% usage in live in urban areas
- 23% usage in live in suburban areas
- 17% usage in live in rural areas
YouTube
- Best for Compelling videos
- Over 1 billion online users
- Almost 1/3 of all people on the internet use
- Every day people watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and generate billions of views
- YouTube, and even just YouTube on mobile, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the United States
Meerkat
- Best for Live-Stream video from your phone to Twitter followers
- 120,000 users
- 78% of members are male
- 22% of members are female
Periscope
- Twitter's app for Live-streaming video from your phone
- Over 1 million users
- 1.85 million daily active users
- 71% of members are male
- 29% of members are female
Reddit
- Roughly 9,800 member-driven communities and forums
- Approximately 36 million user accounts
- 88% of visitors go to the site multiple times per day
- 8% of users are 14-17 years' old
- 8.5% of users are 18-34 years' old
- 3.9% of users are 35-54 years' old
Snapchat
- Best for captioned videos and photos sent directly to other users that automatically disappear
- 45% of Snapchat's adult users are between 18 and 24 years' old
Vimeo
- Best for video sharing
- 160 million monthly viewers
- 35 million registered users
- Ability to easily password protect your videos
- It's estimated that the majority of its users are serious video creators
Vine
- Best for short videos
- A Vine video is a 6.5-second-long looping video
- Great for showing off a new product, demo a feature, tell a quick story, or share something fun
- 288% of all Vine's adult users are between 18 and 24 years' old
Conclusion
When deciding what social media sites to align with your website online marketing there is no one-size-fits-all solution. When it comes to building your social media community choose where your audience is and where you see it going. Use the information above as a foundational element for deciding which social media site to choose.
When it comes to building your social media site, maintaining it, and coming up with a strategy JM2 Webdesigners from Northwest Indiana is here to help your business grow. You can reach us at @BUSINESSPHONETOLLFREE@, email at sales@jm2.bz, or through our online contact form here.