Top Social Media Platforms
What Top Social Media Platforms Are Right For Your Business
In a world where photographing your meal before you eat it is commonplace, nearly all the top social media platforms are now an integral part of our daily lives. Regardless of your opinion on food photography, the permeation of social media in undeniable… so what does that mean for your business?
A solid start to any marketing strategy is to be where your customers are, and we can guarantee your customers are somewhere on social media. But before you panic and start downloading every social app available, we should qualify that statement.
Social media can be a valuable addition to your digital marketing strategy, and when used strategically can work in tandem with SEO to drive traffic, capture leads, and boost conversions. We’ll go into the nuances behind social media marketing, how it works for your SEO, how to choose the right platforms, and finally a rundown of the top social media platforms to consider for 2023.
Why Should You Bother With Social Media Platforms?
You may be asking yourself why do you need to bother with social media? Maybe you’ve already invested a lot into your SEO strategy – and that’s great! But by staying away from social media you might be missing out on additional traffic and customers! Here are a few reasons you should consider adding social media to your digital marketing toolkit.
- Social Media Is A Search Tool
Data has shown that users are using social media apps as their own personalized search engines. If people are looking for goods and services like the ones you offer, don’t you want to turn up in their results? - Social Media Boosts Local SEO
If you’re a business with a physical location or service area, then social media is a great tool for helping out your local SEO. Having a social media presence, with posts that tag local locations, helps build brand awareness in your community. This also gives you the opportunity to capitalize on events and networking opportunities by tagging locations and local businesses. - Social Media Builds Authority
The more places you turn up online, the more likely people are going to discover your website. Having active social media account, that you link to from your website and Google Business Profile, reinforces your online presence. This can help with indexing, increase brand awareness, and boost your ranking in the SERPs.
Social Media SEO Best Practices
- Add social sharing buttons to your website content
- Add website links to the bio of your social media profiles
- Add social links to your Google business listing
- Focus on reach and engagement with your social posts
- Utilize keywords in social content when applicable
- Build your community by networking, tagging, sharing, and interacting with customers on social media
Can the Top Social Media Platforms Replace SEO?
Let’s get one thing straight here, social media should not replace SEO, but it can work alongside your SEO efforts to grow your business.
SEO is often the more effective of the two in driving traffic and quality leads to your website, but social media can help amplify those efforts with local SEO, community building, and brand awareness. The goal is to make SEO and social media work in tandem as complimentary pieces of your digital marketing strategy.
What Top Social Media Platforms Should You Choose For Your Business
Are you excited to get started? Good! But we’re going to ask that you hold off on your downloading spree for just a few more minutes.
With so many social media apps out there, it’s impossible to have a quality presence on all of them – nor would you want to! Different apps attract different demographics. If you’re a B2B business that sells tools to plumbers, it wouldn’t really make sense to create a profile on a platform that’s mostly used by teenaged girls. Right?
Before you can select the social media platforms that are right for your business, you need to dive into your customer demographics. This might be information you already have – you just weren’t thinking about it!
Ask yourself who your customer is: what’s their age, gender, occupation, marital status, etc. Think about what’s important to them and where they like to spend their time. Then seek out the top social media platforms they use and create content they want to see that’s relevant to your business.
If you’re looking for more information, we have another article that offers an in-depth walkthrough on how to choose a social media platform with your business objectives in mind.
Top Social Media Platforms for 2023
Now for the fun part! Data geeks rejoice because we’re about to throw some numbers at you. Here are the top 10 social media apps by monthly active users, plus some in-depth information on each.
The Top 10 Social Media Apps By Monthly Active Users
| 1 | 2.9 billion | |
| 2 | YouTube | 2.2 billion |
| 3 | 2 billion | |
| 4 | 2 billion | |
| 5 | TikTok | 1 billion |
| 6 | Snapchat | 557 million |
| 7 | 444 million | |
| 8 | 436 million | |
| 9 | 430 million | |
| 10 | 250 million |
Facebook Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:91 billion
- Largest age group:25-34 (31.5%)
- Gender:43% female, 57% male
- Time spent per day:33 minutes
Facebook, now the mega-tech corporation Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, is no small potato in the social media scene. While perhaps not as cool or hip as other social media platforms out there, it remains an essential digital marketing and SEO tool thanks to its many advertising features.
YouTube
YouTube Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:2+ billion
- Largest age group:15-35 (highest reach)
- Gender:1% female, 53.9% male
- Time spent per session:~30 minutes
The original video streaming platform remains an important player. Content at everyone’s fingertips, and uploading a video is as easy as a few clicks! This, combined with immense shareability, makes YouTube one of the top social media platforms to consider if your business has the capacity to create video content – the fastest growing medium for content marketing. From tutorials, how-tos, team introductions, and company storytelling, there’s no limit to the potential!
WhatsApp Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:2 billion
- Largest age group:26-35 (27%)
- Gender: 46% female, 54% male
- Time spent per day: 38 minutes
WhatsApp is the most popular social messaging app. Now before you say “how does a private messaging app help my business?” consider that SMS marketing messages have a 98% open rate compared to 20% for email (Search Engine Journal). The big kicker? WhatsApp messages are free to send! This can be a great channel for connecting directly with your customers for both promotional offers and customer service.
Instagram Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:2 billion
- Largest age group:25-34 (31.7%), with 18-24 close behind at 30.2%
- Gender:3% female, 50.7% male
- Time spent per day:29 minutes
Product-based business, influencers, and coaches THRIVE on this top social media platform. Posts can be made shoppable, a great way to drive sales from high-quality imagery, and customers can interact with your business directly through comments and direct messages. Being under the same umbrella as Meta means that all advertising campaigns created in Facebook will show up on Instagram too.
TikTok
TikTok Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:1 billion
- Largest age group:10-19 (25%)
- Gender:61% female, 39% male
- Time spent per day:89 minutes per day
If you are looking to connect with Generation Z, TikTok is the app to do it. The origin of the Internet’s most addicting, short-form videos, TikTok has quickly managed to carve out a space for themselves on the social media scene. Micro-communities also flourish on TikTok, where individuals and influencers trade information about products, services, and lifestyle tips. Abercrombie & Fitch’s epic comeback is in part thanks to the jeans that exploded on this top social media platform.
Snapchat
Snapchat Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:557 million
- Largest age group:15-25 (48%)
- Gender:9% female, 46.3% male
- Time spent per day:25+ minutes
With a young “tween” demographic for a target audience you should definitely be on Snapchat. Excellent for user-generated content, behind the scenes footage, and exclusive offers, Snapchat is the social media platform for presenting a less filtered and more authentic brand image to customers.
Pinterest Demographics
- Number of monthly active users444 million
- Largest age group:50-64 (38%)
- Gender:1% female, 21.9% male
- Time spent per day:2 minutes
Pinterest is the place for gathering ideas and saving compelling visuals and infographics. It’s a great way to share visual content that links back to blog posts or other pages on your website. The more popular categories you’ll want to focus on for Pinterest include workouts, fashion, weddings, food, decor, and tips for DIYers. If any of those are related to your business, then should get pinning!
Twitter Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:436 million
- Largest age group:18-29 (42%)
- Gender:4% female, 61.6% male
- Time spent per day:31 minutes
Twitter is the top social media platform to engage your customers in dialogue, comment on the latest trends, and share minute-updates with your followers. Despite a dip in the platform’s popularity, businesses in the entertainment, sports, politics, tech, or marketing industries still stand to gain a lot of engagement on this app. Twitter can also be useful as a social listening tool to stay abreast with what customers are saying about your industry and competition.
Reddit Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:430 million
- Largest age group:18-29 (64%)
- Gender:2% female, 63.9% male
- Time spent per day:9 minutes
Reddit markets itself as the “front page of the Internet” and hosts a unique blend of content and community. With so many sub-reddits on every topic imaginable, there’s a niche for everybody and every brand. However, a note of warning that this is NOT the place for overly salesy self-promotion. Reddit users can be unpredictable and quick to trash a brand that comes off as inauthentic or overly corporate. If you’re brand new to social media marketing, maybe this channel is best left to the more experienced players.
LinkedIn Demographics
- Number of monthly active users:250 million
- Number of members:830 million
- Largest age group:25-34 (58.4%)
- Gender:9% female, 52.1% male
- 63% of LinkedIn users access the network weekly, and 22% daily
LinkedIn is the top social media platform for business professionals. This channel is a great place to network and connect with other businesses. Looking to hire for a new role? LinkedIn will find you top-tier talent and industry experts. Creating content that’s valuable to other businesses and professionals? Share it on LinkedIn to attract an engaged audience.
Ready To Get Social?
If you feel your business needs professional social media services know that you’re not alone.
Contact 1st On The List or call us toll free at 1-888-262-6687 to set up a consultation. Our team of specialists would love to help you upgrade your game and make these top social media platforms work for your business.
