Where My People At?
Are you wondering where your people are on social media ?
I hear this question a lot: “Which social media should I focus on the most?
My question to you is, what is your demographic or target market? My next question would be how much time do you want to spend on your marketing? Better question, can you spend and WILL you spend time on marketing? Are you smartphone savvy? Do you prefer to not carry a computer/camera/phone/robot in your pocket all day? A lot of variables go into my recommendations for you.
Depending on who your people are, determines which social media platform you should focus on.
Are teens or college-age your demographic? TikTok, Twitter, or Snapchat might be your answer. Are young adults (25-35) that are getting started in the real world your target audience? Then, Facebook is not the right place to be. However, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube are great places to start. Pick one and only one to START. Is your target market the 35-50 age group? With this age range, you need to be a little more precise in your demographic. Male, female or everyone? YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are in the running for this age range. Is your demographic the 50+ world? Gender is also relevant for this age group too. Facebook for all genders and Instagram for the ladies and YouTube for all.
OK, so YouTube is one platform that is for EVERYONE!! Teens love YouTube. College kids love YouTube. Adults love YouTube. Seniors love YouTube. (Feeling my inner Oprah there.)
TikTok
TikTok is growing in popularity. The best way I know how to describe it is to say it’s very similar to Vine. The videos are longer and it’s about fun and creativity! Silly, creative fun. Doctors educate with funny stories and examples. Car repairmen (and women) teach you about noises under the hood and why some repairs are more costly than others (like when they have to remove 15 parts to get to the one that needs to get fixed).
There are older people on the platform, but the primary demographic is younger and the gender ratio is… well… everyone! 26.5 million out of the 500 million monthly active users are from the USA (Mediakix, 2019). Stars like Jessica Alba, Gabriel Inglesias, Terry Crews, and Jimmy Fallon are joining in on the fun.
Facebook is slowing down in the United States. People still checking it but not as often as it was in previous years. It is still used to reference your business’s activity. Facebook is a strong social media in the 50 plus demographic. Teens and college-age people are few and far between if at all. The 25-35 age range may be on there but aren’t active and the 35-50 age group is declining in their activity. Again, this is for the USA. Facebook is growing in other countries which is why the numbers on various statics continue to look like they are on the rise. This platform is more popular for women. The younger your demographic is the fewer number of active males there are.
Instagram is still picking up steam, even if Facebook bought it out. Because it works so well with Facebook, it is easy to get a “two birds, one stone” scenario. Create your content on Instagram and have it shared with Facebook. Instagram is a more female demographic. The largest age groups are 25-35 and 35-50 age range. Because parents have joined, the younger crowd as lost interest. Instagram is used by 43% of American women and 31% of men. 31% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 24 32% of internet users between the ages of 25 and 34 use Instagram (Omnicore). Instagram is known for being a happier and friendlier place than Facebook. It is easier to avoid the political drama and fake news.
I just reviewed some stats that surprised me and now I’m having to change some of this post because the Twitter stats are not what I expected! If you have a lot of time and want to be attached to your phone, then this is the social media for you. Currently, about 22% of the USA population is using Twitter. The largest group is males between the ages of 18 to 50. I tell my clients that Twitter is like standing on a balcony at a concert hollerin’ and hoping someone hears you. You aren’t the lucky one on the stage with the mic.
With a lot of time and energy, you can make this platform work. This female has not had much luck, but I do love chat groups so it’s worth it for me.
Snapchat
Snapchat is on the decline but it is still out there. 62% of the 18-29-year-olds are on it, so if they are your market, then get on there! 25% of the 30-49 age range is on there too. As you can see, the numbers for that age range is greater on other platforms. If you need to streamline your marketing, take this social media platform off your list.
YouTube
Last and definitely not least - we have YouTube. YouTube is for everyone and I mean everyone. All ages use it. It’s been available since 2005 and is still growing in usage. People use if for fun, education, and marketing. These days a smartphone is good enough to create videos. There are a ton of video creating apps that allow for easy video creation. Fancy equipment and programs aren’t needed anymore. Your videos can be edited so they work on other platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This can save you time creating content for multiple demographics.
When in doubt, YouTube.
Are you interested in learning more about the different social media platforms and which demographic is your target market? Feel free to contact me. Shoot me an email at [email protected] or call me at 804.402.0084. I am happy to discuss your options and help you streamline your digital marketing.
digital marketing Facebook marketing snapchat Social Media Social media for business target market tiktok Twitter YouTube
