How-Tu Tuesday: Using Demographics To Improve Your Social Media Strategy
Marketers are continuously thinking of ways to target their audiences more strategically. They do this through analysis of their data and having a deep understanding of the demographics across the various channels of communication. One of the main marketing tools is, of course, social media, which in itself has multiple different sets of demographics associated with each social network.
The continuous rise of social media has made the digital landscape an often challenging space to navigate, however, brands should instead view social media as an opportunity to reach more consumers and increase visibility.
Brands’ aim is to reach the right people with the right message at the right time. Firstly though, it is important to know where those people are being influenced and the channels they are using to communicate and interact. A combination of your own data based on your current social media activity and the demographics of each platform, allows marketers to make informed decisions about their social strategy.
Below is a list of demographics for each of the major social media platforms that can be used as a guide to indicate where you should have a presence, depending on the make-up of your customer.
With over 1.5 billion users, Facebook is the market leader in the social stratosphere. Most brands maintain a presence on Facebook above any other networking site and this is mainly because it targets such a wide demographic of users:
Online adults using Facebook: 71% (77% of females, 66% of males)
Most popular age range: 18-29 years old (87% of all people in this age group use Facebook)
Location: 72% live in the suburbs
With over 320 million monthly active users, Twitter is known for its high volume of content and fast-paced nature. It attracts the following audience:
Online adults using Twitter: 23% (21% of females, 24% of males)
Most popular age range: 18-29 years old (37% of all people in this age group use Twitter)
Location: 25% live in an urban area
Boasting more than 400 million active users, the Facebook owned photo/video sharing network is most popular within the creative industries (fashion, art, beauty, media, entertainment ect.) and has become the go-to platform for sharing the most perfectly edited and filtered content:
Online adults using Instagram: 26% (29% of females, 22% of males)
Most popular age range: 18-29 years old (53% of all people in this age group use Instagram)
Location: 28% live in an urban area
Surpassing the 100 million user mark at the end of last year, Pinterest is a haven for brands wanting to share a collection of curated images and is the home of inspiration and ideas for its users, who include:
Online adults using Pinterest: 28% (42% of females, 13% of males)
Most popular age range: 18-29 years old (34% of all people in this age group use Pinterest)
Location: 30% live in a rural area
With over 400 million users, LinkedIn is often referred to the Facebook for professionals. It is used by brands mainly for two purposes; recruiting and B2B marketing. It is home to the following demographic:
Online adults using LinkedIn: 28% (27% of females, 28% of males)
Most popular age range: 30-49 years old (31% of people in this age group use LinkedIn)
Location: 32% live in an urban area
SNAPCHAT
Although the newest of the biggest social media platforms, in a very short space of time Snapchat has accrued over 1.55 billion monthly active users, continually closing in on Facebook. This social network is still relatively new to brands and if you would like specific advice on how to incorporate it into your marketing strategy then check out our latest Snapchat blog post here. As it is still considered a newbie to the social market, numbers on Snapchat are not as widely available yet, but we can provide somewhat of an overview:
Online adults using Snapchat: 70% of users are female and 30% are male
Most popular age range: 71% of users are under 25 years
Data from Sproutsocial
