This is our second blog in our series on social media and its potential impact on your business. Posting on social media sites will extend your reach and gain you more customers.
In our previous blog 'Why social media is good for small business' we looked at the statistics, why people access social media and what that all means for your marketing strategy.
In this blog we'll look at social media users in more detail and where you should be concentrating your marketing efforts.
Social media - the demographics
So to the demographics; and we define this as the "statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it".
A greater understanding of your target demographic will enable you to assert which social media sites are more appropriate for your service or product offering. Who do you want to appeal to and engage with?
In our previous blog, Curious Elf highlighted the fact that an average user has at least 8 social media accounts (yep - 8!) so it’s worth understanding your customer base and how best to appeal to them. Each platform is nuanced so understand your audience and establish what to post and where.
The amount of data is quite overwhelming so Curious Elf has saved you a bit of time by picking out the best bits. If you love getting into the detail, have a look at Sprout Social's article on 'New social media demographics' given you the current demographic trends in 2021.
Some facts and a few figures about social media
To appreciate how your marketing plan will reach your audience it's worth casting an eye over these statistics:
40% of Facebook’s audience share is in Europe.
91% of Facebook users will shop on the platform - 65% will be women and the majority (64%) will be 45 and younger (YouGov).
57% of LinkedIn users will view their account via mobile devices compared to 88% of Facebook users and 70% of YouTube users.
Pinterest has over 150 million users and more are looking beyond ideas and music to direct shopping and product search.
37% of adults use Instagram with the 25-34 year group being the most prevalent.
Travel is the top search for users on Instagram (45%) followed by Music (44%), Food and Drink (43%). Cultural differences do apply - in India, the top subject to follow is Tech.
LinkedIn has 303 million monthly active users and the biggest age group is the 46-55 age bracket.
Facebook has 2.74 billion monthly active users.
Instagram has 500 million daily active users.
Twitter has 340 million users. Men aged between 25-34 years make up 19% of the demographic compared to 10% of women.
80% of Twitter’s global population is younger than 50 years old.
Considering that most social media accounts have a minimum age range, Facebook has 109 million followers between 13-17 year olds, Instagram has 56.6 million and Snapchat has 71 million.
Globally, more men than women use Facebook but women are more likely to set up groups that mean something to other people.
Let's just remind ourselves of our marketing categories:
Baby Boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964
Generation X: Born between 1965 and 1980
Millenials: Born between 1981 and 1996
What does this mean for my marketing strategy?
So what does all the data mean for your social media marketing strategy?
Well the first thing we can tell you is that you don’t need to have a presence on every one.
Phew!
Concentrate on 2 or 3 platforms to start with - it’s the same old line - quality over quantity.
When’s the best time to be actively pushing social media content?
As your marketing strategy develops, you’ll pick up patterns of behaviour and learn what attracts your customer base and when. At The Digital Doctor, we use Sprout Social and Google Analytics - data analysis will inform you about the success of each post and which posts drive traffic to your website.
There are times and days in the week which appear to work better than others.
Incidentally, we've produced a guide to show you when's a good time to post articles and news on the following social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Download our free guide ‘When is the best time to post on social media according to industry’.
Social media data - there's lots of it!
Well yes, that's why Curious Elf has been busy checking out the need to knows.
Broadly speaking, you can focus on just a couple of social media sites to get you going - and it's dependent on your business sector.
For example, if you're a florist, beautician, dressmaker, baker then look to Instagram, YouTube and TikTok to promote your business. You can upload visually stunning images and videos and gain new clients whilst reminding your existing ones of how great you are.
Use Facebook and YouTube if you provide utility services, engineering or building services. Upload tutorials to YouTube and signpost them on Facebook, asking for users to review your content.
LinkedIn works really well for accountancy firms, solicitors and consultancies where there's less opportunity to use visual imagery. You can create a following by posting relevant blogs and newsworthy items and use Twitter to signpost where your potential customers will find you. Also think about uploading presentations to your Facebook page - your company will gain a reputation for being the experts in your field.
The Digital Doctor will get your business on the platforms
In this blog we've looked at how the internet population is defined by which cohorts and social groups access which social media platform. This has implications for your company - certain industries align with particular social media sites.
When to post is also important and we've included a reference guide to help you.
If you are interested if what you've read and want to start posting on social media remember from our first blog 'Why social media is good for small business' that you will need to set up business pages on each site, applying a consistent brand and message.
If this all sounds a bit daunting, we can guide you through the process to set up a presence on social media.
Get in contact with us at The Digital Doctor.