Social media is everywhere, but not all platforms work for every business. Find the best of these top 10 social media platforms for your audience.
Social media is a pillar of many people’s daily lives.
According to the Digital 2022 April Global Statshot Report, there are 4.65 billion social media users on the planet. It accounts for 58.7% of the world’s population, many of whom use social media as their primary source of information.
From news (and disinformation) to lifestyle tips, from decision making to product research, social media users can gather all the information they need without leaving the platform of their choice.
And not just the United States (although 84% of Americans use at least one social network). China currently has more than 1 billion social media users, but about 415 million citizens still live without internet access.
For marketers, these are more than flashy numbers and potential customers. And if you have the right social media strategy, they can be realized customers.
Unfortunately, it’s not so easy to cut a clapperboard on Facebook and wait for your business to start.
You need a strategy to increase brand awareness, engage with potential customers, and engage with your audience. And the important part is that it is in the right place.
For example, if you’re selling a retirement home, TikTok is probably not a place for you, as 47.4% of users are under the age of 30.
Similarly, if you want to target native Chinese speakers, Facebook is probably not the right platform as it has only 3.3 million users in China.
How do you choose where to spend your time (and potential advertising costs)?
If your business doesn’t have a deep pocket and you don’t care about the results, a shotgun approach that tries to target everyone at once, anywhere is not effective.
You need to consider the right channel for your audience.
Test some before soloing on one social media site. Make sure you get the results you want, then strategically choose the results you want to double down.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most popular social media platforms, give a brief overview of them, and suggest what companies they work for.
Top 10 Social Media Platforms Compared
| MAU | Revenue | Launched | Headquarters | ||
| 1 | 2.9 billion | $85.96 billion | 2004 | Menlo Park, CA | |
| 2 | YouTube | 2.2 billion | $28.8 billion | 2005 | San Bruno, California |
| 3 | 2 billion | $5.5 billion | 2009 | Menlo Park, California | |
| 4 | 2 billion | $24 billion | 2010 | Menlo Park, CA | |
| 5 | TikTok | 1 billion | $11 billion | 2016 | Culver City, CA |
| 6 | Snapchat | 538 million | $1.06 billion | 2011 | Los Angeles, CA |
| 7 | 444 million | $575 million | 2005 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 8 | 430 million | $289.9 million | 2010 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 9 | 250 million | $12. 4 billion | 2006 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 10 | 217 million | $5.42 billion | 2003 | Mountain View, CA |
The Top 10 Social Media Apps By Monthly Active Users
| MAU | ||
| 1 | 2.9 billion | |
| 2 | YouTube | 2.2 billion |
| 3 | 2 billion | |
| 4 | 2 billion | |
| 5 | TikTok | 1 billion |
| 6 | Snapchat | 538 million |
| 7 | 444 million | |
| 8 | 430 million | |
| 9 | 250 million | |
| 10 | 217 million |
The Top 10 Social Media Sites And Platforms
The Top 10 Social Media Sites And Platforms are:
- YouTube
- Tiktok
- Snapchat
1. Facebook
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA, USA
Launched: 2004
Monthly Active Users: 2.9 billion
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes
Revenue: $86 billion (2022)
Facebook is no longer number one. Indeed, the platform you associate with your mom, your third grade teacher, and your neighbor still exists and it’s still popular (and much more so in practice).
But now it’s meta.
Or at least the companies that own it, Instagram and WhatsApp are now Meta, Inc. The platform has undergone a demographic transition, but is still a big dog in the social media block.
Facebook’s major industries include financial services, e-commerce, retail, games, entertainment, media, telecom, technology, consumer goods and automotive.
News feeds are increasingly curbing business posts, but there are still ways to increase engagement without investing in advertising.
However, if you want your viewers to take action, Facebook ads are the best way to go.
Consider joining (or creating) a group, using the Facebook Messenger chatbot, or using live video to increase engagement.
2. YouTube
Launched: 2005
Headquarters: San Bruno, California, USA
Monthly Active Users: 2.2 billion
Revenue: $28.8 billion (2022)
Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley
YouTube, the original video social media platform, maintains its dominance in this market. Currently, it has 2.2 billion monthly active users and is the second most used platform.
The reach potential on YouTube is unparalleled, with 81% of adults in the United States using the platform. Don’t miss the numbers.
YouTube has a strong user base across all age groups. This includes hard-to-reach demographics for people aged 65 and over, 49% of whom use the platform, second only to Facebook.
YouTube has provided an alternative to paid-TV services like Showmax and Netflix locally. The platform has a reported base of 24 million people in South Africa, with World Wide Worx’s data showing around 16 million active viewers.
YouTube covers all genres, from beauty, games, education to renovation. It’s a platform that most brands can invest in, and video is a growth medium for content marketing.
3. WhatsApp
Launched: 2009
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, USA
Monthly Active Users: 2 billion
Revenue: $5.5 billion (2022) estimated
Founders: Brian Acton, Jan Koum
WhatsApp is still the most popular social messaging app, far surpassing Facebook Messenger.
The closed messaging app doesn’t seem to be an obvious choice for brands. However, keep in mind that text messages have an open rate of 98%, while emails have an open rate of 20%.
It’s a prisoner of war audience. Also, unlike SMS, WhatsApp messages can be sent for free.
If you’re using WhatsApp for customer service and engagement, you’ve already noticed that the brand’s potential is huge and significantly undervalued.
If you can crack WhatsApp, you have a direct marketing channel to your audience.
4. Instagram
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA, USA
Launched: 2010
Monthly Active Users: 2 billion
Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger
Revenue: $24 billion (2022)
Instagram is a social network where product-based businesses, influencers and coaches can thrive.
Since the launch of shoppable posts in 2018, the potential ROI of product-based businesses has never been higher.
B2B companies can not only interact with a large audience, but also link product information and sales directly from Gram.
If your target audience is under 35, Instagram is a gold mine. 67% of 18-24 year-olds use
Instagram, and 67% of Gen Z and 58% of millennials use the app every day.
Read more Instagram stats and facts from 2021.
5. TikTok
Launched: 2016
Headquarters: Culver City, California, USA
Monthly Active Users: 1 billion
Founders: ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, Toutiao
Revenue: $11 billion (2022)
TikTok claims to be “the main destination for short-form mobile video” with the corporate mission of inspiring creativity and bringing joy.
TikTok is certainly touching because it’s the youngest app on the market, but it’s already incredibly growing.
In 2017, just a year later, this app has become the fastest growing app in the world.
Despite banning TikTok in the US and trying to ban it in India, the app has been downloaded more than 3 billion times worldwide by 2021.
If you want to connect with Gen Z, TikTok is the platform to check out.
In the United States, 25% of viewers are teenagers or younger. These users are also very enthusiastic.
The average user session is about 11 minutes, which is twice as long as the closest app, Pinterest.
6. Snapchat
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California, USA
Launched: 2011
Monthly Active Users: 538 million
Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, Leo Noah Katz
Revenue: $1.06 billion (2022)
If your target audience is younger people, you’ll definitely want to join Snapchat.
The most active user on Snapchat is 13 years old and spends more than 30 minutes a day on the app.
Snapchat is a paradise for user-generated content, behind-the-scenes videos, exclusive offers, and influencer acquisitions.
7. Reddit
Launched: 2005
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, USA
Monthly Active Users: 430 million
Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz
Revenue: $289.9 million (2022)
Reddit calls itself the “Internet Top Page” and is among the top 20 most visited websites according to Alexa’s rankings.
Reddit has a unique combination of content and community, with over 2.8 million communities or subreddits dedicated to all possible topics.
There are so many niches that there are places for all brands and businesses-it’s about finding niches with your prospects and jumping into them.
However, you need to be careful. Reddit is an unstable place and does not tolerate serious self-promotion.
Be careful when navigating, as commentators can quickly jump in and ruin your brand if you make a mistake in the voice.
8. Pinterest
Launched: 2010
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, USA
Monthly Active Users: 444 million
Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp
Revenue: $574 million (2022)
Some of Pinterest’s most popular content includes fashion, food, decoration, weddings, training, and DIY pins.
What’s more, anything that contains attractive images has the potential to succeed on Pinterest.
Surprisingly, 60% of Pinterest users are women.
If you have a predominantly female audience, that’s a compelling reason to invest your time in Pinterest’s social media marketing.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any men on Pinterest-it has a 40% male audience.
9. Twitter
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA, USA
Launched: 2006
Monthly Active Users: 217 million (2021)
Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass
Revenue: $1.2 billion (2022)
Unlike other social media platforms, Twitter has seen a decline in user numbers over the past year.
This may be due to former President Donald Trump’s ban and fear of conservative censorship.
Twitter has been sold for $ 44 billion to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. This change of management has significantly increased the number of followers due to changes in the political composition of users.
This is the process that Twitter describes as “organic” in nature. If your business is related to entertainment, sports, politics, technology, or marketing, even though you have a clear understanding of the future of the platform, you can get a lot of engagement from this app.
On Twitter, brands have the opportunity to formulate and sharpen their voice. While useful and useful, there is room for being smart and friendly.
Dive into threads, provide value, share your content and other content, and participate in uninterrupted conversations.
10. LinkedIn
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Launched: 2003
Monthly Active Users: 830 million (2022)
Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly
Revenue: $8.05 billion (2020)
It’s vast network of professionals has more than 61 million users in senior LinkedIn positions.
If you’re looking for a decision maker with the power to shut down your business, launch a product, or work with you, LinkedIn is for you.
Did you know that the average LinkedIn user earns more than $ 2,000 more than the national median? Or are 50 million people using it every week to look for a job?
LinkedIn is a highly focused social media platform, and as a result, has endless possibilities to connect with an elite group of professionals who can make a difference in your business.
Which Social Media Platform(s) Should You Use?
Social media is everywhere. And everyone is using it, from teenage neighbors trying to make TikTok viral with their latest dance, to 86-year-old grandmothers who use Facebook to track long-lost friends.
However, not all platforms work for all businesses. So if you want to reach the end of this article and have a quick answer as to where your business should be, you’re out of luck.
It’s not that there is no answer, it’s just that each social media mix is unique. Different platforms have different features and are often more suitable for a particular brand or industry.
Want to increase customer loyalty? Are you expanding your reach? Would you like to create an unforgettable brand experience?
You need to understand what you want to gain from your social media presence and determine which strategies will help you reach those goals.
Select to find one or more platforms your audience is using and coordinate your campaigns to reach them.