How to find your customers on social media

According to the Pew Research Center’s 2018 social media factsheet, around 70% of Americans use some form of social media. With so many users, it can be overwhelming to understand which demographics are using which platforms. Knowing who they are and where they spend their time online is essential to any social campaign. Your brand needs to be where your customers are as many of them visit these websites at least once a day.

When it comes to Twitter, college-educated U.S. adults and higher-income individuals are the most likely to use the platform, according to a 2018 Pew survey of social media users. Additionally, 40% of US adults ages 18-29 use Twitter. Broken down by race, 26% of those who identify as black, 24% of whites, and 20% of Hispanics use it. Men and women use Twitter almost equally, with only a small percentage of women using it more often. No wonder Twitter has become a news source for most of its users, which is why nearly half of them may log in at least once a day.

Facebook is still one of the most preferred platforms for most adults in the United States. However, according to Pew’s 2018 survey of social media use, it was used by 18-29 year olds the most, followed by 30-49 year olds. In contrast to Twitter, adults of all income groups, from under $ 30,000 to over $ 75,000, are more likely to use Facebook. Over 65% of US adults in every financial class use the platform. In terms of race, 73% of Hispanics use Facebook, followed by 70% of blacks and 67% of whites.

Instagram announced in the spring that it had reached 1 billion active users. However, as a marketer, knowing who those 1 billion users are is pretty important. According to Pew’s 2018 Social Media Use Survey, Instagram is the most popular among women: 39% of women use the photo sharing platform, while 30% of men use it. The majority (64%) of US adults ages 18-29 use Instagram, while 40% of 30-49 year olds and 21% of 50-64 year olds use Instagram. Adults who are fairly educated are more likely to use Instagram – 36% of those with a college degree and 42% of those with a college degree use it. However, 29% of people with a college degree or less also do so. Much like Facebook, the incomes of adults using Instagram are pretty balanced across the board, from under $ 30,000 to over $ 75,000. In terms of race, Hispanics and blacks are more using Instagram, but whites aren’t far behind.

You can find a much higher number of women on Pinterest than men on Pinterest, according to Pew’s 2018 survey of social media usage. Those who have at least a college education are also more likely to use the platform. A large number (34%) of 18 to 49 year olds use Pinterest, but so does 26% of 50 to 64 year olds. As for race, 32% of whites use it while 23% of blacks and Hispanics do. Income varies among adults using Pinterest, although 39% of those with incomes above $ 75,000 use the platform.

Those under the age of 30 use Snapchat the most, not to the surprise of many. According to Pew’s 2018 social media survey, a whopping 68% of 18-29 year olds are the users of the disappearing messaging app. A large number of women (31%) use Snapchat compared to just 23% of men. When broken down by race, it is used by 36% of blacks, 31% of Hispanics, and 24% of whites. Slightly more adults with a college or college degree (31% and 26%, respectively) use Snapchat, while 24% of those with high school degrees or less use Snapchat.

More adults use YouTube than Facebook, according to Pew’s 2018 social media survey. The majority of almost every age group uses YouTube: 91% of the 18 to 29 year olds, 85% of the 30 to 49 year olds and 68% of the 50 to 64 year olds use the site. Even 40% of those over 65 use it. When it comes to gender, race, household income, and education level, none of these demographics are an important factor in determining who is using the site. It seems that almost everyone, no matter who they are, is using the video platform.

Why is it all important? Aside from understanding your brand and audience, regardless of size, companies need to know where their target audience spends time online and then establish a presence there. Pushing a hair gel for men might not make sense on Pinterest as men don’t use this platform as often, but creating a YouTube channel with videos to target the core viewers could do along with a pre- or mid-roll ad be more effective.

Keep in mind that most social media platforms have some level of usability that marketers need to stay updated with to ensure that branding efforts continue to reach their ideal consumer audience. While a platform’s users are a demographic now, it could change in the future, and with that shift, a brand’s campaigns and usage should change too.