Find Your Target Audience with the Right Social Media Marketing Channels
It’s essential for your customers to feel like they have a personal connection with your brand, and social media is one of the most effective ways to grow those connections. So where do you find these customers in the big wide social world? Do you need to hop on the latest TikTok challenge to find them, or write a post on Facebook?
Each platform has different built-in audiences, so understanding which users are on each platform will improve your digital marketing game. In this blog post, we’ll introduce audiences on a few platforms to help you decide where you should be dedicating your digital marketing efforts and dollars.
Digital Marketing on Facebook
Let’s start with one of the oldest social platforms around: Facebook. Being one of the founding social media platforms gives Facebook a unique ability to reach the most people.
Facebook has 2.74 billion active users per month, is the third-most-visited website (only outranked by Google and YouTube) and is the second-most-downloaded app. Sixty-three percent of the U.S. population older than age 12 use Facebook. This means you’re likely to capture your target audience on this social media platform. However, you’ll still need to fine-tune your ad targeting to achieve peak effectiveness.
Although Facebook is a global platform, Americans make up nearly 190 million users. Facebook was first introduced to college students in the early 2000s, but today, 74 percent of its users are 35 to 54 years old. Its popularity has garnered interest in all age groups, even older demographics who adapt to new technology at a slower pace. On average, users spend 34 minutes per day on the platform to get news, connect with friends and family, and engage with Facebook Groups.
Facebook is suited for all types of businesses. With the largest audience available, and user-friendly marketing features, Facebook is a great place to start for businesses just getting into the digital marketing space. This social media mainstay allows you to post content to your businesses page, run targeted social media ads, set up an online store, and even create groups where like-minded individuals can connect with your brand.
Social Media Marketing via Instagram
First created in 2010, Instagram has grown to be the sixth-most-visited website and fourth-most-used mobile app. Along with Facebook, Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps used worldwide. More than one billion global users are on Instagram monthly, with 140 million monthly users in the United States.
Instagram users are evenly mixed between males and females, and the most popular demographic is between the age of 25 and 34. These users spend an average of 30 minutes per day engaging with visual content like images and videos to express their creativity and find new businesses.
In fact, 81 percent of Instagram users use the app to help research products and services. The platform offers multiple features that can help businesses find new customers and build relationships with current ones.
With Instagram stories, you can connect with your customers on a daily basis to share a behind-the-scenes look at your business. IGTV and Reels allow businesses to demonstrate products with a full-screen visual experience. Customers can even ask questions about products and services through messaging features in the app.
Overall, Instagram is best suited for brands with great visual imagery looking to attract a younger audience. If you’re looking to start an Instagram business profile, be prepared with your best images and videos that resonate with your audience. With its multiple features, Instagram gives your customers a well-rounded view of what your business has to offer.
Engage with Your Customers on Pinterest
Pinterest is often overlooked among the larger social platforms, but it’s a great social media platform to find your niche audience. Although it hasn’t grown as rapidly as other platforms, Pinterest recently has seen a big jump in users, growing to 459 million monthly active users, 50 percent of whom live in the United States.
Popular Pinterest content is related to travel, recipes, crafts, makeup, home decor, and much more. The majority of Pinterest users are women and mothers, with the majority of users from households earning income of more than $100,000 per year. The social media app is most popular among Millennials; eighty percent of U.S. Millennial women and forty percent of U.S. Millennial men log in to Pinterest for purchase inspiration.
Pinterest is where creative minds, organizers, and planners build boards to express themselves and plan their future. Two out of three users say they use the platform to find new ideas, products, or services they can trust, and a whopping 98 percent of users have tried a project or recipe they’ve seen on Pinterest. If you’re looking to market to millennials and moms, this is the platform for your business. With the ability to run targeted ads and create curated, engaging content, Pinterest gives you access to users who are planning ahead for their next phase in life.
Reaching B2B Audiences by Marketing on LinkedIn
Today, LinkedIn is so much more than a professional platform where users can connect with coworkers or like-minded professionals to discuss industry-related topics or to apply for a job. First launched in 2003, the app began as a recruitment platform and, like Facebook, is one of the oldest social networks still used today. Although its audience isn’t as large as Facebook’s, LinkedIn provides a unique demographic of 722 million users for your business to engage with
LinkedIn users are mostly male, looking to educate themselves and build a professional network. LinkedIn has grown to be more than just a place to look for a job. In fact, LinkedIn has 15 times more content impressions than regular job postings. Users now create content of their own, share content from their company pages to their personal profiles, and participate in live streams.
Four out of five LinkedIn users are looking to drive business decisions. LinkedIn’s audience is unique from the other platforms with 61 million easily-identifiable senior-level decision makers. This provides a great network for building B2B relationships and reaching your target audience through dedicated product pages or organic social media marketing. For businesses looking to build connections, generate leads or find new employees, LinkedIn can be a helpful addition to your digital marketing strategy.
Video Marketing on YouTube
YouTube is the second-most visited website, only topped by the great Google itself. With nearly 2 billion logged-in monthly users, YouTube creates a large network of consumers whose eyes are already transfixed on engaging videos. Your business’ could be one of them.
On YouTube, the majority of users – 56 percent – are male, and 44 percent are female. Seventy-four percent of U.S. adults use YouTube, and it reaches a wide range of demographics. Sixty-seven percent of users are 56 years and older, and 80 percent are parents whose children ages 11 years or younger watch YouTube at least once per day.
YouTube viewers ages 18 and older spend more than 40 minutes per day on the app. If you’ve ever visited YouTube, you know its content widely varies, but many people are logging in to learn more about hobbies, find fitness routines, or research products they’re thinking of buying. YouTube reaches more American adults than Facebook and Instagram.
YouTube is best suited for businesses with a large target audience accustomed to consuming lots of video content. Organically growing a YouTube following takes commitment and dedication. In order to get their products in front of a large audience quickly, instead of creating videos of their own, many brands partner with influencers on YouTube to feature their products in videos or pay to host short video advertisements before and during other creators’ content.
How Do You Advertise on TikTok?
TikTok has been making waves since it was launched in China in 2016. Since then, the app has grown to 800 million active monthly users worldwide with 1.65 billion downloads in the app store – more than any other social media app. In the U.S. alone, more than 100 million users log in every month.. TikTok users are devoted; more than 90 percent check the app more than once per day and spend an average of 52 minutes watching and commenting on videos on the platform.
If you’re trying to reach a slightly younger audience than other social media platforms can provide, then you’re in luck. Forty-one percent of TikTok users are between ages 16 and 24, with expendable income. In the past year, the number of adults in the U.S. using TikTok grew by 5.5 times.
Not only are users consuming content, but 55 percent upload their own videos, too, expressing themselves and showing off their favorite products. More than half of users state TikTok inspired them to buy something, even when they weren’t shopping for anything in particular: LED rope lights, roller skates, apple juice, tie-dye kits, and pink cowboy hats, for example.
If someone is interested in a topic, they’ll find it on TikTok. There’s a “side” of TikTok for everything! That means your business’s videos will find a home on this unique social app. To create your own content on TikTok takes great flexibility and creativity; trends move at a faster pace than the other platforms. This platform is best for companies with a well-developed brand identity who are seeking a younger audience.
A Social Media Marketing Strategy Customized to Your Business
With the plethora of social platforms available, it can be overwhelming trying to decide which one is best for your strategy. Like all great things, building a social profile takes time, commitment, and consistency. Meet your audience where they already are – online -by choosing the right platform to build your business.
Ensure your media spend gets you the best ROI. Contact iFocus Marketing to learn how we can help you make it big on social media – or at least reach exactly who you’re looking to gain visibility with.
