What Is the Best Social Media Network for Your Business?

Social media has changed the world. It should be no surprise that it has also changed business. One study found that 90% of marketers believe that social media is important to their businesses. And statistics prove that they’re right.

As of January 2019, almost 3.5 billion people are on social media. That’s one in three internet users, and 45% of the world’s population.
Consumers are spending up to 3 hours on social media platforms per day.
The average Internet user has 8.5 different social media accounts.
54% of people use social media to research products.
Social media networks play a vital role for brand discovery and product research. Even TikTok is included now.
As networks mature, they are gradually becoming a place to complete purchases as well.

But with dozens of social media platforms out there, how do you know where to focus your activity on social media for business?

The answer will be different depending on your brand, your target audience, and your marketing strengths. Do you have a killer in-house video team? Then YouTube might be the place for you. Are your products conducive to great visual images? Instagram or Pinterest could be a good fit. Does your brand appeal to teens? It might be time to start taking advantage of Snapchat.

In order to determine the best network for your business, it’s important to understand the reach and user demographics for each of the bigger social networks. Then factor in the unique aspects of your brand and marketing resources. Armed with that knowledge, you can find the social networks that best fit your brand, your skills, and your goals.

Read more about how social media can benefit your business:

5 Common Social Media Marketing Issues & How to Solve Them

4 Ways Marketing Automation Lowers Costs and Increases Revenue

5 Better Ways to Market Your Business During COVID-19

Best Social Media Networks for Business

It’s tempting to employ a wide net when it comes to social media marketing strategy. If getting on these networks is free anyway, why wouldn’t you try to market on every major network in order to reach the most people? Running traditional marketing in that way won’t give you the best ROI on your efforts, and it doesn’t work with social media either. A better path for success is to focus on a select few networks that fit your brand.

Typically, social media advertising comes at a lower cost than other forms of advertising like newspaper, television, and radio ads. This is in large part due to one of the biggest advantages of social media marketing over traditional marketing, which is the ability to reach a concise, often niche, and very targeted audience. But in order to fully capitalize on this, you need to know who your audience is and where they are likely to be on social media.

Understanding social media demographics is key, because you want to invest your valuable time promoting the right kind of content in the right places. And then make sure to avoid these 5 Common Social Media Problems. Take a look at the top social networks for business to get an idea of where your brand might fit best.

NOTE: Demographic and usage statistics are for the U.S. Sources found at the end.

1. Facebook

Number of Users: 2.4 billion

Demographics

Slightly more women (75%) use Facebook than men (63%)
69% of U.S. adults are on Facebook
Facebook has the most even spread of adult users across age groups:
- Ages 13-17 (only 7%)
- Ages 18-24 (76%)
- Ages 25-29 (84%)
- Ages 30-49 (79%)
- Ages 50-64 (68%)
- Ages 65+ (46%)

Marketing Info at a Glance

Facebook is the most widely used social network in the world. Their advertising platform is the most developed of all social media networks and offers extensive targeting. Since Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, you can also use their advertising system for Instagram ads. Some companies have also found success using Facebook Messenger.

2. YouTube

Number of Users: 2 billion

Demographics

More men (78%) than women (69%) are on Youtube
73% of U.S. adults use YouTube
Adult users across age groups:
- Ages 13-17 (83%)
- Ages 18-24 (90%)
- Ages 25-29 (93%)
- Ages 30-49 (87%)
- Ages 50-64 (70%)
- Ages 65+ (38%)

Marketing Info at a Glance

YouTube is owned by Google, giving you unique access to Google’s advertising platform and placement in Google searches. You can also optimize the search of your company’s YouTube videos with keywords.