Have you ever noticed that your younger or older friends don’t use the same social platforms as you? Every platform has different users and in order to save your business time and resources, you need to know how to cater to each one in order to get the most out of your posts. You wouldn’t want to be the most active on a social media platform your target audience doesn’t even use. Keep reading to learn more about why social media demographics matter in marketing and figure out which platform might be best for your business!
Do the Demographics of Social Platforms Matter in Marketing?
Short Answer: Yes.
Different demographics are known for using different social media platforms, and many factors contribute to this. Release dates of platforms and functionality play a role in what demographics use each platform. For example, according to history.com, Facebook came in 2004 and was immediately a huge hit. However, as other platforms arose like Instagram and TikTok, younger users stopped participating in Facebook and the older audience remained users of Facebook. Because of this, it is common to see younger demographics on platforms such as Tiktok, Pinterest, and Instagram and less common on Facebook.
So, how does this affect marketing? Digital marketing changed the rules when it birthed opportunities for targeted advertising. In this age, we are able to target specific demographics through ad campaigns, marketing strategy, and even location-based marketing. An effective digital marketing campaign takes into account the social platforms used by targeted audiences. For example, a social campaign targeting college students looking to buy a new mattress would be most effective via Instagram, Pinterest, and even TikTok. This is because a younger college student audience is more likely to use those social platforms.
Marketing tactics are ever-changing, so it is important to stay up to date on social media and demographic statistics. Optimize your marketing strategy by using ad campaigns on social media platforms that speak directly to your target audience. By partnering with a trusted advertising agency, you can ensure that your ads are getting in front of an audience in the market for your product or service. It can be frustrating losing spend on advertising due to misplaced ads. By understanding the demographics of each social platform, you can effectively and successfully launch an ad campaign that reaches your target audience and ultimately gets you the “bang for your buck”!
Breakdown of the Demographics of Popular Social Platforms
Facebook - The #1 platform for adults and great for community engagement, the largest age demographic on Facebook is 35-44 year-olds. This doesn’t show the full picture, however, since 65+ is currently the fastest-growing age group on the platform
Instagram - This is the best app for brand building and awareness! If you want to target an audience of Gen-Z and millennials, Instagram could be the right fit, as 31% of users are between 25 and 34 and 30% of the platform is in the 18-24 age range.
TikTok - Younger generations are dominating TikTok! This is a video-sharing network especially popular with teenagers for entertainment content. The 16 to 24 age group represents 53% of the platform’s accounts and 61% of users are female.
Twitter - On this social media channel, users can directly reach a brand and publicize their experience with a business. This is an especially ideal platform for targeting young men, as 42% of people on Twitter are between the ages of 18 and 29 and 73% of users are male.
LinkedIn - This professional networking site is a great source for B2B marketers to find targeted and motivated audiences for their campaigns! LinkedIn has an even gender distribution and an average age range of 25-34 years old.
Pinterest - A platform for shoppers! Users are 90% more likely to say they’re “always shopping” than on other platforms and the most popular age range is between 30 and 49 years old. Pinterest is also one of the most gendered social media channels, as 70% of the users are female.
Snapchat - According to Statista, this mobile photo and messaging app still appeals to younger users more than any other platform. Snapchat’s usage by gender is an even split and studies have found it to be the best platform for advertisement recollection, with 59% of surveyed Gen Z being able to recall a video ad after watching two seconds or less.
YouTube - This platform is the most widely used online platform among adults in the United States, with 73% of them using the long-form video platform. While it’s the most popular among 25-30-year-olds, YouTube content spans various topics and genres so almost all age groups are regular users.
How We Can Serve You
Inner Spark Creative is a full-service advertising agency located in Auburn, Alabama that knows all the tricks of the trade to make an impact for your brand socially. We believe both organic and paid social media approaches need to be used in order to reach your audience and maintain the relationship, and we are here to help you do that. Inner Spark Creative can create a custom, targeted, and thoughtful social media advertising campaign to grow your market share, increase customer engagement and build brand loyalty. Your social media presence should be making you money, so contact us today to learn how!