Audiences Continue To Flock To Social Media Platforms
August 28, 2021
Despite a lot of “I never post on there anymore” anecdotes, social media use continues to grow. According to Hootsuite, there are 3.7 billion people on social media worldwide, up 9.6% year over year (YOY), and more than 3.6 billion of those users are accessing social on their mobile devices. The average social media user age is about 30 years old, and the average amount of time spent on social media sites is more than two hours per day, up 40% since 2014.
Although users may not engage with all their social media accounts every day, the average user has accounts on 8.5 different social media platforms, with Facebook the leader of the pack. Facebook reports that more than 2.1 billion people can be reached with advertising on their platform. The continued popularity of social media platforms is likely attributable to the daily habits of native tech users, changes in social media which drive engagement, like shoppability, and increased reliance on mobile.
Understanding Social Media Growth And Users Across Platforms
- The average age of Facebook users is 25-34 years old.
- Teens are less likely to be Facebook fans, with usage dropping 20% between 2015 and 2018, preferring Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube. However, Facebook usage by those 65 and older has doubled since 2012.
- In 2019, 96% of users accessed Facebook on their mobile devices and 41% on desktop and tablets. 74% of adult users visit Facebook at least once a day, and women use Facebook about 20% more than men.
LinkedIn, a hybrid social media platform and professional network, has more than 660 million users around the world, up from 467 million users in 2016. 33% of LinkedIn users are 30-49 years old.
- More than 30,000 companies in the U.S. use LinkedIn to recruit, and 190 million workers in the U.S. have profiles.
- Upper management and the C-suite favor LinkedIn, with 45% of LinkedIn users currently holding director, vice-president or similar titles.
- Only 57% of LinkedIn use is on mobile, which is much lower than other social media platforms.
- According to Instagram, the popular social media platform has more than one billion monthly active users (MAUs) and more than 500 million daily active users (DAUs) of Instagram stories.
- 36% of Instagram users are 25-34 and 25% are from Gen Z. 116 million Instagram users are from the U.S., and the majority (51% worldwide) of users are women.
- Instagram is a popular platform to find new businesses and products. 60% of Instagram users discover new products on the platform, and, according to Instagram, more than 200 million Instagrammers “visit at least one business profile daily.”
Snapchat
Snapchat is the social media platform for Gen Z, with 53% of its 314 million users between the ages of 15 and 25.
- There are approximately 3 billion snaps sent per day with an average of 30 minutes per day spent on the app by each user.
- Discover, Snapchat’s content hub, grew in popularity with audiences in 2019, with time spent watching Snapchat shows tripling. According to AdWeek, Snapchat’s publishing partners were able to increase their mobile monthly audience by 30% in some months via Discover ad placements.
- Twitter has more than 300 million users globally, with 22% of adults in the U.S. using Twitter. More men are likely to use Twitter than women, and Gen Z is the group most often using Twitter.
- Twitter users spend 26% more time with ads than users on other social media platforms, and they watch 2 billion videos per day, a 66% YOY growth in 2019.
- Politics is a significant driver of tweets on Twitter. According to Hootsuite, “65% of Twitter’s top 10% of users (by tweet volume) identify as women. And 69% of this group say they tweet about politics.” (Not surprisingly, elections are big nights on Twitter. The last presidential election saw 75 million election-related tweets sent on election day, and there have been 200 million tweets on Brexit since the referendum in June of 2016.)
TikTok
As of February 2019, TikTok reached 1 billion downloads and was the top free app in the entertainment tab of the Apple App store.
- Approximately 60% of TikTok users in the U.S. are between 16 and 24.
- TikTok has branched out from being a copy of Musical.ly to include brand partnerships and artist content, including Old Town Road from Lil Nas X which went on to be the biggest hit of 2019.
Social Media Platforms Offer Opportunities For Digital Marketers
There will always be new social media platforms that take the world by storm, like TikTok, and reliable sources of loyal, engaged audiences like Facebook, that offer digital marketers opportunities for targeting and represent an important part of robust multichannel campaigns. Understanding who the audiences are for each social media platform and how to effectively match advertising to those audiences is the key to creating lasting engagement that resonates with users.
Looking For New Opportunities To Reach Audiences Across Channels?
Digital Media Solutions® (DMS) builds people-based marketing strategies that connect with tightly defined audiences across the digital media universe to build brand awareness, boost engagement and drive conversions, connecting with consumers at the moments they’re most ready to take action with messages proven to resonate.
