Social Media and Their Target Audiences

by Startacus Admin

Anna Lemos is a creative content editor and strategist at Quick Formations aka Quick. Originally a designer, Anna has worked with various startups and SMEs creating graphics, social media campaigns and brand identities to catapult them into the market. Having blogged since University, she took a creative detour into content writing and is now part of the Quick Team.

 

Quick aims to inspire, support and guide entrepreneurs, aspiring innovators and startups across the UK. They are part of one of the oldest and biggest company formation agents in the UK with experts ranging from the fresh-faced digital team to the formation veterans.

Anna shares with us her expertise on the most popular Social Media Platforms and some specifics of their Target Audiences

"Digital marketing campaigns are at the centre of all businesses today, but as a startup you might not have the funding for paid marketing. Instead, you can harness the immense power that social media platforms give you for free. The question is: which social media platforms will actually reach your target audience? Here’s an insight into user groups of the top social media platforms.

Facebook

We all know Facebook and we’re shocked when we meet someone who isn’t a user on this social media giant. 72% of adults globally visit it once a month and the UK hosts the greatest percentage of a population actively using it. That’s right, the Brits love Facebook. With 58% of their users being female, it has a relatively balanced audience in terms of gender.

Now for the best part, millennials only make up 34% of users whereas the 65+ age group hits a total of 45%. If you’ve got a product or service aimed at tech-savvy pensioners then Facebook is your social media platform. Here’s a tip, engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays than any other day of the week.

Facebook has a lot going for businesses. Potentially the most interesting tool is Lookalike Audience. In short, it helps identify new potential customers that are similar to your current users.

Twitter

Twitter is an interesting platform. With posts being a combination of images, shortened URLs, videos and random trains of thought flooding your newsfeed, Tweets have to be crafted meticulously with select and relevant hashtags. 63% of users claim that they are reliant on Twitter for news and 67% of millennial users post random thoughts. Millennials make up 45% of the user base and there is an equal divide across all age groups of male and female users.

People are least active during the working day other than 12pm to 1pm which is the most popular time for retweets. Sunday is the most popular day for retweets.

Instagram

Instagram claims to be one of the most important social media platforms for businesses. 90% of their user group fall under the age of 35 and just under half of that percentage is aged between 16 and 24. There are about 2.69 posts per day per user and half of all Instagrammers use the platform daily. 51% of users are male.

Remember, Instagram is mainly used on mobile devices and is a visual platform. Photos earn 36% more likes than video, but a good mix of aesthetically pleasing static images and short videos is generally a good idea. Instagram is also test driving its increased video lengths. You can have up to a minute of video now so use those 60 seconds wisely.

If you’re focusing on under 35s and you have a very visual brand, Instagram is worth putting the time and energy into. Top brands on Instagram have managed to cultivate 58 times higher posts per follower than Facebook and 120 times higher than Twitter.

Snapchat

Snapchat’s transient nature has captured the imagination of the youth. The youngest you can be to register is 13 and only 29% of over 35s use the app. 70% of users are female and 65% of all Snapchat users produce daily content.

It is only accessible on mobile devices and its 10 second limit means that content has to be impactful. Stories is the most popular feature on the app. The target audience here are very active and highly engaged users so take advantage. If you’re still not sure on whether to use it, a poll claimed that 58% of college students would be inclined to buy from a brand that sent Snapchat coupons. Good stat if you ask me.

Pinterest

Pinterest is essentially a digital scrapbook. By adding a plug-in, every image across the internet is “pin-able” with the click of a button. Gender imbalance is huge here with 85% of users being female. Up to 47% of users are active, but only 23% access it daily. The most pinned about categories are shopping, entertainment, holiday themes, and beauty.

In terms of shopping, 87% of users purchases are influenced by Pinterest and 67% consult their pins on mobile whilst physically shopping. To add to this, 83% of users would rather follow a brand than a celebrity. If you’re in e-commerce, you have to jump onto the Pinterest platform.

LinkedIn

The social network for professionals has over 3 million businesses and a third of all workers have an account. 35% of them access LinkedIn daily and most people create an account whilst in higher education or after graduation.

Although it may be a goldmine for finding new talent for your business, it is also a great platform to create content on. Direct messaging, LinkedIn’s Pulse and Slide Share are great ways to get content out.

Youtube

Youtube is a video sharing monster. With over 300 hours of new video content posted per minute, it is no surprise that 78% of UK teenagers are weekly users and half of them consider it their favourite site. Most millennials now believe that they can teach themselves most things by watching Youtube tutorials. Half the time, Youtube content is accessed from mobile devices

Creating a Youtube channel doesn’t mean you need to start a vlog or a webseries. Some companies use it purely to host their videos that they use on their website. Either way, the content is still present, it just depends on how you use it.

You’ve got the stats and now it’s time for you to make a decision on which platforms to use. For your brand to work on social media, you need to be active and produce content that is relevant for that specific platform as well as find platforms that work well and complement one another. Pick your social media outlets wisely.

Need some inspiration? Check out these brands:

Lowe’s Pinterest Account

GoPro’s Instagram Account

Sainsbury’s Twitter Account

Cadbury UK’s Facebook Account (and check out this campaign too: Thanks a Million)"

Thanks for the brilliant social media Insights Anna! We look forward to getting some more great insights from you and Quick soon!

 

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• #demographics
• #target audience
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Published on: 18th April 2016