Thinking about what social media sites your business should be on?
Then you have come to the right place.
According to Datareportal global overview 2022 report, there are about 4.62 billion active social media users from a population of 7.91 billion people on the planet.
Social media helps to generate more views or grow your community, and you need to work on your digital market strategies, using data to help you make the right decisions.
The most popular social media sites making waves over time are;
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Instagram
4. Snapchat
5. TikTok
6. WhatsApp
7. Reddit
8. Pinterest
9. LinkedIn
10. Youtube
In the last couple of years, these social media sites have seen tremendous movement, even though Facebook remains dominant. While TikTok happens to be the one that has encountered massive growth even though it’s just between 5-6 years old after launching. It is believed to rank 5th among monthly active users.
NUMBER OF USERS OF EACH PLATFORM
1. FACEBOOK now Meta
Facebook founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 is estimated to have about 2.9 billion users and generates a revenue of about $86billion as of 2020. Despite Facebook having a shift in demography, there is always a space for every user as it has leading industries like retail, financial services, e-commerce, media, gaming, consumer goods, automotive, telecommunications, and entertainment.
Facebook now Meta is one of the best social media platforms to share content, especially if you are a content creator (Videos, blogpost, infographics, or articles for clients). It has a massive marketing capability, although the newsfeed algorithms suppress business posts, there are still ways to get engaged without investing in ads.
One disadvantage I find may be discouraging, is that Facebook seeks access to your connected devices, and can track your activities even if you are offline. Go to settings and turn that feature off.
2. YouTube
YouTube founded by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley was launched in 2005 having an estimated number of 2billion users and generating a revenue of 19.8 billion dollars in 2020. YouTube happens to be the original social media video platform holding 2nd place for monthly active users. It has dominated the market. YouTube covers all genres from music to health, Education, DIY, and lots more. Youtube has a powerful user base across all age groups.
3. TWITTER
Twitter was founded by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass in 2006 with its headquarters in San Francisco having 353million monthly active users generating $3.72 billion in revenue. Businesses related to entertainment, sports, politics, or tech stand a chance to gain massive engagement on Twitter. Once on Twitter, brands have the opportunity to hone their voices, provide value and as well as share their content and that of others too.
4. INSTAGRAM
Instagram was founded by Kevin Systrom, and Mike Krieger in 2010 in Menlo Park, California rating its monthly active users at 1.16 billion and generating $6.8 billion revenue in 2020.
Instagram is a social network platform where product-based businesses, influencers, and coaches thrive.
5. SNAPCHAT
Snapchat has its headquarters in Los Angeles and was launched in 2011. It was founded by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, and Leo Noah Katz with an average of 433 million estimated monthly users. It generated $911 million in revenue in 2020. Snapchat is an oasis for content generated by its users, behind-the-scenes videos, exclusive offers, and influencer appropriations. The most active users on Snapchat are 13-year-olds, and above. They spend upwards of 30 minutes a day on the app.
6. TikTok
TikTok launched in 2016 with its headquarters in Culver City, California. An estimated 689 million monthly active users were founded by ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, and Toutiao. It generated about $35 billion in revenue in 2020.
TikTok has struck a chord as it happens to be the youngest app to make it to the market and has already seen incredible growth. In 2017, after only one year of its launch, the app became the fastest growing app worldwide. If you are looking to connect with Genz then TikTok is the place to go.
7. WhatsApp
WhatsApp launched in 2009 was founded by Brian Acton and Jan Koum. Having a monthly active user of 2 billion people on average. It generated about $5 billion in revenue in 2020. Being the most active social media app in use, it is used by some brands or companies, and mostly for personal contacts and connections.
8. PINTEREST
Pinterest launched in 2010. Its headquarters is in San Francisco and was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp. It has an average of 416 million monthly active users and it generated about $1693million in revenue in 2020. Some of the most popular content on Pinterest include food, travel, DIY, decor, workout, and a lot more. About 81% of its users are mostly women.
9. LinkedIn
LinkedIn has its headquarters in Sunnyvale. It was launched in 2003 and was founded by Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly. It has an average of 310 million users estimated in 2019. It generated $8.05 billion in revenue in 2020. Within its massive network of experts, you will find more than 61 million users with senior positions on LinkedIn. If you are looking for decision-makers who have the authority to hire you or your company, stock your products, or partner with you, LinkedIn is the place to be.
10. REDDIT
Reddit launched in 2005. It was founded by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, and Aaron Swartz with its headquarters in San Francisco. It has an estimated 430 million monthly active users and generated $212.5million in revenue in 2020. It is ranked one of the top 20 most visited sites. Reddit has a distinct blend of content and community, with more than 150,000 communities committed to every topic conceivable.
With so many niches, there’s a position for every brand and business – it is a matter of discovering the niches where your potential customers are active and diving in.
What you should keep in mind
with all the possibilities social media brings to get visibility for your business or brand, it can also have disadvantages. For example, negative views (trolls) from your timeline can lead most times to emotional trauma or depression.
This happens mostly when you allow people’s views about you to affect your life. Although, when these views are related to your brand or business, it requires you to make changes, which can lead to your improvement.
However, you should avoid comparing your life with what you see on social media.
Maintaining a social media handle requires a lot of dedication. In addition to time and effort, professional personnel is needed to be at the beck and call of your customers if you are unable to run the site yourself. There is also a requirement for investment, because utilization of some social media app services is not free.
Many times you have to pay a certain fee for some interesting services. The use of social media often exposes its users to trolls in some cases. You do not expect all users to dance to your tune since some of them are not your clients.
Sometimes, extortion takes place too. Some trolls ask for benefits in order not to drop negative comments on posts. Like discounts, some amounts of money, and even gifts. You might have the solution to prevent some of these from happening. Also, bear in mind that you do not have total control over everything that happens on the internet. This makes some events inevitable, and you might have to encounter them even if you do not own a profile or something on those networks.
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