The rise of social media had been an unstoppable force since its conception in the early 2000s. From mySpace to Multiply to Facebook, the cyberspace population has found ways to incorporate social media into their daily life. Granted, social media platforms evolve over time too based on different needs.
Social media platforms have even proven their relevance when 2020 happened — yes, that year. With limited human contact enforced upon most of us, social media has reached its peak use as the bridge for us socially-starved individuals. Data shows that there has been a 10.6% increase in social media usage last year, and that’s just the first half. With the pandemic still around, it is safe to say that this performance will still carry on or progress in the next few months.
That said, it would be a travesty to leave social media behind in your marketing plan. Data has shown that your customers are indeed there, waiting to be reached at the right moment. So to help you with your planning needs, here is a list of the top social media platforms you can include in your next marketing strategy:
1. Facebook
It’s only fitting to begin this list with a social media titan. Facebook has 2.8 Billion monthly active users as of January 2021, 65.71% of which visit the platform on a daily basis. Given all these numbers, we understand that some marketers are a little worried that their presence may just be drowned out in a vast sea of users and noise. But rest assured Facebook started implementing some machine learning mechanisms for their platforms to reach the right users. In 2018, Facebook scored the highest in terms of market discoverability. 78% of its users reported to have discovered and purchased products through Facebook as compared to other social media platforms. Now, that’s a great marketing data to take note of.
2. Youtube
Yes, the popular video streaming platform is also social media. In fact, Youtube is the most popular social media platform in 2019, ranking just above Facebook across all margins. Youtube’s synergetic interface allows feedback from the viewers, thus making it a good platform to engage with your customers should you wish to involve heavy video marketing your strategy. And why won’t you? Not only is Youtube boasting a rich 2.3 Billion monthly active user base, the platform is also an important tool for ad recall. Data shows that there’s a 32% higher chance for users to get your message stuck once Youtube ads have entered the picture.
3. WhatsApp
The brilliant idea behind the messaging colossus is co-founder Jan Koum’s motivation to not miss a call during his gym sessions. Who would have thought that what started as a mundane motivation now resulted in a messaging app mammoth boasting 2 billion active users? Even more so, WhatApp had been acquired by Facebook, making data sharing a bit easier for those who are cross-using the platforms.
A majority of these users are from the younger segments too, specifically those aged between 18 to 24, making it an ideal communication channel for those who wish to sell products for the up-and-coming crowd. In fact, data shows that most businesses would not want to miss out on this opportunity. There has been a significant increase in usage since WhatsApp’s business app launched, closing in at around 50 million users worldwide at the middle of 2020.
4. Facebook Messenger
Now that there is high demand for SMS-like services — 2.77 billion at that — it is no surprise that the tech giant would want to capitalize on as many users as they can amass for the sake of data wealth. Enter Facebook Messenger: Facebook’s flagship messaging app and second most-used chat service. With an almost-seamless integration into the main Facebook platform, users would definitely have a hard time unsyncing from Messenger’s mechanism.
However, unlike WhatsApp’s B2B platform for marketers, Messenger ads are not standalone set-ups. Messenger ad placements are bought only through Facebook Business Manager along with the rest of its properties. But considering that you can get to reach as many users as possible realtime, then this data does not really sound as bad.
5. Instagram
Last but definitely not least in the top social media list is the world famous photo-sharing platform itself, Instagram. Your marketing can’t possibly go wrong with its 1 billion monthly active users. Top this with its mother company Facebook’s data, then you have a well set up engagement machine. Speaking of engagements, did you know that Instagram generates the highest media engagement rates among all popular social media?
Final Thoughts
Taking this into consideration, Instagram is indeed good for heavy visual marketing. Instagram is your go-to if you would like your audience to take in as much details of products. Case in point, this research proved that Instagram can influence the users’ purchasing behavior as much as Facebook can. With its visual reach, Instagram’s influence is just as strong despite having lower active user counts versus Facebook, thus increasing the ratio.
