Develop a Social Media Strategy: Which Platforms to Use?

The latest stats from Netpop Research show that:

• 79% of online U.S. adults use social media
• The median age of U.S. social media users is 41
• 49% of African-American and Hispanic adults own smartphones, compared to 45% of Caucasians

When developing a social media marketing strategy, its important to determine which patforms your company’s target market is using. With limited resources of time and money, it’s no longer possible to be on every social media platform. . . nor should you be. Decide which social media sites are the right ones for your goals.

Social media: Where is your target audience?

You have to decide what your business’ goals are and then decide which social media channels to use to reach your target market. For example, if your target market was males ages 25 – 35 I would not recommend Pinterest (unless it is something that their spouse would buy for them) because Pinterest users are 87% women. Below are some number to help you decide what social media sites hit your target market.

Facebook

• 845 million monthly users
• 245 million are mobile users
• Average age is 38
• 53% of Facebook users are women

More Facebook stats can be found at Facebook Demographics Revisited.

Google+

• 40 million users, but only 17% are active users
• 5.3 million users in the US
• Median age is 25-34
• 37% of Google+ users are women

More information about Google+ users is in Flowtown’s infographic.

LinkedIn

• 135 million users in over 200 countries
• median age is 35-54 (43% of total linkedIn users
• 44% of LinkedIn users are women

LinkedIn is an excellent tool for lead generation among B2B businesses in the US.

Pinterest

• 13 million users
• Median age group is 35-44
• Women make up 87% of Pinterest users

Pinterest is based on pinning photos to virtual pin boards.

Twitter

• 300+ million users
• 1.6 billion search queries per day
• 64% of users are age 35 or older
• 11% are aged 12-17
• 45% of the user are women

Each social media platform is different and has a different audience. Find out where your prospects are, and get engaged on those platforms.