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Small Business: Which Social Media Platform is Best for You?

Posted by

Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

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Location! Location! Location!  That’s what William Dillard, founder of Dillard’s, a high-end department store chain, said was key to his retail success. When it comes to selecting the best social media platforms for your small business, it still is location!

As the number of social media platforms grows, I’ve seen small business entrepreneurs struggling to keep up. Social media experts tout advice that makes us believe we need to be on every social media platform known to man. Without the benefit of understanding our target audience or our business strategies, their well-meaning advice is putting us in overwhelm.

It’s next to impossible to manage all the different social media sites today without the use of a small army of social media experts. In many cases, that small army isn’t in the budget. However, if you’re self-managing your social media campaigns, keep William Dillard’s mantra in mind to select the prime sites where your target audience “hangs out”.

Location!  Location!  Location!

How do you choose the best social media sites that offer the greatest likelihood of success for your business? Here are a few “location” factors to consider based on recently conducted research. (After hours of online research in the hunt of accurate demographics for each of the social media platforms listed below, the demographics were as prolific and varied as the sites researched. However, these numbers give you a good starting point. )

Let’s start with a look at the overall numbers of internet users and their use of social media. Of the general internet users, 49% are male and 51% are female. Of all internet users, 67% are involved in some sort of social media. My research revealed the following:

  • 16% use Twitter
  • 15% use Pinterest
  • 13% use Instragram
  • 6% use Tumblr
  • 67% use Facebook

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find stats for the percentage of internet users on Linkedin.

Here is the demographic breakdown of the most popular social media sites based on gender, age, education, kids/no kids,  and income.

twitterTwitter – Source: Quantcast 

Gender:   45% male – 55% female
Age:         18 – 24 – 22%
25 – 34 – 23%
35 – 44 – 17%
45 – 54 – 13%
55 – 64 –   6%
65 +          3%
Kids:         No Kids – 45%
Has Kids – 55%
Income:    $0-50K – 17%
$50 – 100K – 25%
$100 – 150K – 28%
$150K + – 30%
Education: No college 49%
College – 38%
Grad School – 13%
Ethnicity:  Caucasian – 67%
African American – 17%
Asian – 3%
Hispanic – 12%
Other – 1%
facebookFacebook – Source: Quantcast

Gender:    45% male – 55% female
Age:         18 – 24 – 24%
25 – 34 – 18%
35 – 44 – 13%
45 – 54 – 11%
55 – 64 –  5%
65 +         2%
Kids:       No Kids – 43%
Has Kids – 57%
Income:   $0-50K – 14%
$50 – 100K – 24%
$100 – 150K – 30%
$150K + – 32%
Education: No college 47%
College – 40%
Grad School – 13%
Ethnicity: Caucasian – 73%
African American – 13%
Asian – 5%
Hispanic – 7%
                             Other – 1%   

linkedinLinkedin – Source: Quantcast

Gender:  62% male – 38% female
Age:       18 – 24 – 10%
25 – 34 – 20%
35 – 44 – 24%
45 – 54 – 22%
55 – 64 – 12%
65+        – 6%
Kids:       No Kids – 66%
Has Kids -34%
Income:  $0 – 50K – 32%
$50 – 100K – 35%
$100 – 150K – 18%
$150 +         – 15%
Education: No college – 24%
College – 50%
Grad School – 26%
Ethnicity: Caucasian – 81%
African American – 6%
Asian – 5%
Hispanic – 6%
Other – 1%
pinterest Pinterest – Source: Ignite Social Media 

Gender:    20% male – 80% female
Age:        18 – 24 – 17%
25 – 34 – 27%
35 – 44 – 22%
45 – 54 – 18%
55- 64 – 8%
65 + – 3%
Kids:       No Kids – 50%
Has Kids – 50%
Income:  $0-50K – 47%
$50 – 100K – 34%
$100 – 150K – 6%
$150K + – 3%
Education: No college 75%
College – 19%
Grad School – 6%
Instagram  – Source: Quora

Gender:   31.8% male – 68.2% female
Age:        18 – 24 – 34%
25 – 34 – 31%
35 – 44 – 8%
45 – 54 – 2%
55 + – 1%
Kids:        No Kids – 66%
Has Kids -34%
Income:   $0 – 50K – 32%
$50 – 100K – 35%
$100 – 150K – 18%
$150 +        – 15%
Education: No college – 24%
College – 50%
Grad School – 26%
Ethnicity:  Caucasian – 81%
African American – 6%
Asian – 5%
Hispanic – 6%
Other – 1%
Google + – Source: Infographicsmanic 

Gender:   63% male – 37% female
Age:        18 – 24 – 23%
25 – 34 – 35%
35 – 44 – 15%
45 – 54 – 11%
55 – 64 –  7%
65+        – 6%
Income:   $0 – 50K – 45%
$50 – 100K – 28%
$100 – 150K – 15%
$150 +         – 12%

It was a bit more difficult to location other demographics for Google +, for a good reason. Anyone with a Google account has a Google + account making it impractical to identify other some-what accurate demographics.

Although there are a plethora of social media platforms, this gives you an idea of the types of information you want to research for any social media platform you’re considering.

The bottom line? Don’t be everywhere on social media. Be where it counts. Locate your target audience and you’ll find the best social platform for your small business to succeed.

Related Blog Posts:

Does Your Networking Persona Get in the Way of Growing Your Business?

Cracking the Code on Facebook for Your Small Business

Business Development Strategies to Turn Linkedin Views into Clients

6 Ways Your Small Business Can Successfully Manage Social Media

Uncover the Moments of Truth in Your Business with a Strategic Coach

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