Which social media platform is the biggest?

Social Media have been invading the internet for several years now. The most popular social platforms for both individuals and businesses: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.  However, there are many other social networking sites out there.

Depending on how much you need a social network or what you will need it for, there are a wide range of social networking websites with millions of users that can benefit you even more than the most popular ones.

The key to successful social media marketing in the New Year will be choosing the best social media platform for your business. This is based on a number of factors, including the type of business you have, what audience you are trying to reach, your specific goals, and much more.

But with such a huge range of social media platforms out there how are we to know which is the best suited and most effective when it comes to creating a stellar digital marketing strategy? Read on for an overview of the top 10 social media platforms today and how to choose the best social media site for your business, and future predictions.

Platforms for your Business

Follow are some things to consider as you figure out which are the best social marketing sites for your specific business or niche: 

· Demographics: How old is your audience? How old is the audience of each social site you are considering? What about gender? Where do your audiences match?

·  Industry: Is there a particular platform that’s more geared towards your industry, or even a similar one?

·  Content: What is the nature of most of your content and (how) do you expect this to change in the near future?

·   Product: How does your product “fit” with a given platform?  

Social Media Trends

Why are certain types of platforms more popular than others? Let’s take a look at some up-and-coming trends that are going to drive the popularity of certain sites.

 Top Social Media Sites

Most of this list probably won’t come as much of a surprise, but there are a few newer platforms here that you may not have heard of but should get to know if you’re immersed in the digital marketing Services.

Facebook :

Facebook is one of the best social media platforms for businesses to use to reach their target market – whatever that audience may be. With nearly 2 million monthly active users, Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform with the most diverse audience.

Facebook ad costs also recently went up, but this still remains an extremely viable and affordable advertising option for most types of businesses.

 YouTube:

YouTube has quickly become the second largest search engine in the world, right behind Google. What’s more is that YouTube users are watching a billion hours of video each day and generating just as many views. This makes YouTube an excellent channel for reaching and engaging target consumers by creating and publishing compelling video content.

YouTube not only has 1.5 billion monthly users but has demonstrated remarkable growth since its inception over 10 years ago. 74% of YouTube users will watch brand channels weekly. This presents a great opportunity for companies to reach an active, engaged, and interested audience on a consistent basis.

Instagram:

Instagram is another popular channel that promises to be one of the best social media platforms for business in 2018. Instagram has more than 700 million active users who log onto the app to enjoy photos and video posts from their friends, family, and yes, even brands. In fact, according to BrandWatch, 50% of users follow brands on Instagram.

On a personal or professional level, it really has it all, save for a lot of room for words or backlinking in the text and comment area. Instagram is less for chatting and more for building followers.

Twitter:

This channel is another one of the best social media platforms for your 2018 social media marketing strategy. As one of the top 10 websites in the United States, Twitter is the go-to place for the latest news and trends on a variety of topics. This makes it an excellent channel for sharing brand updates and being a part of the online conversation surrounding your industry.

With an average of about 328 million active Twitter users worldwide, it’s a great place to have a snappy conversation about anything newsworthy, especially the controversial stuff.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is social media platforms for professionals. Companies use this channel to post a variety of different types of content from job openings to company updates to different content assets like whitepapers and case studies. This has also become a popular platform for job recruiting as recruiters can see which users are open to new job opportunities while having a readily available overview of their job experience.

One of the best qualities of LinkedIn is that audiences on this social media platform are business-minded. This means that they are often open to networking opportunities and hearing about ways to improve the way they work or make their job easier. This provides an excellent opportunity for B2B brands that would like to connect with business decision-makers across different industries.

Pinterest:

It’s a highly visual site that works well for anyone using a lot of photos or niches where people are liable to “collect” bits and pieces of information for later. While its popularity may be waning slightly over time, it’s still a great go-to for visuals, though it’s not as interactive as Instagram. Over 200 million monthly users, to find recipes, hairstyles or travel destinations on Instagram.

Flickr:

Flickr is most popular photo-sharing platform; 112 million people still use this social media site on a monthly basis. For photographers, it’s an easy way to store and share photos, but interface-wise it may not be as up-to-date as its competitors.

Predictions for the future of Social Media

What will be the most popular social media sites in 2019 and beyond? Still not sure which channels are the best social media platforms for your business? That’s where we come in. Our social media agency knows just what it takes to help you grow your brand online. We will help you plan and implement a social media management strategy that allows you to develop your brand awareness, build relationships, and increase website exposure through the social media channels that are right for your business.

Feel free to leave your questions in the comments, have any questions about the best social media platforms that not cover in this post ?