Social media has become the driving force behind many successful marketing campaigns. There are many popular platforms that are ideal for promoting and marketing brands.
We’ll be discussing these platforms so you can have a better idea of which platforms are best suited to your needs.
As of 2020, more than 3.5 billion people are active on social media, making it a goldmine for digital marketing.
One thing that should be noted is that despite the amazing possibilities that social media platforms offer, you need to approach it correctly. You need a helping hand.
That’s where SocialPlanner comes in. Making use of a quality tool like this is a great way to have an advantage over your competition. It’s a social media scheduler that allows you to discover trending and top-performing content.
In addition, it will help you streamline your marketing plan, saving you money and time.
How Do Social Media Platforms Help Your Marketing?
With a marketing strategy that includes social media platform, you will grow a bigger audience. More people will become aware of your brand. This will enhance your brand awareness.
You will be able to find and attract potential customers and supporters as well as increase traffic to your sites. Driving conversions is much easier when you’re using these platforms.
You can engage with customers on a more personal level and have meaningful discussions.
Without further ado, check out our comprehensive list of most popular social media platforms:
Most Popular Social Media Platforms Group One – The Big Guns
Naturally, Facebook has to be the first social media platform we mention because it is considered the largest of them all.
It is definitely one of the most widely used platforms. As such, it should be part of all digital marketing strategies.
Facebook offers the ability to network with customers and market your business in organic and natural ways. Their unpaid Facebook Ads are also great for reaching more people without doing too much work.
The platform lost a lot of trust by allowing 3rd parties to access millions of users’ data in 2018.
However, it bounced back and still has more than 1.5 billion active users every month. Facebook remains a great place to find and connect with customers.
As a social networking platform with a focus on visual content, Instagram is massively popular. It gives users a platform to share their special moments with each other and gain popularity.
With unique filters and tools, simple photos can become works of art.
Instagram is great for marketers because of how many people use it every month – about 400 million. Showcasing your goods or service is made easy with the ability to share images and short videos.
The use of hashtags is also a way to boost your reach and improve your brand awareness. The ability to interact with users make Instagram a superb tool for customer care.
When searching for a professional audience, LinkedIn is your go-to-platform. Many professionals – about 100 million a month – frequent the site.
All types of entrepreneurs and businesses make use of LinkedIn and it’s available in more than 20 languages.
LinkedIn is the ideal place to connect with other professionals and cater to the needs of discerning customers. Adding this social media platform to your arsenal will enhance your authority with potential clients/customers.
One of the most popular social platforms in the world is Twitter. It is immensely popular with the younger generation. 38% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18 and 29.
Twitter allows content to go viral and start trending very quickly. If used correctly, you can reach millions of people in a short period of time.
This is great for launching marketing campaigns. 320 million people use Twitter every month, finding new customers can be easy if a properly planned marketing campaign is used.
Snapchat
Not everyone realises the potential of Snapchat, the image-messaging platform. It lets users explore news and watch live stories from across the globe.
With fleeting content, you have to grab attention by being very creative. Snapchat has about 200 million active users every month – a great market to tap.
Pinterest is another platform focused on sharing visuals and a super way to show off merchandise. It is also a great way to find and save ideas for future projects easily and conveniently.
Any well-planned social media marketing strategy can benefit from using Pinterest in one form or another. Pinterest has about 100 million active users a month so you’ll be reaching a wide audience as well.
Facebook may have purchased this messaging platform in 2014, but it remains independent. Roughly 1 billion users make use of WhatsApp every month. Using it to add weight to your marketing would only be beneficial.
WhatsApp allows users to create groups and share interests as well as images. Groups based on your brand or industry is a great way to reach out to customers.
Tumblr
Tumbler is very popular and boasts with an average of 555 million active users a month. Here, users can share media and blogs – a great way to create brand awareness.
If you’re looking for a place to reach out to younger people, this is one of the platforms to use. Tumblr’s age demographic is adults between 18 and 29.
Most Popular Social Media Platforms Group Two: The Underdogs
These platforms are popular, but not the names that pop up when you think about ‘social media’. However, they’re constantly growing and becoming forces to reckon with. You will not regret working them into your marketing ideas.
Google+ ( Now Currents )
This social media site doesn’t technically exist anymore. However, users can still make use of its features under a new name: Currents.
Google shut down the public version of its product but offer businesses an alternative with Currents.
This is a very active and one of the most popular platforms when it comes to sharing news. Debates are also easy to find on Reddit, as well as media.
Niche marketing is especially popular on ‘the front page of the internet’.
Many marketers do not realise the potential that Reddit has. Amazingly, 42% of internet users aged between 18-24 are Reddit users.
Your company/brand can enjoy great exposure on this site. Reddit is also a great place to do market research for your industry.
YouTube
One of the world’s largest and most popular video-sharing social media networks was born in 2005. Fast forward 15 years and the site is more popular than ever. It allows users to share and enjoy videos and comment on them.
As a brand, you can upload videos for your customers to get a better view of your services or goods.
You can have a huge following who likes and shares your content. YouTube has 2 billion users globally – a huge audience to reach.
WeChat is an all-in-one communications app that is similar to WhatsApp. However, it has less of a following. That does not mean you should refrain from making use of this platform, WeChat is catching up with WhatsApp.
It is expected that it will grow much more popular over the next few years. The application allows messaging and calling as a method of communication.
Currently, WeChat has 697 million users.
TikTok
TikTok does not need much of an introduction but few people know that it can be a marketing tool. It has grown into quite the giant in the social media world with 500 million active monthly users.
More than half of these users are under 30, so if your demographic is young, this is ideal.
Brands can create profiles and upload content to share with users. This can boost brand awareness.
If your brand takes part in the viral challenges, it could become even more popular. Being creative is the most important requirement on TikTok, so have fun with it.
Skype
Microsoft-owned Skype is one of the world’s leading video communication platforms. It also allows users to chat and send images and files. Group and conference calls are made easy with Skype.
It’s not a traditionally popular tool when planning marketing strategies. But Skype is private in a way that Facebook etc. are not.
If you want a way to communicate with fellow brands or customers in more privacy, this is where you want to go.
Sina Weibo
This is another hugely popular micro-blogging platform from China. It is a mix of Facebook and Twitter with all the great features they offer.
It has more than 500 million active monthly users. That means that if you can use this platform, you’ll reach a very big audience.
By implementing Weibo in your marketing campaign, you will be able to reach people that other networks cannot. Opening new doors is what social media marketing is all about, after all.
Most Popular Social Media Platforms Group Three: Obscure But Effective Options
These lesser-known platforms are still great tools to use in your marketing planning. With a bit of creativity and some originality, you’ll be surprised by what you can do.
Foursquare
As a great search-and-discovery social media platform, Foursquare is popular for finding businesses.
Although it is a localised app, it is used by millions of people to locate companies. If your company can be found, you’ll gain customers you didn’t have before.
Tagged
A rarely discovered gem, Tagged is a social media app based on creating new relationships. Here, users can socialise through common interests, playing games and browsing profiles.
It has millions of users and can be used to reach out to new audiences. If you plan properly, Tagged can be a great tool.
Although QQ is a more Chinese-oriented instant messaging platform, it went international quite successfully. It is great for staying in contact with your friends and offers video calls too.
If your target audience is global or Chinese, you’ll find much benefit in using QQ for marketing.
70% of Chinese social media users are under the age of 35. About 659 million people use this platform every month. If you’re worried about language barriers, the built-in translator will prove quite useful.
How To Use The Most Popular Social Media Platforms In Your Marketing Campaign
Now that you know how many platforms there are at your disposal, you may wonder how you can use them.
Social media managers worth their salt know that marketing is one of the most important parts of running a successful business.
Without it, your company cannot grow and thrive. But with the right kind of marketing, you can see your business grow into a titan without working like a slave.
This is where social media marketing comes in. If done right, you can get away with only a few hours a week dedicated to marketing but major benefits gained.
In fact, the benefits of social media marketing are so many and so effective that 91% of US companies make use of it.
Let’s discuss how you can achieve new social media marketing heights.
Get with the Times
Business owners need to embrace change and adapt to the ever-evolving market. Ideas transmit faster on social media than any other platform.
It is important to watch the trends to find ones you can take advantage of.
A Call-to-Action Is a Must
When it comes to most products and services, people today are spoiled for choice. A call-to-action is a very effective way to make sure potential customers choose to buy when they interact with your content.
Several social media campaign ideas use this method to boost publicity.
Invite your customers to post photos of your goods using a clever hashtag. Believe it or not, people will catch on and soon, thousands of people will be seeing pictures of your food in a positive light.
Essentially, it amounts to free advertising.
SEO Is Your Friend
Have you ever wondered why certain websites appear before others when using search engines? It’s not random. They use powerful algorithms that rank certain pages higher than others even if they are about the same topic.
Social media websites also have search engines that people will use to find your page.
As such, search engine optimization is an essential part of making sure your content is visible. Consult with SEO experts.
This can make the difference between your page getting thousands of hits and falling into obscurity.
For a more in-depth discussion on using social media marketing, check out our guide with tips on how to create a successful social media campaign.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some of the questions that pop up often when discussing social media platforms. If you have a few questions, you might find the answers right here.
Which App Has the Most Users?
It would come as no surprise that Facebook has the most users in the world. This platform and its app remains a giant in the social media world and continues to grow.
Facebook was also the very first social network that had more than 1 billion registered accounts. Currently, it boasts more than 2.5 billion monthly active users. That is a massive number!
Between December 2017 and June 2018, the platform was able to increase its monthly active users by 100 million. With such an impressive growth rate, it doesn’t look like Facebook will be going anywhere any time soon.
It is expected that the platform will have even more users by the end of 2020.
Which Social Media Do Millennials Use Most?
Millennials are considered by many marketers as one of the most important group of consumers to focus on. These people account for a quarter of the entire American population and a large portion of the global population.
Almost 80% of millennials use their social media accounts more than once a day and they also like to use more than one platform. With that said, there is still one platform that they prefer most.
If you guessed Facebook, you’d be right. More than 86% of millennials use Facebook the most. They do so more than other generations – just about 35% of Gen Z use Facebook once per week.
Since millennials like variety, we will also give you a look at their other favourite social media apps.
YouTube is used at least once a week by roughly 86% of millennials. This makes the video-sharing platform a superb place for marketing. Video content is not likely to become unpopular…ever.
Instagram is also a big deal for millennials – more than 70% of them use their accounts at least once a week. It is probably the lack of text and the massive amount of images that appeal to people so much.
Also, about 80% of Instagrammers follow at least one business account – great news for brands and companies.
Shortly behind these dominating platforms are Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest – many millennials love using them as well.
What Is the Most Used Social Media Platform by Teenagers?
Teenagers seemingly spend every waking moment online so one can’t help but wonder what social media platforms are keeping them most entertained.
Boys and girls tend to differ on the platforms that they like to spend their time on. Boys are more likely to be found on YouTube and Facebook. Teen girls, on the other hand, prefer Snapchat. TikTok is very popular with both genders.
What Is the Safest Social Media Platform?
Safety is a big concern in this technology age we find ourselves. As such, it is important to know which social media platforms are safe and which ones pose a threat to our cybersecurity.
Note: We suggest that you always play it safe while online, even when using safer platforms and websites.
Twitter is considered one of the safest social media platforms at this point in time. It doesn’t require a lot of data for an account to be created. There are levels of security that depend on the user and their usage levels.
Although Instagram is all about creating the idea of a perfect life (which isn’t realistic) it offers good privacy and safety. Messages are encrypted and your private conversations are not accessed.
One of the least safe social media platforms is Facebook. This is rather unsettling since it is the biggest platform in the world. Millions of accounts’ information have been leaked more than once. In most cases, this is because of negligence on Facebook’s side.
Hopefully, the platform will work on its safety issues and improve privacy and security.
What Is the Best Alternative to Facebook?
If you don’t like Facebook or want to move away from the platform, there is an alternative that is growing increasingly popular – Minds.
This platform was launched back in 2015 and has millions of registered users. It’s an open-source and community-driven social media platform. One feature that makes it stand out is the privacy on offer. It is a much more secure platform than most of the big guns.
Additionally, Minds award users for their time and content through cryptocurrency. The platform’s features are a lot like Facebook’s so you will easily get used to it. You can send messages, check your timeline, build an interesting profile and share content.
What’s the Next Big Social Media Platform 2020?
According to social media experts, the platform to watch out for is TikTok. It is an ever-growing platform that is greatly admired by its users. It has been getting a lot of negative attention with the possibility of a ban, so that might change in the near future.
What’s the Most Popular Social Media Platform 2020?
Currently, Facebook remains the biggest and most platform in the world. Close on its heels are Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Snapchat. For now, it is believed that these platforms will continue to be the biggest and baddest in the social media world.
Which Social Media Is Growing Fastest?
Despite the bad vibes surrounding TikTok this year, it is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. Sure, it can’t compare to Facebook just yet, but there may come a time when this platform shares a throne with the giant.
In March 2020, TikTok was the most downloaded app – this shows that it is continuously growing in popularity. In the last year and a half, the number of Americans using TikTok has grown five times to reach more than 1.4 million.
Is Instagram a Dying Platform?
Instagram remains a very popular social media platform but its user experience is making it fall out of favour. With advertisements becoming annoying and aspiring influencers advertising random products, users’ feeds can become an insipid experience.
Hopefully, the platform will work on improving these issues so users can go back to loving it again.
Final Thoughts on The Most Popular Social Media Platforms
Through this guide and list of most popular social media platforms, you have been given a wealth of information. It is now up to you to plan a fantastic social media marketing plan with what you learned.
Remember, you don’t have to do everything on your own. SocialPlanner is at your disposal. Making use of all the features on offer from the planner will help enhance the quality of your marketing.