Social media is integral to our day by day lives.
With 4.8 billion social media customers worldwide – accounting for 59.9% of the worldwide inhabitants – social platforms have turn out to be essential hubs for gathering data, connecting with our buddies and family members, and rising our companies.
And social media customers have grown to belief and depend on their most well-liked social networks for every thing from real-time information and updates to life-style hacks, product analysis, and extra.
For entrepreneurs, the world of social media represents an expansive space of alternative – and each person is a possible buyer.
With the appropriate instruments, sources, and a powerful social media technique, entrepreneurs can leverage social media platforms to spice up consciousness for his or her enterprise, interact their audience, and even nurture a loyal group.
But with so many alternative social media platforms present right this moment, it’s practically not possible to be current on each single one – not to mention excel in each house.
Success in social media advertising and marketing begins with selecting the best platforms in your model. You have to determine the place your audience is spending probably the most time and the place it is smart in your manufacturers to work together with them.
In this text, we’ll take a look at the main social media platforms, giving a fast overview of what they’re earlier than exploring what sorts of companies may discover them most helpful.
Top 10 Social Media Platforms Compared
MAU*
Revenue
Launched
Headquarters
1
Facebook
3 billion
Not specified
2004
Menlo Park, CA
2
YouTube
2.5 billion
$29.24 billion
2005
San Bruno, California
3
Instagram
2 billion
Not specified
2010
Menlo Park, CA
4
TikTok
1.2 billion
Unknown
2016
Culver City, CA
5
Snapchat
750 million
$4.6 billion
2011
Los Angeles, CA
6
X (Twitter)
541 million
$4.4 billion
2003
Mountain View, CA
7
Pinterest
465 million
$2.8 billion
2005
San Francisco, CA
8
Reddit
430 million
$400 million
2010
San Francisco, CA
9
LinkedIn
<350 million
$12. 4 billion
2006
San Francisco, CA
10
Threads
100 million
Unknown
2023
Menlo Park, CA
*Number of month-to-month energetic customers worldwide, up to date October 2023.
The Top 10 Social Media Apps By Monthly Active Users
Social media platform
MAU*
1
Facebook
3 billion
2
YouTube
2.5 billion
3
Instagram
2 billion
4
TikTok
1.2 billion
5
Snapchat
750 million
6
X (Twitter)
541 million
7
Pinterest
465 million
8
Reddit
430 million
9
LinkedIn
<350 million
10
Threads
100 million
*Number of month-to-month energetic customers worldwide up to date October 2023.
The Top 10 Social Media Sites And Platforms
1. Facebook
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
Launched: 2004.
Monthly Active Users: 3 billion.
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes.
Revenue: Facebook-specific income not recognized.
While Facebook may not be the thrilling new platform it as soon as was – and might need fallen out of favor with youthful customers – make no mistake: it’s nonetheless round, and extra in style than ever.
Today, Facebook operates beneath the umbrella of Meta, Inc., which additionally owns platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. Per Meta’s full-year earnings report, its “Family of Apps” – which incorporates Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and different apps – generated a complete of $114.45 billion in income in 2022.
In latest years, Facebook has undergone a demographic shift – but its affect within the social media sphere stays unparalleled.
Industries akin to monetary providers, ecommerce, retail, media, telecom, know-how, and shopper items proceed to harness Facebook’s expansive attain to attach with customers and develop their model consciousness – with newer sectors like gaming, leisure, and automotive companies additionally discovering their footing on the platform.
If you’re seeking to drive conversions, your greatest wager is to spend money on Facebook adverts – particularly given the News Feed is more and more suppressing enterprise posts.
That stated, there are nonetheless loads of methods to generate natural engagement with out investing in adverts.
Consider becoming a member of (or constructing) area of interest communities with Facebook Groups, leveraging Messenger chatbots for personalised communication, or utilizing dwell video to encourage real-time viewers interplay.
2. YouTube
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Launched: 2005.
Headquarters: San Bruno, California.
Monthly Active Users: 2.5 billion.
Revenue: $29.24 billion (2022).
Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley.
YouTube continues to carry the crown because the dominant authentic video social media platform. It is at present the second most used platform, with 2.5 billion month-to-month energetic customers.
According to Alphabet’s This fall 2022 earnings, YouTube adverts generated $29.24 billion in income in 2022. It’s price noting that that quantity doesn't embody income from non-advertising sources, which incorporates subscription revenues from providers like YouTube TV and YouTube Premium.
The potential for attain on YouTube is unmatched, with 81% of U.S. adults utilizing the platform. Such engagement metrics are laborious for entrepreneurs and types to disregard.
From longform video storytelling to the latest introduction of YouTube Shorts, the platform’s TikTok rival, YouTube offers loads of alternatives for manufacturers to interact in visible storytelling and attain new audiences.
And in line with the corporate, it’s a really highly effective advertising and marketing software. YouTube viewers say they’re 2X extra possible to purchase one thing they noticed on YouTube, and 4X extra possible to make use of the platform to seek out details about a model, product, or service versus different social networks.
Whether you’re into magnificence tutorials, gaming streams, schooling content material, or DIY hacks, YouTube has all of it. And for manufacturers aiming to pivot into video-centric content material advertising and marketing, YouTube is the platform to prioritize.
3. Instagram
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
Launched: 2010.
Monthly Active Users: 2 billion.
Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger.
Revenue: Instagram-specific income not recognized.
Instagram is a social community the place product-based companies, influencers, and coaches can thrive.
Launched in 2010, Instagram shortly turned the main image-based, visually-rich social platform. Since then, it has solely grown in recognition and attain, changing into a spot for customers to conduct and analysis each side of their lives.
The platform has additionally launched new options that entrepreneurs can leverage to develop consciousness, together with ephemeral Stories, vertical-video Reels, and extra.
Since introducing shoppable posts in 2018, the potential ROI for product-based companies has been greater than ever.
Not solely can B2B companies join with a large viewers, they'll seamlessly transition followers from product analysis to buy by linking product data and making gross sales – all throughout the Instagram interface.
And in case your goal demographic is beneath 35, Instagram is a gold mine: over 68% of Instagram customers are beneath 35.
4. TikTok
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Launched: 2016.
Headquarters: Culver City, California.
Monthly Active Users: 1.2 billion.
Founders: ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, Toutiao.
Revenue: Unknown.
TikTok payments itself as “the main vacation spot for short-form cell video” with an organization mission to encourage creativity and convey pleasure. And evidently, it’s succeeding.
As a privately held firm, ByteDance shouldn't be required to reveal monetary data, so we can't be sure of TikTok’s annual income. However, a report from Bloomberg suggests the father or mother firm generated someplace within the ballpark of $80 billion in 2022 – and the social app accounts for a proportion of that.
TikTok’s meteoric rise over the previous few years has been unprecedented. In 2017, after just one yr, the app turned the fastest-growing app worldwide.
Its concentrate on short-form movies pushed by audio and visible traits has taken the world by storm, with different platforms speeding to emulate it.
Despite makes an attempt to ban TikTok within the U.S. and being banned in India, as of 2021, the app had been downloaded greater than 3.5 billion occasions globally.
And whereas TikTok reaches customers of all demographics, in case your model needs to attach with Generation Z, it ought to be your first precedence.
In the U.S., it’s significantly in style among the many 12 to 17 age bracket, who represent about 17.7% of the person base.
Those customers are extremely engaged, too, with the typical person spending practically 54 minutes on the app daily – the longest period of time of any app, forward of YouTube at 48.7 minutes.
5. Snapchat
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA.
Launched: 2011.
Monthly Active Users: 750 million.
Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, Leo Noah Katz.
Revenue: $4.6 billion (2022).
If a youthful viewers is your goal, Snapchat could be a platform price contemplating. This social platform is a good place for connecting with millennials and Gen Z customers.
Snapchat now reaches 70% of 13 to 24-year-olds, showcasing its immense enchantment to the youthful technology.
The common Snapchat person spends 19 minutes per day on the app – not sufficient time to rival that of TikTok and YouTube, however nonetheless a possibility window for manufacturers to achieve and join with them.
Snapchat has a uniquely natural really feel, with content material that gives an unfiltered glimpse into on a regular basis moments – so the platform is a haven for user-generated content material, behind-the-scenes movies, unique affords, and influencer takeovers.
The platform has all the time maintained its dedication to real-time, ephemeral content material, and it affords a way of privateness to customers that many different social platforms don't. For this cause, it’s a worthwhile software for manufacturers that need to authentically converse to a youthful demographic who could be much less within the broader approaches of different social networks.
And whereas it could not get as a lot consideration because the likes of Instagram and TikTok, Snapchat is quietly buzzing alongside. Since launching its premium subscription service Snapchat+, the model introduced it has generated 5 million paying subscribers who're keen to dish out cash for entry to unique options.
6. X/Twitter
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
Launched: 2006.
Monthly Active Users: 541 million (July 2023).
Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass.
Revenue: $3 billion (2023) estimated.
Since being bought by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in October 2022 for $44 billion, Twitter has undergone some main modifications – together with its rebranding as “X.”
Other modifications Musk has made throughout his time as CEO embody introducing Twitter Blue (now X Premium), a paid month-to-month subscription service that connected a price ticket to verification, shutting down various bot accounts, and launching a service the place creators can receives a commission a proportion of income generated by their subscribers.
This might clarify the fluctuation within the knowledge and numbers round X’s site visitors and customers. While some sources present X’s site visitors as being down YoY, a July tweet from Musk revealed that month-to-month customers reached an all-time excessive in 2023.
One factor is for certain: X (previously Twitter) stays an area to observe. Despite some turmoil over the previous yr, it’s clear that there are massive plans for the platform, and it stays a forerunner amongst social media platforms.
If your corporation is expounded to leisure, sports activities, politics, tech, or advertising and marketing, there are nonetheless alternatives to drive nice engagement on this app – if you will discover your viewers there.
On X, manufacturers have a possibility to craft and hone their voice. There’s room to be intelligent and personable whereas nonetheless being informative and useful.
Jump into conversations, present worth, share your individual content material in addition to others, and be a part of the dialog. Just make sure to monitor the app and your viewers to ensure your funding is paying off.
7. Pinterest
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Launched: 2010.
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
Monthly Active Users: 465 million.
Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp.
Revenue: $2.8 billion (2022).
Like Instagram, Pinterest is a social media platform that’s targeted on wealthy visuals. From scrumptious recipes to residence decor inspiration, marriage ceremony concepts, exercise strikes, and DIY-related content material, Pinterest is the place visible goals come to life.
If your model has an curiosity in visible storytelling, Pinterest is the platform for you.
Notably, 60% of Pinterest customers are ladies. If your viewers is predominantly ladies, that’s a compelling cause to speculate time in social media advertising and marketing on Pinterest.
That’s to not say that males aren’t on Pinterest – male Pinners are up 40% year-over-year (as are Gen Z Pinners!).
What’s extra, Pinterest has confirmed itself to be a strong advertising and marketing software. 89% of weekly Pinners use the platform for inspiration on their path to buy, whereas 80% have found a brand new model or product on Pinterest.
8. Reddit
Screenshot by creator, November 2023
Launched: 2005.
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
Monthly Active Users: 430 million.
Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz.
Revenue: $400 million (estimated).
Reddit heralds itself as “the entrance web page of the web,” and in line with Alexa rankings, Reddit is among the high 20 most-visited websites.
Since it’s not a public firm, Reddit doesn't need to disclose its financials, so we don’t have a precise image of its annual income. However, in mid-2021, the corporate referred to having hit $100 million in quarterly advert income – so, based mostly on this, we will moderately assume it’s within the ballpark of $400 million.
It has turn out to be often called the dominant digital watercooler, and changed boards and chatrooms of yore to be the go-to place for connecting with likeminded communities and getting your questions answered.
Reddit has a singular mix of content material and group, with greater than 2.8 million communities, or subreddits, devoted to each subject possible. Whether you’re in tech, vogue, gaming, or well being, there’s a minimum of one subreddit actively discussing your trade.
With so many niches, there’s a spot for each model and enterprise to interact their viewers – it’s a matter of discovering the niches the place your potential prospects are energetic and diving in.
However, be warned: Reddit thrives on authenticity and real interplay. Users don’t sometimes reply properly to blatant self-promotion, and advertising and marketing gimmicks can be met with sharp skepticism.
Brands ought to beware earlier than wandering into any subreddit and making an attempt to tout their merchandise to group members.
It’s essential to get the tone proper from the start, as commentators gained’t hesitate to name out and critique what they understand as inauthentic.
Engage thoughtfully, contribute genuinely, and Reddit could possibly be an unbelievable advertising and marketing software in your model.
9. LinkedIn
Screenshot from creator, November 2023
Headquarters: (*10*), CA.
Launched: 2003.
Monthly Active Users: <350 million (2023) estimated.
Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly.
Revenue: $15 billion+ (2023).
LinkedIn has been considerably of a darkish horse amongst social media platforms. While many could not initially have anticipated a career-focused social platform to take off, it has turn out to be one of many extra in style and fascinating platforms, with an enormous and influential group of pros.
Unlike different social media platforms, LinkedIn doesn't publicly share its variety of month-to-month energetic customers. However, as a part of the EU’s new DSA, the corporate did launch MAU counts for its EU customers – and by taking the share of energetic customers within the EU and making use of the identical traits to international person counts (and accounting for variations in utilization), the staff at Social Media Today was capable of provide you with “lower than 350 million” as an inexpensive estimate.”
The platform boasts over 180 million customers holding senior roles, 63 million decision-makers, and 10 million C-level executives – making it a hotspot for these aiming to attach with people who've the ability to rent your organization, inventory your product, or associate together with your model.
And the platform isn’t only for networking – it’s an aspirational hub. Every week, 61 million folks use LinkedIn to seek for job alternatives – so it’s a wise place to market your model.
LinkedIn is a really targeted social media platform. Because of that, it has limitless potential for connecting with an elite group of pros who could make a distinction for your corporation.
10. Threads
Screenshot from creator, November 2023
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
Launched: 2023.
Monthly Active Users: 100 million (2023).
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg.
Revenue: Unknown.
The newcomer to the block, Threads was created by the staff behind Instagram and launched in July 2023. The text-based app was designed as a competitor to X (previously Twitter).
It appears and features fairly equally to X (previously Twitter), although Threads requires you to have an Instagram account in an effort to enroll.
Threads initially made a splash within the social media house by shortly surpassing 150 million downloads and changing into probably the most profitable social media platform launch in historical past.
Since then, it has struggled to retain customers – however there may be nonetheless loads of promise for the way forward for the platform.
So, who ought to be promoting on Threads? It’s nonetheless early days, so the reply isn’t completely clear but.
The excellent news is that Threads seems to be participating customers by leaning into its technique to create a optimistic group house, and veering away from the extremely politicized panorama that you just may discover on X.
If your model is searching for an alternative choice to X (previously Twitter) or is eager to attempt your hand at a brand new platform, Threads is definitely price testing.
Its integration with Instagram means that you've the potential to construct a following fairly quickly when you have a powerful and engaged Instagram group.
Which Platform(s) Should You Use?
The ubiquity of social media is plain.
From your teenage neighbor who needs to go viral on TikTok to your 86-year-old grandmother who’s utilizing Facebook to trace down long-lost buddies, everyone has a use for social media.
Yet, in relation to enterprise, a one-size-fits-all method to social media gained’t work.
So, if you happen to have been hoping you’d attain the tip of this piece, and discover a easy, definitive reply on the right platform in your model, you’re out of luck.
Every social media combine can be distinctive.
Each platform affords distinct options and functionalities, some which align extra naturally with particular industries or advertising and marketing goals.
Whether you’re seeking to enhance buyer engagement, enhance attain, or create unforgettable model experiences, all of it begins with getting clear in your targets.
Start by understanding your goals, determining the place your viewers is most energetic, after which tailoring your technique to resonate on these channels.
It’s all about making the appropriate selections and discovering genuine alignment in an effort to make use of this highly effective advertising and marketing alternative.
Updated with knowledge from KnowledgeReportal’s Digital 2023 October Global Statshot Report.
More sources:
Featured Image: Viktollio/Search Engine Journal
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/social-media-platforms/
