How do I reach the right demographic through social media?
Updated: Mar 28
Social media platforms offer a great opportunity for you to engage with your target audience. Here are some recent stats*:
There are 4.74 billion social media users, which represents over 90% of all adults with internet access!
They spent an average of 2 ½ hours per day using social media.
Each social media user uses on average 7 different social media platforms each month.
22% say they use social media for work-related activities.
The best social media platforms for reaching your audience will depend on the nature of your business and the preferences of your target audience. It's important to do your research, experiment with different platforms, and track your results to determine which platforms are most effective for your business.
Here is an overview of the different platforms that are generally the best for business-to-business (B2B) social media marketing efforts.
Although LinkedIn is towards the bottom of the overall popularity list (857 million users), it is often considered the go-to social media platform for B2B social media marketing.
It's a professional networking site where people go to make connections, seek job opportunities, and share industry news and insights. (76% of users are between the ages of 35-54.)
Businesses can create a company page and share content such as blog posts, industry news, and product updates.
Advertising options allow businesses to target specific audiences based on job title, company size, and other relevant factors.
Pro Tip: Create content that is educational and focuses on the needs of your target market. The LinkedIn audience in general does not respond well to obvious sales pitches. For example, if you have a following on LinkedIn who like content about how to save money for retirement, post content that discusses that topic. You could live stream for around 20 minutes two or three times a week about the most effective ways to save for retirement. Videos get five times more engagement than any other type of content on LinkedIn.
Twitter is another platform that is well-suited to B2B social media marketing with 544 million users. It is a fast-paced, short-form (280 characters max) platform that includes a lot of humor, politics, and news. Twitter offers advertising options that allow businesses to target specific audiences based on interests, job title, and location. Twitter is best for showcasing your business’s website, services, or products by linking to articles or videos that are relevant to your brand and audience.
Pro Tip: Use Twitter chats, organized discussions around a specific topic or hashtag, to engage with your target audience and establish yourself and your brand as a thought leader. This format creates a conversation between you and your target audience around a specific topic.
YouTube
While YouTube may not be the first platform that comes to mind for B2B social media marketing, it can be an effective way to reach a B2B audience. This is particularly true if your business offers complex or technical products or services. Videos can be used to explain how your products work, provide tutorials, or showcase customer success stories. YouTube also offers advertising options that allow businesses to target specific audiences based on interests, demographics, and behavior.
Here are some key considerations:
2.51 billion users
Almost half of the users are over the age of 35
Users spend an average of 23 hours per month on YouTube
Pro Tip: Since YouTube is also the #2 search engine and is prioritized in Google search, be sure to use the same SEO techniques on your video title and description copy that you use on your website to ensure your videos get high rankings in search.
Facebook is a social media platform where people and businesses can share status updates, pictures, videos, and links with communities of interest. It has 2.93 billion users and most of them are between the ages of 18-45. Many business-to-consumer (B2C), e-commerce, and community-based organizations use Facebook to engage with their target audience – so, if these are the types of businesses in your target audience, Facebook may be an effective platform for you to engage with them as well. The best performing content on Facebook includes images, links to articles, and videos that are longer than five minutes.
Pro Tip: Using the Facebook Live feature is a great way to create video content with a live session that is also recorded and available for viewing later.
Instagram is a photo-centric platform that is excellent for connecting with customers and showcasing your brand. It has 1.3 billion users, 60% of whom are between the ages of 18-35. Engagement on Instagram can increase brand awareness and customer loyalty. Interactions with Instagram posts are:
10x higher than Facebook
54x higher than Pinterest
84x higher than Twitter
Pro Tip: If you have an e-commerce or direct-to-consumer business model for your products, use Instagram’s shopping features (such as swipe up to shop and the shopping catalogue) to bring the store to your customers and make it easier for them to make a purchase.
Conclusion
You do not need to be on every social media platform for your small business to be successful. Find 1-2 social media platforms that work best for your business and where your audience is most engaged and focus your strategy on those. With social media users being active on average 7 different platforms, you can also extend your reach by cross promoting on different platforms. For example, if you are going to do a Facebook Live event you can promote it on LinkedIn.
Keep in mind that each platform has a different format and community norms, so even if you are promoting the same content, you need to do it in a style that is consistent with that platform.
* Hootsuite & We Are Social, Digital 2022 October Global Statshot Report