04 - Where to Find Your People on Social Media
/Path of Presence Podcast - Episode 04 - Where to Find Your People on Social Media
Today, we're going to talk about where to find your people on social media.
At a glance, I’ll be honest with you - Social media is a lot of energy.
If you stand in the middle of it, it kinda feels like a big distraction, as though you’re on some kind of altered universe. The language feels different, people are talking at you AND too you - and it seems to come all at once.
You might feel lost in a sea of conversations as though you are in room with 100s of channels on, with its volume blasting loudly.
Believe me, I get that. Everywhere we turn, social media is visible.
It is prevalent in our society and we can no longer deny its presence… and its power.
Not exactly the same as the presence and power of the energy that courses through our veins - but its there.
Logos associated with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Linked In, Google Plus, YouTube and a handful of others pop up in immediate visibility just about everywhere we go.
Social media logos, icons and usage has not all but replaced the good old www website address.
This is now how modern conversation occurs. On this episode, I’m going to share that despite our repulsion to social media, despite it’s loudness, rudeness even, I’m going to share some information with you to shift your understanding as to why we can no longer ignore the big elephant in the room.
Social media is a thing - for a long time it's been thing, We can no longer deny the fact that social media is a viable vehicle to communication and community.
Turning our backs on using social media, Not adopting the platforms to communicate, to participate, is like turning our backs on telephone technology when it first came out.
It has revolutionized our culture and the way we are as human being son planet earth.
Let's start with Facebook...
Pew research conducted a social media update in November 2016 and found that engagement and usage on Facebook continues to be at least 2Xs higher than any other social platform, with 79% of all Americans signed up. Of the almost 80% figure, 68% comprises of adult Americans who check their platform daily.
These numbers are evidence that social media is not merely a viable vehicle for modern living, it is here to stay! Social media is a beyond a means to communicate - it has become a part of our culture. Now, more than ever, communicating through platforms are a norm for connectivity, even over the traditional use of telephone.
Social media usage has become the norm in modern day society. “Resistance is futile,” quoted from The Borg in the popular sci-fi series, Star Trek.
We either join the program and become part of modern society, learn how to use these channels properly, or we simply disconnect altogether.
Having said this, once we get over our resistance to join the bandwagon, there is great news.
For many of us, learning about social media is a deep dive into a new platform and new way of being, regardless of your age, or generation, you can participate too! The evidence shows that over 60% of online users over 65 use Facebook. So for those of us who are 64 and younger, we’ve got no excuse but to get with the program.
If you want to build community, you’ve got to look beyond the yellow pages and into larger pond like social media
So What are the platforms? Who shows up on which platform? And which platform are your people most like to show up?
Lets say you know who your people are. Do you know where (Which platform) you are most likely to find them on?
Okay - I’m going to give you some numbers here. DOn’t worry about writing down. I’ve got a whole 2800 word article on titled The 6 Social Platforms and it spells out the details, along with charts fromPew Research, if you want to learn more.
OKAY: here are the hard numbers:
- Approximately 68% of all adults in the us who are online are Facebook users,
- Followed by the next largest platform: Instagram with only 28% market share.
- Followed by painters, linked in , twitter and Google Plus
Social Media Platform: FACEBOOK
So let's talk about Facebook 1st.
Facebook has about 1.5 billion worldwide users, and 70% of the US population is on Facebook. It is the most evenly distributed demographics of any platform. Most people use Facebook to connect with friends, as a means of social communication. There are 1.9 billion unique monthly users, ages 18 - 49.
Business wise, Facebook is the best platform to increase and strengthen brand awareness and loyalty. If you have a business, you need a business page on Facebook.
Being on Facebook establishes your business as an authority through the interesting content and information that you can provide through your post. Facebook, as a social platform, is ideal for sharing personal stories, testimonials and detailed information about your business.
Because of its popularity and the sheer amount of people that are on Facebook, this platform is the only social media marketing platform that you ABSOLUTELY NEED to be active on, no matter what your business is.
Social Media Platform: INSTAGRAM
Instagram is a grid style, visual platform with currently over 600 million unique monthly users, but the majority of users on this platform is of a younger generation: Of all Instagram users, 90% are under 35. Thats right 90% of Instagram users are less than 35 years old. This being said, Instagram has an astonishing engagement rate (which means people actually interact on one others posts at currently at 4.2 %
Incidentally, people talk about engagement and have asked me to define it so here it is:
“Engagement rate is the percentage of people who saw a post that reacted to, shared, clicked or commented on it.”
The rest of Instagram comprise of adults: 30 to 49 (33%), and the folks who are in the 50 -64 year old demographics makes up the rest of the 18% of the 10 percent who is on Instagram that is not younger than 35
Like FB, the ratio of women favors men on Instagram at 38% to 26%.
Income wise,
- 38% of Instagram users make less than 30,000 a year.
- 32% make between 30 and 50 Thousand a year.
- 32% make between 50 and 75 Thousand a year
Social Media Platform: TWITTER
Twitter’s platform has approximately 317 million monthly users (as of January 2017). Twitter users are mostly male, 22% vs 15% online women.
Its demographics are mostly 18-29 years olds with 53% inactive (never posting updates). Average time spent of Twitter’s mobile app: 2.7 minutes (as compared to Facebook’s whopping 20+ minutes each day!)
Twitter, more than any other social platform, is known for it it's in the moment developments. If your business is based on things that are happening now, Twitter could be vital to your business
Those who are on Twitter share breaking news and quick updates in 140 characters or less. This makes it convenient to promote the new products, content, contests, and be able to collect instant feedback from your audience.
Like Instagram, pictures are also really important on twitter. There is a 89% increase in “likes” from posts with pictures, and a 150% increase in retweets (shares) according to Buffer.
Twitters users are educated, almost 30% of Twitter users have college degrees and 50% of all twitter users report an income of 75K or more.
Social Media Platform: LINKEDIN
There are approximately 106 million American users on Linked In. Linked In is mainly used as a professional social marketing platform with 414 million users. This professional, business to business platform has demographics favoring 31% male over 27% female. Approximately 38 - 45% of Internet users on Linked In report a $75,000 or higher income per year.
Approximately 79% of LinkedIn users are 35 years and older making it the oldest platform on all the social media channels.
The three dominant sectors on LinkedIn are:
- High Tech (14.3%),
- Finance (12.4%), and
- Manufacturing (10.1%).
In short, LinkedIn is for professionals and it's about professionals. LinkedIn is influential in the job hunt both both for employers and for potential employees. Linked In is great for networking.
About 29% of all Internet users have a LinkedIn account. This platform is especially popular with college graduates and high income earners. About half of online users with the college degrees are on LinkedIn. Only 18% of LinkedIn users are daily visitors, with the rest of its community checking in every other day or weekly.
Social Media Platform: PINTEREST
Pinterest is a search engine/social media platform all mixed in one. Pinterest acts an online scrapbooking board type platform
It is number three in popularity amongstsocial media platforms.
There are 317 unique monthly users on Pinterest. A third of online Americans are on this platform, comprising of primarily women doubling the size of men at 45% women and 17% men.
Approximately 34% of Pinterest users having an household income of greater than100,000+.
It is important to note that People referred by Pinterest are 10% more likely to buy online than users of other platforms.
Social Media Platform: GOOGLE+
Google users are mostly males, 60% majority in technical engineering fields with the average age of 28. The platform has about 2.2 billion profiles but only about 4 million are active.
Technology and engineering companies, as well as marketing individuals do really well on Google plus. The top three brands on Google plus: Android, Mashable, and Chrome.
So where do you need to be? It depends on who your target audience is.
A brief synopsis of social media users per platform (as of Jan 2017)
- Facebook. 1.5b
- Linked In 414m
- Instagram. 400m
- Twitter. 317m
- Pinterest. 150 m
- Google +. 2.2b (4m active)
If you are primarily a business to business company, Linked In is your best bet. If your audience is part of the technology or engineering fields, you would want to be on Google Plus. For brand recognition, Facebook. For instant up to the minute brands, Twitter may benefit you. Instagram is for visual brands. Pinterest has a longer “shelf life” per post, and a smaller platform (Less users).
Based on the information provided in this post, with demographics and user size, which social media platform is speaking to you? Which one might be a priority for you to pursue 1st? 2nd…? 3rd?
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