If you are implementing your Social Media Strategy perhaps this article can help you because it explains which social networks are most used and on which social media channels users spend the most time.
Every day there is some news in the social universe and also some surprises regarding the most used social networks at the moment.
Today we make a very brief introduction to the very latest social media news and trends, and then show you which social networks users spend the most time on.
That is, the social networks and social media that create more engagement through an effective social strategy and millions of active users.
- Recently, Twitter introduced Twitter Blue, a premium, paid, subscription-based version of its platform.
- Tik Tok, on the other hand, took the social media landscape by storm as early as 2020 and continues, today, to remain one of the most downloaded apps especially among the very young.
- Instagram is regularly adding new features to its platform all the time, just think of all the latest influencer affiliate tools.
One question arises. How do these constant changes, news and updates affect online consumer behavior?
Are users really abandoning Facebook and moving closer and closer to the world of “new social”?
Let us analyze some data together and assess the importance of each social network to a brand.
Social media channels: where do consumers spend the most time?
We performed some online research, here you will find more recent data from 2024, an overview of the most used social channels globally:
Major social media platforms by number of monthly active users
Data source: Global Social Media Statistics
- Facebook: 3.07-3.1 billion monthly active users
- YouTube: 2.5-2.53 billion
- WhatsApp: 2 billion
- Instagram: 2 billion
- TikTok: 1.58-1.69 billion
- WeChat: 1.37 billion
- Facebook Messenger: 1 billion
Trends and key statistics
- Facebook remains the most widely used social platform in the world, despite the growth of new competitors.
- YouTube is firmly in second place, with a particularly strong audience on mobile devices.
- Instagram and WhatsApp are tied for third place, both with 2 billion monthly active users.
- TikTok continues its rapid ascent, reaching 1.6 billion users.
- Meta (formerly Facebook) dominates the social landscape, controlling 4 of the 6 most popular platforms-Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
- 63.8 percent of the world’s population (5.22 billion people) use social media.
- The average user spends about 2 hours and 20 minutes a day on social media channels.
- TikTok leads the ranking by average time spent on the app, with 34 hours per user per month.
These statistics highlight the continued dominance of established platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, but also the significant growth of newer platforms such as TikTok.
Diversification of social media use among various platforms is a key trend in 2024.
What does this information mean?
It is definitely important to take statistics into account because they offer us important tips for setting up our strategy on social media channels in the best possible way.
However, it is important not to exclude from our social plan, social channels that do not currently occupy the top positions in the rankings.
Let’s find out together why.
Should my brand limit its strategy to the most popular social media channels?
Of course, it would be best to avoid focusing solely on the social media most in vogue at the moment.
Although most consumers spend most of their time on Facebook and YouTube, it does not mean that you have to devote all your resources and energy solely on these two channels.
It is essential to have a presence on the social channels used by our ideal users. What is referred to in marketing jargon as a “target audience” or “buyer persona“: your ideal customer.
For example, for many brands and businesses, Facebook and YouTube may not be attractive because they do not represent the “social place” frequented by their potential customers.
As always, it is a matter of budget and the time we can devote.
Since neither one nor the other is infinite, it is essential to focus on social channels that are on target with our potential audience.
In this way we avoid wasting energy.
It is important to always communicate in the right place, at the right time, to the right audience–otherwise, all our efforts may be in vain.
Also, don’t forget that all content posted on Linkedin is “filtered” and managed according to theSocial Network’s algorithm.
The importance of the buyer persona in defining your social media channels
Why know the Buyer Persona is of strategic importance for social communication?
Is it really worth investing time to build such a detailed profile?
The answer is yes, it really is worth it. Let’s take a simple practical example.
Suppose you don’t know your ideal customer, you don’t know anything about them, and as a result, you decide to implement a generic social media strategy. Posting anything, anywhere, anytime.
Sure, you might intercept someone interested in your business and brand but you would incur a frantic, frantic race to find someone or something that seems almost unattainable.
Risking arriving at the end of your journey exhausted, without strength and energy…in short, even without a budget!
Knowing the Buyer Persona means understanding how our customer behaves, how they think, and being able to identify the best way to connect, creating content that exactly meets their expectations and needs and positioning this content on the most appropriate social media.
When you focus on a specific audience and strategy, you can gain more valuable information and get a greater return on investment.
These concepts are the basis of the SEO strategy of market positioning.
Some tips to study and learn more about your ideal target audience
Focus on studying your ideal target audience, only then can you structure an effective and efficient social media strategy.
Clearly it depends on the type of products and services sold by our Companies.
For example, a B2B-focused company, through market research, might find that its potential audience mainly uses Facebook and Linkedin.
This is a good indicator of where you should focus your social strategy. Why waste your energy on other Channels?
We must always keep in mind that, in a short time, this data may change.
Thanks to HubSpot and Semrush, we at Factory Communication constantly monitor social trends and the behavior of each client’s target audience.
It is therefore critical to equip ourselves with the right tools and plenty of time to intercept market changes (sentiment) and adjust, in time, our social media strategy to move in the direction our audience is going.
There are a few ways to figure out where your audience is most present online and on which social channels.
First, you can check the demographics for each social platform-this will give you a general idea of the target audience.
For example, TikTok primarily targets a younger audience between 10 and 29 years old, while most Instagram users are between 18 and 34 years old.
You can also reach your target audience directly through surveys to find out where they spend their time most.
Social Network Channels and Competitor Analysis!
Another key element in implementing our social media strategy consists ofsocial analysis of competitors.
It is important to understand:
- Where they are focusing their efforts
- On which social channels are they most present
- what is their frequency of publication
- What are the topics behind their social posting activities
- what kind of engagement they have (comments, shares, likes etc…)
- what kind of reviews they receive: positive, negative etc..
Knowing our competitors on the web and social channels is the key element in designing the right strategy for:
- Correctly position our Company in the market
- Intercepting target audiences
- Publish content that is interesting and useful to our target audience
- Increase the loyalty of our followers
- Expand target audiences through organic growth and implementation of ADV Campaigns
Basically to win over our Competitors.
Another factor to consider is how each channel contributes to our goals. This is where the importance of data comes in.
The basis of everything is always math and each social channel has its own metrics, algorithms and specifics.
We may post daily on TikTok and find that the rare times we post on Facebook, we get much higher engagement and conversion rates. This may mean that:
- We made a mistake in choosing the channel
- The social channel is correct but what we post is not of interest to our potential users.
Below, we will cover one of the best software that can help you keep track of your social media data.
Analysis of social media channels
There is a wealth of software available to perform an accurate analysis of the most used social channels.
Here you will find a brief presentation of the most commonly used ones.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most comprehensive and versatile platforms for social media analytics. It offers:
- Monitoring key metrics such as impressions, engagement, follower growth
- Detailed performance analysis of individual posts
- Customizable reporting
- Monitoring hashtags and keywords
- Sentiment analysis
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is another very powerful all-in-one tool. Main features:
- Intuitive dashboards with easy-to-read charts
- Sentiment analysis
- Competitor reports
- Ability to tag content by campaign
- Advanced searches with Boolean operators
Buffer
Buffer offers more basic but very effective analytics features14:
- Unified dashboard for all social channels
- Recommendations on best publication times
- Content performance analysis
- Audience growth metrics
- Specialized tools
Brandwatch
Brandwatch excels in in-depth analysis of online conversations25:
- Monitoring of brand mentions on web and social
- Advanced sentiment analysis
- Identifying influencers
- Sophisticated data visualization
Talkwalker
Talkwalker stands out for its social listening capabilities12:
- Monitoring hashtags and campaigns
- Crisis management
- Image analysis
- Detection of emerging trends
Using these platforms we can design, implement and monitor the strategy on our social channels from start to finish:
- Planning posts
- Analyzing competitors
- Track and monitor conversations related to our brand on each platform
- Narrow and further qualify the information collected
- Understand whether the social media strategy we have put in place is consistent and efficient
- Modify and integrate the strategy over time
- Export and analyze relevant reports
With an intuitive dashboard, we can see exactly how our published posts are performing, which channels are bringing traffic to our website and generating leads, sales and more.
Are you interested in developing marketing strategies for your Social Media Channels?
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