Let's be honest, there are so many social media platforms out there that it can be incredibly difficult for businesses to know where to spend their time and money. Heck, it's even hard to know which platforms to choose as a consumer.
In our Top 10 list below, we highlight the demographics and optimal uses for each social media platform, helping you choose the best sites for your business goals and target audience.
Before You Begin
The first step to choosing the right social platforms for your business is knowing your target audience. If it's been a while since you established or refreshed your target audience, utilize our Buyer Persona Worksheets to establish new ones. Next, you’ll need to determine your goals for social media. These goals could include increasing brand awareness, nurturing your customers, providing customer service, and generating sales or leads.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS
As you browse our top social platforms list below, there are a few things to note:
- These are not the top 10 best social media platforms overall. These are the social platforms businesses should use to best reach their target audience. There are many social media platforms that just aren't, and never will be, conducive to businesses, so we won't bother covering those.
- The stats for each platform below are worldwide, not just in the United States. With the growth and expansion of technology and the international bridges formed as a result, it's important to know (especially if you sell services or products internationally) the whole picture.
- The stats below are monthly active users on the platforms, not total users. We made this distinction because the total number of users per platform doesn't give you an idea of who’s actively using them. Most platforms have issues with single individuals creating multiple accounts, fake accounts, bots, etc. “Monthly active users" tells us how many users are actively engaging on these platforms. We collected these monthly active user stats from Search Engine Journal, Statista, Pew Research Center, HubSpot, and Buffer.
HERE ARE THE TOP SOCIAL PLATFORMS FOR BUSINESSES IN 2023
The top 10 social media platforms for businesses are:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Snapchat
Let's look at these 10 social platforms more in-depth.
1. Facebook
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 2.9 billion
- Ideal for B2C Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Ages 35-44
- Most Active Countries: India and the United States
- Facebook is the most popular social media platform across all age groups
As the most used social media platform, Facebook has proven to be an ideal space for a majority of businesses. With such a large demographic, Facebook can be a great platform for both B2B and B2C businesses to find their target audience.
Facebook allows you to expand brand awareness, nurture followers, increase sales, and generate leads. Facebook’s robust advertising platform also provides the opportunity for your business to talk directly with your buyer personas through customized and targeted ads.
With Facebook being such a large platform, there’s also a lot of competition. That’s why it’s important to ensure your content is unique, valuable, and speaks directly to your target audience.
Learn more about Facebook for business >>
2. YouTube
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 2.6 billion
- Ideal for B2C and B2B Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Ages 15-35
- Most Active Countries: The United States and India
- YouTube is the world’s second-most-visited website
YouTube remains one of the top streaming social media platforms and one of the world's top platforms for advertisers. It’s one of the best places for B2C and B2B businesses to place video ads or interactive ads.
YouTube is also considered the second-largest search engine after Google. If your a business that can produce video content, it’s time to start sharing that content. Strategize the best ways to create video content that provides value for users. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Do you have customers who always ask for instructions on something you offer? Create a YouTube video explaining those instructions.
- Do you have upcoming campaigns that could use some video content to beef them up? Create a YouTube video and link it strategically across other platforms.
- Do you have processes that users might find interesting? (For example, maybe you're a factory making cheese, or a screenprinting company, or a 3D modeling company, etc.) Make a YouTube video showcasing this process.
These are just a few examples of how businesses could use YouTube, but there are plenty more. Research what other companies inside and outside your industry are doing with video and see if you can create something similar (or better!) for your target audience.
3. Instagram
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 2 billion
- Ideal for B2C Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Ages 18-34
- Most Active Countries: India and the United States
- 500 million+ users are active on Instagram every day
Originally a simple image-sharing platform, Instagram has morphed into a popular place for visual content, influencers, and ecommerce. If you’re a B2C company or if your brand has strong visuals, Instagram is the platform for you.
Instagram’s growing list of tools gives businesses the opportunity to:
- Engage your audience through compelling photos, graphics, and videos
- Use hashtags, geotagging, and influencers to increase brand awareness and grow following
- Sell products and services directly through the platform
Instagram stories, reels, livestreams, and shops are all effective tools businesses should utilize on the platform. Instagram is also one of the greatest advertising platforms, although many of its advertisements are coordinated in conjunction with Facebook advertising efforts.
Here's how to get started with Instagram for business >>
4. WhatsApp
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 2 billion
- Ideal for B2C Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Ages 26-35
- Most Active Countries: India and Brazil
- WhatsApp is the third most popular social network worldwide
WhatsApp is the most widely used social messaging app, and WhatsApp Business has become a popular platform for businesses to connect with customers and prospects.
While the app started as a place to send messages to family and friends, WhatsApp has grown into an effective one-to-one marketing tool. Businesses can initiate contact with users for marketing purposes, and users can contact businesses directly through the app. With SMS marketing growing in popularity, WhatsApp allows you to build relationships, nurture leads, and connect with your customers in a more personal, cost-effective way.
WhatsApp is also a great customer service tool, allowing you to quickly communicate with customers. Other popular social media messaging platforms include WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram.
5. TikTok
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 1 billion
- Ideal for B2C Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Females Ages 10-29
- Most Active Countries: China and the United States
- Users spend an average of 90 minutes per day on the platform
The short-form video app TikTok continues to break download records, and as of 2022, it’s sitting at 1 billion monthly active users. Given its record popularity, this app will continue to grow and shape the future of social media.
TikTok delivers personalized, short-form video content through their unique “For You Page.” If you’re a B2C business looking to target a younger demographic, you should be marketing your brand on TikTok. TikTok’s most active demographic is females ages 10-29.
A great feature of TikTok for businesses is the ability to use hashtags to be found in search. Themed hashtags are particularly popular on TikTok, with challenges to other users booming. Take a look at how seven brands are currently using and dominating TikTok and get ideas for how you could too.
6. Snapchat
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 538 million
- Ideal for B2C Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Females Ages 15-29
- Most Active Countries: India and the United States
- Snapchat users spend more than 30 minutes per day on the platform
If you're a B2C company looking to reach young buyer personas, we highly recommend using Snapchat to do so. This fun app focuses on sharing candid photos and videos that disappear, called “snaps.” Snapchat drives results for B2C companies with fullscreen ads that are tailored to the mobile-first generation.
Snapchat is especially popular with brands that frequently host large events for younger generations or hold contests that younger demographics will jump on board with.
7. Pinterest
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 433 million
- Ideal for B2C Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Females Ages 18-54
- Most Active Countries: The United States and Brazil
- 83% of Pinterest users have made a purchase from content they’ve seen
The social media platform Pinterest is a visual-driven search engine that serves as a place for inspiration and productivity. "Pinspiration" drives Pinners to plan dream vacations, home projects, outfits, holiday dinners, weddings, and so much more. Pinterest users aren’t only receptive to branded content, but they find it valuable and search it out.
If you’re a B2C company with products or services that can help users discover and achieve their dreams, you should be on Pinterest.
8. Reddit
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 430 million
- Ideal for B2B Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Males Ages 18-29
- Most Active Countries: The United States and United Kingdom
- There are more than 130,000 active communities on Reddit
Often called the “front page of the internet,” Reddit is a unique social media platform popular among male millenials. Redditors love this platform because it allows them to create niche, searchable content and then gain popularity through votes from other members.
Although blatant self-promotion is frowned upon on Reddit, there are other ways for businesses to use the platform. A business can utilize Reddit to create content that aligns with awareness and consideration campaigns, helping draw in leads to do business with them. Businesses can also used Reddit to discover trending topics and conversations among their target audience.
9. Twitter
THE BREAKDOWN
- Active Monthly Users: 436 million
- Ideal for B2B Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Males Ages 18-29
- Most Active Countries: The United States and Japan
- More than 500 million tweets are shared each day
Twitter is a well-known social media platform used by many businesses. Popular content on Twitter includes real-time news, entertainment, sports, and politics. The average Twitter user follows at least five businesses and 80% of all Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a tweet.
There are a few different ways businesses can use Twitter:
- Customer Service. Twitter is a common place for consumers to give feedback and engage in conversations with brands. Businesses should use this to their advantage by addressing any customer service concerns and engaging with customer feedback.
- Brand Awareness and Engagement. Businesses on Twitter can grow brand awareness and build their community by creating valuable, shareable content aimed toward your target audience.
- Audience Research. Twitter is the go-to platform for trending topics and real-time information, making it a great place to see what conversations and content your buyer personas are engaging in.
10. LinkedIn
THE BREAKDOWN
- Monthly Active Users: 310 million
- Ideal for B2B Companies
- Most Active Demographic: Men Ages 25-34
- Most Active Countries: The United States and India
- LinkedIn is considered the top social channel for lead generation
As the top business networking platform on the social media scene, LinkedIn should be a priority for B2B companies looking to connect with prospects or B2C companies looking to connect with others in their industry. It is a powerful platform for showing industry expertise as a company and generating qualified leads for your business.
As a social media platform geared toward career professionals, businesses should use the site to share content that showcases their expertise and is shareable by other professionals in their industry. It is also a great place to advertise career openings within your company, engage with your employees, and reach prospects through paid advertising.
Learn more about social media marketing >>
NOW WHAT?
Now that you’ve reviewed the top 10 social media platforms businesses use, it’s time to choose which ones are best for your audience and business goals. Not all platforms will make sense for your business, so remember to focus on meeting your customers and prospects where they are.
Written by Taylor Munson
Taylor is Tribute Media's social media specialist. When she's not hanging out in nature or socialing the medias, you might find her indulging reality shows or re-watching Parks and Recreation.
