An effective marketing strategy should always be tailored to fit your brand image and appeal to your target customers. Therefore, investing in new tools and developing elaborate marketing strategies are crucial for expanding your customer base. Make sure you familiarize yourself with your audience's interests and needs to create effective campaigns.
Top Social Media Demographics to Consider When Planning Your Marketing Strategy
Many businesses are starting to use social media platforms to expand their operations and reach a wider audience. Entrepreneurs have to set clear goals and determine which platforms will suit their business objectives and brand image. An excellent starting point is defining your audience and understanding how they use social media.
Demographic information varies across social media platforms, meaning that Instagram has a vastly different age and gender pool from Facebook or LinkedIn, for example. You should develop unique strategies for each social media platform you want to target. However, here are some of the most important social media demographics you should always consider when planning your marketing strategy.
1. Age
Age is a critical factor to consider since various age groups consume media differently. They have distinctive preferences and shopping habits. You'll want to develop a presence on social media platforms that are popular among your target age groups.
For example, ExpressVPN's study on social media and Gen Z showed that 100% of respondents have at least one social media account, with YouTube and Instagram being the most popular ones, followed by Snapchat and TikTok. Similar studies showed that older social media users prefer Facebook and YouTube.
2. Gender
According to statistics, the social media gender gap is real. As it turns out, 55% of social media users across the globe are male, while in some parts of the world, like in southern Asia, only 24% of social media users are female. Naturally, the number is different for each social media platform, with Pinterest having the highest percentage of female users. Twitter tends to be the most gender-neutral one, with gender representation being almost 50/50. Research which social media platforms your targeted gender pool uses and tailor your style and message to fit their expectations and needs.
3. Devices
Optimizing your marketing campaigns for different devices can make a huge difference in your overall performance. According to Backlinko, only 1.32% of people access their social media profiles exclusively via desktop, which means that your social media campaigns should always be optimized for mobile devices. If your site isn't functioning properly on mobile, chances are your audience will leave the website quicker than a speeding bullet. There are plenty of sites where they can find information and products they need in this day and age, and nobody has the time and patience to bother with slow and unresponsive websites.
4. Geography
Geographic location can tell you a lot about your audience. Therefore, it's a good idea to identify which social media platforms are the most popular in the geographic areas you want to target. For example, if you want to reach an audience in India, Facebook or YouTube would be the best options since they are the country’s top used social media platforms.
Since our habits and behavior tend to be determined by our culture, a successful marketing campaign should consider these differences and make sure content is localized to appeal to a certain group of the target audience. Those focused on the international market have to create a content strategy that takes into account the language and cultural disparity across regions, which can be a genuinely challenging task. If you're not familiar with foreign cultural preferences, you should consider consulting an expert before planning your marketing approach.
5. Time spent on a platform
Depending on the type of content, users spend different amounts of time across platforms. For example, the most popular social media platform tends to be TikTok, where people spend an average of 45 minutes a day, while only 17 minutes per month are spent on LinkedIn.
Once you identify where your target audience spends the most of their time, you can tailor content for that platform. If you're targeting an audience who spends most of their time on TikTok and Instagram, focus on creating content that is short and visually appealing. On the other hand, if your audience prefers YouTube, you can channel your mission and goals in a longer video. You can create entertaining how-to videos, engaging interviews with experts, or Q&A sessions where you can interact with your audience and answer their questions – the options are limitless.
6. Type of content
You'll have to develop a content strategy with your audience and their preferred social media platforms in mind. Platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn are better suited for longer pieces of content like written posts, articles, and longer videos. At the same time, Instagram and Pinterest tend to be excellent choices for image-focused content. Studies showed that 97% of Indian social media users admitted they use social media mainly to watch videos. Therefore, if you want to target an Indian audience, you should focus more resources on creating video content.
It's also essential to choose the right tone and style of your message depending on whom you're talking to – if you're targeting an audience seeking entertainment and fun, you can use a more relaxed and humorous tone. At the same time, more serious topics require a formal tone that contributes to the credibility and authority of your brand.
However, remember that a successful content strategy isn’t built overnight. It takes time to familiarize yourself with your audience and set a clear picture of how you want to present yourself online. Take one step at a time, analyze how people engage with your content and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Social media platforms are nowadays an essential part of every successful marketing campaign. However, if you want to bring your social media marketing strategy to a higher level, make sure you know your audience and how your brand can appeal to them on social media. Research social media demographics and make them a backbone of your future success.
