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How to Choose the Right Social Media Platform to Reach Your Target Audience

Updated

Most popular social media platforms image

Having an active social media presence should be a priority for your business, but how do you decide which social media platform to focus on?

There are a lot of different factors to consider when determining which social media platform(s) are best for your business. Ideally, you want to reach your target audience, and two of the most basic ways to characterize that audience are by age and gender.

The following are the most popular social media channels overall and by age group and gender.

Social Media Channels by Number of Monthly Active Users Worldwide

  1. Facebook (3.07 billion active users)
  2. YouTube (2.53 billion active users)
  3. Instagram (2 billion active users)
  4. WhatsApp (2 billion active users)
  5. TikTok (1.59 billion active users)
  6. WeChat (1.38 billion active users)
  7. Telegram (950 million active users)
  8. Facebook Messenger (947 million active users)
  9. Snapchat (850 million active users)
  10. Douyin (766 million active users)

Source: Statistica

Social Media Channel Usage By Age

Age 18-29

  1. YouTube (used by 95% of adults age 18-29)
  2. Instagram (used by 71% of adults age 18-29)
  3. Facebook (used by 70% of adults age 18-29)
  4. Snapchat (used by 65% of adults age 18-29)
  5. TikTok (used by 48% of adults age 18-29)
  6. Twitter (used by 42% of adults age 18-29)
  7. Reddit (used by 36% of adults age 18-29)
  8. Pinterest (used by 32% of adults age 18-29)
  9. LinkedIn (used by 30% of adults age 18-29)

Age 30-49

  1. YouTube (used by 91% of adults age 30-49)
  2. Facebook (used by 77% of adults age 30-49)
  3. Instagram (used by 48% of adults age 30-49)
  4. LinkedIn (used by 36% of adults age 30-49)
  5. Pinterest (used by 34% of adults age 30-49)
  6. Twitter (used by 27% of adults age 30-49)
  7. Snapchat (used by 24% of adults age 30-49)
  8. Reddit (used by 22% of adults age 30-49)
  9. TikTok (used by 22% of adults age 30-49)

Age 50-64

  1. YouTube (used by 83% of adults age 50-64)
  2. Facebook (used by 73% of adults age 50-64)
  3. Pinterest (used by 38% of adults age 50-64)
  4. LinkedIn (used by 33% of adults age 50-64)
  5. Instagram (used by 29% of adults age 50-64)
  6. Twitter (used by 18% of adults age 50-64)
  7. TikTok (used by 14% of adults age 50-64)
  8. Snapchat (used by 12% of adults age 50-64)
  9. Reddit (used by 10% of adults age 50-64)

Age 65+

  1. Facebook (used by 50% of adults age 65+)
  2. YouTube (used by 49% of adults age 65+)
  3. Pinterest (used by 18% of adults age 65+)
  4. Instagram (used by 13% of adults age 65+)
  5. LinkedIn (used by 11% of adults age 65+)
  6. Twitter (used by 7% of adults age 65+)
  7. TikTok (used by 4% of adults age 65+)
  8. Reddit (used by 3% of adults age 65+)
  9. Snapchat (used by 2% of adults age 65+)

Source: Pew Research Center

Social Media Channel Usage By Gender

Men Across All Age Groups

  1. Reddit (used by 68% of adult men)
  2. X (Twitter) (used by 64% of adult men)
  3. YouTube (used by 57% of adult men)
  4. LinkedIn (used by 53% of adult men)
  5. WhatsApp (used by 47% of adult men)
  6. Facebook (used by 39% of adult men)
  7. Instagram (used by 39% of adult men)
  8. Snapchat (used by 39% of adult men)
  9. TikTok (used by 36% of adult men)

Women Across All Age Groups

  1. TikTok (used by 62% of adult women)
  2. Facebook (used by 60% of adult women)
  3. Snapchat (used by 60% of adult women)
  4. Instagram (used by 59% of adult women)
  5. WhatsApp (used by 51% of adult women)
  6. LinkedIn (used by 46% of adult women)
  7. YouTube (used by 42% of adult women)
  8. Twitter (used by 35% of adult women)
  9. Reddit (used by 31% of adult women)

Source: Pew Research Center