The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank, has recently released data on the fastest growing social media platforms of the year, which is crucial information for anyone who runs a business.
Understanding which social media platforms to use to grow is a key part of marketing your small business. Choosing not only top-performing platforms but also the platforms where your audience is currently hanging out is a great tactic for increasing visibility and revenue.
In this article, you will learn which social media platforms are proving to be the most popular with people across the United States, and how you can use those platforms to grow your business.
Which social media platforms are growing the fastest in 2021? Coming in at number one is the ever-alluring online video-sharing platform YouTube.
YouTube
81% of Americans (or over 2 billion people) use YouTube, an increase of 8% since last year. Those statistics alone should be enough to motivate you to start a YouTube channel for your business!
Creating compelling content is so important when it comes to garnering views, and your view count has a direct correlation to your amount of subscribers. The more subscribers you have, the more potential customers you are reaching, so be sure to create quality video content!
Remember, your content doesn’t always have to directly relate to your business: a high-quality cat video might be just the thing to tip the scales in your favor!
Most American people (69%) have a Facebook account. Similar to YouTube, Facebook users number around 2 billion. However, Facebook has not seen a significant increase in growth over the past two years, with 69% of people reporting that they used the platform in 2019 as well as 2020.
Although Facebook’s growth remains dormant, the social media platform is still incredibly popular, and most users report logging in many times each day.
Creating Facebook Groups and Pages and liking, commenting on, and responding to your followers’ posts are great ways to build relationships with potential customers. Facebook is where the people are, and learning how to use the Facebook Business Suite and optimize Facebook Ads are also excellent methods for expanding your clientele.
What started as a photo-sharing platform has rapidly evolved into a business-friendly online environment that has many free tools that are well-suited for all of your marketing needs.
Instagram has grown 3% since 2019 with 40% of Americans using the site, a good portion of which log into the app multiple times a day.
Instagram has a variety of features that can be used to grow your business, including Reels, Stories, IGTV, and the recently released Instagram Guides and Instagram Shops. Sharing personal thoughts or vulnerable moments either via longer-form posts or the Stories and Reels features is a great way to express your authenticity and relatability.
If you’re not yet using Pinterest to grow your business, now is the perfect time to start. Like Instagram, Pinterest has seen a 3% increase in growth since 2019, with 31% of Americans using the platform.
Pinterest is a visual discovery platform that helps users find content for all of their wants and needs. Want to find a recipe, plan your wedding, or gather interior decorating tips? Pinterest is the platform for you!
High-income women are the top users of Pinterest, making it an excellent resource for marketing your products. Browsing the Popular feed, joining relevant group boards, and posting high quality photos and content are all great ways to grow your business on Pinterest.
LinkedIn is a professional social networking and career advancement platform that many users join in order to discover better jobs. LinkedIn has grown 1% since 2019, with 28% of Americans reporting their use of the site.
Not only does LinkedIn serve as an employment and business platform, it also functions as a social network, connecting you with other like-minded professionals. Over half of LinkedIn users have at least a Bachelor’s degree, making this platform a prime place to develop business-to-business (B2B) relationships and to locate college-educated employees.
Snapchat
Snapchat has also seen 1% growth since 2019; 25% of Americans report that they regularly use the app. Snapchat has 250 million users, most of whom are teenagers and young adults. If targeting the youth is an important part of your marketing strategy, then Snapchat does offer multiple tools to help you to increase your revenue.
You can use the basic features of Snapchat to share photos and stories about your business, giving followers and friends an inside look at what makes your company unique. Starting a Snapchat business account allows you to create ads on Snapchat; you can also sponsor fun lenses and filters which can help to direct users to your account.
Twitter is yet another platform that has grown a mere 1% since 2019. However, Twitter has made some changes since its inception. Where once users had to limit themselves to a 140 character tweet, Twitter has since increased the limit to 280 characters, which is good news if you have a talent for a wittily written repertoire!
Be aware that only 23% of Americans use Twitter, and less than half report using the site daily. In order to create a solid following on Twitter, you need to post high-value content and to post often. You can also create a Twitter Ads account, which is an auction-based system that offers tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted trends.
23% of Americans use WhatsApp, which has grown 3% since 2019. WhatsApp is free to use and can be used to share content and conduct video calls. Almost half of WhatsApp users are Hispanic Americans, which is important information to know when creating a diversified marketing strategy.
In order to advertise on WhatsApp, all you need to do is create a WhatsApp business account. You can also advertise using WhatsApp statuses, broadcast messages, and group chats.
TikTok
TikTok is a video-sharing platform that is growing in popularity, with 21% of Americans reporting regular use of the app. If you want to create viral TikTok content (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?!) keep an eye on what’s trending and use hashtags mindfully and strategically. It also can’t hurt to practice your dance moves and lip-synching skills!
With a TikTok Ads account, you can create targeted advertising campaigns for your products or services. When advertising on TikTok, keep in mind that most TikTok users are under the age of 30, so try to be cool, dude!
Reddit has grown 7% since 2019, with 18% of American adults using the website. Reddit is social networking, news aggregation, and web content rating site, meaning that it contains a plethora of content about every subject under the sun.
Subreddits are forums about specific topics within Reddit, and finding, joining, and contributing to relevant subreddits is a terrific way to communicate with your marketing demographic. You can also create advertising campaigns by joining Reddit Ads. For as many topics as there are on Reddit, there are way more people, so if you find yourself not vibing with a certain group then definitely keep looking, your people are out there and waiting to hear from you!
When it comes to your business’s social media presence, there is a wide range of popular and high-performing social media platforms to choose from. Although choosing the most effective platforms to join can seem overwhelming at first, it doesn’t have to be. Contact Don Creative Group today and find out how we can help you to develop a social media strategy that attracts your ideal clientele and produces powerful results.
