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In this session at PubCon Las Vegas, I speak about how one can impact their overall search visibility utilizing social media. The two are becoming more inter-twinned each and every day. While search marketing used to consist of good on-page SEO (title tags, meta data, etc.), now there are links and social signals that are also needed for one to experience good organic search visibility.
So, where are we currently at with regard to effective search/social media marketing strategies?
On-Page SEO + Link Building + Content Marketing = Success
On-Page Optimization (SEO) and Link Building are still essential ingredients, however, they alone are often not enough.
Google moving away from PageRank and focusing on social signals makes Content Marketing via Social Media another essential ingredient.
– Infographics
Looking at infographics as a content marketing strategy, keep in mind that while a relatively new term to Internet marketing, infographics have been used throughout history, even dating back to the cavemen.
Here are some key points to consider in your infographic marketing strategy.
1. It All Starts With a Great Idea
Every great piece of content has to have its origin in the quality of an idea! These can be time-sensitive such as current trends, top news and the like, resourceful, entertaining, and even historical.
2. Back It Up With Research
Once you have a great idea in place, it’s time to gather the research. Depending on the nature of the piece, your research may contain historical facts, current data/trends, and creative ideas. Make sure you list citations as it will give credence to your infographic.
3. Make Sure It’s Pretty
4. Promoting Infographics – How and Where?
Here are some general tips to keep in mind, many of which can apply to any piece of content marketing.
The general nature of the piece will determine which social networks it will do best on.
Share on Facebook and Twitter; consider utilizing Facebook Ads and Sponsored Tweets.
Use StumbleUpon Paid Discovery to draw more attention to your infographic.
If content is interesting, time-sensitive, or controversial, it should do well on Reddit.
Set up and post to Pinterest, Tumblr and chúng tôi accounts.
Send an optimized press release via online PR sites such as MarketWire and PRWeb.
Having a large network of followers (influential status) will help promotion efforts.
If you lack influence, it might be wise to hire someone who does to share content.
Infographics Archives/Directories
5. Measure For Success
Measure three to four weeks after publishing
Use Google Analytics or similar to see how many people visited the infographic, learn where they came from, and even discover what they did after landing on the page.
Utilize backlink checkers such as Raven Tools’ Backlink Explorer and SEOmoz’s Open Site Explorer to discover who has linked back to the piece.
Finally, you’ll want to see how the content did on the most popular social networks. How many Stumbles did it earn? How many retweets or Facebook shares? How many times was it “re-pinned?”
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How To Grieve In The Midst Of Social Distancing
For as long as humans have been alive, we’ve been memorializing, praying, and ritualizing the significant turns of life, and death. Even Neanderthals might have buried their dead. Across the world today, saying farewell to a beloved family member could mean anything from Malagasy turning of the bones ceremonies to Jewish communities sitting shiva.
“It’s pretty much written into our DNA as humans as much as language [is],” says Maribel Alvarez, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona.
The main thing that these rituals have in common is community. Right now, when people are more separated than ever, it can feel impossible to properly mourn the loss of human life to COVID-19 or anything else.
Losing someone you love is always awful, but amidst a global pandemic, it almost seems unrecognizable. People are dying alone in hospitals from a virus that is still baffling doctors, health officials, and other experts. Just as troubling for the world over is how to deal with the loss of a loved one at a time when staying apart is imperative.
The first step to dealing with grief while isolated is to understand what you’re feeling, says Kathy Shear, the founder and director of the Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia University. Grief isn’t synonymous with feeling down or struggling with depression; the condition is marked by yearning, longing, and sadness as the result of losing someone, or something, we value, and coming to terms with a less-than-ideal reality.
“Grief is the response to losing something or someone very meaningful to us,” Shear says. “Each relationship we lose, we experience grief in a different way because it really depends on what we lost.”
Guilt and anger can also accompany sadness and longing, and further boggle your mind with what if’s. This can be especially heightened as people die without their family near them, or if certain members of a household succumb to the virus, and others survive.
It’s this lingering guilt and anger that sometimes latches on to our lives, making grief something harder to overcome, Shear says. Often, feeling shame or guilt because of how a loved one dies makes it feel like you need to be in pain all the time, making it hard to find peace with reality.
On the other hand, if you’re at home trying to work, raise children, and keep your life under control during the pandemic, all of this can also make it hard to take a moment and really let the grief set in. Shear says it’s okay to postpone your pain if that is what feels best to get through this unprecedented time.
“That’s kind of okay,” she says. “People need to give themselves permission for however way they manage.”
No matter what, it’s important to maintain your wellbeing and ability to be happy, Shear adds. And if your grief, or any other negative emotions, start to overpower your life, you should open up to a friend, mentor, or even a professional that can be accessed without breaking social isolation.
It’s also important to know that even if you haven’t lost someone you love recently, you can still grieve. We’ve all lost freedom and familiarity, some of us have lost jobs, or canceled weddings and graduation ceremonies.
“Sometimes I think it truly is grief,” Shear says of these kinds of emotions. “One of the tip-offs that it is grief is the yearning for something.”
People are social, and we simply don’t grieve well on our own, Shear says. When someone dies, a funeral isn’t just for the sake of reciting scripture passages and breaking out all-black ensembles. Grief is a jarring experience, one that can take over your life. Being with other people who are sharing the experience can feel like a safety net catching you before you hit rocky ground.
“[Social distancing] does take away the opportunity to collectively share,” the University of Arizona’s Alvarez says, “and in that sharing and marking of time, in those memorials where we cry together and sing together, [we really are providing] a soft landing for these very harsh emotions.”
So, what can people do if you can’t process grief in a social way? Alvarez suggests looking not so much at what a ritual is on the surface, but what it provides.
We don’t go to weddings, graduations or funerals over and over again because we need to learn something. But we still show up. And the reason is simple — sometimes, we need to sit there and recognize the change that is happening in our lives and the world around us.
“The essence of ritual is yes being in collectivity with others, but it’s also making it really thick and pausing in the moments to bring certain reflections,” Alvarez says. “I don’t think the opportunity to do that is gone.”
What we can do, Alvarez says, is provide that time for reflection, and add it into our daily lives in the things we are allowed to do.
“We can embellish something that is ordinary,” she says. “A day where you cut flowers and put them on the table and light candles and sing songs. Or bring out photographs. None of these activities we are prevented from doing.”
If you think about it, people have been doing these kinds of nontraditional rituals since before COVID-19, like an online bulletin board that can be accessed by people all across the world or motorcyclists driving together in honor of deceased people, Alvarez adds. Actions that seemed to be oddities before could be the thing you need to help cope with grief you feel now.
While it might seem like the time to despair, it can be a time to get creative, Alvarez adds. Make your daily neighborhood walk into a reflection on the loss of someone you love, and allow yourself to make everyday actions into a ceremony of their own to come to grips with all of the complex emotions that grief brings. A ceremony isn’t necessarily a ceremony because of what you wear, do, or say—it’s about allowing yourself to accept change and all the emotions that come along with it.
Six Types Of Social Spammers
I hate spammers, and I’m 100% certain other people do too. Everyone at some point in time has had some type of experience with spammers. But you almost have to admire these individuals, almost. The techniques used are as varied as the outlets in which they are unleashed. During my thirteen years of internet exposure, I’ve had the displeasure of running into six types of spammers. The first of which I call the Sniper Spammer.
1. Sniper SpammerA military sniper is one who remains in the shadows, lying in wait until the prime target comes by. Pretty intimidating, but the spammer in this category is anything but. This spammer lies in wait until the “next big thing” comes by. For instance, even before Apple announced the release of the iPad, hundreds if not thousands of spammers were out proclaiming “You could win an iPad!”.
2. Suicide SpammerSo why even bother? I’d venture to say whatever it is being ‘presented’ is worth the risk to the spammer. The next spammer takes things a little slow and attempts to pull ‘friends’ in. This one is called, the Sociable Spammer.
3. Sociable SpammerThe Sociable Spammer is pretty closely related to the sleeping spammer (listed last). These individuals often are new to social networking sites. These spammers actually take the time to read the rules and regulations while abiding by them for a period of time.
Then when a sort of “level of trust” is established the spamming begins, in my experience after a month or so. I don’t mean like a flood of links or content, I mean messages/posts like, “Hey Guys, I just wanted to let you all know my company is having a contest. Whoever is the 500th person at our site to fill out a survey gets his/her name placed in a raffle for a chance to win a 2011 Camaro! The contest is only up for a short amount of time so go now! Thanks guys!”
This is usually followed up by a warning or automatic ban. The spammer then moves on to the next forum to begin again. I’ve only seen this type three times, Xanga (remember that?!), MSN Chat Room, and Facebook. These three were memorable enough for a mention here. Speaking of Xanga, this next spammer is infamous for ruining perfectly good blogs with spam. I present to you, the Splogging Spammer.
4. Splogging Spammer
On my personal blog I write about my current weight loss goals and exercise methods, so naturally I looked on WordPress to see if I could find any. The first three I found were literally written, “WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT LOSS”, an entire page dedicated to that! I did manage to find one that seemed okay, however further reading revealed it was for moms who had just given birth and were losing pregnancy weight.
Being a man, clearly this was not for me. Back to splogging, rarely have I seen a well written post of these types. If I have, they fooled me. Usually the splogs will consist of post after post after post of the same product with little variation in the wording. Our next spammer, the Synthetic Spammer doesn’t have a mind of its own and in my opinion is a dying breed.
5. Synthetic SpammerProbably the most utilized method in the early beginning, synthetic spamming is essentially a program that scans for sites to submit information to. However, with functions such as ‘Captcha’ it is becoming increasing difficult for these programs to work efficiently. Unfortunately once the registration is completed the program can run the way it is meant to. The most recent social outlet I’ve seen to be infected with these spammers is Twitter.
6. Sleeping SpammerThe Sleeping Spammer is the newest one I’ve come across, seeing my first one in December of last year. Around that time I had a “person” start following me, so with every notification I checked out the profile. 200 following – 120 followers – 0 tweets. I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right, but I was curious to see what would happen. Close to the end of January I decided to check back on this account (since I didn’t follow back) to discover the stats were now, 2500 following – 1300 followers – 1000 tweets.
Stunned I began to read the tweets, “By MaryK Products now #lipbalm#makeup#lipgloss#..etc” Now seeing as how tweets can be automated, and there is a way to automatically follow people, I’m making the assumption this spammer set up his/her account to begin to tweet spam once a certain amount of followers was reached to ensure that when the spam began it would hit the most people in the shortest amount of time before the account was abandoned or suspended. Its for this reason I call this spammer a sleeper.
Let’s be honest, a spammer is a spammer. Regardless of technique or medium used the end result is the same. Luckily with so many new methods of catching spammers such as ‘Captcha’ and even moderator approval for blogs and forums, its getting harder for spammers to infiltrate. But rest assured, as soon as a spammer is blocked he/she will find a way around it. If you have a story about a spammer listed here, or maybe one that isn’t I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for reading.
I’ve complied a list useful articles that provide information on avoiding spamming techniques:
If you have a story about a spammer listed here, or maybe one that isn’t I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for reading.
Joshua Titsworth is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Chemidex. Josh maintains the SEO and SMM in addition to assisting with the PPC and Google Analytics reporting. While off the clock he volunteers as a SEO consult to his church in Olathe, KS, as well as to other non-profits in the area. When M.I.A. online he can be found roaming golf courses in search of his shanked golf balls. You can touch base with Josh on his twitter account @joshuatitsworth.
How To Nail The Art Of The Brand Comeback On Social Media
With risk comes reward — especially if you stay true to your brand voice and purpose. Let these brand comebacks inspire your next tweet.
Look, Twitter may have a reputation for endless political discourse and ancient memes. And sure, sometimes that’s true. But it’s still an important platform for your brand. Especially if you want to practice the art of risky brand comebacks.
These days, snarky brand Twitter is beginning to feel a little played out. But there’s still plenty of room to make waves with the right online presence. And it’s not limited to Twitter alone. TikTok, Instagram and Facebook offer plenty of space to flex your social personality.
Ready to learn from the pros? Let’s examine some successful social risk-takers who can inspire your brand’s comebacks.
Bonus: Read the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence.
What are risky brand comebacks?In recent years, brands have cultivated enormous followings by taking huge risks. They’ve gone snarky (Wendy’s), wacky (Moonpie), unhinged (Duolingo) and downright emo (Steakums). These brands have earned tons of coverage from unexpected sources by thinking outside of the box.
The lesson here is that with risk comes reward — especially if you stay true to your voice and purpose. Brand comebacks might mean pushing the envelope, owning up to mistakes, or even taking a political stance.
Risk also might mean, well, being earnest. The days of snarky, sarcastic comebacks are numbered. These days, brands seem to be finding more success by being nice.
But there are still plenty of fresh ways to mix it up online. Here are some of the best comebacks we’ve seen brands make across their social media. Watch and learn.
1. Play the heelYou don’t always need to reply to take risks that pay off. Remember, everyone’s scrolling Twitter in search of something to “dunk” on.
— Weetabix (@weetabix) February 9, 2023
The British breakfast barons at Weetabix had a major win by making themselves the butt of the joke on Twitter. Their hilariously off-putting food pic became a massive global trending topic. (We hope it was intentional, but really, it doesn’t matter.)
Lesser brand managers may have deleted the tweet when it was getting mocked. But Weetabix won out by staying the course, even getting in on the banter fest.
Keep up Kellogg’s, milk is sooo 2023.
— Weetabix (@weetabix) February 9, 2023
2. Join the dogpile (when appropriate)The genius of Weetabix’s disgusting food pic lay in its ability to unite the crowd. After all, it’s a pretty gross-looking picture (though we’ll admit, we’re a little… curious).
Still, it’s the kind of non-controversial “bad” post that can unite the internet. And plenty of people got on board.
Us: Pineapple on pizza is the most controversial food ever.
Weetabix: Hold my spoon.
— Domino’s Pizza UK (@Dominos_UK) February 9, 2023
The post was mocked by everyone from Britain’s National Rail to an official Beatles museum. The gift company Moonpig put beans on one of their own greeting cards. Competing chicken sellers KFC and Nando’s even engaged in a bit of friendly banter in the replies. Even Pfizer got in on the jabs.
It was a veritable honeypot for brand Twitter, all thanks to Weetabix. But some parties still shouldn’t have shown up. The official Israel account‘s reply, for example, wasn’t exactly well-received.
3. Aim for quote-tweetsAt this point, the biggest risk you can take on Twitter is putting yourself out there. After all, if your tweet gets a lot of attention, chances are someone will be rude.
But you don’t win big by playing it safe. Instead, if you want attention, try coming up with engagement-bait prompts. If they relate to your brand, even better.
Music festival newsletter The Festive Owl recently had a huge hit with a simple prompt. It paid off, earning over 5,000 quote-tweets and counting.
— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) August 14, 2023
Again — the risk here is that people might be rude. If you choose to go this route, double-check your prompt and make sure it’s relevant to your brand. If your tweet reeks of desperation, it could backfire.
4. Keep it sneakyThere are ways to insert yourself into the discourse without @ing anyone. The folks at Merriam-Webster have proven masterful at this strategy.
It should come as no surprise that one of the world’s most popular dictionaries has a way with words. But their 2023 word of the year was a particularly subtle stroke of genius.
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2023
By choosing “vaccine,” the brand broached a hot-button topic without risking any backlash. The real conversations continued in the quote-tweets, but Merriam-Webster got it started.
5. Really include the audienceThe sugar merchants over at Skittles may be sweet, but they’re not afraid to get a little salty. They’ve included their audience in plenty of hilarious comebacks without being rude.
It works because they make themselves the butt of the joke. For proof, check out this absurd list of thousands of people who complained about a recent change.
Marketing would like to apologize to 130,880 people for taking away lime. Unfortunately, they can’t all fit in a single post.
— SKITTLES (@Skittles) April 5, 2023
And it paid off. Skittles even won Twitter’s official best brand bracket in 2023:
You helped them #RallyForTheRainbow, now last year’s runner-up can officially claim their crown.
— Twitter Marketing (@TwitterMktg) April 5, 2023
6. Use snark when appropriateIt’s easy to slap a pride flag on your profile picture and call it a day, right? Wrong. The LGBTQA+ community is (rightly) starting to call out brands who don’t walk the walk. One way to show you actually care is to address the trolls when it feels appropriate.
When Xbox unveiled new pride-themed hardware, a Twitter troll replied, “No one asked for this.” Xbox bounced back with a snappy comeback.
Our Pride controller features 34 flags representing the many LGBTQIA+ communities! 🏳️🏳️🌈
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 8, 2023
It wasn’t rude or particularly attention-grabbing. But it was enough of a clapback to warrant daps for Xbox — and plenty of attention for their new controller.
And no one asked for you to reply, but here we are.
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 8, 2023
Again, you don’t have to hold a giant “pick me” sign to engage in critical discourse on Twitter. With sensitive topics, it’s possible to show grace and poise via the art of subtlety.
That’s exactly what the Star Wars Twitter account did to address a toxic faction of its fanbase. The long-running franchise is often targeted by obsessive trolls. With each new release, the account fields nonstop vitriol aimed at actors of color that appear in their projects.
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2023
After announcing that The Queen’s Gambit star Moses Ingram had been cast in Obi-Wan Kenobi, they were hit with a flood of toxic discourse. The way they chose to respond is particularly compelling. It addresses racist trolls without platforming their hateful rhetoric.
There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2023
8. Just be niceIf you haven’t noticed yet, the snarky Wendy’s tone seems to be on the way out in the modern Twitter era. Sometimes, “risk” means daring to be different. And makeup manufacturer Glossier is leading the pack.
They’ve cultivated a kind, friendly space online — and that can really stand out. Glossier’s version of brand comebacks include a gentle, relatable tone and plenty of emojis. They stay in tune with Glossier’s mission while delivering excellent customer care.
This was only available for a limited time, but we’re bringing the candle back later this year! Stay tuned 💕
— Glossier (@glossier) August 12, 2023
9. Go with the flowTwitter has certainly calmed down as the place for brands to get silly with it. But on TikTok, things can and do get weird.
10. Come up with your own ideaThe @ramblingsanchez TikTok (now removed) was a fun experiment that will go down in history. But the internet moves fast, and fun ideas can quickly feel stale.
Inspired by these brand comebacks? Use Hootsuite to monitor all relevant conversations and engage your audience (with a bit sass, if appropriate). Try it free today.
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Overcoming The Social Pr Nightmare
Although a social media marketing strategy can help your business’ campaign, it can also go wild and damage your brand’s online reputation. It can be due to miscommunication, bad decisions or just your message ending up with the wrong crowd. Although you’re able to work it around, traces of the mishap will be forever present on the Internet.
Even if your social media marketing campaign has good intentions, it can cause you a headache if it deviated from your plans. Thus, there are simple steps that you can follow to avoid the social PR nightmare.
Secure Your AccountOftentimes, a single social media account needs multiple administrators. This strategy guarantees that you’ll have constant social media campaign throughout the day. However, this can also result to inconsistent voice or the way your online presence convey message to your followers. That’s why it’s important that you consider who and how many should access your account. This will help you reduce the risk of encountering online PR nightmares.
Draw the Line for Your EmployeesWhen you need multiple admin for your social media account, you have to be clear about your guidelines. State what is and isn’t acceptable to discourage any potential off-brand communications. This will lessen the possibility that one of your staff will ruin your brand’s online reputation.
Optimized Positive Publicity over Negative OnesWhen your social PR nightmare is already said and done, don’t delete it. Doing so will mean that you’re not responsible enough to face the consequences of your action. Instead, be proactive in distributing and optimizing positive press releases about your brand. That way, affirming accounts about you will outdo your negative publicity on the search engine.
Know who’s talking about Your BrandAnother way to prevent a social PR nightmare is by monitoring who’s talking about your brand. Just like in any businesses, have a standard operating procedure when rewarding a compliment or making up for a complaint.
The good thing about social media is that you have time to think before sending your message. Instead of replying to all complaints during the heat of the moment, it’s better to keep your cool first. Compose your message afterwards, and take its future implications into consideration before you send it.
Pick Up the PhoneIf it takes you more than one email or SMS to clarify your message, it’s best to take the face-to-face route. Pick up the phone and call directly to your contact to convey your message. Phone conversation is safer and more efficient than email or SMS.
Promoting your business through social media is a serious business. Today’s digital word-of-mouth can make or break your brand. That’s why it’s important that you know how to use it to protect your business’ online reputation.
The Top 10 Social Media Sites & Platforms
Social media is a pillar of many people’s daily lives.
There are 4.65 billion social media users on the planet. That’s 58.7% of the global population, many of whom are using social media as a primary source of information.
From news (and disinformation) to lifestyle tips, decision-making to product research, social media users can gather all the information they need, without ever leaving their platform of choice.
And it’s not just in the U.S. (though 84% of Americans use at least one social media network). China now has more than 1 billion social media users, despite still having roughly 415 million citizens without internet access.
For marketers, these are more than just eye-catching numbers – they’re potential customers. And if you have a proper social media strategy, they can become realized customers.
Unfortunately, it’s not just as easy as hanging out your shingle on Facebook and waiting for the business to come rolling in.
You have to have a strategy to raise brand awareness, connect with potential customers, and engage with your audience. And a key part of that is being in the right place.
For example, if you’re selling retirement homes, TikTok probably isn’t the place for you, as 47.4% of users are under 30.
Similarly, if you want to target native Chinese speakers, Facebook probably isn’t the right platform for you, as it only has 3.3 million users in China.
So, how do you choose where to spend your time (and potential ad spend)?
Unless your company has deep pockets and doesn’t care about results, a shotgun approach, where you try to target everyone, everywhere, at the same time isn’t effective.
You need to consider which channels are right for your audience.
Before you go all-in on one social media site, test several out. See if you’re getting the results you want, and then strategically choose which ones you want to double down on.
In this piece, we’ll look at some of the most popular social media platforms, give you a quick overview of them, and make suggestions about what type of business they might work for.
Top 10 Social Media Platforms ComparedMAU* Revenue Launched Headquarters 1 Facebook 2.9 billion $85.96 billion 2004 Menlo Park, CA 2 YouTube 2.2 billion $28.8 billion 2005 San Bruno, California 3 WhatsApp 2 billion $5.5 billion 2009 Menlo Park, California 4 Instagram 2 billion $24 billion 2010 Menlo Park, CA 5 TikTok 1 billion $11 billion 2023 Culver City, CA 6 Snapchat 538 million $1.06 billion 2011 Los Angeles, CA 7 Pinterest 444 million $575 million 2005 San Francisco, CA 8 Reddit 430 million $289.9 million 2010 San Francisco, CA 9 LinkedIn 250 million $12. 4 billion 2006 San Francisco, CA 10 Twitter 217 million $5.42 billion 2003 Mountain View, CA
*Number of monthly active users worldwide
The Top 10 Social Media Apps By Monthly Active UsersMAU* 1 Facebook 2.9 billion 2 YouTube 2.2 billion 3 WhatsApp 2 billion 4 Instagram 2 billion 5 TikTok 1 billion 6 Snapchat 538 million 7 Pinterest 444 million 8 Reddit 430 million 9 LinkedIn 250 million 10 Twitter 217 million
*Number of monthly active users worldwide
The Top 10 Social Media Sites And Platforms 1. FacebookHeadquarters: Menlo Park, CA
Launched: 2004
Monthly Active Users: 2.9 billion
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes
Revenue: $86 billion (2023)
Facebook isn’t number one anymore. Sure, the platform that you connect with your mom, third-grade teacher, and neighbor is still there, and still as popular as ever (even more so, actually).
But now it’s Meta. Or at least the company that owns it, Instagram, and WhatsApp are now Meta, Inc.
The platform has seen a demographic shift, but it’s still the big dog on the social media block.
Some of the leading industries on Facebook include financial services, ecommerce, retail, gaming, entertainment, media, telecom, technology, consumer goods, and automotive businesses.
Consider joining (or creating) groups, using a Facebook Messenger chatbot, or using live video to up your engagement.
2. YouTubeLaunched: 2005
Headquarters: San Bruno, California
Monthly Active Users: 2.2 billion
Revenue: $28.8 billion (2023)
Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley
The original video social media platform, YouTube maintains dominance in that market. It is currently the second most used platform with 2.2 billion monthly active users.
The potential for reach on YouTube is unrivaled, with 81% of U.S. adults using the platform. The numbers can’t be ignored.
YouTube has a strong user base across all age groups. This includes the difficult-to-reach 65+ demographic, 49% of whom use the platform, second only to Facebook.
YouTube covers all genres from beauty, gaming, and education to DIY home improvements. This is the platform for most brands to invest in, with video being the growing medium for content marketing.
3. WhatsAppLaunched: 2009
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California
Monthly Active Users: 2 billion
Revenue: $5.5 billion (2023) estimated
Founders: Brian Acton, Jan Koum
WhatsApp remains the most popular social messaging app, way out in front of Facebook Messenger.
The closed messaging app might not seem the obvious choice for brands. But consider that SMS has a 98% open rate compared to 20% for email. It’s a captive audience. And, unlike SMS, WhatsApp messages are free to send.
If you use WhatsApp for customer service and retention, you probably already realize its potential for brands is huge and distinctly under-leveraged.
If you can crack WhatsApp, you’ll have a direct marketing channel to your audience.
4. InstagramHeadquarters: Menlo Park, CA
Launched: 2010
Monthly Active Users: 2 billion
Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger
Revenue: $24 billion (2023)
Instagram is a social network where product-based businesses, influencers, and coaches can thrive.
Since introducing shoppable posts in 2023, the potential ROI for product-based businesses is higher than ever – not only can B2B’s connect with a massive audience, they can link the product information and sales straight from the Gram.
If your target demographic is under 35, Instagram is a gold mine: 67% of 18-24-year-olds use Instagram, with 67% of Generation Z and 58% of Millennials using the app daily.
Read more Instagram Statistics and Facts for 2023.
5. TikTokLaunched: 2023
Headquarters: Culver City, California
Monthly Active Users: 1 billion
Founders: ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, Toutiao
Revenue: $11 billion (2023)
TikTok bills itself as “the leading destination for short-form mobile video” with a company mission to inspire creativity and bring joy.
TikTok has certainly struck a chord as it’s the youngest app to market but has already seen incredible growth.
In 2023, after only one year, the app became the fastest growing app worldwide.
Despite attempts to ban TikTok in the U.S. and being banned in India, as of 2023, the app had been downloaded more than 3 billion times globally.
If you want to connect with Generation Z, TikTok is the platform to check out.
In the U.S., 25% of the audience is a teenager or younger. Those users are highly engaged, too; with an average user session of nearly 11 minutes, which is twice as long as Pinterest, the next closest app.
6. SnapchatHeadquarters: Los Angeles, CA
Launched: 2011
Monthly Active Users: 538 million
Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, Leo Noah Katz
Revenue: $1.06 billion (2023)
If your target demographic is young, you definitely want to get in on Snapchat.
The most active users on Snapchat are 13-year-olds, and they’re spending upwards of 30 minutes a day on the app.
Snapchat is a haven for user-generated content, behind-the-scenes videos, exclusive offers, and influencer takeovers.
7. RedditLaunched: 2005
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Monthly Active Users: 430 million
Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz
Revenue: $289.9 million (2023)
Reddit heralds itself as “the front page of the internet,” and according to Alexa rankings, Reddit is one of the top 20 most-visited sites.
Reddit has a unique blend of content and community, with more than 2.8 million communities or subreddits, dedicated to every topic imaginable.
With so many niches, there’s a place for every brand and business – it’s a matter of finding the niches where your potential customers are active and diving in.
However, be warned: Reddit is a fickle place and won’t tolerate blatant self-promotion.
8. PinterestLaunched: 2010
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Monthly Active Users: 444 million
Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp
Revenue: $574 million (2023)
Some of the most popular content on Pinterest includes fashion, food, decor, wedding, workout, and DIY-related pins.
In addition, anything with rich visuals can thrive on Pinterest.
Notably, 60% of Pinterest users are female. If you have a predominantly female audience, that’s a compelling reason to invest time in social media marketing on Pinterest.
That’s not to say that men aren’t on Pinterest – it has a male audience percentage of 40%.
9. TwitterHeadquarters: San Francisco, CA
Launched: 2006
Monthly Active Users: 217 million (2023)
Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass
Revenue: $1.2 billion (2023)
Unlike other social media platforms, Twitter saw a decrease in the number of users in the past year. This may be attributed to the banning of former president Donald Trump and fears of conservative censorship.
As of this writing, the site is in the process of completing a $44 billion sale to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. This announcement led to large fluctuations in follower numbers as the political makeup of the users changed, a process Twitter referred to as “organic” in nature.
In spite of a clear understanding of what the future holds for the platform, if your business is related to entertainment, sports, politics, tech, or marketing, you stand to earn tremendous engagement on this app.
On Twitter, brands have an opportunity to craft and hone their voice. There’s room to be clever and personable, while still being informative and helpful.
10. LinkedInHeadquarters: Sunnyvale, CA
Launched: 2003
Monthly Active Users: 830 million (2023)
Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly
Revenue: $8.05 billion (2023)
Within its massive network of professionals, you’ll find more than 61 million users in senior positions on LinkedIn.
If you’re looking for decision-makers who have the power to hire your company, stock your product, or partner with you, LinkedIn is the place to be.
Did you know that the average LinkedIn user has an income more than $2,000 above the national median? Or that 50 million people use it to search for jobs every week?
LinkedIn is a very focused social media platform, and because of that, it has unlimited potential for connecting with an elite group of professionals who can make a difference for your business.
Which Platform(s) Should You Use?Social media is everywhere. And everyone is using it, from your teenage neighbor who’s trying to go viral on TikTok with the latest dance, to your 86-year-old grandmother who’s using Facebook to track down long-lost friends.
But, not all platforms work for every business. So, if you were hoping you’d reach the end of this piece and there would be an easy answer as to which ones your company should be on, well, you’re out of luck.
That’s not to say there isn’t an answer, it’s just that every social media mix will be unique.
Different platforms have different functionality which often makes them more suitable for specific brands and industries.
Are you looking to boost customer engagement? Increase your reach? Create unforgettable brand experiences?
You need to figure out what you want to get out of your social media presence and then determine which strategy will help you achieve those goals.
Be selective, find the platform or platforms your audience is using, and then customize your campaign to reach them.
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
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