Social media is a vast space, open to anyone and anywhere as long as they have an internet connection. That said, billions of people from around the world gather here to interact and communicate with one another—through chat, text, images, and even videos.
Of course, as we all know by now, where people are, businesses go. It’s this aspect of social media—the ability to offer an almost limitless amount of audience partnered with easy connectivity—that makes it an attractive platform for digital marketing in the Philippines and other parts of the world. That’s why it’s become the go-to place that companies use to expand their influence, bring awareness to their services or products, and link up with existing consumers and potential clients online.
However, this same trait could also cause a headache for brands. Because of the sheer number of people that exists on and use social media platforms, finding your target audience or customers becomes an arduous task, especially if you have no idea what social media demographics are.
DEFINING SOCIAL MEDIA DEMOGRAPHICS
Social Media Demographics refer to a collection of characteristics that describes users of social media platforms. Think of it as a profile of some sort that includes various demographic data.
Before the advent of the internet, the collection of demographic data was limited to a handful of sources—censuses, surveys, government records, valid IDS, and other documents.
However, at present, the field of information that can be readily collected from people has grown so much thanks to the internet and various social media platforms.
Here’s a list of some of the variables that can be collected from people nowadays:
- Age Group
- Race
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Location
- Education Level
- Occupation
- Income level
- Marital Status
- Employment Status
- Job Title
- Industry a person is working in
- Employer Name
- Relationship Status
- School Attended
- Academic Background
- Net Worth
- Political Beliefs
- Entertainment Preference
- Food Preference
- Hobbies or Interests
- Favorite Brands
- Web History
- Device Preference
Besides those mentioned above, behavioral demographic data can also be collected from social media users—the average amount of time they spend on social networking sites, the frequency of their visits to a website, buying habits, and more.
WHAT IS IT USED FOR and WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
As its name suggests social media demographics are used mainly on social networks, particularly by brands, companies, and enterprises to market themselves, their products, or services to users.
To be more specific, they use the data that social media demographics offer to accomplish the following:
- Define their target audience and be more precise with marketing campaigns, which help reduce the cost and scale of promotions and makes it easier to personalize ads to cater to the taste of potential and existing consumers.
- Determine the products and services that consumers want and can afford to buy.
- Helps in choosing which social media platform is ideal for their business, specifically one that hosts their target buyers.
- It aids in image building. By knowing the demographics of their target audience, businesses can tailor their marketing activities and social media personality to what consumers find attractive and appealing.
- Helps brands keep up with changing times and trends, which is important in staying relevant to online audiences.
Note: Social Media Demographics are also used by social media management agencies in the Philippines as a basis to effectively handle the online presence of their clients.
SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHICS OF POPULAR ONLINE COMMUNITY PLATFORMS
Out of all the active social media platforms, Facebook is one of the oldest. It’s now on its 18th year and shows no sign of stopping. And for that, it’s considered the most populated social media network online, boasting more than 2 billion active users. This means that roughly 36.9% of people around the world are users of Facebook.
To fill you in on the latest for Facebook, here are a few more notable demographics:
- Compared to women, men are the ones who dominate the Facebook scene. They comprise 56% of the platform’s overall population.
- Men aged 25 to 34 are Facebook’s largest user group.
- Meanwhile, 44% of users are women.
- Users spend half an hour every day on Facebook.
- 98% of them use smartphones to log in and scroll on Facebook.
What is Facebook best for?
Facebook as a platform for marketing is best used if you’re target audience is within the millennial and older age bracket. Though younger people are on the site, they don’t use it as extensively and opt for platforms that lean more towards entertainment.
Apart from that, the platform is known to host a very diverse user population, which also makes it great if you want to appeal to or reach a general audience.
Instagram is one included in the top 4 most popular social media networks for 2022. It has a total of 500 million visits each day and is especially popular with the younger generations, which includes Gen Z.
Here are more demographic data to help you visualize:
- 83% of people use Instagram to discover new brands and products.
- Unlike Facebook whose users are mostly male, Instagram’s user population is almost evenly split in the middle—male users are at 50.7% while female users are at 49.3%.
- Users spend 11 hours each month on Instagram.
- The age group 18 to 34 years old are the top users of the platform.
- 9 out of 10 users watch videos on Instagram weekly.
What is Instagram best for?
Instagram’s platform is very visually centered and its community is mostly made up of younger users. It’s also one of the top social media apps that people use to discover new brands, products, and services. Apart from that, it’s also a great way to link up with influencers and employ influencer marketing.
These attributes make Instagram an ideal venue for marketing for companies or brands that want to connect with a much younger target audience and want to put their products at the forefront.
For those who aren’t aware of Twitter, it’s a platform that focuses on fostering conversations between users. It does this through instant messages called “Tweets,” wherein users have to express their thoughts in less than 280 characters.
It boasts a user base of 396.5 million users. Out of this population, 229 million are monthly active users. Below are some demographic data that marketers will definitely find helpful:
- 59.2% of Twitter users belong to the 25 to 49-year-old age group.
- Meanwhile, 17.1% are between the ages of 18 and 24, 6.6% account for those between 13 and 17 years old, and 17% are users aged 50 and above.
- When it comes to gender demographics, females make up 28.% of Twitter’s overall user population while males are the majority at 71.2%.
- Users spend an average of 3.39 minutes using Twitter. If you think that this is too short then think again. After all, the average lifespan of a Tweet is only 15 to 20 minutes.
- 82% of B2B Content Marketers Use Twitter.
What is Twitter best for?
Since Twitter is all about nurturing conversations, it’s best used if you want to boost your brand’s engagement with your target audience or build your online community.
Besides that, it’s also a great platform to develop and establish yourself as a thought leader, especially regarding topics that matter to your brand and the people you want to pursue.
LinkedIn is a social media platform that connects professionals and businesses with each other. It was established in 2003 and trumps Facebook as the oldest social media network still active at present.
It boasts a user base of 830 million, wherein 330 million are monthly active users. Look below for more noteworthy demographic data:
- 59.1% of LinkedIn’s users are in the 25 to 34 years old age bracket.
- Companies and businesses saw a 33% increase in purchase intent from ad exposure on LinkedIn.
- Marketers experience up to 2X higher conversion rates on LinkedIn.
- 58 million companies are present on the platform.
- 93% of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn for their organic social marketing efforts.
What is LinkedIn best for?
If your target audience is businesses and corporations (B2B), then LinkedIn would be the best platform for you. After all, LinkedIn provides access to numerous businesses, which you can access by utilizing the platform for your social marketing strategy.
However, the platform is not ideal if your company targets consumers or if you’re in the B2C space (Business to Consumers).
TikTok
Though relatively new in the social media game, TikTok has managed to rake in billions of users since it erupted in 2016. The platform currently boasts 1 billion monthly active users, which is expected to grow to 1.8 billion by the end of the year.
For its speedy growth, TikTok has become one of the most popular social media marketing platforms at present. Here are some of the most relevant demographic data for TikTok for those thinking of using it to promote their brand:
- TikTok boasts a total of 1.39 billion users.
- TikTok is now the most preferred social media platform by Gen Z overtaking Instagram.
- Female users are the majority on TikTok, making up 57% of its total users worldwide.
- TikTok is considered, at present, the most engaging social media app. It has an average user session of 10.85 minutes.
What is TikTok best for?
The TikTok platform will be effective for those looking to connect and create awareness with the young demographic, specifically Gen Z and Generation Alpha.
To do so, you need to be committed to regularly creating and publishing engaging content in the form of short videos. You should also be consistent in joining trends so you can create a relationship and touch base with TikTok’s audience.
TIME TO MAKE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY BETTER!
Now that you know all about social media demographics and its many uses, you can now update your social media strategy. Incorporate it into your promotional activities now and begin targeting your ideal audience!
Of course, don’t forget to consider the demographic data we provided above, specifically for the social media platforms we featured. After all, it’ll help you find the best platform for your brand and where your target audience gathers.
OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD WORK ON
To really make use of digital marketing for your brand, you should not just focus on the social media spect. After all, it’s just one of the many things that make up your overall online presence.
Try to explore every avenue. Look towards a branding agency in the Philippines to help you with how you present your business online. Ask a creative agency in the Philippines to help you out with content ideas and posts.
If you need help with developing your own site, website development agencies in the Philippines will definitely be at your service. You can supplement this with search engine optimization (SEO), which will keep you at the top of Google’s Search Results. SEO services in the Philippines are abundant so finding the right one for your brand will not be difficult.
