How to Leverage Demographics to Inform Your Social Strategy
Demographics are a key component of planning and executing a marketing strategy. Social media marketing is no exception. You want to ensure your marketing campaigns are reaching your intended audience. While this may sound basic, building out a steady flow of relevant and timely content is tough - pair that with needing to diversify your assets across channels - and that little social media challenge just got a whole lot bigger!
When you keep track of your social media demographics, you have a better understanding of your audience and the best way to reach them. Additionally, you may:
Here’s a fun, if staggering, social media fact: According to HootSuite, the number of social media users topped the 4 billion mark in October 2020. The audience is there. Why not find the best, most effective ways to reach it as part of your digital marketing strategy?
Understanding demographics
There are dozens of social media platforms available, but don’t feel you need to use all of them. Some platforms may not be the best fit for your business or target customer base. For instance, if you are an attorney, you may not want a profile on Yelp, a site focused largely on restaurants and retail shops. Perhaps your firm would be better served by a site like LinkedIn or Twitter. If you want to target younger customers, such as Millennials or Gen Z, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok the most popular platforms with these age groups.
Let’s take a look at some of the demographic information for the Big 4 social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Facebook
According to Pew Research:
According to Pew Research:
LinkedIn is aimed toward those with professional careers. A well-populated profile could easily stand in for a digital resume or portfolio for job seekers or gig workers. Users report less activity than other platforms like Facebook or Twitter—typically visiting once or twice a week rather than once a day.
Twitter
According to Pew Research
Buyer personas are another way to use your demographics effectively. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional portrayal of your target customer based on data and research. You are, in a sense, creating a character based on your own ideal customer, complete with a name, hometown, buying habits, and interests. When you have a clearer idea of your ideal customer, you can tailor your content to that customer. For instance, when you have fleshed out your buyer personas, your social media content might include:
Most social media platforms have user statistics that allow you to take a deep dive into your page. You can determine where and how your users are finding your page, and how engaged they are with your content.
Facebook, for instance, provides a host of information on a business’ “Insights” page. This free page of statistics tracks information like most popular posts (by the “reach” of users), number of “likes”, shares, and other pieces of data related to user engagement. Facebook also has advanced capabilities that allow users to track demographics in even greater detail (for a fee). This, in turn, lets users to customize their posts even further.
Understanding your core customer base and target market is crucial for developing any type of effective content. It is in your best interest to take a closer look at where and how your customers are finding you. You can then build on those connections through customized content on your social media pages.
If you need help building out your social media strategy, our team is here to get you started! Get in touch.
When you keep track of your social media demographics, you have a better understanding of your audience and the best way to reach them. Additionally, you may:
- Tailor your content
- Tweak your marketing strategy
- Connect with your audience in more meaningful ways
Here’s a fun, if staggering, social media fact: According to HootSuite, the number of social media users topped the 4 billion mark in October 2020. The audience is there. Why not find the best, most effective ways to reach it as part of your digital marketing strategy?
Understanding demographics
There are dozens of social media platforms available, but don’t feel you need to use all of them. Some platforms may not be the best fit for your business or target customer base. For instance, if you are an attorney, you may not want a profile on Yelp, a site focused largely on restaurants and retail shops. Perhaps your firm would be better served by a site like LinkedIn or Twitter. If you want to target younger customers, such as Millennials or Gen Z, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok the most popular platforms with these age groups.
Let’s take a look at some of the demographic information for the Big 4 social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
According to Pew Research:
- 69 percent of adults use Facebook
- 74 percent of the site’s users visit at least once a day
- Facebook users are primarily female
- Women are more likely to join, or create, a Facebook group
- Users age 65+ are Facebook’s fastest-growing demographic
According to Pew Research:
- 75 percent of Americans aged 18-24 say they have used Instagram
- Women (43%) are more likely to use Instagram than men (31%)
- Instagram is the second-most popular site among U.S. teens (only YouTube ranks higher). Approximately 7 in 10, or 72%, teens use the site
- Instagram is not a popular site for political or election news
LinkedIn is aimed toward those with professional careers. A well-populated profile could easily stand in for a digital resume or portfolio for job seekers or gig workers. Users report less activity than other platforms like Facebook or Twitter—typically visiting once or twice a week rather than once a day.
According to Pew Research
- 22 percent of adults (1 in 5) use Twitter
- 42 percent of U.S. adult Twitter users have at least a college degree, compared with 31 percent of all Americans.
- Twitter is one of the most news-focused social media platforms
Buyer personas are another way to use your demographics effectively. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional portrayal of your target customer based on data and research. You are, in a sense, creating a character based on your own ideal customer, complete with a name, hometown, buying habits, and interests. When you have a clearer idea of your ideal customer, you can tailor your content to that customer. For instance, when you have fleshed out your buyer personas, your social media content might include:
- Giveaways for a day spa package targeted at a harried mom (Facebook). This post would address moms of any age juggling a range of responsibilities, whether it’s work, her children’s online schooling, caring for aging parents, and maintaining her regular household responsibilities.
- Posts about webinars relevant to various online degree programs for mid-level managers looking to advance their careers (LinkedIn). This buyer persona would be a mid-level professional turning to the site for career advancement programs.
- Posts about your company’s latest volunteerism project (Twitter). Twitter’s limited character count is great for sharing brief but important company news.
- Before-and-after photos of your company’s newest car polish (Instagram). Instagram is highly visual and has a predominantly young user population. This is a great platform to display before-and-after images.
Most social media platforms have user statistics that allow you to take a deep dive into your page. You can determine where and how your users are finding your page, and how engaged they are with your content.
Facebook, for instance, provides a host of information on a business’ “Insights” page. This free page of statistics tracks information like most popular posts (by the “reach” of users), number of “likes”, shares, and other pieces of data related to user engagement. Facebook also has advanced capabilities that allow users to track demographics in even greater detail (for a fee). This, in turn, lets users to customize their posts even further.
Understanding your core customer base and target market is crucial for developing any type of effective content. It is in your best interest to take a closer look at where and how your customers are finding you. You can then build on those connections through customized content on your social media pages.
If you need help building out your social media strategy, our team is here to get you started! Get in touch.