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Written by: Elizabeth Ritger
Social media is the digital age’s holy grail of marketing . 88% of 18 to 29-year-olds, 78% of 30 to 49 year-olds and, 64% among those ages 50 to 64-year-old use some form of social media. It’s at the forefront of every marketing campaign and, hopefully, you’ve been building up your firm’s social platforms for quite a while now.
While you may be great about using and updating your social profiles, it has probably been some time since you’ve taken another look at which platforms you’re using and how this corresponds to your target audience and your firm’s brand. A new year brings changes in trends and demographics and keeping up in a digital world is essential to a successful marketing strategy.
Whether it is Facebook , LinkedIn , YouTube , Instagram, or any other social media platform, your profile isn’t going to be much help to your business if you’re not using it properly. In order to find out the best platforms to use and how often you should post in order to achieve your marketing goals, it may take a little research.
Pew Research Center recently conducted a study of U.S. adults to find the latest updates and changes to social media use at the beginning of this year. Data like this can help you see which trends and changes to pay attention to and incorporate in your own company. Today, we’ve outlined the most important results of their study for you to help you get an idea of what’s changing or keeping constant in 2018.
Facebook Is Still the Most Widely Used Platform
No surprise here- Facebook remains the winner when it comes to the most used social media platform for American adults. Most of them consider Facebook their primary platform, with almost two-thirds of adults being Facebook users . The biggest exception to this is those aged 65 and older, who are less active on the site.
This shockingly high statistic means that if you’re not on Facebook , you’re losing out on a huge amount of free exposure. People will often share, like and comment on your pages, which their friends can see as well. They will also quickly see any business updates, videos, pictures and news you have to share. Seeing your firm’s name across the screen helps remind them of you and consider your firm “a friend.”
Another important finding from the Pew Research Center was that the majority (about 75%) of these users log into Facebook daily . Although this hasn’t changed since 2016, it’s still an important point to remember because it shows that posting often is definitely worth the effort. With 50% of users logging into the platform more than once per day, your opportunities to make an impact in their mind are endless.
Related: Website Analytics Can Lead You to Improved Visitor Engagement
YouTube Is Becoming Increasingly Popular
You’ve probably heard that video marketing is one of the hottest new trends this year. With that comes a spike in the popularity of video sharing sites, the most prominent of which is YouTube . While YouTube may not be many people’s first thought when it comes to social media, it is definitely worth paying attention to.
94% of 18 to 24-year-olds use YouTube and almost 75% of all U.S. adults use it. There are many social aspects of the site that make it an easy way to engage with clients. On top of that, according to HubSpot , 4 times as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
YouTube is like a video search engine, so it can be optimized and create a quick and easy way for clients to find out more about certain topics or products. Clients are more likely to be searching YouTube for answers to specific questions or reviews as opposed to information on your specific company, so keep this in mind as you generate content.
If you’re stuck on what to include, consider making videos about common client questions, behind-the-scenes exclusives, product reviews or informative webinars. Anything that will be both entertaining and meet the client’s need for information would be a perfect start. Some advisory businesses also choose to include introductions to their firm or business model with a well-done video.
A video can be a great way to help clients feel more comfortable with your firm, especially if you haven’t met them in person yet or function as a robo-advisor. If you need help getting set up, check out our post here for tips on optimizing your YouTube page.
Related: The Best Times to Post on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
Certain Populations Are More Partial to Different Platforms
While Facebook is used by most demographics, other sites can be much more specific when it comes to who is most active on them. If you’re trying to appeal to a specific niche , it can be helpful to know the breakdown and focus more on the platforms where you know your marketing is reaching who you’re aiming for. Here is a list of the biggest standouts from the research:
If your firm is trying to work with an exclusive market, like women, young adults or high-income earners, you can try utilizing some of these platforms with more targeted messages and tracking the engagement to see how successful it is. You may be surprised at the amount of interaction you get on some of the lesser-known platforms when you know exactly who your audience is.
Most Americans Who Use One Platform Use Multiple
If someone is active on one platform, they’re likely using many. This means that, often, you have the opportunity to reach potential clients in many ways through the use of different social media. In Pew’s study, the highest amount of overlap came from people who use both Facebook and YouTube. However, there are other substantial patterns to pay attention to.
About 75% of Twitter and Snapchat users also use Instagram. Knowing stats like this gives you key insight as to how you should run your social media marketing campaigns. By knowing which platforms are likely to see a repeat audience, you can make sure you have a consistently strong presence on each of these sites. When people see your messages on multiple platforms, they’ll get a good sense of your brand and be reminded of your firm, allowing you to make a lasting impression.