Influencer Marketing in Asia: An Interview with Aaron Brooks
Aaron Brooks
April 21, 2017
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With more than 4.65 billion people using social media platforms, these sites are a vital part of any brand’s marketing strategy.
A few decades ago, there were only a handful to choose from, with Facebook being a forerunner when it was created back in 2004.
Now, there are dozens of social media sites on offer. It pays to do your research and focus on the ones that will work best for your brand.
A social media platform or site is a website or app, such as Facebook or Instagram, that allows users to take part in social networking. You can share thoughts, ideas, and interests by creating content, sharing it, commenting on other users’ content, and reposting.
The first ever social media platform was invented by Andrew Weinreich in 1997. It was called SixDegrees.com and it introduced a million people to social networking. It was a short-lived experiment because few people had adequate internet facilities to use the platform effectively.
Hootsuite identifies Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram as the most popular social media platforms in the Digital 2022 Global Overview Report.
Facebook is the best known social media platform in the world and has 2.9 billion active users per month, but when asked what their favourite social media platforms are, the majority of users (15.7%) aged 16 to 64, choose WhatsApp, ahead of Instagram (14.8%) and Facebook (14.5%).
Only 3.3% in Hootsuite’s report nominate Twitter, which used to top the rankings and started life in 2006 as a place where you could only use up to 140 characters in a single post. It has since morphed into a platform that lets you share photos and videos, and has around 330 million active monthly users, at least it did at the time of Elon Musk’s purchase of it for $44 billion.
LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for professional networking. There are more than 774 million registered users. In addition to connecting with others in your chosen industries, you can post and apply to job listings.
YouTube has more than 2 billion visits per month. It’s the second biggest search engine after Google. According to Hootsuite’s report, users spend more time on YouTube (23.7 hours a month) than on any other social media platform.
All of the above offer brands the option of paying for promoted posts and ads.
Makeawebsitehub.com has identified more than 100 social media sites with new ones appearing regularly. Some disappear without a trace, while others can grow dramatically.
For example, you might not have heard of Mastodon before Elon Musk bought Twitter, but social media users are now flocking to it. Hive is another Twitter alternative that’s growing in popularity.
These are the social media platforms that SproutSocial identifies as those that brands and consumers are most likely to populate in the next year.
According to Buffer, the 10 best-known social media platforms for brands are as follows, ranked by their monthly active users or MAU. (LinkedIn isn’t included as it’s considered a professional networking site.)
Here’s a comprehensive list of 50 global social media platforms that brands should know about:
There are five types of social media platform. They are:
According to Statistica, the top five social media sites in 2022 were:
Social Media.co.uk ranked the top five social media sites for 2021 as follows:
(In 2022, Twitter was knocked off the 5th spot by WeChat)
When planning your social media strategy, it’s important to consider the demographics of each platform. For example, if you’re marketing to teens, you’ll most likely get better results on TikTok than you would on Facebook, which attracts an older audience.
Similarly, the gender you’re targeting may play a role in the platforms you prioritise. For example, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn have a relatively even split between male and female.
However, TikTok and Pinterest have a much larger lean towards female, whilst Twitter and YouTube have more male users. All of these types of demographic differences can play a key role when approaching your social media strategy.
Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. It was founded in 2004 and went public in 2012. The parent company, Meta, also owns WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
The biggest demographic on Facebook is males aged between 25 and 34.
It’s fallen out of fashion with younger users and only 2.4% of females aged 13 to 17 use the platform, along with 3.2% of males in the same age group.
Most users connect to Facebook via the mobile app.
A Facebook for business page will allow you to connect with your customers and receive private messages on Facebook Messenger. You can also utilise the Insights, which will tell you the gender, age, and location of users interacting with your page.
With so many platforms on offer, choosing the right ones can feel daunting when planning your social media strategy. Find out how other brands have used Vamp to create winning campaigns.
We’re an official TikTok marketing partner and can help your business create a killer social media plan by connecting you with creators and simplifying the collaboration process. Get started today.
