Hajra Naz
Social media plays a crucial role in our everyday routines.
With a stunning 4.8 billion users around the world, comprising almost 60% of the worldwide population, social platforms have developed into fundamental centers for getting information, remaining associated with loved ones, and propelling our businesses.
Users now place their trust and dependence on their chosen social networks for various needs, from staying updated on current events and life hacks to conducting product research and beyond.
Social media is a vast opportunity for marketers, with each user as a potential customer. To succeed, you must select the right platforms that align with your target audience’s preferences and make sense for your brand’s engagement.
This article will introduce the top social media platforms and then delve into which types of businesses could benefit the most from each platform.
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Comparison of Social Media Sites and Platforms
| Platform | MAU* | Revenue | Launched | Headquarters | |
| 1 | 3 billion | $116 billion | 2004 | Menlo Park, CA | |
| 2 | YouTube | 2.5 billion | $29.24 billion | 2005 | San Bruno, California |
| 3 | 2 billion | $906 million | 2009 | Menlo Park, California | |
| 4 | 2 billion | $51.4 billion | 2010 | Menlo Park, CA | |
| 5 | TikTok | 1.2 billion | $9.5 billion | 2016 | Culver City, CA |
| 6 | Snapchat | 750 million | $4.6 billion | 2011 | Los Angeles, CA |
| 7 | 465 million | $2.8 billion | 2005 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 8 | 430 million | $670 million | 2010 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 9 | 310 million | $12. 4 billion | 2006 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 10 | Threads | 120 million | Unknown | 2023 | Menlo Park, CA |
The Top 10 Social Media Sites and Platforms are following:
1. WhatsApp
- Launch Year: 2009.
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, California.
- Monthly Active Users: 2 billion.
- Estimated Revenue (2023): $500 million – $1 billion.
- Founders: Brian Acton, Jan Koum.
WhatsApp stands as the most popular social messaging app, surpassing Facebook Messenger by a significant margin.
Upon first inspection, brands may underestimate WhatsApp’s potential due to its closed messaging format. However, it’s essential to note that SMS enjoys an impressive 98% open rate, compared to just 20% for email. WhatsApp’s user base is a captive audience, and, unlike SMS, sending messages on WhatsApp is cost-free.
For businesses seeking to enhance their customer service or establish direct connections with customers for inquiries, WhatsApp holds substantial promise. It provides an exceptionally direct and efficient channel for engaging with your audience.
Recently WhatsApp channel is introduced through which you can directly interact with your audience.
2. Instagram
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
- Launch Year: 2010.
- Monthly Active Users: 2 billion.
- Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger.
- Estimated Revenue (2023): $50.6 billion.
Instagram is a social network that offers fertile ground for product-based businesses, influencers, and coaches.
Launched in 2010, Instagram swiftly rose to prominence as a visually-driven, image-centric social platform. Its popularity and reach have continued to expand, encompassing every facet of users’ lives.
The platform has introduced innovative features that marketers can utilize to enhance their brand awareness. These include ephemeral Stories, vertical-video Reels, and more.
Since the introduction of shoppable posts in 2018, the potential return on investment (ROI) for product-based businesses has reached new heights. Not only can B2B enterprises connect with an extensive audience, but they can also seamlessly guide followers from product exploration to purchase by providing product information and facilitating sales, all within the Instagram interface.
If your target demographic is under 35, Instagram represents a treasure trove, with over 68% of its users falling into this age group.
3. Facebook
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
- Launch Year: 2004.
- Monthly Active Users: 3 billion.
- Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes.
- Estimated Revenue (2023): $88-91 billion.
While Facebook may as of now not be the cutting-edge platform it used to be and may have lost some prevalence among younger users, it remains a strong and more well-known platform than any other time.
Today, Facebook works under the Meta, Inc. umbrella, which additionally incorporates platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.
As of late, Facebook has encountered a change in its user demographics; however, its predominance in the domain of social media persists.
Businesses traversing monetary services, e-commerce, retail, media, broadcast communications, innovation, and consumer goods keep on utilizing Facebook’s immense reach to interface with buyers and improve brand visibility. Emerging sectors like gaming, entertainment, and automotive businesses are also finding their place on the platform.
If your goal is to drive conversions, investing in Facebook ads is a wise strategy, especially given the increasing suppression of business posts in the News Feed.
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4. YouTube
- Launch Year: 2005.
- Headquarters: San Bruno, California.
- Monthly Active Users: 2.5 billion.
- Estimated Revenue (2023): $30.4 billion.
- Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley.
YouTube keeps up with its status as the main unique video social media platform. With 2.5 billion monthly active users, it currently ranks as the second most commonly utilized platform.
YouTube’s true capacity for reach is unmatched, with 81% of U.S. adults effectively utilizing the platform. These engagement statistics are a compelling incentive for marketers and brands.
From extended video storytelling to the recent introduction of YouTube Shorts, a direct rival to TikTok, YouTube offers ample opportunities for brands to engage in visual storytelling and connect with new audiences.
According to the company, YouTube serves as a potent marketing tool. Viewers on YouTube express being twice as likely to make a purchase after seeing a product on the platform and four times as likely to seek information about a brand, product, or service compared to other social networks.
5. TikTok
- Launch Year: 2016.
- Headquarters: Culver City, California.
- Monthly Active Users: 1.2 billion.
- Founders: ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, Toutiao.
- Estimated Revenue (2023): $6.19 billion.
TikTok proudly proclaims itself as “the premier destination for short-form mobile video,” with a mission to ignite creativity and spread joy.
TikTok’s striking rise throughout the course of recent years has been out and out uncommon. In only one year after its 2017 presentation, it took its place as the world’s quickest-developing application.
Its emphasis on short-form videos driven by audio and visual trends has caught worldwide attention, provoking different platforms to take action accordingly.
Despite attempts to ban TikTok in the U.S. and its prohibition in India, the app had already garnered over 3.5 billion global downloads by 2021.
While TikTok requests users across all age groups, it’s an excellent decision for brands expecting to draw in Gen Z. In the U.S., it enjoys huge prevalence among the 12–17 age group, comprising roughly 17.7% of its user base.
These users are profoundly active, with the typical user spending almost 54 minutes on the application day to day, making it the application with the longest everyday utilization time, outperforming YouTube at 48.7 minutes.
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6. Snapchat
- Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA.
- Launch Year: 2011.
- Monthly Active Users: 750 million.
- Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, Leo Noah Katz.
- Revenue: $4.6 billion (2022).
If your target audience consists of younger users, Snapchat is a platform worth considering. This social platform excels in connecting with millennials and Gen Z.
Snapchat now captures the attention of 70% of 13 to 24-year-olds, demonstrating its strong appeal to the younger demographic.
The average Snapchat user dedicates 19 minutes each day to the app, which may not rival TikTok and YouTube but still provides an opportunity for brands to engage with and reach them.
Snapchat boasts an authentic atmosphere, featuring unfiltered glimpses into everyday moments. It fills in as a safe house for user-created content, including background videos, elite offers, and influencer takeovers.
The platform has reliably maintained its obligation to constant, ephemeral content, giving users a feeling of protection that numerous other social platforms need.
This makes it a valuable tool for brands seeking authentic connections with a younger demographic who may be less interested in the broader approaches of other social networks.
While it might not receive as much attention as Instagram or TikTok, Snapchat quietly thrives. Since introducing its premium subscription service, Snapchat+, the brand has reported 5 million paying subscribers who are willing to invest in exclusive features.
7. Pinterest
- Launch Year: 2010.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
- Monthly Active Users: 465 million.
- Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp.
- Revenue: $2.8 billion (2022).
Like Instagram, Pinterest is a social media platform that flourishes with enamoring visuals. Whether you’re seeking delectable recipes, home decor ideas, wedding inspiration, fitness routines, or DIY projects, Pinterest is the space where visual aspirations come to life.
For brands enthusiastic about visual storytelling, Pinterest is the best platform.
Strikingly, 60% of Pinterest users are ladies, making it a tempting platform for social media marketing in the event that your ideal interest group basically consists of ladies. Nonetheless, it’s critical to take note that men are likewise present on Pinterest, with a 40% year-over-year increase in male Pinners, including Gen Z Pinners.
Furthermore, Pinterest has proven its mettle as a potent marketing tool. A remarkable 89% of weekly Pinners use the platform to find inspiration along their path to making a purchase, and 80% have discovered new brands or products through Pinterest.
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8. Reddit
- Launch Year: 2005.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
- Monthly Active Users: 430 million.
- Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz.
- Revenue: $670 million (2022).
Reddit gladly promotes itself as “the first page of the internet” and ranks among the best 20 most-visited sites as per Alexa rankings.
It has set up a good foundation for itself as the essential digital gathering place, successfully supplanting customary discussions and discussion boards. Reddit is the go-to platform for interfacing with similar networks and looking for replies to your inquiries.
Reddit brags an unmistakable combination of content and local area, including over 2.8 million networks, known as subreddits, committed to essentially every possible subject. Whether your interests lie in technology, fashion, gaming, or health, you’ll find at least one subreddit actively discussing your field.
With such a vast array of niches, there’s a suitable space for every brand and business to engage with their audience. The key is identifying the niches where your potential customers are active and participating.
Reddit thrives on authenticity and genuine interaction. Users typically react poorly to overt self-promotion, and marketing tactics are met with sharp skepticism. Brands should approach Reddit with care, refraining from entering subreddits and attempting to promote their products to the community members without prior engagement.
9. LinkedIn
- Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA.
- Launch Year: 2003.
- Monthly Active Users: 310 million.
- Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly.
- Estimated Revenue (2023): $15 billion+.
LinkedIn has proven to be a surprising standout among social media platforms. While it might not have been the initial expectation for a career-focused platform to thrive, it has evolved into one of the most popular and engaging platforms. It boasts a vast and influential community of professionals.
LinkedIn features over 180 million users in senior roles, 63 million decision-makers, and 10 million C-level executives. This makes it a prime destination for those seeking to connect with individuals who possess the authority to hire your company, stock your products, or collaborate with your brand.
Yet, LinkedIn is not solely a networking platform; it also serves as an aspirational center. Every week, 61 million people utilize LinkedIn to explore job opportunities, making it a strategic platform for marketing your brand.
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10. Threads
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
- Launch Year: 2023.
- Monthly Active Users: 120 million (2023).
- Founder: Mark Zuckerberg.
- Revenue: Unknown.
Threads, a recent addition to the social media landscape, emerged from the creators of Instagram and was introduced in July 2023. This text-based platform was developed to compete with X (formerly known as Twitter).
In terms of appearance and functionality, Threads bears a strong resemblance to X (formerly Twitter), but it necessitates an Instagram account for registration.
Threads made an impressive entrance into the social media arena, amassing over 150 million downloads in record time, making it the most successful social media platform launch in history.
Subsequently, it has encountered challenges in retaining users, but the platform still holds considerable promise for the future.
As for who should consider advertising on Threads, it’s still early days, and the answer remains somewhat uncertain.
Encouragingly, Threads appears to be engaging users by emphasizing the creation of a positive community space and steering clear of the highly politicized landscape often found on X.
Which Social Media Platform Should You Use?
The ubiquity of social media is undeniable, but there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for businesses. Each platform has unique features and functions that suit different industries and goals. To find the right mix, start by clarifying your objectives, identifying your audience’s active platforms, and tailoring your strategy accordingly. Making the right choices and aligning authentically is the key to harnessing the potential of social media marketing.
