The best social media channels for SMEs – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pintrest, Tumblr

Who uses what social media and why? What does your social media say about you?

The Pew, a research centre based in Washington, states that overall, 42% of online adults use two or more social networks, while 36% use only one (the remaining 22% did not use any of the five specific sites they asked about – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest). Among those who only use one major social networking platform, 84% say that Facebook is the single site that they frequent.

Facebook:  In addition to being the most commonly used social networking platform, Facebook also has high levels of engagement among its users: 63% of Facebook users visit the site at least once a day, with 40% doing so multiple times throughout the day. 42% of online adults use multiple social networking platforms. For those who use only one social networking site, Facebook is typically—though not always—the platform of choice.

While Facebook is popular across a diverse mix of demographic groups, other sites have developed their own unique demographic user profiles.

Facebook and Instagram exhibit especially high levels of user engagement: A majority of users on these sites check in to them on a daily basis.

Twitter: The Twitter audience is continuing to grow in a similar fashion to previous social networking sites - Facebook attracted a core of teen and young adult users, then the parents’ of those users started signing up, and the social networking giants main growth came from the older generation.

Twitter is heading in the same direction in the UK. The trend in the number of users aged 12 – 44 years old is slowing down, this user age now rates as below average whilst the users aged 65 years and over is forecast to increase by 37.8% this year. If your business offers services that the older generation are interested in, then perhaps get ahead of the trend and join Twitter. Of the 42% of all online adults, 2% use Twitter as their only social media account. Similarly to Instagram, Twitter appeals to younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites.

Twitter has a significantly smaller number of users than Facebook, but users of these sites also tend to visit them more frequently, 46% of Twitter users are daily visitors (with 29% visiting multiple times per day). Users tend to read more of the content posted on Twitter than post their own tweets, so content is being consumed although there is less conversation.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is particularly popular with college/university graduates and internet users in higher income households. Of the 42% of online adults, 8% use LinkedIn. At the end of last year, LinkedIn was found to have the oldest audience out of all of the social networks. Business to Business companies saw a 61% success rate in customer acquisition via LinkedIn whereas Business to Customer companies had 39%. Popular with Financial, IT and Telephone Communications industries, as well as higher education and information services.

Pinterest: Almost like a scrapbook. If you have more visual content you want to share instead of written information, Pinterest would be better. Female users make up 80% of all Pinterest users. Of the 42% of online adults who only use one social media platform, 4% use Pinterest. The most popular age group is 25-34 year olds, so companies advertising products to 25-34 year old women, should get a Pinterest account. 70% of visitors from Pinterest spend more than those from non-social network site referrals. The most popular categories of Pinterest content are tutorials, DIY and recipes.

Google+: If you are targeting a Google+ audience, you should be aware that multimedia content achieves more positive outcomes as the majority of users are single, young males interested in IT and videos. Luxury brands, like Ferrari for example, have already connected with their mainly male customers through Google+ by using multimedia branded content to appeal to them.

Tumblr: If you’re marketing products for young adults and college students, then you definitely need a Tumblr account. 45% of users are 35 and under. Only 35% of users have an income of less than $30K, 65% of Tumblr users are college educated. 

Instagram: Instagram has a significantly smaller number of users than Facebook has. Users tend to visit Instagram more frequently with 57% using it at least once a day and 35% visiting the site multiple times per day and almost every day. Of the 42% of all adults using social media, 2% use only Instagram. Instagram is similar to Twitter in that they both appeal to younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites, there is substantial overlap between Twitter and Instagram user bases.

VK: Mainly used in former Soviet Union areas, VK has more than 100 million active users. It is quite interactive; you can connect with friends, blog, listen to music, watch films, play games and get the news. With over 70 million internet users, the average Russian citizen spends twice as much time on social media sites than the average American. VK has 47 Million Russian members and is the most popular website in the country. There are 40 million groups on VK, which make it an ideal place to advertise, group adverts are integrated within newsfeeds.

Flickr: There are around 10,000,000 Flickr users, of which 43% are men and 57% are women. A common trend with photo and video sharing social media platforms is that women use them a lot more than men. Users aged 35 and over make up 65% of all users, 31% are 18-34 years old and only 5% are 13-17 years old. Flickr is owned by the same company as Tumblr: Yahoo

MySpace: In 2011 a study from AdAge concluded that the highest percentage of female MySpace users was 19.6%, they are aged 14-17 years old. The highest percentage of male MySpace users is 27.2% and they are aged 18-20. The age of users corresponds consistently between males and females, with users of both genders dropping to around 7% at ages 30-34 and picking back up again to around 12% until 55-64 years old where number of users drops to around 1%. 



At Scirum, we have a dedicated team who take care of our clients' social media planning and digital presence. If you are thinking about increasing your social media activity, why not give us a call (01264 860060) or email us?

Grace O'Brien, Digital and Marketing Executive, Scirum Ltd.

For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group.

What are the demographics of each of the top ten social media channels?

Statistics from 15^th June 2014, therefore showing most recent results unless otherwise specified.

1.   Facebook – Still has a large number of young users, but the amount of older generation users is growing, now used internationally and in more high income households too. The average user is on Facebook for over 20 minutes per day. 57% of users are women.

2.  Twitter – Younger population, equally represented across income brackets. eMarketer suggests that this year, 25.4% of British Twitter users will be 25-34 year olds and 24.5% will be 18-24 year olds. The company also suggest that the fastest growing group is people aged 65 and up. 54% of users are men.

3.       LinkedIn – International audience. Gender distribution is 50%. Mainly used by 25-44 year olds who count for 28% of UK users, closely followed by the 55-64 year olds who made up 13%. The average user is on LinkedIn for 7.3 minutes per day.

4.       Pinterest – Mostly used by tablet users and women, 83%. It has 70 million users worldwide, with 1090 visitors per minute with a growth in international traffic in 2013 by 125%. The average user spends 15.8 minutes on the site. 32% of users are aged 18-34, and 45% are 35-54 and only 23% are aged 55 and over. 50% of all users have children.

5.       Google+ - Good for building relationships with other businesses. The most male orientated social network, although no official figures released yet. Google+'s female audiences are most likely to be 25 to 35 year olds. The majority (42%) of users are young adults, mostly 18 to 24. In the UK a great deal of users are single.

6.       Tumblr – 168.4 million Tumblr blogs. Very popular amongst teenagers looking for ways of self-expression, Tumblr is where the youth hangout. It is popular equally with males and females. It is more popular with 13-25 year olds than Facebook. Average user spends 23 minutes on Tumblr.

7.       Instagram – Used for photos. There is a higher percentage of female users than male, majority of users are aged 18-29 previously associated with Pinterest. Lower income households, less than 30,000.

8.       VK – Popular in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, and Israel, former Soviet Union area. Used in a similar way to Facebook. The most successful social network in Russia with over 106M users worldwide. 

9.       Flickr – Photo sharing platform, in 2012 studies showed that it was used mainly by women, in the UK aged between 35- 44. There are 92 million registered users. In January of this year, 66% of social network users were aware of Flickr, but only 3% of the 8% with a registered account use it. A study from 2010 suggested that Flickr users are unique individuals embrace and are affected by the culture they are born in.

10.   MySpace – Similar to Facebook, post videos, photos and message people, studies from 2012 show it was used mainly by women in the USA aged 45-54. 36 million registered accounts. In January of this year, 73% of social media users in the UK are aware of MySpace, but only 2% of the 9% of social media users that have an account actually use it. 

At Scirum, we have a dedicated team who take care of our clients' social media planning and digital presence. If you are thinking about increasing your social media activity, why not give us a call (01264 860060) or email us?

Grace O'Brien, Digital and Marketing Executive, Scirum Ltd.


For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group.