Guest Blog: Social Media and Audiences

By Jessica Greaney at EDGE Creative

Which Social Media Platforms Should My Business Be Using?

With an enormous 67% of the population in the UK active on social media, we have an average of seven social media accounts each and spend nearly two hours a day using them (WeAreSocial). In short, this is good news for businesses!

Social media is a necessary marketing tool for every business that wants to maintain a strong digital presence. This is especially true given the current climate, where the COVID-19 pandemic has driven many countries, including the UK, into lockdown. This means that if your business is not using social media correctly, you could be missing out on increasing your brand awareness.

Currently, the most dominant social media platforms for business are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat. However, the popularity of these platforms will vary, depending on location and the age of their users. With so many social media platforms to choose from, getting started can be difficult. For the best return on investment and time, you will need to have a full understanding of each platform’s usage, trends and audience in order to create strategic content to maximise engagement and conversions.

Facebook

• Facebook remains the UK’s (and the world’s) biggest social network by membership (WeAreSocial). According to Facebook Audience Insights, there are 35-40 million monthly active users, with 52% of these being women and 48% being men.
• Individuals aged 25 to 34 years made up the largest group of Facebook users by age in the United Kingdom (UK), as of December 2019. Those aged 13 to 17 made up the smallest group, with 4.6 percent of users falling under that classification (Statista).
• In the UK, the average engagement rate for a photo post is 5.48%, with a video being higher at 6.96%, meaning that quality visual and video content is key when it comes to engaging your audience on this platform.
• Facebook is also a huge platform for digital advertising, including remarketing for those who have visited your website and not yet made a purchase. For example, a recent ecommerce retargeting campaign by EDGE Creative for our client, an equestrian company, promoted products to people who viewed or added a product to their cart but didn't purchase in the past 180 days. The campaign generated over 148,000 impressions and brought in £1,975 worth of sales.

Instagram

• According to Instagram, as of January 2019 there were an estimated 24 million Instagram users in the UK alone.
• From this figure, Instagram have said 42% of the UK’s population can now be reached with advertising.
• 80% of users, according to Instagram, follow a business or a brand so are looking for inspiration, with the 18–30-year-old age group being the largest of the platform’s demographics.

LinkedIn

• Engagement on LinkedIn is at record high levels, according to parent company Microsoft. More than 610 million professionals are now interacting on the platform and looking for new ideas and opportunities.
• In the UK, there are 27 million LinkedIn profiles, with 60% of these users being male and 40% female. Almost a quarter of LinkedIn's users are aged between 18 and 29, and 61% of LinkedIn users fall into the 30 to 64 age bracket. (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
• According to Social Media Today, revenue is also growing with 51% of UK adults (18+) now reachable by LinkedIn adverts.

Twitter

• According to Twitter, 13.6 million people in the UK can be reached by advertising. This figure can be translated into representing 24% of the UK population, aged 13 and above.
• The gender breakdown is shared as 60% male and 40% female – however many Twitter accounts are companies and not individuals, so would be classed as neutral.

TikTok

• TikTok is a short-form mobile video app which launched in China in 2016. In 2019, TikTok announced they had 500 million monthly active global users.
• The platform has become popular amongst British teenagers and is estimated to continue to grow in popularity in 2020 and beyond.
• 41% of TikTok users across the globe are aged between 16 and 24 (Globalwebindex, 2019). According to Big Foot Digital, the average teen spends around an hour a day watching videos, so taking a more visual, image-led approach is advisable when targeting the younger age groups.

Snapchat

• Snapchat reached 210 million daily users in 2019 (Statista). Snapchat's key demographics are 13 to 29-year olds with 69% of 13 to 17-year-olds using the app and 62% of 18 to 29-year-olds using it.
• One of Snapchat's biggest advantages is its appeal to younger audiences. Millennials were among the early Snapchat adopters, and are still loyal users.
• As more marketers turn to Instagram stories, there is less competition on Snapchat. The key to success on Snapchat is authentic content that offers something users cannot find on any other platform.

How EDGE Creative Can Help

EDGE Creative are a digital marketing agency based in Birmingham with a passion for creating social media campaign that inspire and engage audiences.

For example, a recent logistics recruitment campaign we launched on Facebook targeted lorry drivers and those interested in jobs within road transport. These people were then targeted based on their location, across London, Sherburn and Northampton. Our campaign helped to drive over 73,000 impressions for our client, over 2,800 clicks and a 4.6% conversion rate.

To learn more about what we do, please visit our website or email us at info@edge-creative.com.