Over the last one decade, we have witnessed the social media platforms grow from simple marketing tools for beginner-level marketers to tried and trusted channels for B2B and B2C marketing platforms. That does not mean
Over the last one decade, we have witnessed the social media platforms grow from simple marketing tools for beginner-level marketers to tried and trusted channels for B2B and B2C marketing platforms. That does not mean that you should start using any social media platform that comes your way. Though most popular social media platforms social media site comes with its benefits and problems. Before you incorporate any social media platform into your marketing strategy, you have to research its pros and cons.
Here are the top social media sites to try this year.
Perhaps, you are one of the people who use Facebook each day. Facebook is the largest social network today enjoying a user base of over 2 billion people each month. Over 1 billion people use the network each day. Statista shows that Facebook offers many helpful features, which makes it the second most popular messaging app after Whatsapp. People can join independently, set groups or join them. After they failed to acquire Snapchat in the year 2013, Facebook bought Whatsapp in the year 2014 so that they could stand as the leader in the instant messaging space.
YouTube
YouTube is among the top social media sites that allow users to post and watch videos. Currently, it has over 2 billion monthly users. Statistics show that the number of people who share or watch videos each day is over 30 million. Unlike other social media sites, YouTube enjoys the benefits of being owned by Google, which is the largest search engine. That might be the reason most advertisers choose it.
Twitter is among the oldest social media platforms. Today, it has over 336 million monthly users. The users can post their photos, videos or real-time updates. It has been a top choice for people who want to engage more potential customers with hashtags. You can use it to search hashtags and find what other businesses or customers have posted using the hashtag. For example, if you are running a car wash business, you can use find out what other people in the car wash industry are posting.
LinkedIn has been one of the most popular social media platforms for people who follow B2B models and those who target consumers according to the job titles. Today, the social media website has more than 303 million monthly active users. But because most people see it as a social media platform for businesses, they post accurate information about their employers, job position and work addresses.
WhatsApp is a cross-platform messaging service app that Facebook acquired in 2014 for $19 billion. Since Facebook bought it, the app has tripled its user base. It allows the users to connect through WLAN and reduce their mobile bills. It is more popular in most markets outside the United States but in Asia, it has been facing stiff competition from Asia-based social networks like LINE, WeChat and Kakaotalk. In the year 2018, WhatsApp Business came into being. The purpose of the subscription-based was to help the business sector. It allows reply of messages from customers through their favorite channels and does not charge for the messages replied within 24 hours. They charge a fixed rate per message after the set period. Today the number of users is above 1,500 million people.
Tencent, a Chinese Company started a mobile messaging app in the year 2011 but rebranded it to WeChat in the year 2012 so that it could be more appealing to the international audience. Today, the app has over 1 billion monthly users. It makes a great share of mobile traffic in China – around 34 percent. Facebook has a share of 14.1 percent of the mobile traffic in Northern America. Outside China, Chinese tourists have used WeChat to make payments. The number of monthly users is above 1,058 million and China is the main market.
QQ Chat
Perhaps, you have never heard of QQ Chat. It is among the most popular social media platforms in China. Tencent launched it in the year 1999 – Facebook was launched later in 2014. At the start, QQ Chat was a simple messaging app but it started introducing more services. So, you might wonder why it is not as popular as WeChat, considering that the two are from the same company. It is because WeChat is an upgrade of the QQ Chat. The two platforms have captured a large market share in China but target different demographics. The number of monthly users is above 803 million.
Snapchat
Snapchat is among the leading video and image-messaging apps started in the year 2011. Its “Stories” feature, which Instagram and Facebook copied later, contributed to its rapid growth. Today, it has over 186 million daily users. Even though the number of users started declining recently, the app is still very popular in the USA and around a quarter of the population is using the app. In fact, nearly 94 percent of the young adults in America use the app and around 3 billion snaps are sent each day. Reportedly, Snapchat Stories are viewed around 10 billion times a day. Snapchat introduced ads in 2015 through a feature they named “Discover” to allow people to advertise their short-form third-party content. With the feature, users are able to browse different content from various networks including CNN and The Food Network.
Messenger
Facebook launched Messenger in the year 2011 as a messaging app focused on one feature. The users have to download the Messenger app to communicate with their friends who were unable to send messages through the Facebook App. The strategic move helped businesses establish communication with their target audience and customers through Facebook Messenger. Today, companies are using bots to answer the queries of their customers, help customers make their first step and to reduce the answering time. The number of monthly users on Facebook is above 1,300 million people.
Owned by the same person who owns Messenger and WhatsApp, Instagram has more than 500 million daily users. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, saw much potential in this platform and its many benefits that he purchased it within 18 months of its launch for $1 billion. Since then, the platform has been growing continually. And because Instagram is owned by Facebook, it benefits from the large user base and the advertising platform that Facebook Messenger benefits from.
QZone
QZone is another popular social media app aimed at the Chinese market. The users can register free of charge and use it for self-expression and to share content. The number of monthly users on this platform exceeds 500 million people. Since its launch in the year 2005, the number of users has been growing consistently. In fact, it is currently the largest traffic distribution social media platform, while QQ Chat is the largest traffic entrance. The number of monthly users is above 548 million people and China is its main market.