Best Social Media Network for your Business in 2018

When it comes to Social Media, there are always moving parts, and changes in the way they work, and how they are used.

Just this week, a new social platform by the name Vero hit the headlines for growing to three million users (from under half a million) in the space of just a few days.

As you know, it can be extremely time consuming to focus on every single social network.  Below are the 9 most-used (and loved) social platforms, and share some interesting statistics, and facts to help you decide what social network has the best community for your business in 2018. [ Download Full Social Media Network Infographic ]

Facebook now has 2.13 billion monthly active users and 1.4 billion of which are active daily users.

There are now more than 50 million small businesses using Facebook Pages to connect with their customers. 4 million of those businesses pay for social media advertising on Facebook.

After research, we’ve have found that the best time to post on Facebook is 3:00 pm on Wednesday. Other optimal times include 12:00–1:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays and 1:00–4:00 pm on Thursdays and Fridays.

Sitting just behind Facebook, YouTube is #2 on this list.

When looking at the demographics on YouTube, I found that 62% of users are male, and only 9% of small businesses are actually on YouTube. With such a huge viewership, YouTube will be a great place for small businesses to build a community in 2018.

Since Instagram released a feature called “Instagram Stories“, the social network has become an even bigger player in the Social Media game.

Sitting under the Facebook banner, Instagram is one of the strongest social networks. There are currently 25 million business on Instagram and 59% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use Instagram.

Whilst Whatsapp isn’t technically a social network, it does have a huge monthly active user count at 700 million, and over 1 million users joining the network on a daily basis.

Whatsapp is also, just like Instagram; owned by Facebook. They see potential in this mobile-based chat application which does intrigue me to see what Facebook have in store for Whatsapp in the future!

Google+ is ranked at #5 in this list, and yes; there are 2 billion registered users, and 395 million active monthly users but there is a reason for this. If you use Gmail as your email provider, chances are; you have a Google+ account.

We use Google+ for one specific reason; for SEO purposes. Posting regularly on Google+ will give you a big thumbs up from Google, and if done correctly; will get you on the first page of Google.

You might be quite surprised to see Twitter quite far down on this list. I still personally love using Twitter as my main social network, but with the likes of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube introducing a host of new and exciting features, Twitter has fallen behind the pack.

Take a look at the below visual for some interesting statistics around Twitter’s activity.

Research suggests that Twitter’s engagement for businesses is 17% higher on weekends.

Twitter engagement for brands is 17% higher on weekends. It is important to note that there are 13 million Twitter users in the UK, and 37% are between the ages of 18 and 29.

Before the introduction of Instagram Stories, Snapchat was the leading social network for short-life content. Businesses and influencers were benefiting from this and whilst the statistics below are still impressive, the network used to be even more engaging than it is now.

Snapchat relies heavily on influencers and when Kylie Jenner criticised the app on Twitter, it’s stocks plummeted and value dropped by over one billion dollars.

The largest B2B social network; LinkedIn is a very niche social network because of how business-orientated it is. Whilst you can use the likes of Instagram and Pinterest to share personal daily insights through creative content; LinkedIn serves a different purpose.

LinkedIn is a more male-dominated network at 57% usage, with 44% of users being female. If your target customer is a student, or a graduate, LinkedIn will be an amazing network for you as there are over 39 million students LinkedIn.

There are now over 2 million active Pinterest users in the UK, and the females are still ruling the demographics at 85%. 57% of Pinterest users are through mobile.

Pinterest is still a key social network, and one which has a community that are ready to make a purchase. People referred to Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase compared to users from other social networks.